A Spectrum Pioneer
Sun, 19 Apr 1998 22:41:13 EDT

I read in the Spectrum that Emma Yap was one of the original members of the Spectrum.  I just received a letter from her thru e-mail as I told her about the Spectrum in my last letter to her and I think you should contact her. I am sure she would love to be back in the Spectrum again.

Gloricita Racines-Kinnan (Batch '66), Keno, Oregon, U.S.A.
WGKINNAN17@aol.com

(Editors' Note: Thank you for providing the Spectrum the bridge to reach Emma Yap, one of the Spectrum staff writers in 1969.  Arrangements are now being made by the editors to invite Emma Yap to join the new Spectrum.  We also take this occasion to invite all LCHS alumnae to contribute articles to the Spectrum.  Viewpoints shared by our alumnae will provide a much-needed balance to our male-dominated write-ups.--COS)
 

Dateline Buffalo

By Ernesto L. Yu, M.D., Batch 1965 Ernstyu49@aol.com

April is Spring time in Buffalo, a quaint city that is famous for its chicken wings, long and tormenting winter solstice, tough-as-a-rock football team (Buffalo Bills) and genuine (gasp!) citizens like us (with a touch of mental deficiency but...).  This is the phase of the year when absolutely mystifying dots of tulips and crocuses will raid your visual sensory endings to a consuming submission.  Even once sedate mortals who are inherently artless in a degree learn to extract the lazy prose out of the chirping birds, misty dawn and the seductive sways of the picturesque blossoms.  With Spring showers and mild temperature comes my beloved wife's annual plea: kindly sprinkle some quality hours to our garden.  The first thing I dig up is my usual excuse!  And to sneak away from the issue, I normally give Verna a piece of my mind.

"Can you really afford to do that?" she instantly snaps.

Did I precipitate an easy grin?  It is the age-old tonic for ironing facial sags, you know.

"Here, King!"

An intimate inquired if we have divorces in the Philippines.  "If there is," I countered, "it must be a very costly proposition."  Why? Because they are worth it.  He further bares his nosy mind, "Is it true that Filipino husbands die way ahead of their wives?"  A resounding yes, but not because they want to!  "Why don't the macho men just resort to drinking?

That, my dear friend, is a blow way below the belt.  The simple answer is, "it interferes with their suffering."

Peace to you too, Elsa.

Hmmm, seems like Iligan's primordial beauty is in an edgy run to become explosively colorful.
 

This morning as I was driving around the streets of Sydney, I heard over the radio about a special activity of a certain religious group placing some roses on the waters of the picturesque Sydney harbour along the famous landmark - Sydney Opera House.  The reason was to commemorate those people who died by committing suicide.

It was reported that in a very rich country like Australia with a population of around 18 million, an average of 6 persons die everyday through self-inflicted wound or suicide.  Majority of them were still so young, had not even reached their 20th birthday. This country has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Why?

We don't have a problem of hunger here, nor clothing, nor shelter.  These basic needs of any person who could not afford themselves here are well taken care of and assisted by many government agencies and other private philanthrophic groups or the many religious charitable institutions.  Yet still we have too many people feeling distraught and misguided.  Thus taking their own lives.

We might be materialistically rich but very impoverished spiritually.  Many youngsters felt unloved with no parents caring for them.  Most of them from broken families, misguided youngsters in the midst of a materialistic society where the priorities have become mistakenly lopsided.  For them there was no joy in life.  Many of them just lost the reason to live.

This is just one of the products of our morally bankrupt society today.  Too much emphasis on materialistic values.  Many forgot that there are more important aspects of life such as the happiness of being love.  Man does not live by bread alone. What is life without love?
 

Sentimental Journey

By Henry L. Yu, M.D., Batch 1969

Mention the word SUMMER and chances are that these songs will remind you of that mecca of a hot and sweaty climate of Iligan air.  Songs like "Summer Holiday" by Cliff Richard that says "We're all going on a summer holiday, no more working for a week or two, fun and laughter on a summer holiday, no more worries for me or you, for a week or two." Or "The Things We Did Last Summer" or "There's a Summer Place".  Or that line of a song entitled "Sealed with a Kiss" that says "'Tho we gotta say goodbye for the summer, darling I promised you this, l'll send you all my love, everyday in a letter, sealed with a kiss."

Yeees! it's summertime once again!  And my memories are brought back to those days when the scorching heat of the afternoon sun would make us sweat no end, those summer months in the city of Iligan in the '60s when we were then the carefree teenagers, when all we did was enjoy the best of the season, when the world was young, and all that mattered to us was how to spend summer - a real break from books, homeworks, exams, notebooks, experiments, ad nauseatum.

Summertime in the 60s started right after the closing of school, from end of March to first week of June.  It was one occasion we always looked forward to with seemingly endless excitement and thrills because summer meant FUN, FUN and more FUN.  For one, there was the tabanog craze which we personally made out of old newspapers or colorful Japanese paper along with brook sticks tied with fine silky threads.  And presto, it was up, up and away!  We played it in the vast field of LCHS grounds or in our backyard where the air was less polluted, when the haze and maze, and the El Niño phenomenon were yet unheard of.

But there was more to summer in the 60s than flying kites.  Other things that meant so much to us during this hot season were:  swimming at Timoga or Saray or Linamon.  Just how we loved the sun, never mind the second degree burn that we usually experienced after each outing.  Or those bowling sessions we had at Jacqueline's or Sampaguita Lanes where we played by teams, the losers being the ones to pay the fees at P2.50 per lane per game.  A merienda of chicken sandwich and ice cold Coke would cap our day feeling satisfied and happy. Or those biking sessions to Pala-o, passing by Quezon Avenue, to Kim San, to the city hall; or from Tibanga towards Hinaplanon.  And not to forget those jam sessions, dancing to the tunes of Dave Clark Five's hits, or Gary Lewis or Herman Hermits, and other danceable hits.  It was time to buy song Cavalcade songhits (selling then at P2.50 a copy) or reading Graphic or Expressweek brought at Captain's newsstand located in front of the police station near the fire department.  A snack of boiled mais (at 0.25 cents each) with matching Coke would make our day of summer fun. (Continued next issue)
 

Most people talk about people.  Others talk about ideas.  Of the people I have known, only a few come close to fit the latter.  One such person was Yolando Siao (Batch '64).

I had my first lasting impression of Lando back in the mid-60s when I was in high school. He was among top campus personalities featured in the Sunday Variety Magazine of The Manila Times.  He was then an Economics student at the Far Eastern University. With that national prominence, he became the talk of the town in Iligan, a pride to his family and friends, and a source of inspiration to town mates like me.

Since then I hadn't heard about Yolando until 1968 when I was pursuing college education in Cebu. He had graduated from the FEU and was back in Iligan working at the Kim San Company.  While in Cebu, I founded the LCHS Spectrum and was struggling to keep the publication afloat due to financial constraints.  Among the first few alumni who came to our rescue was Lando.  He volunteered to assist the fledgling newsletter by helping raise funds among LCHS alumni.  He also approached the LCHS principal, Tan Lian Hun, for financial aid.  His efforts paid off and the Spectrum continued steadily on its course.

At the height of my involvement in student activism the following year, I found myself transported back to Iligan and was enrolled at the St. Michael's College.  My forced exile brought Yolando and I together.  He had also enrolled at the SMC to pursue further studies in evening classes after work and I had passed the school exams to become editor of the SMC student publication, the Sword & Shield.

On many occasions we found ourselves together in the forefront of many campus activities and school debates.  In pursuit of our shared vision to encourage friendly interaction among Filipino and Chinese students at SMC, we organized the Iligan Student Amity Association.  Together, we led the group that later grew in membership to include students from other schools.

Lando was a man who loved to grapple with issues of significance and matters of consequence. The hotter the issues, the more relentlessly he pursued the debate. Our ideas often clashed.  He did not always agree with my militant advocacy in the school paper. Often he would pick an issue of our school paper and engaged me in endless discussion of my articles on student activism and U.S. imperialism. Neither did I agree with him on several issues confronting the times.  More often than not, he would prove me wrong. Yet despite our disagreement on issues, there was harmony in our friendship.  He called me his "sparring partner", not in drinking sessions or boxing bouts, but in intellectual discourses. (Continued next issue)