Internet Newsletter of the Alumni of Lanao Chung Hua School Vol. 3, No. 25, February 21, 2000, Iligan City, Philippines Miss Chinatown Alumni daughter is 1st runnerup By Santi Ong (Batch '70) The daughter of an LCHS alumna was chosen first runner-up in the Miss Chinatown Pageant 2000 held in Manila recently. The new beauty queen, Genevieve K. Siao, is the daughter of alumna Elizabeth Khu-Siao (Batch '71) and Robin Siao of Signal Trading Corp., Manila. Genevieve, 20 years old, is a student of Landscape Architecture at the UP-Diliman.  Crowning her at the coronation ceremonies was business tycoon Lucio Tan, president of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry. Genevieve's mother, Elizabeth, is the younger sister of Fernando Khu (Batch '65). The pageant was held as part of the celebration of the lunar new year in Metro Manila. GAH bares registration list By Teresita Racines (Batch '67) The Finance Committee recently released its initial list of alumni who have signed up and paid their registration fees for the Grand Alumni Homecoming (GAH). The early birds, as of Feb. 17, 2000, are Carlos Dy, Arturo Samson, Fe Quimbo, Franklin Siao, Andy Lee, Sherlita Racines, Teresita Racines, Dy Sio Te, Chiok Hian Wang, Jimmy Ang, Yugene Taongan, Johnny Chen, and Steward Co. Meanwhile, it was agreed at a meeting of the Steering Committee last Feb. 5 that all working committees shall submit their respective budgets and committee membership in the next meeting.

EDITORIAL STAFF Charles O. Sy, Editor Henry L. Yu, Associate Editor Correspondents: Iligan - Johnny Chen, Teresita Racines, Vinson Ngo, & Roger Suminguit. Cebu - Igdono Caracho. Metro Manila - Marie Janiefer Lee. Canada - Peter Dy & Mike Lee. Australia- Leonardo Tan. U.S.A. - Ernesto Yu, Alex Rodriguez, Aurora Tansiokhian, & Alfred Lai II. Founded Aug. 1, 1968. Published fortnightly since its revival on April 15, 1997. Distributed free on the Internet to LCHS alumni and supporters worldwide. Postal address: LCHS Alumni Association, Lanao Chung Hua School, Pala-o, Iligan City, Philippines. Website: http://www.iligan.com/~lchs/alumni/ For subscription, contact: Johnny Chen, Tel. No. (063) 221-3883. Email: johnchen@iligan.com For submission of manuscripts, Email: charlesy@cnms.net 23 WEEKS to Grand Homecoming

The Grand Reunion committee is in need of photographs of the former LCHS campus at Roosevelt Ext. These photos are intended for publication in the LCHS Alumni Directory & Souvenir Program due for release at the Alumni Grand Homecoming on Aug. 3-5, 2000. The photos may be any scene that depicts a significant part of the old LCHS, such as the main facade of the administration building, the auditorium, the faculty office, the classrooms, the school library, the laboratory, the basketball court, the tennis court, the faculty mess hall, the student canteen, etc.  LCHS alumni who have any of such photos are requested to lend them to the reunion committee or the secretariat. The photos will be scanned and returned to the owners after use.

New alumni PTs
Mon, 14 Feb 2000 14:31:06 +0800

On behalf of Batch '83, we would like to congratulate Haidee Ang and Alitha Michelle Enoy of Batch '94 who passed the Licensure Examinations for Physical Therapist (PT) held on Feb. 9-10, 2000, in Manila.

Marie Josiefel Q. Ello (Batch '83), Iligan, Philippines, mjqello@eudoramail.com

Your "Icons & Idols" section (Spectrum, Jan. 24, 2000 issue) is both a delightful and an informative reading material. It reads like a glossary of "Who's Who in LCHS."  Reading the series gives one a good glimpse of the many colorful and outstanding personalities of your alma mater. It is also a showcase of the many talents that your school has bred in the course of its history. I am particularly impressed by the way you harnessed the interconnectivity of the Internet to assemble a pool of alumni to produce the list of notable campus personalities through the years. Looking forward to read more of the series. May your tribe increase.

Ricky Guibone, Sunnyville, Calif., U.S.A., richguibon@earthlink.net

By Ernesto L. Yu, M.D., Batch '65

The timeworn cliché, "Different strokes for different folks," is virtually true to its form. The celebration of life can be dramatized in more ways than one: the renewal of forever-and-ever vows after 25 years of wedded bliss; the pomp and circumstances of a simple graduation march of a preschooler; a haunting hum of a '70s wistful tune "Almost There" during the Alzheimer's summers at LCHS; or a freewheeling trades of old recycled laughters among long detached buddies in a beer fountain.

Nonetheless, for Stanley and Marie Janiefer Lee, a holiday on life is best displayed by the creation of life itself. Just as Manila's hellish traffic unrolled into a full-blown rush hour tantrum on January 20, baby Shania Jodie Lee blared her teeny weeny squeaks of hello to the world, with mom Jen breaking only a few easy sweats (it really pays to have experience!). SJ tipped a little over seven pounds, way too inferior to her 8.5 pounder wrestlers-brothers. "It was an effortless 1-2-3 inhale-exhale drill once in the comfort of the maternity suite," Janie proclaimed. "Pure natural childbirth. Not a drop of anesthetic poked my spine," Bak added with pride. (Miss Jan, you are one tough cookie. Hope your version of Tarzan's legendary howl in the wild didn't rattle the other laboring Janes in the chorus club).

While every subscriber to our alumni newsletter was once tickled to total submission or forced into contemplative thinking mode by columnist Fer, only a handful comrades get the chance to discover part of the very lady behind the mask.  Initially, I baptized her with an abbreviated nickname MJ - Janiefer is a struggle to spell - to cap her easygoing flow of ideas that she projects in her literary pieces. Until I was stunned to bump into a triangle of MJs actively roaming in the Quimbo clan. She progressed to a temporary label of Swan Princess when, in one lazy Saturday afternoon, she drowned herself in the HBO rerun of this Disney classic, instead of cheering up the guys during the LCHS alumni chat room's trial run. However, after her uninhibited smile was frozen in the pages of Spectrum and after unwrapping her occasional packages of "hi" in my e-mail box, I have no other choice but to address her as Lady Jen, in honor of an English chum who exudes a heart of gold - sincere, intelligent, sensitive, soothing, refined (Thesaurus, where are you?). These traits instinctively ooze out of her general system. A case of being naturally primed to behave as civilized, matured, dignified and sophisticated as can be (Whoa, almost dried up my stockpile of pet adjectives, Mars). Yet, make no mistake of trespassing the upper limit of her stretchable patience, for she can swing her feisty spirit and can bury you alive in duels of fire-breathing English words (ask her about the Bombay pagan with big mouth whom she chewed whole at Karplus). She is every bit as human as I've encountered who never fails to rock my laughter juices with terms like Initao Airlines, Baby submachine gun, Yuck! baduy. Actually, she's one of the technocrats who speeded up my high-tech development, like scanning techniques and fearless free-fall in cyberspace, and made me suck back every penny that I invested in my Internet server, America Online.

In honor of Lady Jen's third genetic contribution to Parañaque City's booming census, I utilize every inch of space in my byline to air my heartfelt congratulation to the family. May their recent success tale in maternal bonding inspires the young couple to reread the recipe book on how to "manufacture" a baby with Y-chromosome for the sake of completing the fabulous ring of three musketeers, especially now that daddy's little princess needs more muscled species to guard her castle. And may the journalism time that I dedicate to her cause amplifies the subconscious message that "hey, for all you know, Ernie can be a decent godfather. In spite of a healed crack in his head."

Comadre, the next roll of the dice is in your court.

By Marie Janiefer Q. Lee, Batch '87

When a woman is pregnant the most dreaded and, at the same time, the most awaited moment is the delivery.  The most "dreaded" in the sense that we are up against something we don't know, even if it's already the second or the third delivery.  We can never be sure -- like, how painful would be the pain? Could we handle it or not?  Being older this time, could my body go through the process as easily as before?  Questions like these usually hover over the mind of an expectant mother days or weeks before the final day.

The most "awaited" moment in the sense that this is the time we will finally meet the tiny person who's been inside one's tummy for nine months. We'd finally see what he or she looks like.

The movies may depict a woman giving birth as somebody screaming her lungs out; crying in so much pain.  But for me I think giving birth is nothing compared to what one goes through weeks after the child is born.

Sleep.   I thought I was going to get some good night's sleep without the tummy that's been stopping me from rolling over.  But, wrong, the tummy may not be there anymore but the baby is.  I'd consider myself lucky if I can get two hours of undisturbed sleep.

Mobility.   In the first few days it's very hard to move around. Actually "painful" is the more appropriate term to say.  Then some old tradition dictates that one can't sit for long, stand for long, walk, climb the stairs, just to name a few.  You can't even mention the word "outside." You just have to be contented with the four walls of your bedroom.  It's not good to be exposed to the wind, they say.

You might think I'm complaining. Noooooooo, who am I to complain?  But before the ladies close their minds to the idea of childbearing, let me tell you about the "nice" side of all these.  Read on, my friends.

Food.   This is one aspect where you would be glad you gave birth, because right after the baby is out my mother-in-law and my mother joined forces to feed me right.  There's the lapu-lapu in all kinds of recipe. There's the native chicken with all the Chinese herbal medicines. And there's this type of chicken called "diong koy," which is black skinned, also a regular sight at our dining table since I gave birth.  I've asked around for this chicken's name in English but so far no one knows.  I just hope it's not among the endangered species or the WWF would be knocking at my door after reading this.  Being served this array of dishes daily makes me forget most but not all of the pain. It feels like having a caterer for a month.

Since I am not allowed to lift a finger everyone is at my beck and call.  Get this, get that, take this, take that. I became the "commander-in-chief."  But there's a saying that goes something like this: The higher you are, the harder you'll fall.  Well, I may be able to boss everyone around but a mere whimper from my little angel would send me running. Ultimately the highest "commander" around here is the baby.

By the way, there's one more thing, a person who just gave birth is not supposed to take a bath for a month.  But if you smell something awful while reading this article, excuse me, it's not me because I've already taken a bath secretly.  So please keep this issue from my mother.

By Leonardo "Eddie" Tan, Batch '66

A couple of weeks ago, the Tsinoys of Sydney celebrated the Chinese New Year in a Chinese suburban restaurant. Halfway in our seafood banquet, we were interrupted by the noisy barrage of firecrackers followed by steady drumbeats. Then the Dragon entered the restaurant. The Dragon dance was a delight to watch. It is really a great art and a test of physical endurance as the Dragon devoured the huge cabbage hanging from the center as well as all the lucky money - ang pao - from every table. Some white Australians even prepared ang pao themselves! However, what really amazed me was the participation of men and women of white Australians in the dance team! They made up about a third of the entire team. And they were really enjoying what they were doing!

That same morning as I was listening to my favorite radio program, I was again surprised to hear the radio host and his guest exchanging greetings of "Happy Chinese New Year" to each other although neither of them was Chinese. And the topic of the interview was about Chinese horoscope and feng shui! If you are buying a house here in Sydney, chances are the Caucasian real estate agent could give you a lecture on all aspects of feng shui better than you have ever heard before from your Chinese friends. Even young architects fresh from university are now very conversant about this ancient Chinese art of geomancy. In my college days in the school of architecture, we were taught the superstitions found in connection with the Filipino building practice and culture.

I am very much fascinated by the interest of many westerners about our rich Chinese culture but at the same time feel very sad that most Tsinoys like me had taken it for granted. Now my sons could not even speak what is supposed to be the native dialect of Fujian. This was even the main concern of our community elders like Mr. Sy Chu An, who made a remark about the subject during the LCHS Alumni Christmas Party last December. I wonder how many copies of Chinese newspapers are now being circulated in Iligan? What about the public notices to our Chinese community? Are they still written in the original Chinese characters and forms? It is sad but can we help it? It is inevitable that overseas Chinese will be lesser Chinese in every new generation. It is a natural process for the culture of the new adopted land to replace the one brought in from the old world.

As a Tsinoy now living in Australia, I can only consider Iligan as my hometown and the Philippines as my mother country. My late father may have taught me many wonderful things about Quemoy and China. Yes, I still have deep sentiments about them as it is the land of our forefathers. But there lies the big difference. We just could not find any attachment to it as we did not grow up and live in those places as our parents might have.

But are we to surrender our Chinese connection? Our future generations may no longer speak the tongue of our parents. We may not believe in feng shui nor do we observe the Chinese New Year all the time. But our name will remain and our face will remain distinctly oriental. Let us celebrate our Chinese culture in other aspects not only in food but more importantly the Chinese way of life, such as respect for one's parents, word of honor in business dealings, helping the needy, among others.

If the westerners are eager to learn about anything Chinese, there is no reason why we should not preserve and nurture our heritage and be proud of it.

By Henry L. Yu, M.D., Batch '69

"Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place
to start. When you read you begin with ABC, when you
sing you begin with Do-re-mi ..."

For us kids of the 60s, this song sounds familiar. It was taken from the album "The Sound of Music" which was made into a movie of the same title starring Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews, shown on September 4-l8, l966 at Rajah Theater. We were then the young and carefree first year high schoolers.

Today, my thoughts are drifted back to that era simply because at the moment I feel that I am starting from the very beginning in a very good place to start, beginning my reading with ABC and the singing with Do-re-mi, just like when we started high school at LCHS thirty-four years ago.

February 2 this year was when I got my personal computer - something which is indeed long overdue for me to have in my life. My friends used to tell me that it's really about time I own one myself. A simple person that I am, I thought that there was no need for me to acquire a computer, that it was just a matter of luxury rather than a necessity. After all, I feel comfortable with my l5-year old Underwood typewriter which I can always use and carry with ease anywhere I go as it is a portable one. It's when my daughters started to prod me into buying one that I got serious about thinking of having a PC. Well, kids do grow up. They learn new things in school day in and day out, the computer being one of the subjects that they're being taught as early as grade II. Indeed, this is something we never had during our time.

Honestly, I am a full fledged ignoramus insofar as computers are concerned. In a scale of 0 to 10, I would rate myself an awful 0 because truly I am computer illiterate with no experience or knowledge on how to go about this stuff. It's only now that I'm starting to be familiar with the system thru the tutelage and guidance of Charles - my neighbor, my teacher, my supervisor, my principal. Whatever I will become in the future as far as computer is concerned I know I owe it all to him. At the moment, I'm trying to learn the basic skills, but I'm pretty sure that given enough time I will someday be a master of this stuff.

At the moment, I'm just into grade I section B, while other colleagues are already into the higher level in their computer know-how. Here I am, a neophyte, trying to live up to the new generation's high tech gadgets, starting to familiarize myself with such words as cyberspace, CD-ROM, CPU, the keyboard, printer, cursor, shut down, AVR, modem, etc. etc. Hopefully, with the passage of time and with constant practice, I will graduate from the ABC to the DEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ and from the Do-re-mi to the Fasolatido. So until graduation time then. And only then can I say that I have indeed grown up by catching up - from the flawless-skinned little Henry or Ching Kuan or Boy who used to run around the neighborhood of Iligan in the 50s chewing Texas bubble gum or eating tira-tira and bukayo to his heart's delight; somebody who diligently studied and competed to be an honor student, a class president, a declaimer, a stage performer, an editor of the Campus Keepers, a jam session prince; a typical teenager who went gaga over the Beatles, Petula Clark, Matt Monroe, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, etc., who was once crazy about signing autographs and slum books; a movie fan of Susan Roces, the Sampaguita Stars '66, Guy and Pip and Maria Leonora Theresa, Eddie Peregrina, Victor Wood, and a lot more; one who graduated B.S. Pre-Med from Silliman University; his M.D. from the Cebu Institute of Medicine; a practising internist; president of the Cebu Medical Society; director of continuing medical education of the Visayas Community Medical Center; a faithful husband of Gingging; a good father of Hazel and Hannah; and a joyful servant of God and our country.

Now Showing: DO-RE-MI. Next Program: FASOLATIDO. Coming Soon: the webmaster in the soon-to-be-released movie of the decade - "A (Web)STAR IS BORN". Meantime, let me just contend myself by singing the first three notes which happen to be Do-re-mi.

[Editor's Note: Henry Yu may be reached on this e-mail address: hvty@cbu.skyinet.net]

Job interview

Ah Huay went for a job interview to be a secretary. When the manager saw Ah Huay's colorful attire and gold & white-highlighted hair, his mind was screaming: "Not this woman."  Nevertheless, he still had to entertain Ah Huay.  So he told Ah Huay, "If you could form a sentence using the words that I give you, then maybe I will give you a chance! The words are GREEN, PINK, YELLOW, BLUE, WHITE, PURPLE and BLACK."

Ah Huay thought for a while and said:  "I hear the phone GREEN GREEN, GREEN, then I go and PINK up the phone, I say YELLOW ... BLUE's that? WHITE did you say? Aiyah, wrong number lah. Don't PURPLEly disturb people and don't call BLACK, ok?  Kum siah!"

The manager fainted.  --Contributed by Rene Tio (Batch '70), Cagayan de Oro, Philippines

(Third of a Series)

Long before basketball, volleyball and table tennis became standard fares in campus sports, LCHS also had numerous facilities for track and fields in the 50s and early 60s. The school had soccer, javelins, hurdles, pole vaults, discus throws, high jumps, and shot puts. Two alumni were known to have excelled in this field. They were Carlos "Bonnie" Dy (Batch '58) for high jump and broad jump; and Fernando Khu (Batch '65) for marathon.

In women's volleyball, Ramona Jo (Batch '61), and Deborah Debaculos (Batch '66) easily surfaced as the unbeatable amazons.  Other notable spikers in their days were Gloricita Racines (Batch '66); Joselyn Ang (Batch '67); Virginia Ngo (Batch 67); and Elaine Co, Gloria Quilat, Lea Guilat, and Gloria Lee (all of Batch '73).

It was in basketball, however, where a great number of LCHSians shone and proved their mettle.  Emiliano "Saya" Chiu (Batch '59) towered over the rest as skipper of the hardcourt. Down the line there were many others whose figures loomed large in hardcourt hoopla, the likes of Angel "Angi" Chiu,  Rolando "Tiya" Te (Batch '62), Nelson "Toto" Dy (Batch '64); Fernando Khu (Batch '65); Nicomedes Debalucos (Batch '66), Salvador Booc (Batch '66); Castor Ong Lim (Batch '69); Luzvelo Dy (Batch '72); Anderson "Antik" Dy (Batch '72); Henry Lagrosas (Batch '73); Benjamin Tan (Batch '73); Jorge Racines (Batch '73); and Leo Lim (Batch '82).  For many years, the LCHS cagers were called "Dragon Spitfire." Among the more notable coaches of the LCHS cagers were the late Pedro Campugan, So Teck Hai, and Jiz Ortega.

Second to basketball, table tennis (then also known as ping pong) was a favorite game on campus during recess period and in campus intramurals. Of this there had been many ace players, among them were the likes of Wilson D. Lim (Batch '66), Rudy Co (Batch '67), and Vy Beng Hong (Batch '69). Adding inspiration and motivation to budding LCHS aficionados in this sport was Chinese faculty member Agustin Wu (aka Ngo Nai Kong), who was himself a table tennis player of no mean talent.  [To be continued]

I am now pushing middle age. Yet I remain unattached -- and unfazed.  Some people strive in the pursuit of happiness. I thrive in the happiness of pursuit.  My pursuit ends where marriage begins. Who, in his right mind, would desire to end up being shackled with such a life sentence?  Wasn't it Lord Byron who said, "All tragedies are finished by death; and all happiness by marriage"?

To love is to nourish a bond. To marry is to perpetuate bondage.  Who was it who said, "'Tis better to have loved and lost than to have loved and got married"?

In the days of yore, men were the pursuers and women the pursued.  Men were the predators, women the preys. In his heyday, the caveman applied his club to bash the woman in his pursuit.  If the woman survived the bashing, she became his mate.  If she perished, she became his meat.  In a way, I am like a caveman in my pursuits:  One kiss and I cave in.

Perhaps that's why I never got around to a home run in my pursuits.  Which is just as well.  Who wants to run to the same home every night and wake up to see the same face in his bed every morning?  To wake up to see my haggard face in the mirror is bad enough.  To see one more beside me is double jeopardy.  Perhaps that's why they call marriage "wedlock."  There's not enough "wed," and too much lock.

The pursuit of free love is fun as it is.  Don't be a killjoy by bringing marriage into the fray. "Courtship," said William Congrieve, "is to marriage as a very witty prologue to a very dull play."

God gave man fire, and man invited the fire engine to extinguish fires. God gave man forests, and man invented logging to annihilate the forests.  God gave man love, and man invented marriage!

So why marry?  Is marriage sine qua non to love?  Oscar Wilde answers for us: "One must always be in love. That's the reason one should never marry."   "It is most unwise," adds George Bernard Shaw, "for people in love to marry."

And so I remain a bachelor.  Some folks call me "chicken."  Others call me "irresponsible."  But the girls, oh well, they call me all the time!