The oldest ASEAN universities (USM included) were establishing a network of library co-operation and the 2002 inaugral meeting was held in Manila, the capital of Philippines. I was privileged to represent the Chief Librarian then. Apart from the meetings, I had time also to see a bit of Manila. Our very hospitable Filipino hosts arranged for us to experience their busy city. It did rain a lot and the streets were often flooded. But the people seemed pretty resilient, although poverty was obvious in some places.
One of the best things I did on my first visit was to buy a few Filipiniana books at the De La Salle University: A History of the Philippines by Samuel K Tan, The Great Malayan by Carlos Quirino, The Loves of Rizal and Other Essays on Philippine History, Art and Public Policy by Pablo S Trillana III, The Reign of Greed (El Filibusterismo) by Jose Rizal, The Social Cancer (Noli Me Tangere) by Jose Rizal, and The Moro Conflict: Landlessness and Misdirected State Policies by Eric Gutierrez & Saturnino Borras, Jr.
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| My stack of Filipiniana books (CNB 2010) |
We visited the Rizal Park (Luneta) where the monument of Philippine national hero Jose Rizal is, and where he was executed by the Spanish authority. But alas, my camera conked out on me, and a colleague who took photos promised to pass them to me. But of course to this day, I have yet to see them!! (Lesson learnt: Rely only on your own camera.)
The second visit was in 2006 to attend the CONSAL XIII - Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians, and deliver a paper. The paper was about a survey entitled 'Information Literacy Programs in the ASEAN University Network Libraries; an Overview of the Methodology & Achievement'.
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| With fellow delegates of UM, Assoc. Prof. Diljit Singh & Havinder Kaur, at CONSAL Manila (2006) |
Again our hosts arranged for a social programme so that delegates may experience some Filipino culture. The most memorable was to the more than 400 year old walled city of Intramuros, the centre of the Spanish empire in Asia then. Here within these walls, Philippine history comes to life. Manila during the Spanish period was Intramuros. The Spanish colonized the Philippines for 300 years before the Americans annexed it in 1898 for another 50 years. (I bought a book, Ciudad Murada; a Walk through Historic Intramuros by Jose Victor V Torres as a memento). Intramuros contains several old Spanish churches and landmarks, and serendipitously, I was privileged to witness two weddings at two churches - the Manila Cathedral and San Augustin Church. These churches are as grandiose as their medieval European counterparts - they transport you back to Spain!
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| Me and my Malayan hero, Jose Rizal (2006) |
We all know Jose Rizal as the Philippine national hero. He was born in 1861 and christened Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda. He was one of the ablest patriots, with his character and achievements gaining the highest esteem of his countrymen. He was more reformist than revolutionary but he was tried for sedition and shot to death on the Luneta, outside the ramparts of Intramuros in 1896.
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| With some of the Conference delegates at Fort Santiago, Intramuros (2006) |
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| Me and Jose Rizal at the Plaza de Armas, Fort Santiago, Intramuros. Behind is the Rizal Shrine. (2006) |
Dr Jose Rizal was a very accomplished man; he was a physician, he spoke many languages, he painted, he wrote poetry; and two famous novels, El Filibusterismo (The Reign of Greed) and Noli Me Tangere (The Social Cancer), which reinforced Spanish official opinion that he was a dangerous person.
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| Handwritten manuscript of Noli Me Tangere at the National Library (CNB 2006) |
As usual I like to visit the National Libraries of countries visited. With the other delegates, we were given a tour of the National Library of the Philippines. We were also treated to a play by some young library patrons.
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| With delegates and 'actors' at the National Library (2006) |
Sunsets at Manila Bay are supposed to be great, but everytime we passed by Roxas Boulevard, it was raining so no sunset photos could be taken. Neither could we stroll along the Baywalk. So we did the next best thing - go indoors. Once while other colleagues dined at the old Manila Hotel, I chose to go with my good friend to Makati and experience the busy, bustling area.
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| Manila Bay on a rainy day (CNB 2006) |
Our hosts also introduced us to the Greenhills Shopping Centre in Ortigas Avenue, essentially for ... shopping, of course! Other than electronic goods, this SC is popular for their cut-priced freshwater pearls. Pearls from the Philippines are quite well known and believe me, here in Greenhills, there were stalls upon stalls of pearls in every colour you can think of. They are ready-stringed or you can choose to have them custom-stringed especially for you in no time at all! For more Pinoy-made goodies, specialty from the provinces - handicrafts, local clothing & wood-carved souvenirs, the Balikbayan Handicrafts outlets are a must-visit. I was taken by our hosts to the Pasay City outlet, and I did spend a fair bit there.
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| One of the very many pearl and jewelry stalls at Greenhills, Manila (CNB 2006) |
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| Moro lady at her Pearls & Baubles stall, Greenhills, Manila (CNB 2006) |
By the way, I'm sure you know that "The Filipino is both genetically and geographically a member of the widespread Malay world ... Basically, therefore, the inhabitants of modern Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaya are blood brothers" (Keith Lightfoot, The Philippines; Nation of the Modern World, 1973). So if you are Malay and go to the Philippines, you know you are among your own people.
2002 & 2006
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