Here's a local news from Brunei lifted from Borneo Bulletin Online.

http://www.brunei-online.com/weekend/news/jul19h11.htm

"Flying letters" tops list of how corruption is reported


by Achong Tanjong
The source of complaints and how individuals make reports to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) were among the topics highlighted by its Acting Director Hj Abd Raub at a presentation during a recent visit by Brunei IV's religious teachers to ACB.

He said that "flying letters" tops the list of corruption tips (sources) received by the bureau from individuals who complain about suspicious activities.

This is followed by telephone calls, official letters from individuals, e-mails, SMS, newspapers, officials letters from ministries and sources from individuals working in the department or those who come to the ACB office.

He said that individuals wishing to make reports on corruption can come forward to ACB or its officers could meet them at other places.

The name of the complainer would be kept top secret, he said, emphasising that it will not be revealed to anyone.

He added that corruption does not just entail money but also any illegal course of action.

The bureau, under the Prime Minister's Office and through it Community Relation and Support Service Section, will continue to conduct educational campaigns by holding talks, forums, seminars and road shows.

It has also published promotional programmes, brochures and other related educational publications towards eradicating corruption in the country.

According to Hj Abd Raub, Brunei is one of the advanced nations that have introduced corruption prevention education at grassroots up to university level.

 
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To my parents' disappointment, I am still here in the Philippines! Now, work global-think local justifies the steady exodus of 3,000 Filipinos to seek greener pasture of overseas jobs. Then, they were called OCW, later OFW, and transformed to Global Filipino. This is our country, and I think work local-think local adds value to all of us as Filipinos.

A Filipino, in the Philippines, I remain.

Anybody else WHO WANTS TO BE A FILIPINO?



REGARDING HENRY
By Henrylito D. Tacio

WHO WANTS TO BE A FILIPINO?

After digging to a depth of 100 meters last year, Japanese scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 1,000 years, and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network ten decades ago.

In the weeks that followed, American scientists dug 200 meters and headlines in the American papers read: "US scientists have found traces of 2000 year old optical fibers, and have concluded that their ancestors already had advanced high-tech digital telephone 1000 years earlier than the Japanese."

One week later, a Filipino newspaper reported the following: "After digging as deep as 500 meters, Filipino scientists have found absolutely nothing. They have concluded that 5,000 years ago, their ancestors were already using wireless technology."

Ah, Filipinos, a different kind of breed, indeed. "Filipinos are worth dying for!" declared the late Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino. And they are scattered all over the globe. Wherever I go – whether Australia, Canada, South Africa, United Kingdom, or United States – I usually meet them. Their usual greeting when I see one is "Kabayan, kumusta ka?"

"Are you happy to be here?" a Filipino reporter asked some Filipinos working in Italy. The reply was a sounding "Yes." As follow-up question, the interviewer inquired, "Would you like to go back to the Philippines?" The answer was a big "No." When asked for the reason, they chorused: "We are treated fairly and people really admire us, our way of doing things."

"In Florence," reports Alan C. Robles, a Filipino journalist who travels in and out of Europe, every now and then, "the McDonald's concessionaire wants only Filipinos to staff all the outlets." No wonder, then, why Oscar winner Roberto Benigni said that Italy without Filipinos would be like Italy without spaghetti.

Even in Saudi Arabia, Filipinos are well appreciated. In an e-mail, I got this information: "Muhammad Al-Maghrabi became handicapped and shut down his flower and gifts shop business in Jeddah after his Filipino workers insisted on leaving and returning home."

This was what the owner said, "When they left, I felt as if I had lost my arms. I was so sad that I lost my appetite." So, he decided to fly to Manila to look for two other Filipino workers to replace the ones who had left. When asked why he didn't hire any other nationalities, he replied, "There is no comparison between Filipinos and others."

Saudi Arabia has the largest number of Filipino workers — 1,019,577 — outside the Philippines. In 2006 alone, the Kingdom recruited more than 223,000 workers from the Philippines and their numbers are still increasing.
Even health professionals are joining the bandwagon. Every year, about 2,000 doctors leave the country for good. "The figures came as a shock to me," said Dr. Willie T. Ong, who urged newly graduate doctors to stay and serve the country. He is so concerned that the exodus of doctors -- and nurses, too! -- would leave the country's millions of poor with no one to turn to for medical treatment.

Filipinos, particularly those who are professionals and skilled, who left the country and find job elsewhere is a big "brain drain," to quote the words of experts. The British Royal Society minted the "brain drain" tag in the early 1950s. That described the cascade of highly skilled workers into the United States and Canada.

"Our first overseas Filipino workers left in the early 1970s," reports veteran journalist Juan Mercado. "That torrent continues today. This has whittled down our stock of seamen and health care personnel, from pediatricians to obstetricians and oncologists." And in a recent Baguio meeting, it was noted that the country is now shortage of geologists, pilots, computer specialists, accountants, and air controllers, among others.

All told, 3,000 or so Filipinos migrate to other counties every day. "Educated Filipinos tend to leave the country to serve foreigners at their country's expense," deplored 2004 Chemistry Nobel laureate Aaron Ciechanover.

We cannot blame them for leaving the country. The standard of living here is very low. There are no jobs available. The political situation is unstable. The economy is not doing well. "Until 1972, peso had kept its value of P8 to the one dollar until I finished college," someone observed.
Most Filipinos are poor. "Without land, they cannot build homes or produce food," pointed out Ramon Magsaysay Award winner Antonio Meloto. "Without decent homes, they have no dreams. Without dreams, they have no desire to study or work. It is terribly un-Christian for Filipinos to be squatters in a country where there is so much land in the possession of a few."

So, don't wonder if today the Philippines is famous as the "housemaid" capital of the world. It ranks very high as the "cheapest labor" capital of the world, too. In an e-mail, the letter sender wrote, "We have maids in Hong Kong, laborers in Saudi Arabia, dancers in Japan, migrants and TNTs (for tago ng tago) in Australia and the United States, and all sorts of other 'tricky' jobs in other parts of the globe."

Quo Vadis, Pinoy?"
For comments, write me at henrytacio@gmail.com

Labels: filipino, Global Filipino, Henry Tacio, OCW, OFW, TNT

 
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As I was searching the internet today on climate change, I came upon this piece of news from MNSBC. The government and private sector must now act to plan how to mitigate of a similar impact of climate change in our country.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25617864/




updated 5:39 a.m. ET July 10, 2008

CANBERRA, Australia - A decade-long drought in Australia’s most important crop-growing region is worsening and there is little hope for relief from either saving rains or a new government conservation plan, officials said Thursday.

The Murray-Darling river system, which produces 40 percent of Australia’s fruit, vegetables and grain, is facing an economic and ecological crisis because of a decade of below-average rainfall.

The Murray-Darling Basin Commission, which monitors water flows in the river catchment, said in a report Thursday that hopes of the cooler months bringing drought-breaking rains had faded.

 
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Here's an excerpt from a article "VENGEANCE IS NOT OURS" written by Henrylito D. Tacio

Looks familiar, I believe.

Revenge or vengeance consists of retaliation against a person in response to perceived wrongdoing. Although many aspects of revenge resemble or echo the concept of making things equal, revenge usually has a more injurious than constructive goal. The vengeful wish to make the other side go through what they went through or make sure they'll never be able to do what they did again.

Actually, revenge is a deceiver – it looks sweet but is most often bitter. Now, let me share you a true story that happened to Hungarian artist Arpad Sebesy. At one time, Elmer Kelen came to his studio and when he saw the portrait, he was very angry. Before leaving, Elmer told Arpad: "That's a rotten portrait and I refuse to pay for it!"

The artist was crushed. He had spent weeks on this painting, and now the 500 pengos (Hungarian currency) that he was going to lose on the deal flashed through his mind. Bitterly, he recalled that the millionaire had only posed three times so that the painting had to be done virtually from memory. Still, he didn't think it was such a bad likeness.

Before the millionaire left his studio, the artist called out, "One minute. Will you sign this letter saying you refused the portrait because it didn't resemble you?" Glad to get off the hook so easily, Kelen agreed.

A few months later, the Society of Hungarian Artists opened its exhibition at the Gallery of Fine Arts in Budapest. Soon afterwards, Kelen's phone began to ring. Within half an hour, he appeared at the art gallery and headed for the wing where a Sebesy painting was on display. It was the one he had rejected.

He glanced at the title and his face turned purple. Storming into the office of the gallery manager, he demanded that the portrait be removed at once. The manager explained quietly that all of the paintings were under contract to remain in the gallery the full six weeks of the exhibit.

Kelen raged. "But it will make me the laughing stock of Budapest. It's libelous! I'll sue!" The manager turned to his desk, drew out the letter Kelen had written at Sebesy's request, and said, "Just a moment. Since you yourself admit that the painting does not resemble you, you have no jurisdiction over its fate."

In desperation, Kelen offered to buy the painting, only to find the price was now ten times that of the original figure. With this reputation at stake, Kelen immediately wrote out a check for 5,000 pengos.

Not only did the artist sell the rejected portrait to the man who had originally commissioned it, he also received ten times the first price and achieved his revenge by exhibiting it with the title: "Portrait of a Thief."

Labels: Henry Tacio, Portrait of a Thief

 
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I have been in Henry's email list for about four months. Since then I had the luxury of receiving very inspiring and thought provoking articles.

Today, I received this article. Quite interesting as it mentions about "Portrait of a Thief". Please read on.

REGARDING HENRY

By Henrylito D. Tacio

VENGEANCE IS NOT OURS

At a dinner party one evening, there was a heated exchange between British statesman Winston Churchill and a female member of the parliament. At the end of the argument, the lady said scornfully, "Mr. Churchill, you are drunk." Replied Churchill, "And you, madam, are ugly. But I shall be sober tomorrow."

Revenge or vengeance consists of retaliation against a person in response to perceived wrongdoing. Although many aspects of revenge resemble or echo the concept of making things equal, revenge usually has a more injurious than constructive goal. The vengeful wish to make the other side go through what they went through or make sure they'll never be able to do what they did again.

Actually, revenge is a deceiver – it looks sweet but is most often bitter. Now, let me share you a true story that happened to Hungarian artist Arpad Sebesy. At one time, Elmer Kelen came to his studio and when he saw the portrait, he was very angry. Before leaving, Elmer told Arpad: "That's a rotten portrait and I refuse to pay for it!"

The artist was crushed. He had spent weeks on this painting, and now the 500 pengos (Hungarian currency) that he was going to lose on the deal flashed through his mind. Bitterly, he recalled that the millionaire had only posed three times so that the painting had to be done virtually from memory. Still, he didn't think it was such a bad likeness.

Before the millionaire left his studio, the artist called out, "One minute. Will you sign this letter saying you refused the portrait because it didn't resemble you?" Glad to get off the hook so easily, Kelen agreed.

A few months later, the Society of Hungarian Artists opened its exhibition at the Gallery of Fine Arts in Budapest. Soon afterwards, Kelen's phone began to ring. Within half an hour, he appeared at the art gallery and headed for the wing where a Sebesy painting was on display. It was the one he had rejected.

He glanced at the title and his face turned purple. Storming into the office of the gallery manager, he demanded that the portrait be removed at once. The manager explained quietly that all of the paintings were under contract to remain in the gallery the full six weeks of the exhibit.

Kelen raged. "But it will make me the laughing stock of Budapest. It's libelous! I'll sue!" The manager turned to his desk, drew out the letter Kelen had written at Sebesy's request, and said, "Just a moment. Since you yourself admit that the painting does not resemble you, you have no jurisdiction over its fate."

In desperation, Kelen offered to buy the painting, only to find the price was now ten times that of the original figure. With this reputation at stake, Kelen immediately wrote out a check for 5,000 pengos.

Not only did the artist sell the rejected portrait to the man who had originally commissioned it, he also received ten times the first price and achieved his revenge by exhibiting it with the title: "Portrait of a Thief."

Charles Caleb Colton once said, "Revenge is fever in our own blood, to be cured only by letting the blood of another; but the remedy too often produces a relapse, which is remorse – a malady far more dreadful than the first disease, because it is incurable."

Percy Bysshe Shelley agrees. "Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time; as aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy: its after-flavor, metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned."

English author Samuel Johnson is one person who would get even with those people who would exploit him. When he was completing his dictionary, a London journal published two anonymous "previews" of the book. The articles were favorable but superficial. When he learned that the wealthy Earl of Chesterfield had written them, he was furious.

After all, he had applied to him repeatedly for patronage while writing the dictionary, but the earl had been cheap, giving the poverty-stricken writer no more than ten pounds (about US$250). Now, Johnson felt, he was trying to take credit as a patron. In the dictionary, he defined patron as "commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery."

Irish author George Bernard Shaw had also experienced embarrassing moments. After the premiere of Arms and the Man (1898), he took the stage to make a curtain speech. When the applause subsided, there was a solitary boo from London critic Reginald Golding Bright. Shaw looked directly at Bright and said, "My dear fellow, I quite agree with you, but what are we two against so many?"

Finally, here's another story that should end this piece. A cigar smoker bought several hundred expensive cigars and had them insured against fire. After he'd smoked them all, he filed a claim, pointing out that the cigars had, in fact, been destroyed by fire.

The insurance company refused to pay, and then the man sued. The judge ruled that because the insurance company had agreed to insure the cigars against fire, it was legally responsible.

The company had no choice but to pay the claim. Then, when the man accepted the money, the company had him arrested for arson.

"Don't get mad," Josh Billings suggests. "Get even." But Martin Luther King, Jr. reiterates, "That old law about 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing."

"Live well," said Francis Bacon. "It is the greatest revenge."

For comments and feedback, write me at henrytacio@gmail.com

Labels: Arpad Sebesy, Henry Tacio, Portrait of a Thief

 
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