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Internet Newsletter of the Alumni of Lanao Chung Hua School
Iligan, Philippines, Year 5, Issue No.14, October 8, 2001
WEBSITE STATS
How viewers browse the Spectrum

WebSince the Spectrum Home Page moved its web site to Geo-Cities, U.S.A. as its official host server in February this year, it registered 3,374 visitors, as of Sept. 30, 2001.  Latest statistics provided by Geo-Cities also shows that the highest number of visitors was recorded in June with 498 hits.  The lowest was in May with 345 hits.  Of these visitors, 93.32% access the web page from links made available in other web sites and search engines.  On the other hand, subscription to the Spectrum by e-mail suffered a decline during the year.  From 209 subscribers at the beginning of the year, the number of subscribers dropped to 166 as of  Sept. 30, 2001. The decline is attributed mainly to subscribers who changed ISPs without notifying the Spectrum of their new e-mail addresses.  Meanwhile, the LCHS Alumni Home Page, which remains hosted by Iliganet, has not been updated since February 2001.  Recent system modifications at Iliganet has rendered its server inaccessible for remote file or data transfers. For this reason, the Spectrum has ceased to update the LCHS alumni website and has left it to Iliganet to administer the site.

EDITORIAL STAFF
Henry L. Yu, Editor 
Correspondents: Roger Suminguit, Teresita Racines, Vinson Ngo & Johnny Chen (Iligan); Igdono Caracho (Cebu);  Marie Janiefer Lee (Manila); Peter Dy (Canada); Leonardo Tan (Australia); Ernesto Yu & Aurora Tansiokhian (U.S.A.); and Charles O. Sy, Editorial Consultant
Founded Aug. 1, 1968. Published fortnightly since its revival on April 15, 1997. Distributed free on the Internet to LCHS alumni & supporters worldwide. Postal address: LCHS Alumni Association, Lanao Chung Hua School, Pala-o, Iligan City, Philippines. Web site:
www.geocities.com/lchsspectrum
Spectrum welcomes articles, news reports & comments from LCHS alumni, students and readers. For contribution or subscription, contact: Roger Suminguit, tel. 221-2422; Teresita Racines, tel. 221-3253, or Henry Yu, Suite 101, Visayas Community Medical Center, Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City 6000, Philippines; E-mail: hvty@skyinet.net
Clarification on raffle ticket
By Roger Suminguit (Batch '73)

The sales commission for the LCHS-AA Christmas raffle tickets sold per booklet, if remitted between Nov. 16 and Dec. 15, is 10%, and not 15%, as reported earlier in the Spectrum, Sept. 24, 2001 issue.  For sales remittances made before Nov. 15, the commission is 20%, provided, in both cases, the sales cover whole booklets.  Revenues from the ticket sales are earmarked for the Scholarship Program of the LCHS Alumni Foundation, Inc.itted between Nov. 16 to Dec. 15. No commission will be given for remittances made after Dec. 15.

Alumnus cops top honors
By Rene Tio (Batch '70)

For anyone familiar with Cebu's Centre for International Education (CIE), this is the prime school for child education. It is said that the tuition fee here is as high as getting college education in universities like La Salle or Ateneo de Manila.  Its buildings feel like one is in America, because it is cool as in "air conditioned," so that the students have coat and tie as uniform. The news is:  Kirk Patrick Ang, new LCHS alumnus and new transferee to CIE, copped the First Honors in their first grading as freshman. This made his dad, Charles "Amboy" Ang (Batch '71), really very pleased.  Here is a secret:  Catch the dad soonest, ask for a big treat!

Tracers

Enter the terminator

Having troubles with termites in your store or household? Here's one good news. Architect & enterpreneur Edmund Samson (Batch '76), who owns Edsa Architecture, Inc., Cebu City, recently embarked on a new venture.  He has established an outfit called Biotech Advanced Pest Control Philippines, Inc.  His new company specializes in termite eradication with the application of a new technology developed by Sentricon Termite Colony Elimination System.  Unlike traditional termicides, Sentricon eradicates a termite colony by monitoring termite foraging activity and lodging chemical induced "bait tubes" underground in strategic places of the infested area.  Meanwhile, Suniel Lim (Batch '66), the moving spirit behind the successful GAH 2000, is back home in Iligan after spending about six months overseeing the operations of the Cagayan de Oro City branch of Lian Hong Company, Inc.  He is now with the main office of Lian Hong Company in Pala-o, Iligan City.  Meanwhile, Suniel's second daughter, Peachy Lim, has joined the NEC Technologies Philippines, Inc., located at the Mactan Export Processing Zone in Lapulapu City, Cebu.  A scholar and graduate of Information Technology from the MSU-IIT, Peachy is now assistant finance officer of the giant Japanese electronics firm.  Soon to be heading for India is Henry Dy (Batch '64), for the Asia Pacific (Aspac) Boy Scouts Conference.  Henry might throw his hat into the ring as running mate of Mayor Jojo Binay, who is a candidate for president of Aspac Boy Scouts.
 
Henry Life's Journey
By Henry L. Yu, M.D.
Batch '69

The Art of Appreciation

Life is a dramedy, a combination of drama and comedy, consisting of the agony and ecstasy.  Oftentimes, in our professional life, we come across several people on several occasions that dramatize the reality of life and living.  We do things out of our profession or do them in the name of friendship and camaraderie. We "smile though our heart is aching, even though it’s breaking" or “wiped it dry when they cried a tear, cleared their minds when they’re confused, or gave them strength to stand alone again.”  But what do we get in return? Nothing as in nada or nothing follows. Not that we expect people to reciprocate our good deeds with expensive material things. A simple card of thanks or some nice words to that effect would suffice. But the sad reality is such that our good deeds sometimes go unnoticed probably because people become so entangled with the businesses of living or the word appreciation simply isn’t just part of their vocabulary. Truly, there are just people who don’t know how to say such simple words as “thank you”.  And these are the people whom we consider unforgettable. Yes, unforgettable in the sense that they are as thankless as any Pepe, Pilar, or Nena in this world. They are the same people who befriend us for personal gain, the very kind of species who forget all about our heroic deeds with just one mistake committed by us maybe out of omission. Take for example the life of a doctor. Day in and day out, they see patients. They manage those many ailments to the best of their knowledge and abilities. But human as they are, they are no perfect individuals. They also fail and falter at one time or the other. Human nature is such that one mistake would make people forget the hundreds of good deeds they’ve done to save a life.

As human beings, we do have certain needs that ought to be fulfilled in order to attain happiness. Among these many human needs, one stands out – the need to be appreciated. Appreciation is an art, which, like anything else, has to be learned and developed through the years of our existence. Let’s face it, we do things in order to be appreciated.  That’s why we buy and wear those brand name shirts because we want to look good. People are not interested about the price of that apparel or whether it’s an old or new one. So why say “Mura lang ito” or “Luma na ito” whenever friends comment about how nice our shirt is? We don’t want people to accuse us of being conceited.  That’s why we often tell them “Nabili ko lang ito sa tabi tabi” instead of saying “thank you”.  We always would want to sound modest and humble. But are we really? I still have to meet somebody who doesn’t want to be appreciated for the good things he has done or for the shirt he is wearing. Why is this so is traceable to the ways we were brought up through our childhood exposures. Time and again, our teachers and elders have emphasized to us the virtue of humility. But what constitute true humility? Definitely, pretension is not humility, but rather accepting reality, rejoicing in one’s achievements and accepting one’s failures.

Part of being human is the fact that we like to have friends who know how to appreciate the good person in us and the wonderful things we do. We consider them our alalays, our fans, our best friends. In like manner, we abhor those who are critical about our looks and ways. For who would want to befriend somebody who has nothing but a litany of negative criticisms towards our personality? Men, in general, are born egoistic. It is the love of self that creates pride, ego, conceit, and self-centeredness. One’s name is the sweetest word in man’s life. That’s why we like so and so because he calls us by our first name, he remembers our birthday, he always has good things to say about us, etc. Proof that we really love ourselves more than anybody else. Yes, “Charity begins at home.” You have to love yourself first before you can love others. In short, love begets love. But loving oneself too much is another story, an obsession that eventually develops into being self-centered, greedy, and conceited to the point of forgetting all others.

Now try to look back. How many of those classmates of ours back in high school or college did we like being with because they formed a mutual admiration club with us? How many times have we gifted them with beautiful souvenir items of friendship, of the memories of our love? As we become professionals, get married, and have a family of our own, same things happen. We want people to acknowledge and admire the little or big things we have done or achieved. In marriage, the art of appreciation likewise plays an important role to attain a happy and successful married life. The secret lies in appreciating the cooking of your wife, the little thoughtful things, or the talents of your husband. If and when you have to criticize, do it in a constructive manner, at the right time and place. Always push up the positive traits and focus less on the negative ones. And remember, the way to a person’s heart is through his/her ego.
 
Straight from the Heart
By Marie Janiefer Q. Lee
Batch '87

A Night with Joe

The first time I heard the song Tell Me Your Name back in high school got me hooked on  Jose Mari Chan. From then on my ears would ring differently whenever I hear that distinct Joe Mari melody.  It seems that his songs are so catchy that it will stick in my head all day long and I’d end up humming unconsciously. And most of all, his songs never fail to wake up the dreamer in me.

When I learned that he was having a concert at the Westin Philippine Plaza, I knew that I have to see him. I feel that it’s a chance of a lifetime, something that I shouldn’t miss.  On the concert night itself it was raining so hard and vis-à-vis, it was bumper to bumper traffic all over the city.  I was already on the edge of my seat on the way to the hotel because we were already running late.  I already lost count of the number of red lights we beat just to get to the concert. We got there just when they were starting to play the first number which was Love at Thirty Thousand Feet. We could hear it from the hallway and my legs suddenly grew a pair of wings.  As we entered the dimly lit ballroom gasping for air I was stunned by the sea of faces.  It was a full house. Thank goodness I bought the tickets a few days ahead.

That night I learned something new about Joe Mari, and that he is not just a superb singer and songwriter but also a good comedian.  He takes a break from his repertoire by cracking a joke one after another.  He was so funny and so good at it that at some point I thought he forgot that he was supposed to sing that night. In one of his water-break he made a toast and he said, “To our wives and mistresses ... may they never meet.”  As the audience broke into a roar of laughter, he said his late father has a better one and it goes like this: “To our wives and sweethearts ... may our wives be always our sweethearts and may our sweethearts be our wives.”

The other major thing I learned that night is that Joe Mari is really a Chinese.  All these years I thought he is somebody who just has a Chinese-sounding name.  Just like Pamela Anderson Lee, not related to me of course for obvious reasons.  I just never thought that he could really speak Chinese. But that night when he was looking for his surgeon-friend from the audience he was speaking in fluent Chinese.  That’s when the bisdak (bisayang daku) in me came out, when I blurted out a loud “hala ka!

When he sung his all time hits like Refrain and Deep in My Heart. I couldn’t help but feel so kilig-to-the bones.  It feels like being a schoolgirl once again.  Back when just the mere sight of one’s crush would send one’s heart soaring. Back when “falling in love” was still a big mystery, when life was so full of promise and ideals.

As he sung his other hits like Afterglow and A Love To Last a Lifetime.  I couldn’t stop myself from singing along.  I know that I must have ruined the night of those people around me but I just couldn’t stop myself.  Though looking back I know that everybody was as spellbound as I was that I don’t think they noticed the croaking voice right next to them.  For all I know the person next to me must have been singing his heart out too and I didn’t even notice.

The night spent with Joe Mari was indeed a night to remember.  It was a night full of love and hope. Just what our world needs right now, in this time of so much uncertainty and hatred.
 
Ernie moody BLUES, 14221
By Ernesto L. Yu, M.D.
Batch '65

Hello, Good Buy:  Daring to cross an international dateline at a critical period (Sept. 17) when the rubbles and dusts in New York and Washington terrorists attacks were still settling down and when most gung ho vacationers were putting travel plans on hold, it felt like me and Verna were trying hard to commit suicide to pursue our reserved spots in Continental Airlines and Air Portugal bound for Lisbon (Lisboa in Portuguesse). Transiently, we sensed a tingle in our chest when, twenty minutes after take-off from Buffalo to Newark, New Jersey, our plane has to turn back to Buffalo due to mechanical disturbance. Watching those nine firetrucks and ambulances racing towards us really rattled my heart rhythm. Holy Moses! Is this mi ultimo adios and am not in Spanish speaking state yet? The rest of our flying hours was uneventful after the security hustlers in Newark airport took away our disposable shaver (blade too tempting), nail cutter (sharp piler), eyebrow remover (could poke pilot eyes!). Lucky me, the badged men ignored my lethal karate fingers. Because only 20 (out of 25) took the Spain-Portugal bait with no second thoughts, we had so much space in our tour bus to spread our legs after those exhausting walking tours that were patterned after the deadly March of Bataan; more intimate moments with newly minted friends, especially during cocktail sessions; abundant local calories for the whole gang to savor and reload; enhanced interaction with guides who speak with charming musical accent; less episodes of missing persons in the team that logically delays departure time. Briefly, it was a hello, good buy trip for the money.

Side effect: am bloated to the max with all the tapa and paella that Madrid is famous for.

Internet Access on Drugs:  A major disability of visiting technologically infantile regions is searching for a cyberspace window. For an addict like me, my mornings would never be complete without communing with favorite pals' tender email notes. In some areas in Portugal, my thirst for Internet Cafe was like combing hell for ice! When I bumped into a barely breathing PC, the charge ($5 for 15 minutes, starts when you boot Netscape Navigator that sways like a delicate ballerina on sedatives) was pounding enough to stress my brain to think fast. True to form, I somehow have to perfect my days by reading the mind of my valued sidekicks way back home. Another sad song: I have to put in the equation the fact that Spain is 6 hours and Portugal is 5 hours ahead of New York's clock. That entails simple arithmetic, I know. But that is a profound deficiency if you don't possess even a milligram of Bert Einstein durable goods. Hence, to all my daily cheering squad, my end may be silent during those dark days but your stars have always glued rainbows in my evening skies. That's your Ernie's poetic way of bubbling "I miss you, more than you will ever know."

Hehehe na lang.

FeaturesStar

Inferiority Complex, An Inner Battle
By Evelyn Yu Go
Batch 1977

Inferiority Complex is an abnormal feeling of being inferior to other people, leading to a variety of symptoms and sometimes compensated for by overly aggressive behavior.  A person born with physical defects, mentally slow, and/or coming from a poverty-stricken family, has a higher risk to develop an inferiority complex. People would stare at her from head to toe, make fun of her without realizing how much it weakens her spirit and courage.  Many psychologists are inclined to attribute the formation of personality entirely to the operation of the cultural and physical environment.

How does it feel to be inferior?  It's like living in your own little world of misery with no self-confidence (I can't do it, I don't like changes, I don't know what to do), low self-esteem (I'm not good enough, nobody likes me), can't maintain eye contact, and with head looking down when walking, self-pity (Why I was born this way? Why is this happening to me? Poor me!), lots of inner anger and resentments (I hate myself, I'm ashamed of myself, I wish I'm dead!), self-centered (primary concern is focused on what she wants), jealous (how come she has it and I don't?), possessive (this is mine, don't touch it!), insecure, suspicious (are they talking about me?),  can't trust anybody.  In some cases, an inferior person may tend to act like she knows everything even if she doesn't or talk a lot about herself and brag.  Or play as a comedian in the crowd.  This is compensatory mechanism.  It's an inner self-struggle to win acceptance and have that sense of belonging.

Inferiority complex is a serious personality disorder problem that usually developed since childhood.  Unfortunately, parents don't see it as a problem that would require therapy like if the child has asthma, seizure disorder or cancer.  In fact, in some situations, inferiority complex developed from how the child is being raised at home -- scolded and yielded at even for little mistakes, blamed for everything, criticized, called by caricatures ("tambok" or "libat", etc.), threatened by her own parents.  Where is love in this picture?

If left unattended, inferiority complex develops over the years as the child is growing up.  Just like any chronic condition, it gets worse as time goes on.  It will have a big impact on her ability to relate to others, finding a mate, managing her career, taking care of her responsibilities.  A person with inferiority complex cannot take too much stress; she gets frustrated very easily.  She is impatient.  Some people may think she's just a spoiled brat.   Actually, she's going thru a lot of commotions deep inside her -- she's trapped in her four little corners crying out for help, but nobody hears, nobody understands.

Fighting with an inferiority complex is a win or lose battle.  It's gonna be tough. It requires a lot of determination and reinforcement to change your attitude.  Some things in life cannot be changed, but you can change your attitude towards acceptance and appreciation of what you have.  There's always something good in every person, the key is to find it and cultivate its potentials.  You may not be what you want to be, but you will become a much better person than what you thought of yourself.  Give it a try, it's worth it!  Live and enjoy life while you can. Don't just exist.  Good luck and Godbless!


Envy and Jealousy
By Cle S. Estrera, Jr., M.D.  (CIM '72)
(Last of Two Parts)

The Scourge of Envy
In Webster's dictionary, envy is defined as grudging desire for or discontent at the sight of another's excellence and advantages. An envious person wants the other person's property or value destroyed. For such value is a gnawing sore to his eye. He works to undermine the achievements of others because while such achievements symbolize one's success and happiness, they represent his own failure and weakness.

Envy distorts one's way of life. An envious person is consumed with hatred and resentment that he could no longer think of making something on his own. Instead, he re-routes his thought to the destruction and elimination of someone else's creation and production, or to keep someone from achieving. He finds satisfaction in the failures and downfall of someone he is envious of.

Envy is the desire to destroy the good all because of its goodness. For the good exposes him of his incompetence and impotence. Consider the terrorists' attacks and destruction of the World Trade Center. Why? And for what? War? For crying out loud, it's not a military institution. The World Trade Center was only the symbol of America's power, prosperity, peace, and freedom. It was an epitome of the power of the human intellect - the ability to create, design, build, annd to make an imagination a reality. But the Center also continued to expose the incompetence and impotence of other countries' envious political, religious and terrorists' leaders of whatever organizations. Unable to compete and make something on their own, these envious leaders have become consumed with its destruction. And they just did.

In prominent leaders in particular, however, it is hard to detect envy because they have become adept in being able to camouflage their envy by using the name of God and religion, or the suffering of the poor. They can readily justify the havoc and destruction they make in the name of God and in the name of people's struggles and sufferings.

Envy is a growing malignancy that the envious person would ultimately become consumed with hatred to the point of doing anything to destroy the object of envy at any cost including innocent human lives. He would usurp the minds of others and manipulate them into doing his dirty works. Making havoc and spreading terror are the only ways he knows of that can beef up his pseudo self-esteem.

Jealousy vs. Envy
Jealousy is often confused with envy the same way as envy is often confused with jealousy. Jealousy is defined in Webster's dictionary as demanding complete devotion, or distrustfully watchful. A jealous person is focused on possessing or coveting the object of jealousy because such object to him is good. On the other hand, an envious person is focused on hate and resentment because the object of envy to him is bad. It threatens to expose his dishonesty, incompetence and impotence. While the jealous person is threatened by the loss of the object, the envious person is threatened by the presence of the object. The jealous person wants to possess while the envious person wants to destroy. The basic causes of envy are laziness, lack of ambition, mental defaults and dishonesty. The underlying causes of jealousy are lack of self-confidence and insecurity.

Breaking Free
To break free from the grip of envy, one must first identify the envy.  Once identified, he must not allow laziness and dishonesty to develop within himself. He must learn to appreciate and be inspired by other individual's ability, talent, skill and achievements, and not allow hatred and resentment to grow inside him. If he wants happiness and peace of mind for himself, he must learn to appreciate and admire what is good and discard what is bad. He must also learn to live and compete with others, to be productive, to work hard and become competent enough to live independently. He must become a consumer, one who consumes part of or all of what he produces. The one who consumes without producing is not a consumer. He is a parasite. Parasitism makes one vulnerable to envy and into being manipulated by others.

To break free from the clutch of jealousy, one must learn to understand that everyone has as much rights and freedom as he has - the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - and the freedom to make a choice of his own. To kill, cheat, or steal is not just a violation of the commandments, but a violation of someone else's rights. Thus everyone has the right to make his or her own choice within reason and respect for other individual's rights. Therefore, the possession of an object must be based on the principle of negotiation that, if rational, would often end up with an agreement that both parties are happy with, akin to a win-win situation.

"Jealousy, night and day you tortured me ..."
In a relationship, jealousy is not love, and love is not being jealous. True love is unconditional. It doesn't have "ifs" and "buts". You cannot just say, "I love you if you do this and do that." Or, "I love you but you have to grow your hair long, or shave your mustache." No, that's not love. That's buying and selling. You love someone not because she becomes what you wish her to be or she does what you want her to do, but because of what she just is. You allow her to be what she is, and let her choose what makes her happy, not what makes you happy. For if you really love each other, you have to learn to trust each other. Of course, one has every reason to be upset with one's partner's infidelity and dishonesty. It's not jealousy. It's a normal human emotional reaction. Jealousy is being suspicious and getting upset of something with no rational basis.

A jealous person is an unhappy person. Being insecure, he is unable to trust himself, and thus unable to trust others. Lacking confidence,  his ego is fragile. To keep his ego intact and inflated, he strives for control and dominance instead of understanding and tolerance. Losing control to him is intolerable. When it happens, verbal abuse and violence are almost always automatic.

Finally, let me quote and paraphrase few words from the prayer of St. Francis of Assissi, "That I may seek first to understand than to be understood, to love than be loved." Thus if you don't strive to understand, why struggle to be understood? Your struggle won't be enough to convince someone to understand you. More likely, you'll only be misunderstood. And if you don't know how to love, is it wise to expect someone to love you? So learn to love first, and you will be loved. Understand first, and you'll find it easier to work your way to be understood.
 

LCHS ALUMNI DIRECTORY (20th of a Series)
The LCHS-AA, in coordination with the Spectrum, is currently updating its alumni database -- in preparation for distribution in the next GAH. The directory is presented here by batches, based on initial inputs. If you have any correction or additional data, please e-mail the Spectrum at: charlesy@i-cebu.com.ph

BATCH 1974
Stephen Ang, Merry Muffit, Aguinaldo St., Iligan City, tel. 221-3018; Crecencia Chua, Starbelle General Merchandise, Sabayle St., Iligan City, tel. 221-3314; Edelino Dagondon, Door 2, 2nd Flr. Causing Bldg., Aguinaldo St., Iligan City, tel. 221-2592; Kelly Dy, Iligan Shoe Center, Aguinaldo St., Iligan City, tels. 221-2708, 221-3158; David Dy, 29 Finland St., Loyola Grand Villas, Quezon City, tel. 412-7236, e-mail: surgeon@celebrity-club.com; Jane Dy (Wang), El Dorado Subd., Banilad, Cebu City, tel. 346-9102, e-mail: hjdywang@i-cebu.com.ph; Anita Espiritu, Door 2, 2nd Flr. Causing Bldg., Aguinaldo St., Iligan City, tel. 221-2592; Tita Go, U.S.A.; Samuel Lee, U.S.A.; Mary Grace Lee (Ybañez), Lot 13, Bldg. 1001, Road 1315, Rissa 913, Bahrain; Edgar Lim, Mindar Trading Corp., Cagayan de Oro City, tel. 724-597; Susan Ngo (Lo), Doctors' Choice Pharmacy Co., Door 124, Raintree Mall, F. Ramos St., Cebu City, tel. 254-9624; Sherley Portugaliza, Botica Sholly, Pala-o, Iligan City; Elynor Rodriguez, San Miguel Glass & Aluminum Supply, Sabayle St., Iligan City, tel. 221-3101; Helton S. Sua, Woolbright St., Beverly Hills, Lahug, Cebu City, tel. 253-4202, cell 0917-6260335, e-mail: helton@cebu.pworld.net.ph; Farley  Sy, Crown Paper & Stationers, Roxas Ave. cor. Aguinaldo St., Iligan City, tels. 221-3115, 221-2680; Miguela Sy, MCCI Corp., Assumption Heights, Iligan City; Evangeline Tan, Margosa Tubig, Zamboanga del Sur; Nida Te (Tejada), Tibanga, Iligan City, tel. 221-6380; Nelson Uy, Uy Enterprise, Cagayan de Oro City.  [Next issue: Batch 1975]
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