by Marie Michelle Sia
Marc Gregory Yu, a 16-year-old graduate of Iloilo Central Commercial High School, won first place in the 32nd UPU-Philpost International letter writing contest last year (he was 15 that time),with the theme, "I am writing to tell you how we can build a better future".
Marc, editor-in-chief of his school paper "The Chain" began writing as early as 11 years old for his elementary school paper. He joined the contest last year after a teacher urged him to do so. And now that he won first among the three places awarded by Philpost, his work will be the official Philippine entry to the international contest sponsored by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in Berne, Switzerland.
The eldest son of a couple selling dry goods in Iznart, Iloilo, Marc hopes to take up medicine in college this year.
He was followed by Kristine Alexis Librado from Dapdap High School and on the 3rd place is Angeline L. Baniqued from St. Paul College, Pasig
Marc Gregory Yu's Entry
From a distance
there is harmony
and it echoes through the land.
It's the voice of hope
, it's the voice of peace,
it's the voice of every man.
From a distance,
we all have enough
And no one is in need.
There are no guns, no bombs, no diseases,
No hungry mouths to feed.
To whom it may concern:
Bette Midler's 1990 hit "From a Distance" , is a song that had been loved, is loved and will continue to be loved. Though almost twelve long and eventful years have passed since I first encountered the inexplicably haunting melody and the simple yet seemingly indelible lyrics of the song, the same old times keep playing in my head. I could see myself as a small kindergarten pupil dressed in a doctors costume during a school program, enthusiastically singing the song together with my classmates as part of the finale in our presentation entitled, "The UN Agencies". It is truly a scene which I vividly continue to picture out, after all these years.
Going back to the song itself, I could not help but ponder, at times, the message that it wants to convey. Having previously found out that the song had been designated as Anthem of the Gulf War , and that it had served as a morale booster and source of inspiration for soldiers at the warfront. I try to unlock the meaning of every line, attempting to relate the words to our present world, however, as things are seldom what they seem, the task proved to be more difficult than what I actually expected.
For instance, try to imagine a "world where there is harmony, where voices and hope echo throughout the land", and you will undoubtedly end in failure. For how can a world seeking with hate, corruption and embittered wars to be a source of harmony, much less a haven of hope and peace? And what about saying that " we all have enough, and no one is in need?" I believe that the famine-stricken families and malnourished children of Africa and many Third World countries would provide a sure answer. How about having "no guns, no bombs and no disease?" It is indeed a great irony that while I am talking/writing about having no guns, bombs, nor disease, a great number of guns and bombs are on their raging outburst in Iraq and Kuwait this very moment with all their tumult and full force. While in Asia, the SARS epidemic rages on, continuing to claim many unsuspecting lives. A wicked twist of fate, indeed.
Yet this song proved to be more than most of us would actually expect. Even though the words obviously don't apply to our present situation , still, while listening to this song , we are able to sense a deep feeling of innate hope and peace that eventually we will be able to stop all these unnecessary hostilities ravaging throughout the globe right now. With this, comes the gradual assurance, that somehow we would be able to build the better future we heed.
However, as one can easily observe right now, most of us have resorted to being fanatical cynics, saying in one way or another that the world has become nothing but a huge pile of despondent mush or that true peace and better future are unattainable and virtually exist only in idealistic pages of Mores Utopia. But then, as most of us know, there is always profound solution to every nerve-wrecking problem. Who knows? Maybe the answer lies just within ourselves waiting to be discovered, and that perhaps, we just simply don't know when , where or how to start.
As a teenage highschooler, it maybe too audacious of me to say that I am single-handedly able to create a major difference in todays world. First and foremost, I don not even have the capacity for it. I lack the resources and still have a long way to go and much to learn in this life.
But then, as an individual, we are all capable of one thing: self-empowerment. It shows that in order to help others, we should start with ourselves by trying to be the best in whatever field we might be in. We should free ourselves from all unfavorable values that we possess and erase all enmity and prejudice that lie within us. We should set aside the difference that serves as walls or barriers between others and us, separating us from the rest of the human race. In this way, we are able to make ourselves one with the others and reach out to those in need as well as to those whose lives have been left out in the dark for a long time. Thus the magic words for having this kind of ideal interpersonal relationships and for Attaining key growth in life are empathy, action and humanization.
First, why try empathy? To empathize means putting ourselves in other's shoes and trying to comprehend how our words and actions might affect them. In todays world, we are living at a competitive pace and are thus constantly faced with an unnatural craving to satisfy our own selfish motives and intentions. We have come to forget that in the due process, we have hurt and dehumanized man people, many of whom have become mere tools for other's egoistic desires. Because of this misunderstanding frequently arise which may led to unneeded animosity that disrupt the peace and order of the land.
Next comes the task of humanization or making ourselves truly "human". This is significant. If we are able to see other people as equal human beings, then we would be able to treat them better and respect their dignity. And maybe our lofty goal of world peace and a better future wouldnt be so far fetched. Also, we need action in order to carry out plans in execution.
Former President Manuel Quezon once said, "The best foundation of peace is not which is built on fear, rather it is one on which happiness and contentment abound." True enough , if we are able to find ways toward fulfilling this dream of world peace other than having wars and hostilities, then we might just find ourselves on the right track. For in every individual lies a small voice and if we only listen to that small voice within us, it will gradually lead us to the right direction we should take. Right now it is but plain truth that most men have been misled and misguided by their voices, however, by having faiths in ourselves and by working together for a common cause ,we can be sure that after all these years, the voices of hope and peace will indeed become the voice of every man.