Monday, April 28, 2008

Why We Need To Stay

The topic for the blog rounds this week is why we continue to love the Philippines and what our reasons are for staying.

From a purely material perspective, there is very little to stay behind for. Educational opportunities are dwindling, security is tenuous, wireless internet service is spotty, the cleanliness of bottled water is suspect, gasoline will only become more expensive, there is a looming rice shortage, traffic and its twin children, pollution and waste of time is ridiculous, the beaches in Thailand are less costly, shopping in Hong Kong and Singapore is infinitely better, Haagen-Dazs is more expensive in Manila compared to Tokyo!

You leave our country and find that much of the world has left us behind. You leave our country and your desensitization to poverty and bad governance disappears, you begin asking questions once again. It does not have to be this way and this is the fundamental reason why we can’t leave our country like this.

We need to love our country and give as much as we can because of those we leave behind. We become a nation only when we recognize our responsibility to help these desperate millions of Filipinos who by the looks of it, have no chance to improve their lives.

We need to keep this love for our country burning because we are the last hope, or so must we frame it in these dramatic terms because if we give up and cede our country’s future to all these politicians who have been presenting themselves all these years, then all becomes lost.

We will be telling our children we had a country once.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting comments.

I think every group of people struggle with staying or leaving. My grandparents left Russia after WWI due to persecution - they were under the communist regime that was unfriendly to their religious faith. Some of the family stayed in Russia and kept their faith, suffered terribly and died.

Anonymous said...

"We will be telling our children we had a country once. "

Astig. Good pm doc. :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi Martin, interesting thoughts as always. Love that last line.

BTW, I am hosting the next edition of TBR. Please check out the details on my blog: HERE. Thanks much!

Anonymous said...

Erratum: Martin, Doc Emer is hosting next week's TBR. I'm hosting week after that.

Chinachix said...

very thought-provoking entry. i live in toronto, but i look forward to telling my little girls about "my country" as they grow older...

Dr. Emer said...

Hello, Doc Martin! Can I invite you to join TBR-8: Do We Practice What We Preach? Please share with us your healthy daily habits. More details here.

Dr. Emer said...

My TBR comes before megamomph's. Hope to see you there. Thanks.

FC said...

very inspiring