LCHS Student among Top 10 in RP
By Teresita Racines (Batch '67)

Sally Tan Vy, third year high school student of LCHS, has been chosen one of the "Ten Most Outstanding High School Students in the Philippines" sponsored by the Pagibig Foundation, Inc.

She was selected from some 120 participants in the 4th annual search for the "Ten Outstanding Chinese Filipino Students in the Philippines" last year.  The list of semi-finalists was trimmed down to 21 from all over the country, of which Sally Vy made it among the nine from Mindanao.  She received the top award at the Pagibig Foundation in Metro Manila last March 22 but news of her achievement reached the Spectrum only recently.   Sally is the daughter of Beng Hong and Shirley Vy.  She has been a consistent honor student since grade school.

Former LCHS Teacher Dies in Accident

Pepe Chio, former faculty member of the LCHS English Department, died in an accident recently.  He was a brother-in-law of Mrs. Crisanta Alcover-Ayson, former LCHS principal.

Iligan Phone Firms now Interlinked

The telephone systems of the Maranao Telephone Co. (Maratel) and the Italtel are now interconnected.  This means that a subscriber of either system no longer has to call long distance to communicate with a subscriber of the other system.

Maratel (formerly Matelco), established in 1951, has 10,000 subscribers. Italtel, established in 1993, has 2,000.  Maratel has also recently completed laying out its fiber optic backbone that stretches up to Lugait on the east and Linamon on the western boundaries.  Meanwhile, a third key player has also entered the market.  The Globe Telecom has opened its services using wireless technology in Iligan.

Sharpshooter Shot Dead in Iligan Showdown

A police crackshot was shot dead in a showdown right in front of the Iligan Police Headquarters last Oct. 21.

Rakim Ismael, of the Piapago police, Lanao del Sur, had challenged Iligan Chief Inspector Dimasangca Ampuan to a gun duel.  Ismael, who was reportedly drunk, fired his .45 caliber pistol first but missed Ampuan, who returned fire with his Armalite rifle, killing Ismael in the process.  Ismael had earlier created some commotion in a local night club, where Ampuan was called in to pacify.  Later when Ampuan was back at the police station fronting the public plaza, Ismael went there too and demanded that the officer come out for a duel.  The slain cop was a runnerup in the recent city fiesta shooting competition.
 

I am interested to correspond, on the Internet, with someone from LCHS interested in Iligan's history of which the Chinese community has participated in the making. I've long wanted to research on the role the Chinese played in Iligan's history. I have been researching on Iligan's history ever since I was connected with the MSU-IIT History and Political Science departments for almost 20 years. I can render consultancy, for free, on the Internet for anyone interested to take up the challenge.  My greatgrandfather was Chinese from Amoy. His name was Tan Pico. He went back to China at the time of the communist takeover sometime in 1949. We do not know what happened to him afterwards. If I want to trace his lineage in Amoy, would anybody know where I can start to work on it? Will appreciate any help in this regard.

Ricardo J. S. Caluen, Toronto, Canada

Keeping Alumni Updated
From: lai24@hotmail.com
Date:  Sat, 25 Oct 1997 13:24:50 PDT

The LCHS Spectrum updates our alumni with what's going on in our Iligan community as well as  the whereabouts of fellow alumni.  I'm glad I subscribed to this marvelous idea.  By the way, I belong to Batch '89, not '90 as reported in your last issue.

Alfred Lai II (Batch '89), Edmonton, Canada

The following is the transcript of our interview with Mr. Felipe Oh, former LCHS faculty member, on October 18, 1997, in Cagayan de Oro City:

Spectrum: First, we would like to welcome you to our special feature, a one-on-one interview for our Internet newsletter, The LCHS Spectrum. We are pleased to meet Oh-Shian or Mr. Felipe Oh, and would like to ask you the first question: What is your present occupation in Troy, Michigan?
Oh: I am a bit disappointed that this is not live (laughing, holding the tape-recorder microphone). Well, I work for General Motors, GM, you know, the car company. I guess they call me a "manager," in charge of analysis.  I have a group of people working with me, who help me write computer programs, and they use the programs to predict how a car would perform, before even building it.  And the things that we analyze include how the car drives; power train; how the car bounces up and down on rough roads; and how the door closes, if it fits well or not. These are all done in the computer before it is even made.

Spectrum: Is this part of the company's research and development (R&D)?
Oh: This is part of the research organization and we serve the whole corporation worldwide, so we have work going on in different parts of the world, including Australia, Germany, and South America.

Spectrum: Please tell us about your family, wife and children.
Oh: I have one wife (laughing, kidding with his wife, sitting across) and two boys.  Names are Alan and Kevin. Alan is a lawyer in Minneapolis and Kevin is the second son. He's in the University of Michigan, senior this year.  My wife's name is Soo Khuan.  She is from Singapore.

Spectrum: Can you tell us a little of your love story?
Oh: Maybe she should tell this.....(laughing).  Actually, we met in the University of California in Berkeley, when I was going to school there in 1968.

Spectrum: How often do you come home to the Philippines for vacation?
Oh: I guess every two or three years.  So in the last twenty five years, we probably made ten trips altogether.

Spectrum: Going to history now, when and how long were you teaching in LCHS and what subjects were you teaching?
Oh: I only taught for one year really.  That was 1965 to 66.  And I remember I was teaching...I guess I was teaching everything!  I was teaching "Kong Bin" for the Six Graders, Algebra for the First..."Chu-tiong-it."  What did I teach?  Ah, I was teaching Physics for the Third High, and Geometry for the Second High.  I think I was teaching music too.

Spectrum: Are you a good singer?
Oh:  Not really (laughing). I think last night I discovered I could sing a little (laughing harder).

Spectrum: What can you say about LCHS during those years?
Oh: I don't really remember the school much, but I do remember all the students.  They were fun and I really like that one year I had.  It was the highlight of my youth. I specially like the part I played basketball with the kids during Saturdays or Sundays.

Spectrum: What were your impressions of the students LCHS in those days?
Oh: There were some kids who were very smart.  Most of them were very well-mannered.  There was a few that were problems.  I remember there was this guy, he used to sneak in from the back door, always late.  And at one time, I waited for him, you know, near one of the holes in the fences. So I waited for him.  He walked in and I was waiting for him right there.  And I didn't say anything...and he was never late again.  And that was fun.

Spectrum: Any particular student or students that you can remember and can you name them?
Oh: A lot of them but I probably should not single out any particular one, like the ones that I might not pick out might not be happy, right? (laughing)

Spectrum:  How about those students with pleasant memories?
Oh: Pleasant memories?  I guess...there's Hon Tian, you know Te Hon Tian. He used to stay late, like six o'clock...six-thirty in the afternoon.  His father would call up: "Hey, what is he doing in there?"  He was playing basketball with me (laughing and enjoying the memories). He is the one I remember the most.

Spectrum: What do you missed most in Iligan?
Oh: I guess, the kids, the students. They are always a part of my past.

Spectrum: Were there any particular students in those times whom you thought would be successful in life?
Oh: I thought Peter, you know, Peter Dy.  I thought he would be successful.  And, my sister-in-law's brother, what's his name...Sy Hong Kheng (Constantino Sy). He was in first year high school then. I thought he would be very successful.

Spectrum:  Why did you leave your teaching job in Iligan?
Oh: I left because I wanted to go to the U.S.

Spectrum: Had you any thought then of going back to teach in Iligan?
Oh: Probably not.  After a few years, I guess, I decided to stay in the U.S.  But it was fun teaching while it lasted.

Spectrum: If you were still teaching in LCHS, what direction would you emphasize for its students?
Oh: Knowing what I know about the education system in the U.S., I would do less on memorization and help the students grasp more on the concepts; less homework, more interaction between the students and the instructor.

Spectrum: How relevant is Chinese language studies today compared to the 60s?
Oh: You know, China has a big population.  There is a big market there.  So, if someone knows Chinese, it is definitely a big advantage.  And I know a few people in the States, who were promoted and were sent to China to head up offices.  So, there's a real big opportunity for those who know Chinese.

Spectrum: Would there be any particular people in Iligan, part of your past, that you would like to say hello to?
Oh: I'd like to say hello to the Third Year High, the Batch of 66. I was the head, moderator of that class.
 

To all LCHS wizards who smashed a noteworthy dent to the Math Olympiad and to their elders who instilled the algebra-chewing genes: You substantiated the age-old fact that the word "Chinese" is synonymous to "numbers".  For this laudable feat, here's a variety of bow reserved for blue-blooded royals.  Unfortunately, there are aberrant Asian chromosomes where a mere whiff of absolute thinking precipitates intestinal spasm.  I'm pinned to these calculus-retarded DNAs. Thus the logic for my survival instinct to be passionately intimate with biological sciences. As such, I badly need simple arithmetic wattage to calculate my finances.

I mean, my pennies: the only loose change excused from the semestral ransom notes of the universities.

That is why I scaled down in weight class and ambulate with a tilt.

"Dad, I'm here,"  he replied with a goofy grin.

Aside from being able to rent ties and socks for nothing.
 

It was already November, 1987. It was my seventh month here in Sydney and without any luck so far in my job hunt.  I was then going on 39 and without any local work experience. These two factors were against me and I was running out of time.  In my desperation, I had even contemplated returning to the Philippines.  But some friends advised me to give it some more time; at least a year before considering going back.

Meanwhile, I realized my two young sons were growing up so fast and had easily adapted to the Australian way of life.  They had learned to speak very fluent English with the peculiar Aussie accent.  They were now correcting my English and pronunciation.  They were no longer comfortable speaking our Visayan dialect and they stopped calling their parents papa and mama but instead dad and mom.  A change which I did not even notice at first.

Everytime I checked my bank balance, I could see the unemployment benifits money coming in and every two weeks I still had to submit the form to the Dept. of Social Services.  The form also asked about at least three companies or firms with which I had recently applied for employment.  So in the past few months, I really endeavoured to apply for a job!

My case was also being monitored by the concerned government agency.  They sent over a male staff member to assist me in my quest for work.  He came to my place one morning to discuss my problems and even suggested a retraining program courtesy of the taxpayers.  While on training, I was supposed to receive some additional travelling allowance.  However, his main mission in visiting me was to ascertain if I was seriously looking for a job or just a plain lazy dole-bludger.

It was at first boredom turned into loneliness and now depression.  Temporary relief came in the form of letters received from friends back home like Carlos Dy and James So.  Also from Mike Ong in Canada with his comprehensive reporting.  News from back home was like water in the middle of a desert.  In those days news came via air mail.  We still did not have the convenience or luxury of E-mail.

Christmas was just around the corner.  I didn't have the faintest idea how I would spend my first yuletide season here.  Hope of a merry one was fading day by day.  Then, out of the blue, one Friday afternoon that late November, I received a call from a leading bank's recruitment officer. Was I ready for a job interview next Monday?  Of course I was!  I had been waiting for this for a long, long time.  I could not sleep that night.  I was so excited that, at last, here was the light at the end of the tunnel.

That Sunday I prayed hard as we heard mass.  I was praying for a miracle.

Monday came and I wore my best business suit for the job interview in the city.  I arrived with plenty of time to spare.  I had to forget about the elasticity of "Filipino Time".  The interviewer was a very pleasant blond woman very much younger than me.  She was very casual in her ways and spoke with a slight British accent.   After reading the form which she asked  me to accomplish, she interviewed me in a conversational manner.  She asked me if I had any experience handling large quantities of cash.  I told her that, as a cinema operator in the Philippines, one of my duties was selling tickets and yes I handled some cash.  I was hired.  I was then escorted to the manager and I was welcomed to the Australia and New Zealand Banking Corporation, or ANZ Bank for short.  It is one of the biggest commercial banks here.  I was instructed to start the following day as a "Customer Service Bank Officer" or bank teller.  I was grinning from ear to ear.  There is a Santa Claus after all!

EDITORS' NOTE:
Our previous issue's e-mail edition erroneously included Gregorio Tan in the list of alumni who have passed away.  Our sincere apologies to Gregorio Tan for the error.  Our official HTML edition posted on the Internet archive has the corrected text.
 

Three Kinds of Golfers

There are three kinds of golfers whose last name is Cow. The first one is a golfer who losses in every outing, and, therefore, keeps paying his bets.  He is called "Mr. Milking Cow."  The second one is a golfer who wins some and loses some during an outing. He is called "Mr. Contented Cow."  The last one is a sandbagger who keeps winning and collecting all the bets every outing.  He is called "Mr. Magnana Cow!"-- Contributed by Greg Dy, M.D., Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., who says he belongs to LCHS Batch 'Japanese Time.'