Wednesday morning
He wants a story about a homosexual Filipino arrested for soliciting sex in Wan Chai to be the banner story.
Am too appalled for words.
I am working for tabloid. I didn’t know.
He believes that the ‘cheapie masa’ (he even knows these words) will like this story because it’s ‘interesting and funny.’
Again, I am too appalled to really go at length into how I feel about this.
Anyways, the last few days have been so stressful that I couldn’t write. My thoughts were like buzzing sounds in my head, like bees, like yellow-jacket Japanese hornets, like a thousand buzz saws cutting through sequoia trees.
But I am still glad and happy about this entire experience. I’ve learned a lot about people and myself. I believe I can write better now, and my brain isn’t a dry sponge anymore.
When I leave — and I intend to leave soon — I will miss Hong Kong. I will miss the efficient transport system; the Central Library, the street markets and the mountains.
I will also miss my tiny flat in Lamma and how beautiful the mornings are when I walk out everyday to the ferry. To see the ocean cobalt blue and emerald green on a clear day is to receive something incomparable.
Mostly though, I will miss the friends I’ve made, and I have made quite a few.
The daily confusion of choosing eating lunch at McDonald’s, Yoshinoya or Maxim’s will always be memorable in a funny way.
This a poem by Alex, and it touched me no end.
Huwag Tayong Bumitiw
Sa Ating Pagkatao
NI ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
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Nakalimbag ang mga balita ng ating panahon
sa dugong pinapulandit ng mga punlo
mula sa mga dibdib,
mula sa mga ulo
ng mga nabuhay upang muling maging tao
ang mga pinapagbubuhay-hayop ng mga naghahari
sa pamamagitan ng kinamkam na kayamanan
at ninakaw na kapangyarihan.
May bahaging pumapanaw sa bawat isa sa atin
sa bawat maganap na ganitong pagpaslang.
Sapagkat ang mga paghingang di na natin maririnig kailanman
ay katunog,
katunog ng bawat paghinga nitong sambayanan.
Dugo ng ating bayan ang pinapulandit ng mga punlo
mula sa kanilang mga dibdib at ulo.
Binabawasan nila tayo
sapagkat ibig nilang tayo’y yumuko
at himurin ang kanilang mga paa,
parang mga aso.
Ayaw nilang tayo’y maging tao.
Tayo ba’y tutulad na lamang sa mga aso?
Hindi natin nararapat na bitiwan
ang ating pagpapakatao.
Lalo nga ngayong nararapat na tayo’y magpakatao
sapagkat kung yuyuko tayo’t hihimurin ang kanilang mga paa,
parang tayo na rin ang nagpaputok ng baril
parang tayo na rin ang nagpaputok ng baril
sa mga naglaan ng buhay upang ang lahat ay maging tao.
———–
"Free To Decide" (this is for my publisher)
It’s not worth anything,
More than this at all.
I’ll live as I choose,
Or I will not live at all.
So return to where you come from,
Return to where you dwell,
Because harassment’s not my forte,
But you do it very well.
I’m free to decide, I’m free to decide,
And I’m not so suicidal after all.
I’m free to decide, I’m free to decide,
And I’m not so suicidal after all,
At all, at all, at all.
You must have nothing,
More with your time to do.
There’s a war in Russia,
And Sarajevo too.
So to hell with what you’re thinking,
And to hell with your narrow mind,
You’re so distracted from the real thing,
You should leave your life behind, behind.
‘Cause I’m free to decide, I’m free to decide,
And I’m not so suicidal after all,
I’m free to decide, I’m free to decide,
And I’m not so suicidal after all,
At all, at all, at all.
I’m free to decide, I’m free to decide,
And I’m not so suicidal after all,
At all, at all, at all.
This is a song by the Cranberries, by the way.
—————-
Douglas Coupland has a new novel! It was launched last May in Canada!
