When are we going to take in constructive criticisms?

In an open letter, a Singaporean, veiled under the name "H" voiced out his/her sentiment on the rowdiness of Filipino maids. And of course, we took it as offensive and racist. (news from Manila Bulletin)

In context, the herds of Filipino maids were taking the Sunday Bus to Lucky Plaza mall, where many Pinoy restaurants and stores are located. Apparently, the "Philipinos" (as H would spell it) were laughing and talking loudly as if they rented the bus.

While we may have been internationally known as one of the happiest people in the world, we sometimes, or many times, forget to consider the feelings of our neighbors. In our local MRT/LRT stations, it is a usual and annoying sight and experience whenever a group of female passengers would also talk boisterously, regardless if the cabin is crowded or not. Naive that the noise adds to more alinsangan (humidity).

It all boils down to sensitivity and respect.

We have to know that Singaporeans like privacy. They are quiet in nature and impose strict rules. When I was in the Lion City taking a bus to Vivo city where a handful of Singaporeans were already seated, I motion a male Singaporean to move closer to the left, I saw that I could still sit in the space. But he gave in his seat to let me rest. It was nice. The train was serene, quiet... no pushing or shoving unlike in our own train stations. Apparently, H is also taking offense on the way Filipino maids push one another to board the bus.

In H's defense he or she was not pinning down on the Filipinos as a people or race, but on some of their insensitive ways. Just as it is impolite to take or make calls in Japan cabins, Singaporeans also take offense when their privacy is invaded. I think anyone, of any age, gender, or nation, will also have the same sentiment.

No Read No Write

Living in the province sans decent book shops—or those that sell books and not school materials—was  a challenge to any growing bookworm, but it did not make me falter. A two-hour trip to Manila meant book hunting for me.  I remember collecting Sabrina the Teenage Witch series when I was still younger, when I was six years old, when I was still in grade school. To read more novels, my friends and I would trade books and that started my now growing collection of reading materials: fiction, non-fiction, magazine, comics, coffee table book.

from my Goodreads account

Perhaps, my first “legitimate” reading material was Nicholas Sparks’ “A Walk to Remember”, back when I was still in Grade 5. By legitimate I meant more texts and lesser or no photos. I’ve seemingly outgrown Barbie, Sabrina, Alice, and Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. Spark’s novels were my favorite subjects for our book review projects.

However, my high school days were not as prolific as it should have been. I’ve never read the indispensable classics like Victor Hugo’s Les Miserable, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, or Louisa Alcott’s Little Women. Our class, unfortunately, was more focused with Science and Math. So it’s only now that I’m starting to read them slowly, carefully. 

Aside from turning the pages and watching myself transported to different worlds, different eras, and different time, I am carefully scrutinizing how each word was weaved to make smooth and beautiful sentences and how these coherent thoughts made up a story.

Reading and writing come hand in hand. I like reading but I must admit that my writing still needs improvement good thing I got a lifetime dedicated to reading.  

The Book Thief Review: The ugliness and Beauty of Humans

“A DEFINITION NOT FOUND

IN THE DICTIONARY
Not leaving: an act of trust and love,
often deciphered by children.” –Death

“The consequence of this is that I'm always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both.” –Death

“I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race - that rarely do I even simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant...I AM HAUNTED BY HUMANS.” –Death

Powerfully narrated by Death, the Book Thief movie (based on the bestselling novel of the same title), is a heartfelt testament of the strength and courage of the human spirit and the power and beauty of the written words in the foreground of the horrors of the World War II.

The Book Thief tells the story of young Liesel  Meminger who was set to live with new parents after her communist mother and brother died. On the funeral of her beloved, she found a book and kept it. Though she does not know how to read and write yet, she has fallen in love with the written words instantly. Her new papa, Hans, becomes her new teacher. They both enjoyed reading, writing, and the eloquence both skills gave them. Liesel’s beautiful love affair with the written words—despite the war, burning of books, raids, famine, and death—has proven her audacity. She has learned to steal (or “borrow” as she would put it) books.

“You can’t eat books, sweetheart,” says Rudy Steiner, her childhood best friend, but no one and nothing can stop the Book Thief.   

Each character portrayed a strong rendition through a vividly explained context (Nazi Germany). The movie was melancholic, preaching without imposing, riveting. Like the many WWII-themed books and movies (Bernard Schlink’ The Reader, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Pianists, and The Schindler’s List), the Book Thief is a story you won’t soon forget. But perhaps what makes the movie exceptional is it anchors on the children. The children—playful, ambitious, innocent—are its main characters and target audience.

I haven’t read Markus Zusak’s original bestselling novel yet but I heard it was beautifully written, the prose sings. The imagery, clear.

I love movies/novels set in World War because it relieves our painful history, the errors of mankind, which teaches us not to repeat history.

rating: 5/5