I love to travel, but I haven’t travelled a lot. Sorry, Susan Calo-Medina, but I’ve never seen a Tarsier, nor gone to Boracay. In fact, I have more pictures of (and with) that famous Saint Bernard in Baguio than of the mountainside scenery. I haven’t even met Mickey Mouse for real—that is if you discount the Filipino wearing the Mickey costume in Hong Kong Disneyland.
French writer Marcel Proust said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Thus, my recent travel experience is a blessing. I came home with a new pair of Chinese eyes, metaphorically speaking, that is.
Last month, my Dad and I went to this photovoltaic summit in Taiwan, Asia’s third richest country, next to Japan and Singapore, and the home of Acer, Taipei 101, Barbie Xu and F4.
True, Taiwan is richou must be if Camrys, Teanas, and Accords are just your taxis. Their anthill-like subways are three-levels deep, with on-time trains and well-placed stations. The subways themselves are tourist hubs—some have bazaars and even art galleries. Their high-speed rail (HSR) reduces travel equivalent to a Manila-Baguio trip to just one hour. The Taichung HSR terminal, about 100kms outside Taipei, looks and operates better than our airports. So much for the PNR, the LRT and NAIA-3.
The country is green and disciplined. Smoke-belching and reckless horn honking are prohibited. Cry foul for loss of privacy, but every street has CCTV cameras. Take that, Marikina.
Throughout the weeklong trip, someone in our group kept asking: “Anong nangyari at napaka-backward na natin?”
Is it because of colonialism? Bill Clinton admitted it himself. Is it mediocrity? Just look at the Pilipinas Kay Ganda campaign. Is it screwed priorities? Or maybe it’s because the Filipino is now a lethargic people, depending on God above or the President alone to end hardship. Maybe the Filipino has forgotten the power of the grassroots movements, the true spirit of EDSA, the little things that start something big.
Looking back, I would always remember a particular corner in the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. There was a photo there captioned, “Chiang Kai-shek talking on Asia outlook with Philippine President Elpidio Quirino.”
I can’t help but imagine a mentor, advising a young and immature teenager on his future. Who was the mentor and who was the teen, I don’t know. It’s hard to believe that the Philippines of the 50s and 60s had the stature to advise then developing countries. Right now we’re the ones being lectured by our tiny island neighbor just north of Batanes.
A few steps from that old photo is Chiang Kai-shek’s last work and message in calligraphy. Before passing away, he said, “The destiny of my country is my responsibility; a life of my own is beyond my concern.”
Funny, it seems that the Taiwanese took to heart “Ako ang Simula” far earlier than we did.
