Internet Newsletter of the Alumni of Lanao Chung Hua School Vol. 3, No. 8, July 12, 1999, Iligan City, Philippines FAREWELL TO A LEADER LCHS-AA director passes away By Johnny Chen (Batch '83) & Igdono Caracho (Batch '66) LCHS alumni director Dy Sun Kang passed away in Cebu City last July 2. He breathed his last at the age of 70 at the Cebu Chong Hua Hospital after a lingering illness. He is survived by his wife Hui Bian, and children Kelly, Ritky, Willy, Jane, Jocelyn, Janet, and Juvy.  Sun Kang was an active civic leader and a pioneering director of the LCHS-AA. He was involved in various alumni activities for many years. The LCHS Alumni Scholarship Fund was his brainchild. He was one of the prime movers of the Lanao Filipino Chinese Volunteer Fire Brigade. He was proprietor of the Iligan Shoe Center (formerly Dy Cham Shoe Store). The Spectrum staff joins the entire LCHS community in mourning the demise of a dedicated leader, and expresses its profound condolences to his family. LCHS alumni hold vigil for Dy Sun Kang By Roger Suminguit (Batch '73) Officers and members of the LCHS-AA, led by president Arturo Samson, held a vigil at the wake of Dy Sun Kang. Alumni representing different batches were present to pay their last respect. Dy Sun Kang was laid to rest at the Iligan Chinese Cemetery last July 7, after a requiem mass at the St. Michael's Cathedral. Dy Sun Kang can be best remembered for having led LCHS alumni in the pursuit of better objectives. We certainly lost a great leader. We pray for his eternal rest.

EDITORIAL STAFF Charles O. Sy, Editor Henry L. Yu, Associate Editor Correspondents: Iligan - Johnny Chen, Alfred Lai II, Teresita Racines & Vinson Ngo. 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 Founded Aug. 1, 1968. Published fortnightly since its revival on April 15, 1997. Distributed free to LCHS alumni, friends 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. E-mail: johnchen@iligan.com For submission of manuscripts, E-mail: charlesy@cnms.net 55 WEEKS to Grand Homecoming

Dr. Henry L. Yu (Batch '69) has been appointed as new director for Continuing Medical Education (CME) of the Metro Cebu Community Hospital (MCCH), effective July 1, 1999. The appointment came in time after he completed his term as president of the Cebu Medical Society last June 30. Henry would have been the medical director of MCCH had he been a member of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) which runs the MCCH. Starting October this year, Henry will also assume another position as regional director of Sunlife of Canada's Third Party Administration Program, a new trend that facilitates payments of hospital bills and doctors' professional fees incurred on patients from  manufacturing industries nationwide who are members of Sunlife's TPA program. He is also a part-time instructor of the Cebu Institute of Medicine, Dept. of Physiology, and vice president of the Philippine Diabetes Association, Cebu Chapter.

A big loss to the community
Sat, 03 Jul 1999 23:30 +800

My condolences to the family of Dy Sun Kang. I remember him as a very amiable person, pleasant to be with, and always ready to give discount on the shoes my father bought for me during my childhood days. In my mind, he was always "Mr. Angtibay." His demise is surely a big loss to the Iligan Chinese Filipino community.

Rene Tio (Batch '70), Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, fishers@cdo.weblinq.com

Gosh, it's been eons ago that the Sociology marker "Bayanihan Spirit" was a breathing terminology in my isolated Western world. Indeed, the all-out call to arms by madame Marie Josiefel Q. Ello (Spectrum, June 28, 1999 issue) deserves the headline treatment of our paper and, most importantly, the ringing in our ears. Hopefully, it rekindles our sense of volunteerism and individual worth. After all, to duplicate the fabulous Musketeers' fame, we need to synchronize our chorus, "All for one, one for all." And the beat goes on ...

Ernesto L. Yu (Batch '65), Buffalo, New York, U.S.A., Ernstyu49@aol.com

Thank you for appreciating the article of my daughter Janiefer. She is really a courageous young woman. Actually all my four kids share the same quality. I raised them in such a way that they could stand on their own. I think you will agree with me that this is the only way to earn respect and admiration. They were brought up with only the bare necessities, and none of the material luxuries that kids their age enjoyed. But I thank God that it did not diminish the spirit in them; it even enhanced their self-discipline. So again thank you very much.

Fe Dy Quimbo, Iligan, Philippines

The article "1983 - The Year That Was" by Marie Josiefel "Jojo" Ello (Spectrum, June 28, 1999 issue) brings back memories of our good old days. Jojo is one of the very good classmates of ours. She never says no whenever she's asked for help. She is the kind of person who can really bring us high with laughter. Members of our batch are very close with each other. We often have monthly gatherings. Among those who are always present are Jojo Ello & Boyan Ello, Jorlyn Sy, Judy Tan Enriquez & Elson Enriquez, Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Ang, Mr. and Mrs. Marlon Acedo, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Chiu, Mr. and Mrs. Eugine Taongan, Steward Co and his girlfriend Bang-Bang, Samuel Padayhag (whenever he is in town, he never misses to call us for a get-together, and myself (but no girlfriend yet, still looking). Yes, we had fun playing patintero and some Japanese games. These are moments we can never forget. In our June 26 gathering, there were suggestions that our batch hold family get-together twice a month, and play the old games we used to play; to let the new generation know that not only high-tech games are enjoyable but also the traditional games of our good old days. "Kami na gud ni" po ito taga barangay batch 1983!

Vinson T. Ngo (Batch '83), Iligan, Philippines, vinson@iligan.com

Our grand alumni homecoming is 57 weeks away and inching closer to reality. I am impressed by the article "Coming Home to a Homecoming" by Charles O. Sy (Spectrum, June 14, 1999 issue). It is also the way I feel about what the homecoming affair should be. Pretty soon each one of us will be seeing each other to rekindle those treasured moments of our LCHS days. I look forward to the success of our grand homecoming.

Roger Suminguit (Batch '73), Iligan, Philippines, r_suminguit@mailcity.com

The following batch listing is supplied by the Reunion Steering Committee based on available school records and other individual resources. If you notice any names missing, please bring them to the attention of the Steering Committee or the Spectrum.

BATCH 1978:  Jose Andaquig; James Chu; Regalado Chua; Luz Dagondon; Johnny Delorino; Sun Che Dy; Jocelyn Dy; Judith Dy; Normita Dy; James Khu; Maria Carolina Lee; Maria Carla Ong; Charita Riveral; William Sy; and Emmanuel Yu.

BATCH 1979:  Philip Bernardo; Bradly Chio; Anita Chiu; Allan Chiu; Alma Mae Cortez; Teresita Dagondon; Virginia Doronila; Richard Dy; Faustino Escalante Jr.; Melvin Fabiana; Marlon Co; Nannette Lim; Jurito Lim; Tony Lueong; Anthony Sy; Allan Uy; Bobby Uy; and Antonio Wong.

BATCH 1980:  Egylyn Bazar; Alexander Bernardo; Guat Bing Chiu; Jocelyn Chu; Sheila Dagondon; Janet Dy; Felda Escalante; May Lim; Jerry Ling; Leonardo Pancho; James Racines; Precila Rosario; Mary Evelyn So; Kenton Sua; Maria Teresa Sy; Caroline Sy; and Jocelyn Tan.  (To be continued)

Alumni whereabouts

Former LCHS teacher Felipe Oh is back in Cagayan de Oro City. He is on vacation from Troy, Michigan, U.S.A., where he works as manager in charge of analysis at General Motors. He taught at LCHS from 1965 to 1966. Lyndon Ngo (Batch '82) is in Taipeh, Taiwan, where he is the export manager for material handling equipment of a big company. Also in Taiwan is Maribel Mecina (Batch '82), who runs a Filipino grocery store with her Taiwanese husband. Now pursuing a successful career in computer technology is Wilford "Hong Kiat" Lim (Batch '75). Together with a group of computer engineers, he runs Network Solutions, Inc., a company that provides computer systems and networking solutions in Edison, New Jersey, U.S.A.  Alumni couple Johnny "Haytoy" Ling and Cristina Tecson Ling are now residents of Vancouver, Canada. Johnny is the younger brother of the late Jimmy Ling, and Cristina is the younger sister of Gloria Tecson. They moved to Vancouver recently. Johnny is working at the Vancouver International Airport.  Victor "Siopao" Yu (Batch '68) is now a grandpa. Gina Valencia, wife of his eldest son Albert Valencia, gave birth to a pretty baby girl in Cebu City last July 2. Albert is pursuing a successful career as a medical representative of a pharmaceutical company in Cebu.

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

How do we dig solutions to our daily allowances of disorienting problems and stinging pricks without trusted kins or able trouble-shooters in our camp? As Frank Sinatra used to croon, "I did it my way." We attribute our dilemma-coping strategies to creativeness. We "create" the moments to prioritize our needs: If the car's intermittent engine knocks percolate so much anxiety, we consult an auto specialist on the dot, foregoing a neighbor's "C'mon over the fence" backyard barbecue invitation; if one of the boys spikes a fever with alarming signs and symptoms, one of us has to waste a vacation day or two to nurse the ailing boarder; if it shapes a merry clown out of Sean's face to have us witness his devastating tennis backhand in a school tournament, we'd gladly postpone an earlier date with the mattress even if we had an equally disastrous night call in the hospital. We have perfected this cool adaptation and mastered the doctrines of give-and-take behavior, designing our lives to revolve around us, out of necessity. Somehow, we are able to respond to the bell dazed-but-fighting-back from the dizzying jabs of the chest-thumping, migraine-inducing rounds of being alive. Definitely, it is Course 101 on how to speed up the refinement of one's maturity state and how to glue one's feet solidly vertical against all odds. Those who brave the random squirts of these day-in-and-day-out intimidations either have to split their skulls for those instinctive survival skills or recalibrate their psyche through regular electric shock therapies! And you presume Western civilization is all blooming roses and no thorns?

With a smorgasbord of religious choices, how do you direct your family's Christian faith? Once, mind you, we were pious Catholics circulating around a purely Protestant Silliman University campus. We accomplished our academic and social missions without compromising our Sabbath days. It is a fact that in America we have all brands of religious affiliations (Jehovah's Witness, Baptist, Mormon, Athetist ...). You proclaim your personal favorite and channel your beliefs along the tenets of such spiritual movement. We raise our kids in the Old and New Bible patterns, in the dogma that we are all flowers of one Almighty irregardless of color or creed. They grew up enrolled in Saturday's cathechism school and progressed to the status of altar boys. Just visualize tiny mischievous devils in angelic garb priding themselves with halos that were contaminants from their dad's own designer's glow (not the bald spot, moron!) who'd been a mass server himself during his Dumaguete City era. We learned to chat with God when the going is paved and clear and when the cross weighs a ton. We lavish on the poetry of our every trickle of miniature triumphs and consider every doom a tool that tests the tensile strength of our sacred devotion. For to cultivate the Lord in your inner sanctum is like having the Force splatter colorful meanings to your earthly existence. Life is beautiful. With our share, we plan to preserve it that way.

By Leonardo "Eddie" Tan, Batch '66

For weeks now, Australia in general, and Sydney in particular, is the epicenter of a great emotional explosion sparked by the controversy of the international marching bands for the opening ceremony of Sydney Olympics, which is about 14 months away.

The opening salvo has become a major attraction in recent olympics. A ticket for such an event here next year costs $1,365, roughly equivalent to a round trip ticket between Sydney and Los Angeles. The detail of the ceremony is a closely guarded secret, known only to a few top honchos of the organizing committee. The head of the opening and closing ceremonies is the same genius guy who gave us the 84 grand pianos of the 1984 Los Angeles games, the archer who shot the burning arrow that lighted the Barcelona games in 1992, and the same guy who directed the thousand of spectacular marching bands that ushered in the last Atlanta games in 1996, namely Ric Birch, an Australian.

But how can you keep secret a ceremony that involves 10,000 participants in a show that will last around 3 hours with about a year to go? It is impossible! Eventually, the media got a tip that Mr. Birch intended to import 1,200 American marching bands, along with 300 Japanese, plus 500 Australians, making a total of 2,000 young boys and girls aging between 15 and 17 welcoming the athletes of the world into the biggest stadium of the olympic ever. The magic number 2,000 marching bands is emblematic of the year 2000. This caused an uproar across the Australian continent! The overwhelming public opinion is that only Australians should comprise the bands. But Mr. Ric Birch stood firm that there was no time to teach additional young Aussies to do the American style marching which is a strict 22-inch steps. More uproars! Why should we adopt the American style here when we should showcase the best Australian way of marching? The Sydney Organizing Committee swiftly moved to withdraw the invitation to the American and the Japanese marching bands to stop the public furor. In Barcelona, Sarah Brightman, an English woman, sang without any controversy. Likewise, Celine Dion, a Canadian, performed at Atlanta, and the Americans accepted her as their own. Mr. Birch intended to use whoever are the best in the world. Are Australians narrow minded? Mr. Birch has offered his resignation. He had never experienced such difficult dealings in the past except here in Sydney. He is praised everywhere in the world but has been humiliated and embarrassed in his own country!

I am really at a lost here. I am with the minority in the belief that the Olympic is an international event and since invitations were already made, so be it. We have to honor it. We could accommodate them in a segment of about 10 minutes in a ceremony lasting more than 3 hours with 10,000 participants. I really don't understand this, especially from a country whose head of state is a foreign monarch reigning in a supposedly independent country for almost a century! Now the Americans are fighting back, especially the state of California where the bulk of American marching bands are supposed to be coming from. The American kids were so excited to play a part in the Olympic opening ceremony since they were invited as early as September last year. They have been saving precious dollars by washing cars and selling cakes their mom baked and playing their musical instruments to raise more money. Their parents have to cancel their vacations to save for the Sydney trip. Americans have to fund their own trip here and it will cost them $3,000 each. So if the Sydney Olympic Committee would not reverse its decision, they will campaign for the boycott of the games. They will start writing giant American corporate sponsors to persuade them to reassess their sponsorship. Some newspaper columnists in California have started calling Australians names. And we have yet to hear from the polite Japanese.

The war of the marching bands has begun!

By Aurora H. Tansiokhian, M.D., Batch '58

20Jun99
2200
Late last night I came back from a field military exercise at Fort Polk, Louisiana (LA) as a member of a Combat Support Hospital.  It was an exercise I would not have selected to participate in if I had a choice.  However, I was glad I did.  I survived albeit dead tired, with a few insect bites, much sleep deprivation, and some heat exhaustion.  Participants flew in from as far as Australia and Hawaii. There were about 7000 players mostly from the various branches of the military, but also some civilians.  As always, I came out with new experiences, some I can tell others, a few I shall keep to myself.

Today, I woke up after a 15-hour sleep.  I gave thanks for being safe at home.

Military reality started when I was met at the airport by Sergeant Allen and driven to the "rear" at Fort Polk, which was an hour away.  I changed to my BDU (battle dress uniform-camouflage) but waited 2 days to be driven to "The Box" which was part of the "combat zone" and where the hospital was located. The long wait gave me the most severe headache in my life. It went away after I got busy at the hospital.  A nurse called it "boredom" headache.  Hurry up and wait is one of the realities of military life.

I was issued equipment as soon as I arrived.  I was lucky to have arrived after the main hospital body.  The "tent city" was already in place.  I did not have to sleep on the ground.  Outside the tent and during "enemy attacks", we wore Kevlar helmets equipped with "MILES" which is a 2-piece laser sensor.  We carried a "MILES" card, which was to be opened only upon one becoming a casualty.  It stated what type of injury one had received.  I opened mine after I left "The Box" and it stated KIA (killed in action).

I had to put 2 controlling white male physicians in their places.  Said a female soldier, "I am glad you did it Ma'am.  It's about time.  We are all behind you."

We slept in cots and mostly in full uniform.   My helmet was my pillow.  There was enough water in the "water buffalo" for drinking to prevent heat injuries.  I filled my water canteen many times a day.  For 3 days we had a shower tent then it was "bombed".  There were enough Porta-Johns (portable toilets), toilet paper and water to wash.  We had 2 hot meals a day and I enjoyed the dinners.  We were issued MREs (meals-ready-to-eat) for lunch.  MRE is a complete meal with a heater in a  plastic package.  I saved one for my brother, Calix Tan and one for Rene Tio.

I was driven out of "the Box" in a tactical vehicle (Humvee). I had a big smile after passing the last wire barrier.  Indoor plumbing at last and I can take off my dirty boots!

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

Yo!  It's the same title of that song we used to sing way back our younger days. It bespeaks of things we did for once in our life. Surely, there are a lot of these stuffs being piled up and stashed in our memory bank along with the cobwebs of yesteryears.

For once in your life, you do remember how it is to be a first communicant, to stand in front of a huge crowd to recite a poem, a declamation piece, the Panatang Makabayan, or conducting for the Pambansang Awit during flag ceremony.  You sure do remember the feelings of being an ice breaker during jam sessions, being an emcee in a program, delivering the valedictory address on your graduation, being interviewed by the school's dean when you applied for college, that time you took the entrance exam, or when you applied for a job. You sure do remember the feelings of being the groom anxiously waiting for the bride at the altar, your honeymoon days, your first time to become parents, being president of your civic or professional group, the feelings of stage fright abounding, being in a place of unknown people, shaking hands with top guns and other distinguished personalities.

All these first times in our lives proved to be the most unforgettable mainly because we didn't know then what it would be like, how it would feel, how we would react. If you try to recall the days of your youth, certainly there are a lot of these.  The memories of childhood fantasies and exuberance are too good to be forgotten. Deep in us, we long for those times when the world was much simpler, more peaceful, with us being innocent and carefree, young enough to commit mistakes, and learn some things in the process. Truly, we are what we have been. You become what you are today from the upbringing that you had, from the youthful exposures and adventures that you've been to. History is indeed our passage to our present and to the future that we will have to face as we go on with life and living.

How nice it is to reminisce such indescribable feelings that surely make us smile, laugh, or cry. There's wonder and magic even if they happened a long long time ago. It makes us young again, for once in our life. And for those of us born in the 50s, here's a list of songs which I'm sure will help you recapture our youth and the memories behind each song. So, stay tuned and listen: where were you when these songs were the hits, what were you doing then, whom were you with?

1959 - We were then in grade I. The top hits were "April Love; "Que Sera Sera"; "Some Enchanted Evening"; "Love Letters".  1960 - "Tender is the Night"; "Stardust".  <1961 - "Wooden Heart"' "It's Now or Never"; "Oh Carol"; "Diana".  1962 - "Sad Movies"; "Crazy" "Aldela".  1963 - "Walk Away"; "From Russia with Love"; "A Hard Day's Night". 1964 - "There's Always Me"; "Downtown"; "The End of the World". 1965 - "To Sir with Love"; "The Sound of Music". 1966 - "Black is Black"; "Diamond Ring"; "Gimme aa Little Sign". 1967 - "Bus Stop"; "Homeward Bound"; "Sitting in the Park". 1968 - "Cherry Red"; "I Love How You Love Me"; "Love Means You Never Have to Say You're Sorry".  1969 - "Traces"; "Deep in My Heart"; "Together Again"; "Two Lovely Flowers".  1970 - "Close to You"; "Love Story"; "A Time for Us".  1971 - "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". 1972 - "Masquerade"; "Can't We Just Stop and Talkk a While".

And many many more songs that will surely remind us of what, how and where we have been. With these songs, our yesterdays reverberate back to today's high tech era - the plastic age (credit cards, ATMs, foncard, touchcard), McDo, cellphone, beeper, computers, internet, e-mail, etc. These are some of the things we never had when we were kids. But we're catching up anyway. So, who says we're old? Only our age moves. Yo! we are yesterday's kids, today's parents, and tomorrow's lolos and lolas. And you cannot just throw away memories ... for once in your life!

The house we used to live in - the second floor of Chen Liong textile store - caught fire on one Christmas eve when I was around five years old. The only thing that we were able to run off with were the pajamas we were wearing. The fire was too sudden and too swift for us to even go back for anything else. The following day we didn't even have anything to change into.

I just don't exactly remember when that bag of clothes arrived at the house but when we opened it and saw all those clothes, well, we just couldn't wait to wear them.  My mother said that it was from Fanny Lim's mother and that they were Fanny's clothes.  For us it was like Santa Claus just arrived late that year.

What really caught my eyes was one particular dark-blue, long dress adorned with tiny white dots and white-laced apron. Well, it was too long for me at that time.  I was really looking forward to the day when I could wear that dress.  Because when that bag arrived only my elder sister, Jojo, could fit into those clothes.  I was still too small.  So it was only after several more years that I was finally able to wear that dress, and by that time some things were already missing. Yet, for me I could still see it as the way it was the day it arrived; just perfect.

That dress was in perfect condition when it was given to us.  So it taught me that when giving to charity or to some disaster victims, give something that is still usable to the recipient; not something too worn out or too dilapidated.

That dress taught us the value of sharing and the virtue of generosity.  It also made us want to excel in school to be able to really "fit" into that dress whose previous owner was known as an excellent student in school.  I know my mother already gave away our clothes a long time ago. That dress was one of them.  I just hope that it's somewhere out there hanging inside a little happy girl's closet and that she may treasure it the way we did.

This may be 24 years late, but I just want to send my heartfelt thanks to Ms. Fanny Lim (Batch '81) and her mother for those clothes, and for all that that particular blue dress stood for and taught us.