Back in Bangkok

I am back in Bangkok a week and it has generally been busy. When I was making some free time, something literally happened to me on the way.

I was carrying my bag, walking along the street, at 3pm after leaving my office. All of a sudden I wondered where was my bag. I looked up and there it was. There was a motorbike up ahead speeding along. It had two fellows on it. The one at the back was holding up my bag, pointing at it and just smiling. It all happened so fast.

I had a number of reflections after that:
why go to the police as it would be an utter waste of my time?
how lucky I was as that day I had little in my bag?
are people getting so desperate?
life is changing on the streets here very quickly?

You just move on and get on with life. I now have new glasses - Thai style. They only cost 400 baht, complete with an eye test.

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.