Internet Newsletter of the Alumni of Lanao Chung Hua School Vol. 3, No. 27, March 20, 2000, Iligan City, Philippines Grand reunion heats up By Teresita Racines (Batch '67) LCHS-AA top guns met last Mar. 6 to discuss a host of matters pertaining to the Grand Alumni Homecoming. Topping the agenda was the request of Suniel Lim to trade places with Chua Tek An as steering committee chairman. Suniel explained that his new business venture will require him to travel out of town frequently. The board, however, prevailed upon him to stay on as chairman. Tek An, on his part, agreed to be acting chairman whenever Suniel is out of town. Meanwhile, the Secretariat announced that invitation letters, outstanding alumni nomination forms, flyers and program of activities are set for dissemination to alumni. Suniel Lim also turned over an additional P17,000 from his ad solicitations. So far, 20 alumni have paid their reunion registration fees, including Greg Dy who attended the meeting to contribute some helpful ideas. With the reunion day inching closer, the board will soon meet on a weekly basis. Milagros Dy, 56, passes away Milagros Ong Dy, wife of LCHS-AA past president Carlos "Bonnie" Dy (Batch '58), passed away last Mar. 13 at the Chong Hua Hospital, Cebu City. She was 56 years old and a native of Sibonga, Cebu. Her body lied in state for two days in Cebu where friends and relatives there paid their last respects before it was transferred to Iligan for interment on Mar. 19.  She is survived by her husband Carlos Dy, and children Charina (Batch '85), Chester (Batch '87), Cristina (Batch '90), Carina (Batch '91).

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 19 WEEKS to Grand Homecoming

Two alumni stalwarts stormed Cebu City last Mar. 8 to intensify the campaign for the approaching Grand Alumni Homecoming. Suniel Lim, Steering Committee chair, and Roger Suminguit, Secretariat co-chair, met and talked shop with Cebu area coordinator Roderick Ngo, along with Spectrum editors Charles O. Sy, Henry Yu, and Igdono Caracho in three separate sessions. Accompanying photo shows one of such meetings at the Majestic Chinese Cuisine (left to right: Roger Suminguit, Suniel Lim, Igdono Caracho, Charles Sy). Area coordinator Roderick Ngo handed over to the Secretariat co-chair the initial collection of registration fees paid by Cebu alumni.

Alumni son brings home the bacon

Nikki Kao Hoc, son of alumnus Benny Kao Hoc (Batch '69), brought home another gold medal for Iligan in the recently concluded Palaro Ng Bayan held in General Santos City. Nikki won the gold in the 13-14 age group of the swimming competition. In the 1997 Philippine National Games he also bagged 2 golds in swimming.  He is a student at the La Salle Academy.

Condolences

Mon, 13 Mar 2000 12:51:08 EST
My heartfelt condolence to the family of Bonnie Dy.  It is indeed a very sad news. It is time like this that makes life just too unbearable. My prayer is with Bonnie and the rest of the Dy clan.   --Ernesto Yu (Batch '65), Buffalo, New York, U.S.A., Ernstyu49@aol.com

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

The philosopher in me wholly subscribes to the quote, "Life is a reason to die." In exchange for the privilege to visit and sip the bounties of this universe, we submit ourselves to the constricting and unbinding commandment that exempts neither rich nor poor: Our breathing days are numbered. Whether you are at the peak of savoring the blooming and loveliest days of spring or at the low point of restless scrambling to better a private gloom, you drop your farewell when your clock concludes its ticking rotation, when you are snatched away by the Power above to stomp your feet on the next journey. Obviously, the pathetic part of this contract is, the end creeps into your bed unknowingly. Will you have time to pack the sweet stuffs that you have been showered with during all these wonder years? Will you have the final occasion to kiss everyone who made a difference in your temporary stint in Planet Earth, who painted rainbows in the clouds? Will you have the chance to steady and redeem the rockings you perpetrated on enemies' boats before heading to an ultimate peace? Nope! That is just the governing stinky rule of the game: no ifs and buts, no wait-a-minute or pleas for extension and postponement.

As mortals who are inching towards this inevitable and unpredictable climax, we need to examine ourselves now. Did we unveil to our cherished clans and pals how their rain of devotion and compassion shape our world into a heaven of absolute jolly good fun? Did we stretch enough motivating words to ease our friends' mental wounds and save them from lingering too long in the dump? We ought to take every waking hour as our lucky break, for every night that we turn off the light our eyes may never open to witness the same sun again. This standard-issue sentiment holds true for all other blessings in life. Hence the birth of the age-old preaching, "Live for the moment." Another winning point to factor in when debating the issues on coming or escaping the Grand Reunion this August. The affair guarantees the sizzle and glitz of meeting and touching someone from your distant past once again; spreads on your doorsteps the certainty to hand-deliver those unspoken gratitude and cheers as well as to hum the '60s novelty tunes and idle chitchats of the ancient times. Before it's time for anyone of us to depart forever.

Among the countless praiseworthy molecules that filter through our LCHS-Spectrum e-group site: stream of fresh news from the old country - inspiring (alumni kids in the limelight), shocking and tingly (bomb scare), devastating (death). The last category doubly pricks my psyche. The flooring announcement not only numbs my soul, it precipitates pains for losing out, being in a remote continent, on the opportunity to show the genuine exhibit of grief on my face. Granted I can always dispatch sincere sympathy notes over our established cyberspace, nothing can surpass the soothing effect of sorting out my emotion by personally whispering the lament that's brewed in my heart. Given no other alternative at this juncture in time, I embrace the second-best route to sprinkle a heartfelt condolence to Bonnie Dy (one of my heroes as a kid) for the loss of his beloved wife Milagros, one of the numerous reasons why I intend to invade Iligan this summer. It is at this achy frame in our lives that we count on the healing warmth of relatives and friends to deaden the weighty cross on the shoulder.

Death is a consequence of living. Live for the moment.

By Leonardo "Eddie" Tan, Batch '66

His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, last Sunday made the greatest and unprecedented act of his Papacy by making an apology for the wrong doings of the Roman Catholic Church towards mankind in the last two millennia. The Holy Father mentioned the killing fields during the Spanish Inquisition, the carnage of the Crusaders, the burning in stakes of the heretics, the discrimination against women, the ill treatment towards the Jewish people, the displacement of many people and the violence that followed in the name of spreading Christianity. If the Roman Catholic Church had Pope John Paul II five hundred years ago, perhaps Christianity would be united today. Or some would argue that Catholicism could have ended then. It is a double edged political risk that could strengthen a church which can admit its wrong doings or weaken it as it destroys the principal pillar of the Papacy - that of being infallible! Never admitting - Mea culpa!

It is quite interesting that major conflicts anywhere in the world today are perceived to be instigated by differences in religious beliefs. The Balkans with the Serbs and the Albanians. The genocide that almost wiped out East Timorese. The Catholic Irish and the Protestant Scottish of Northern Ireland. India and Pakistan over Kashmir. The Singalese and Tamils of Sri Lanka. And of course the always volatile Middle East, plus our very own backyard in Mindanao where once again there seems to be an increase in violent activities between Muslims and Christians.

Are religions that bad? Or perhaps it is the difference of cultures that are the basis of the conflicts, of which religion is just a small but significant factor? The two most aggressive religions today are Christianity and Islam, which are both relatively very recent compared to the others and both had their origin with the Jewish faith. The 3 religions which originated from the Middle East all share the common Old Testament of the Holy Scriptures. Christianity differs with its New Testament while Islam has the Quran. It is very interesting how the 3 religions are intertwined starting with Abraham in the Book of Genesis. Abraham had a wife named Sarai but who could bear him a child. So God told Abraham to go to his Egyptian maid who bore him a son who was named Ishmael. But in later years, God made it possible that Sarai in her old age now renamed Sarah was able to bear Abraham a child too and he named him Isaac. Jesus Christ came from the line of Isaac while Muhammed was a descendant of Ishmael. So the founder of Christianity and Islam (which was one time wrongly referred to as Muhammedanism) where in fact relatives! And the early Christians, like the Jews and the Muslims, did not eat pork.

Islam was founded by Muhammed in the 7th century AD in Mecca. Muhammed was a no-read no-write person but in his dream Angel Gabriel (the same Angel of the Revelation) appeared and taught him the verses from God or Allah which were compiled into Quran. Being illiterate, Muhammed made a sensation in Mecca and his followers grew. The traditional and powerful pagan religious leaders then tried to capture him. But he was able to fled to Medina were the sultan there was more sympathetic to his preachings. This explains why Medina is the second most sacred city of Islam. A few years later, Muhammed would return and capture Mecca, and established it as the center of Islamic faith. Islam means total surrender to Allah. The 5 pillars of their faith are: 1 - Profession of Faith that there is no god but God and Muhammed was his prophet. 2 - Daily 5 prayers facing Mecca. 3 - Obligatory tax called zakat in order to purify one's earthly wealth. 4 - Observing a month long daylight fast during Ramadan. And 5 - Pilgrimage to Mecca - the Haj. To the Muslims, Jesus Christ was one of the prophets sent by Allah. And one of the most holiest Christian sites - the Church of Sepulchre in Jerusalem where Jesus Christ was believed buried after the crucifixion, has a Muslim family as its custodian of the locks for more than a thousand years!

Just imagine, if 500 years ago, Magellan did not have the ambition to sail around the world, Spain could not have spread Christianity in the Philippines. Like the countries in the region, we could remain a Muslim country. But is there really a difference? The Allah of Islam, God the Father of Christianity and Jewish' Yahweh could be one and the same God. Why the conflicts in the name of religions? Or is it man's greed against his own fellowmen which man has not learned to subdue in spite of his religious belief?

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

April ll, l969 was the day we graduated from LCHS. I remember how excited we were. Truth is, our parents were even more excited than us. They had our graduation attire made at Jam Chiong's or Neil's Tailoring. They bought us a new pair of Ang Tibay shoes with matching Gold Toe socks from Dy Cham Shoe Store. We had our haircut at Dina's Barbershop. Our female classmates had their hair and makeup done by Pepay Gaite or at Tesing's Beauty Saloon, and their made-to-order graduation dress from their favorite couturier, with matching fishnet.

A month before graduation day saw us attending our Junior-Senior Prom at the spacious LCHS auditorium with all the glamor and glitter in what was called the ceremonial turnover rites of the decade. All those fragrant leis and be-ribboned candles may now be things of the past. But for always the memories of that momentous event linger on in the inner recesses of our heart and mind, indelibly imprinted and preserved through the years, coming into full view again and again as we witness our children's JS Prom and their Graduation Day.

It's been 31 years since my graduation from high school. Indeed, how fast time flies away! It seems like only yesterday when we were the excited batch of graduates who radiantly looked forward to that time in our life when we would march on stage to receive our diploma signifying one achievement - that of being high school graduates ready to enter college the following school year. Some of us were undecided then as to what course to take up in college. In our batch, four went into medicine (Alice Ngo-Militante, Antonio Leo Te, Leopoldo Tan, and myself). Others went into Business Admin, Banking, Education, Engineering, etc.

l965-l969 were our high school years - such wonderful chapter in our life. We were the avid fans of the Beatles, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, among others. We were quite familiar with the top tunes of the era (Black is Black, She Wears My Ring, Bus stop, Gimme Little Sign...) and the latest dance crazes in town (soul, grind, bye-bye...). And not to forget the euphoria of signing autographs. "Ambition: To be a doctor; to be a teacher; to be a millionaire; to be an engineer ..."

The batch of l969 graduated. What have become of those ambitions and dreams? Some were realized, while others remained mere dreams. Then we finally finished college. We worked, we earned a living, we saved. Got married and raised a family. We have become the midlifers. Now showing: "The Y2K Graduates" starring our children. Some of them took after us, some decided on a course themselves, while others were forced to take such course because of certain reasons. Whatever or whichever, we should be glad that finally our children were able to graduate. It is our responsibility as parents, our pride and joy, to see them obtain a degree. And today, we rest in the belief that we are the happy and fulfilled parents having successfully put our children in proper order and decorum. Indeed, there is no greater happiness than to see our children working, earning, and saving for their future. As far as the Philippines is concerned, our role as parents is a never ending one. Call it by any name, we are the "stage parents." After graduation, our kids land a job. They get married and raised a family. They become parents themselves, with us becoming lolos and lolas. Very soon, they will also see their own children graduate. And like us, it will also make them happy and fulfilled. Being parents of a graduate who has etched a significant mark in Arts and Sciences, Business, or the like, is indeed a lifetime achievement.

Today, as we recall our Commencement Exercises of the distant past, we put ourselves in the shoes of our kids. We pause and ponder on the things in store for them after graduation. We are no longer focused on ourselves but more so on the future of the babies we used to cuddle, singing a Lullaby or two, changing diapers, mixing milk formulas, sending and fetching them to and from school, guiding and tutoring them in their assignments, etc. On their graduation, we are filled with mixed emotions. Their agony and ecstasy become ours, their successes, failures, and all. We are the best graduates being parents of kids who garner medals, honors, and awards. But when they fail, we pause and ponder and ask ourselves: Where did I fail? In the final analysis, it is still the fulfillment of being successful parents that matters most - the one great responsibility that was bestowed upon us by God when He gave us our children. Indeed, our kids are among God's best gifts to us. Their graduation is our best gift to them, just as we had the best gift from our parents when we were the graduates once upon a time.

Hail to our parents! Today, we thank them for successfully bringing us up to become good professionals and citizens of our country. OUR PARENTS ARE THE WORLD'S BEST GRADUATES. And hopefully, we too will be like them. In His Time. So help us God.

Enduring icons & other personages
(Last of a Series)

The history of LCHS is replete with a wide assortment of personalities, each one with his own incomparable skills and characters. Who, for instance, can forget the perennial presence of Siao Kok Te (Batch '57) with his boom drum in the school band?  Or of the bicycle antics of Jose Booc (Batch '68)? Joe's showmanship in cycling with no hands at top speed or his skills in making his bicycle run on its own from one end of the basketball court to the other end never failed to draw crowds of spectators in the 60s.

Another campus star who never failed to draw applause was Reynaldo "Bontot" Suminguit (Batch '72).  A natural in acrobatics, Bontot was famous for his tumbling acts and gymnastics. Ong Chin An (Batch '63) also showed his versatility by bringing the marvels of wizardry to the LCHS campus with his magic tricks during school affairs. And who could ever forget Antonio Dy (Batch '65), known to all as "Alaska"? His family moved in from Leyte in the early 60s to start an ice drop plant in Iligan called "Alaska Ice Drop." Tony was a character unto himself.  Mischievous playmates often made him the fall guy in games of ta-kian.

I remember when I first showed up at LCHS.  I was very shy and nervous. I was talking to myself and blaming my uncle for what he did to me: sending me to a school full of bright people.

I remember all of my classmates were good in Mathematics.  I never forget the day when we had the test in Math. I was halfway through and my classmates were all done. That really, really scared me to death.  It was the truth. And I said: Gee, goodness gracious! how could I compete with these people? Believe it or not, I struggled hard to compete with my classmates.

The idea that time, when I went to LCHS, was to learn basic Chinese education so that I could speak Chinese like my brother Te Yu Siong. I did not have such a chance during childhood (to be exposed to Chinese).  So my father agreed to send me to LCHS.  But I had to fight my way through not to take it because I would be embarrassed to be in a Chinese class with little kids as my classmates. I admire Jane Go; she did it.  But I couldn't.  So my uncle and my father could not do anything about it. And that was why I took English only.

I wouldn't have left Iligan after I graduated from college years later had I accepted my uncle's offer to stay and manage the store (Brilliant Textile & Tailoring) with my brother. My uncle was planning to return to Hong Kong to stay for good with his family. He died in Hong Kong just three years ago.

I miss Iligan and I wish I could visit some of my friends there someday.

(Editor's Notes:  Florfina V. Gough (nee Florfina Teh) spent a few years as a high school student at LCHS in the early 60s. She hails from the town of Casiguran, Quezon. She now lives in Houston, Texas, U.S.A., with her 17-year old daughter. Florfina can be reached through her e-mail: Jolilygough11@email.msn.com)

The various committees formed purposely to carry out different functions for the Aug. 3-5, 2000 Grand Alumni Homecoming (GAH) are now in place. The committees and their compositions, as of Mar. 6, 2000, are:

Steering Committee:  Suniel Lim; Finance & Budget: Teresita Racines & Sherlita Racines; Secretariat: Johnny T. Chen & Roger Suminguit; Ad Solicitation: Manuel S. Gaite, Franklin Siao, Henry Dy, and Suniel Lim; Raffles: Carlos Dy & Alexander Chua; Souvenir Program: Charles O. Sy (layout) & Robert Booc; Homecoming Kit: Suniel Lim, Farley Sy, and Juanito Chiu; Awards: Vy Beng Hong, Janet Lee Tan and Henry Siao;

Sports & Games:  Roger Suminguit & Henry Lagrosas; Program: Rodulfo Yu & Glenda Sy; Housing & Accommodation: Glenda Sy; Transportation & Communication: Calixto Tan & Manuel S. Gaite; Physical Arrangement & Venue: Manuel Te & Reynaldo Suminguit; Emergency & Security: Kelly Dy, Prudencio Tan & Romeo Suminguit; Fellowship Night (Barrio Fiesta): Christopher Chua; Gala Night: Arturo Samson; Tours: Virgie H. Te; Timoga Accommodation: Roger Suminguit; Plenary Session: Charles O. Sy;

Refreshment   & Foods: Dy Sio Te & Andy Ang Lee; Public Relations: Henry Dy & Spectrum staff; Children's Participation: Glenda Sy; Music & Sound System: Manuel Te & Roger Suminguit; Souvenir Items: Wang Chiok Hian; Sports & Events: Golf - Peter Dy; Tennis - Vy Beng Hong; Bowling - Sionnie Dychutee; Fruits & Delicaciies: Roger Suminguit & Roberto Suminguit; and Health O-Rama: Sionnie Dychutee.