Abuse of Power

I shared last time my experience of failing to connect here with a Filipino as I sought to deal with issues arising in a commitment I have here. This raised the theme of how issues are not dealt with and ended in my going away feeling frustrated. I raised how this highlights the way it does not work here.

Having shared that, I do stand by my overall experience and held view that Filipinos are lovely and friendly people who are resourceful and have great potential. So what happens?

The key may lie in today's headline news in the Philippines. The Filipino Church institution is up in arms because Noy Noy, the new President, suggests that he may help the poor to access family planning. The photo on the front page of the paper shows hurt priest and bishops. Who do they think they are? I see here the hypocrisy and the abuse of power by Church authorities. It is as if they are caught in some middle age power vacuum. Don't they see how the population is just escalating and the whole system is just keeping the poor poor?

Why don't they speak out on the much wider social issues that are affecting this country so negatively and keeping it in chaos and the people down?? Something does go wrong in these places. Somehow it just does not all gel together. The key may lie in power, where and how it is held and how it is abused. Maybe people just get used to being in control and using it at the expense of others.

Good on you Noy Noy!

Nowhere is paradise

I know the Philippines quite well. Its people are so friendly and it has many tropical paradises. Still there is the corruption, the violence, the poverty, the natural disasters. These all take their toll. The place is falling apart and chaotic. Yet it shouldn't be like this as it has so much going for it. Its people are young and creative and capable. You can blame the corruption and other evils at play but that is not the whole story. Filipinos can blame their colonial history, outside forces and powers but just to do that is not to take responsibility and move forward.

It strikes me that people here and elsewhere in this part of the world just do not face the tough issues and do not have the staying power to focus on the hard work of righting issues and situations. That is my experience and take.

I have also experienced personally three times an arrogance amongst Filipinos. It came out each time within a relationship and in quite a strong way. So it does not just arise in everyday conversation but is expressed when there is already some trust or where you are known well enough. I think that the arrogance is a key to why the Philippines does so poorly.

Well, after yesterday, I had my fourth experience of Filipino arrogance. Once again, it was a one on one experience and was within a context of a relationship. The arrogance says that I am better as a Filipino and acts against any real engagement.

That speaks of the whole interpersonal dynamic in this place. They are lovely people but it is difficult to engage them at a deeper level or a real level. That is what the experience of trying to dialogue on issues and life at a deeper level is like here. In not meeting at the deeper level to discuss issues or the messy part of life, one does not enter into dialogue, there is no engagement and issues are not faced. For me, I just go away frustrated and feeling miffed.

Maybe that is what happens at the social level. There is just no real needed engagement occurring and so issues are not faced. Then the mess and the chaos just continue and get worse. Just my take, as I said before. The bottom line is that nowhere is perfect and we all have our other side - even me.

Mabuhay

All of us here on Chapter spent the weekend in Cebu which is the birthplace of the Order and the Church in the Philippines. It is where the image of Santo Nino is kept in our basilica. This is the religious image of Filipinos. It is their national religious symbol. We had t was a great weekend which included masses, meals, entertainment and a resort.

Despite all that happened in Cebu and all that was special, I must say that the real highlights of the weekend lie elsewhere for me.

On Friday night here at University of Regina Carmeli in Malolos, we were hosted by the univeresity to a night of Filipino culture. It featured the students from both the school and the college, entertaining us with song, music and dance. It was traditional and was so beautiful in presentation. They included us as well, by getting us to join in the dance in a couple of items. It was great fun and very well done. Considering that they were not professionals but young students from generally poor communities, the night was just special and phenomenal. It stirred my spirit as I thought how these poor young students were giving us so much, how they were so talented, how I was enjoying this so much. While some may question back home how you could entertain these countries, I could only say in my spirit on Friday night - how could you not love these countries. There is just so much life and vibrancy and enjoyment of the fullness of life here, even in the midst of great shared suffering and poverty (or maybe in spite of all this tragedy). Mabuhay.

Then I return to Malolos and check my emails to see that my biggest blog fan, my niece Carmel, has just given birth to her fifth child. She now has a new daughter - Theresa Elizabeth. Mabuhay.

Mabuhay yet again

It is Friday afternoon and a quiet moment in what has been a full week. The time is going so quickly. I am here in Malolos, Bulacan Province, just north of Manila. The Chapter is being held here at University Regina Carmeli.

I have found the experience to be interesting and worthwhile. I am meeting ones from all around the world. Bob from Kenya is teaching me Swahili. I now know there are two very similar words - Jumbo and Jambo. The former means elephant, while the latter means Hello. The Americans are easy to meet and good guys. It is good to see the various ones I know from over the years and to meet new faces. I feel honoured to be sitting beside a former Prior General and just experience him as a good guy. Everyone is friendly and easy to get on with.

Yes, there have been the information and reporting meetings. There have also been the discussion groups. Beyond these, some words stay with me like - transformation, Urdaneta and torneviaje, akuna mutata, eurocentric. They all have meaning for me because of this experience, an experience that is yet again putting me in touch with the bigger picture.

Our world, no matter how vital, can be so small and we do need to step out regularly and see yet again the big picture, the wider vision, the challenging world. I guess this is one of those experiences. Within that frame of mind, I step into the second half of my time here and just try and live the present and take it for what it is.

When I get back to Bangkok, the Ahmeds of my world will be there. They do matter to me and very much help shape my life and ministry. As refugees, they may be rejected by the world and have no home but like this Chapter they put me in touch with the bigger picture, the truer picture of our life. That picture says that we are all interconnected and that goodness does not just lie with those we know, like or feel safe with, or just within our own little, comfortable worlds. Goodness is out there in our world, shared by all humanity. This experience, as do my Ahmeds, remind me of this.

Mabuhay

Well, I am now in the Philippines. I am here for the Order's Intermediate General Chapter. I was wondering why I was coming to this as it is for all the big shots and I am only a small player. I was invited as an expert but .....??? Having gotten here, I am pleased to be here. It is good meeting all the ones from throughout the Order and everyone is very friendly.

It is a busy time, having meetings all day, but it is also educational and very social. I am hearing words like history, mission, re-evangelisation, transformation, Urdaneta - and they are all coming together. Basically, the Order has a great history but that is not to be the end of the story. Rather it is to be the beginning for the next step forward, and the next step forward is aimed at Asia. That is where I come in as I have been in Thailand for five years and can hopefully offer some insight from my experience. We will see how I go and I will keep you informed.

There is so much talk

Living in Bangkok, I am hearing a lot of talk about what may happen in this country. I am not going to act on talk nor will I repeat it. However, I will say, as I often say, living here is like living in a Shakespearean play. It fits in with how I see this place existing in some type of time warp. It just is that the time warp takes you back socially and politically some 400 to 500 years. What is sad is that the time warp so negatively effects the ordinary, everyday Thai and especially the poor Thais. It all seems to be determined by the Thai elite for the sake of their own particular betterment at the expense of their own people. Sad but this is what happens in our world.

On Saturday, I go to Manila. I am away for 12 days as I go to be part of my Order's Intermediate General Chapter there. My basis for being invited is my experience of five years' living and working in Thailand. The Order is considering its position in Asia. So I am there to help in its reflections and deliberations.

We will see what happens next on a number of fronts. Life is never dull.

Stuck

My earlier reflections did hold a key. It came to me afterwards while on the bus home from work. It is as if Thailand is stuck in time. We are in 2010 but Thailand and its people are like stuck in a time warp.

It is a time warp created over time by the powerful few to serve certain select interests. The mass of people are like stuck in this warp created by the few. The masses are held within it. They have to deal with it, or just aren't able for it or just aren't even aware of it as simply this is the way it is in Thailand.

Just for what it is worth.

Our world can be so small

Our Liz challenges the faith community at Bangkok Cathedral at this very moment. Why?

While Liz and Empower are out there busy working to help sex workers build up their lives, the big issue at the cathedral is appropriate dress. As one who goes to the cathedral, I have to say that no one dresses disrespectfully, or at the very least, no one does so knowingly or on purpose. What I believe is at play is the old cultural differences.

We are in Thailand and we have to respect Thai ways but the cathedral has a mixed population. People come to it from other countries and other ways which may seem strange to the Thais. Some only come on a one off visit while others are regulars. What I see happening is that what is repectful for a westerner is not so respectful for a Thai. I understand the tensions that may arise in the presenting of this issue but but no one is being disrespectful. What really worries me is that some good people are feeling excluded by the way this policy is being presented in the community.

Even on this little issue, one could go on for hours but what is the central word is LITTLE. It really is such a little issue. No one means any harm and the whole thing is becoming too consuming and causing too much unnecessary strife. Why don't we follow the lead of our Liz and Empower and move onto a big issue and focus our time and energy on something worthwhile, like religious harmony, homelessness, social issues causing unrest? Why can't we let go of the little things and move onto what really matters to us as builders of the Reign of God?

Then there is something else that comes to my attention and I think it may be related. It is my recent more highlighted experience of the arrogant side of Thais. As I go around on my day, I notice more Thais on the street looking unhappy, appearing quite arrogant with their looks. Maybe this is nothing and only me, but it is happening in a country where it is so important to have the image of being friendly and to appear polite. It makes me wonder if anything is happening out there. I also repeat that the soldiers have returned to the streets - soldiers and not more police. They have not come back in big numbers but they have returned. What is that about?

As I say many times, life here is lived on many layers and the layer that matters most is the one below, the one you are not immediately experiencing or know about. This country is experiencing great pain because of unresolved and ongoing social issues. The political system is not working to deal with these unresolved issues. I suspect here is a key to what people are feeling even if they are not allowed or able to name their experience due to their cultuture, their ways and the constraints of a restrictive social hierarchy and system.

Liz

Yesterday, I mentioned Liz - the Australian woman who works with Empower in Chiang Mai. This NGO reaches out to sex workers. Liz is obviously a real character and is committed to her work and the people her work touches. I was most impressed by her.

For me, she is a gospel woman doing gospel work. I say that not even really knowing her. She may never go to a church. If that is so, I would still hold that she is a gospel woman doing gospel work.

It then makes me ask what is it that motivates the Lizzes of our world?

They are building the reign of God in such real ways while so many at church remain so inward looking and so judgemental, being overcome by trivial internal issues. It makes me wonder. The Lizzes in our midst do challenge those of us who publicly hold to the gospel and who know the call to build the reign of God.

Thank God for the Lizzes. They have something to say to us.

Developments

Well, at the weekend, armed soldiers returned to duty at my central shopping area known as Sala Daeng. There are only four of them but they are armed and they are there. I don't know what that really means but something has happened or is happening.

Then I see that Bob Katter has made his announcement independently in the Australian political scene. The way it is all being dealt with looks from afar as some sort of TV Quiz Show. We now have the big announcement - "And the winner is ..... !!"

Last week, I was in Chiang Mai for a network conference on migration in the Mekong region. It was a great but busy time. I was impressed by the ones I met working in this area of outreach to those suffering under the chaos of migration due to economic, social and political hardships. One person was Liz. She is an Australian working with Empower in Chiang Mai. There are so many Australians here in this region doing great work. We should be proud.

Empower works with sex workers. They run a bar in Chiang Mai as a social and meeting centre for ones involved in anyway in the scene. It is most impressive. You can sit and talk and listen; you can connect and do some good work; or you can have a go at do-it-yourself pole dancing. I must say that this physical activity is good exercise. Unfortunately, I didn't get any tips and I was not such a pretty sight.

Just something for today.

Back home

I came back home to Bangkok and within two weeks was in touch with huge differences within the local scene. On the surface, life in Bangkok seems quiet - funnily quiet - but under the surface there is a lot of talk that tells you much is happening and the social environment is dramatically changing.

The basic lesson is that when one does not deal with one's issues, they do not just go away but stay and become even pronounced. The same is true at a social level.

I do wait to see what happens next here and when. I only hope it is for the good of the people and their society.