The LCHS Alumni Association is among the top recipients of cash donations given recently by Mr. Dy Un Suy.  Of the gift checks amounting to P82,150.00 received by Mr. Dy on the occasion of his 90th birthday celebration, he has himself added P37,850.00 to raise the pot to P120,000.00.  The sum, in turn, has been donated to the following organizations:

LCHS--P40,000; LCHS Alumni Association--P40,000; Iligan Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce--P10,000; Iligan Kien Mien (Quemoy) Association--P10,000; Cebu Long Se Dy Association--P10,000; and the Iligan Volunteer Fire Brigade--P10,000.

The donation to the LCHS Alumni Association is intended for its Scholarship Fund, which provides free tuition to deserving children of LCHS alumni in need of financial aid.  It may be recalled that businessman Stephen Gaisano earlier also donated P100,000 to the Scholarship Fund, through the efforts of Councilor Henry Dy and alumni president Dy Sio Te.  The Association is currently conducting a drive for the Scholarship Fund, which has about P400,000.00 in bank deposit.  Contributions may be sent to: LCHS Alumni Association, c/o Discovery Lights Marketing, Pala-o, Iligan City.  Contributions from Cebu may be coursed through the LCHS Spectrum.

Iligan Hosts Boy Scouts Jamborette
By Peter Dy (Batch '66)

Iligan City played host to the Biennial Councilwide Boy Scouts of the Philippines Jamborette on Oct. 22-27, 1997, at the Isaac Dandasan Sr. Memorial Camp in Bunawan. An estimated 1,800 scouts and scouters from 7 districts, 17 public secondary schools, private elementary and high schools, and various contingents from neighboring cities and provinces converged in the city for the event.

The affair started with a parade around the camp. Iligan City Mayor Alejo A. Yanez delivered the keynote speech as guest of honor, while City Councilor Henry C. Dy gave the welcome address.

Spectrum Posts Steady Growth

The readership of the Spectrum posted a steady growth in recent weeks.  The latest additions to the Spectrum's growing mailing list are: Leo Anastacio Uy Jr. (Batch '73), of Refractories Corporation of the Phils., Iligan City; Geraldine U. Tan (Batch '87), assistant manager of Joe Enterprises & Allied Services, Iligan City; Alex V. Handumon (Batch '68), doctor, Burnham, Illinois, U.S.A.;  Larry V. Sy (Batch '72), American Airlines coordinator, O'Hare airport, Burnham, Illinois, U.S.A.;  Luna U. Sy (Batch '81), internist, Ozark, Alabama, U.S.A.;  Alfred Lai II (Batch '90), registered nurse, Edmonton, Canada;  Johnson C. Dy (Batch '64), doctor, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.;  Greg Dy, doctor, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.;  Hazel U. Dy-Henry (Batch '96), student, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.; and  Felipe Oh, former LCHS faculty member, Troy, Michigan, U.S.A.

Current subscribers are welcome to send in e-mail addresses of fellow alumni to the Spectrum for inclusion in its mailing list.

Willy Dy Back Home

Willy Dy, LCHS alumnus and son of Dy Sun Kang, is back home in Cebu en route to Iligan for a vacation after five years in the U.S.A.  He is currently a Physical Therapy practitioner based in Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
 

From: Cbchazel@aol.com
Date:  Sat, 11 Oct 1997 23:10:09 -0400 (EDT)

Thank you for sending me the Spectrum.  It's nice to know all that is happening there in LCHS.  It's always fun reading it.  It always makes me feel like I'm at home although I'm in San Antonio. It's just excellent.

Hazel Dy-Henry (Batch '96), Converse, Texas, U.S.A.

Spectrum Scholarship Fund?

From: LVS2000@aol.com
Date:  Sun, 12 Oct 1997 21:02:23 -0400 (EDT)

Greetings from Illinois! I am proud we have the Spectrum, so I sent it to all the Iliganons I know. Keep up the good work, guys!  Hope the Spectrum will accept some advertising (on the side of the page), and the funds generated can start the Spectrum Scholarship Fund for the LCHS families' tuition needs. Just a thought.

Larry V. Sy (Batch '72), Burnham, Illinois, U.S.A. (ICQ #4068247)
 

October 31 is America's official Halloween celebration.  This annual fanfare is as American as apple pie and baseball. In reality, it is a merry version of Iligan's  solemn All Souls' Day. Throughout this 24-hour observance, "cool behavior" is redefined as "donning weird-creepy costumes (Dracula, Pumpkin) and spooky-stunning masks (Casper, Frankenstein) to work and school."  Unlike Iligan's generations-old ritual of candle-roasting and Christian mutterings for the beloved ashes, our treatment of this semi-holiday (some institutions have abbreviated schedules) tips wholly on the endearing appreciation of witches, black cats, skeletons (to recite some grossly nightmarish clans), in the realm of unadulterated fun.

As twilight blends in, the highlight of this day-long affair steadily shapes up: hundreds of dressed-up goblins storm residential streets for the stirring Trick-or-Treat.  The governing guidelines of this seasonal game border on simpleton logic: These disguised wanderers tickle your doorbells with unrelenting ferociousness--intermittent, maniacal thrust--until you surrender with a handful of treats, usually chocolate bars and hard candies; and if your muted silence dares to value its autonomy and inflames the beggars' stores of tricks, dose yourself with nitroglycerin because your lovely window will spread like a sensuous canvas for abstraction (smear of egg yolk) and your Jack-o-Lantern will be a hapless recipient of unsolicited retouches. Obviously, sane homebodies would rather extend promptly their sweet donations to the kiddies' loot than trigger the latter's paroxysm of artistic rampage. Amazingly, scores of folksy daredevils stamp prime priority to self-absorption, by joining masquerade parties.  This by-product of freedom of choice strips their prized houses of immunity against the alien invaders' squirt of planetary venom.  Later, of course, these senior victims have to tackle the resultant wrath of Junior with the toughest household detergent money can buy. Gentlemanly. With an outburst of expletives-laced  monologues and a pinch of barbaric (censored) slangs.

Come December, dentists and oral hygienists will gleefully relish their field day. They air their sustained chorus of gratitude to all the saints who souped-up Halloween's pomp and circumstances, for the floods of toothaches and never ending drill sessions. And how about the guidance counselors who munched on their offsprings' bags of goodies?  They plunge headlong into heart pounding aerobics--grunt it out through bendings and push-ups--till they pound their acute anatomical puffiness into dust; and once again, transform their routine morning trudge to the bathroom weighing scale into an invigorating source of suicidal recklessness: seduce their spandex-like intestinal system with stuff--and stretch regimen.

Precisely the rationale behind Halloween magniticism: A festival that processes the theory of cause and effect into visual truth.
 

While I was idle and jobless for the first few months after our arrival in Sydney, my two young boys, Edison and Jeremy, who were then 12 and 10 years of age, were immediately enrolled at St. Dominic Grade School, a Catholic elementary institution  two blocks away from where we lived in the suburb of Homebush West. My boys missed the first three months as school starts in early February here and ends in mid-December.  They were in Grade 5 & 6. In no time, we were introduced to a young Filipino family who came from Cotabato. They had two younger boys in Grade 1 & 2 in the same school and lived only nearby.  They requested our two boys to babysit for their younger boys before and after school.  So my boys had to wake up a bit early and at around 7AM were already at the apartment of the Cotabato family and the parents would leave for work. At around 8AM, the four boys then walked their way altogether to school. Classes would start 30 minutes later. In the afternoon, they would walk back to the apartment at around 3 after the classes.  My boys would make Milo or milk and prepare snacks for the younger ones.  Edison and Jeremy would then do their homework there while awaiting the arrival of the parents from work at 5PM. Edison and Jeremy were doing this Monday thru Friday.  And they were earning 50 dollars a week!  Come to think of it,  my boys had a decent job before I did.

After a few months, the excitement of living in a wonderful city turned into boredom and loneliness.  I started missing my family, my Iligan, my many friends back home and the weekly activities in the Masonic Lodges.  Soon we got introduced to some Filipinos and Chinese-Filipinos who later became our new friends here in this new land.  All of them are of course gainfully employed and I soon began to realize I was losing my self-respect.  I was receiving the tax money they paid to the government.  I was unproductive. It was a very confusing time. I started to wonder if my coming here was a correct decision.  Were it not for my two young boys who have already fallen in love with this place, a return trip to Philippines would have been easy.

The pressure of getting our own accomodation was mounting day by day.  Although my sister-in-law was kind enough not to drive us out after living with them for half a year in a two-bedroom apartment!  It was a very difficult situation. I couldn't rent my own apartment (they call it a "flat" here) because I was still jobless. In short--no steady income. My capacity to pay was in question.  In my daily walk around the suburb to cut the routine of facing the TV all day long, I found a very old house in desperate need of a tenant.  And I was a tenant in desperate need of a roof over my head! It could even have been classified as dilapidated but still livable.  The owner of course demanded advance rental and I took it.  I paid $80 a week but at least I was now the king of my own house--anwerable to the queen of the house of course!

The house was around 70 years old but it was okay for the time being.  Except during heavy rain when we had to move the beds and other furniture to avoid the hundreds of mini Maria Cristina falls all around.  Two weeks after we moved in, we received a warning from the local city authorities to trim our front lawn and backyard, where the grass had grown knee-high. Since I still didn't have the tools and knowhow, I had to hire a lawnmowing service guy. When he first came over and inspected the place he exclaimed, "Oh my God! This is a forest!"  In my mind, I immediately interpreted it as: this is going to be expensive!  For $140.00 and in about four hours, he turned the forest into a well-manicured lawn.  But it wouldn't last long, that's for sure.  The grass never stopped growing. I soon acquired a brand new 4-wheel Rover...with a "powerful" 2-stroke lawnmower engine.  And once every two weeks in hot summertime I was pushing the mower the whole afternoon.

One of the many defects of the old house was the electric meter, which was exposed to the elements.  I was notified by the electric company to install covering over it. I just ignored the company's recommendation for several weeks till one day the lights just went off.  The authorities here really meant business.  We got disconnected!  My wife could not cook.  The fridge started to defrost.  TV was blank.  The boys could not do their homeworks.  No hot water for the shower.  No heater for a cold night.  Our world just became total darkness!  This was paradise lost! (End of second part)
 

As we commemorate All Souls' Day every year, our memories are rewinded back to the thoughts of our dearly beloved relatives, classmates, or friends who went ahead of us too join our Creator.  It is in this context that this column tackles just that--all about All Souls' Day of the 50s and 60s--and remembering those departed souls as our way of paying tribute to them.  They who have wansapanitaym been part of our life.

How does it feel to lose a loved one?  Do you remember the first time you were in a funeral parlor? your first time to wear mourning clothes? your first time to light the joss sticks (hiu)? to smell the incense? to attend a requiem mass? to see and step into the Iligan Chinese Cemetery?

I do remember mine.  It was November 5, 1956 (Monday).  I was then a lad of 4-going-5.  The event was the death of my maternal ama (Yap Kim Hua) who died of liver cirrhosis at the age of 59.  I remember we were in all-black mourning clothes.  The sastre was busy measuring the sizes of our relatives while intermittent weeping and wailing would be heard specially when friends and loved ones condoled with the departed's children: Kowa Eng Chian (the eldest), my mother, and Iya Sana (the youngest).  I was very close to my ama.  Being the only one who was not yet schooling then, I was the apple of her eyes.  Ama's Pet in other words.  The haya was held at Halili's Funeraria which was filled with wreaths and flowers (made from crepe paper in violet, black, green and white colors wrapped with cellophane in front and with Manila paper at the back), from relatives and friends, cash donations, food offerings, incense, etc. The Rosaryo would be held at 8:00 p.m., followed by painit.

On burial day, November 8, 1956 (Thursday), we posed for some picture-taking, after which we were made to line up in queue as, one by one, we passed under the coffin lifted by the uncles.  From Funeraria Halili, we walked and passed through Sabayle St., Cabili Ave., Washington St. (where our house was located and ama used to stay with us while alive), Roxas Ave.,and finally to the Iligan Chinese Cemetery.  There was this band playing "Ave Maria."  I remember my mother fainting while I pleaded with people to help her.  She was made to inhale the spirit of ammonia.  The nightly pangadyi started at 8:00 p.m. led by Iya Babi after which Pepsi, Tru-Orange or Coca-Cola with matching biscuits were served.  This lasted for 9 days.  On the 40th day (kuarenta dias), prayers and food offerings took place where relatives and friends were invited for lunch.  The wearing of the all-black mourning clothes lasted for 100 days, after which it was half-black and white (media loto) for the rest of the year.

On this occasion of All Souls' Day, we say a prayer and pay tribute to our dearly beloved alumni, that I know of, who have gone to our Creator ahead of us: Benita "Kiat Kim" Tan; Lucing Sy; Cresing Tan; Monica Jo; Flor "Poyang" Uy; Teodoro Tan; Godfrey "Bowen" Siao; Dy Ching Chong; Lolong Te; Rudolfo "Popong" Bagatan; Yolando "Yolan" Siao; George "Hong Kiao" Sy; Leopoldo "Tata" Tan; Carlos "Ilaga" Lim; Ernesto "Junior" Chiu; Robert "Hym Hym" Dy; Susan "Yu Hua" Ong; Alberto "Sae Guan" Yu; Jesus "Dian Ching" Chan; Jimmy "Tat Kiong" Wong Ling; and Claro "Khai Lok" Tan.
 

In its heyday the LCHS auditorium was home to talents with varying degrees of potentials and promise.  It was, in more ways than one, the Carnegie Hall of our small community. Its stage served as a springboard for rising stars and risen stars alike, from within and outside LCHS.  On its stage one saw campus prodigies making their debut.  Students vying for the top slots to represent LCHS in speech and singing contests, like the annual Voice of Democracy and PRISAA, tested their mettle on its stage.

Campus talents keeping up with the fads of the 60's like pop music bands (then better known as combos) also honed their skills for a performance in this auditorium as their first step to public acclaim. More notable among these teenage combos that made it to the stage with a more memorable performance was the quartet called "The Vultures." It was composed of Ernesto Yu (on rhythm), Alex Rodriguez (bass), Victor Yu (drums), and an off-campus pal named Sisoy (on lead guitar).  Their performance was a hit and the group became an overnight sensation in LCHS.

In the summer of 1960, the auditorium was filled to unprecedented SRO-capacity when the popular Taiwanese star Tsihn Suat Hong blew into town for a concert that was to cast an enchanting spell over the community for a long while.  Her concert left a repertoire of Chinese songs that remains hauntingly memorable to this very day, such as "Gua Ai Siao Dian Keh (I Prefer a Teener)" and "Me Kui Teh Me Kui (Rose Rose I Love You)".

Honor and Misdemeanor.  For many, the auditorium was also a battle ground, a virtual arena where honors were earned and misdemeanor tried.  It was those times when all high school students vied for top honors during periodical exams held simultaneously at the auditorium.  We were all assembled together with students from other classes making it futile to copy from those seated near us.  We were assigned seats far apart from our classmates.  In my entire high school life I never missed my classmates that much!  To cheat my way out of this predicament I slipped pre-written answers on a small piece of paper tucked away under my socks.  For some this was a common practice called kodego.  Little did I realize that while I was merrily copying answers from my kodego, the school disciplinarian Felipe Oh had sneaked right behind me.  I was caught red handed and my precious kodego promptly confiscated by Mr. Oh, to which I, in sheer panic and embarrassment, could only utter, "Oh! Mr. Oh!"

The Watering Hole.  On the side exit of the auditorium leading to the school canteen was the faucet area.  It was a favorite watering hole for boys after a few rounds of ping-pong.  Atop the faucet was a small window that often remained half open to allow ventilation to the wash room of the faculty office. That explained why the boys often took longer than necessary in using the faucet.  It was a convenient perch for peeping into the wash room whenever a lady teacher got in. It ultimately dawned on me that the faucet offered the naughty boys a convenient excuse to get by: you can think dirty and still run away with clean hands.

Such are the remnants of life at the historic LCHS auditorium, now gone and defunct. Yet they still linger in our fascination with the past like recurrent symphonies of a bygone era.

(Watch for next issue's main feature: Rene Tio interviews Felipe Oh, former faculty member of LCHS!)