Passive, You Say?

I am a student of the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Specifically, a part of the Centennial Freshmen. Yes, I am still an incomning sophomore and I'm proud to say I survived my first year in the prestigious university. Before I entered UP, I have heard talks about this school's reputation, both good and bad. I have heard about its grand reputation being the home of many political activists thanks to its belief in the freedom of speech of its iskolars. Many parents have been scared to dens their children to UP Diliman for fear that their kids might turn into one of those people seen rallying on the streets and being paddled by security officers for creating a riot. People thought I would be one among them upon entering. I thought I'd end up having to battle between my issues and what we're supposed to fight for. But even just after a few months of experience UP culture, I realized that you don't turn into a convert easily.
A major percentage of the Centennial freshmen actually did not get converted into political activists. And I have heard and read (on the doors of restroom stalls) that the these people who aren't joining rallies and the walkouts are passive and apathetic, specifically called "apathetic middle class." Well, I have to agree with the middle class part, since the university is no longer just catering the intelligent and poor, but also to those who can very much afford the other prestigious colleges out there. But I beg to disagree concerning the "apathetic" part. You cannot call these people who don't join in in the political activism apathetic just because they don't share the same views as those who do their parts as activists. I'd like to call them "sensible middle class."
My parents didn't want me to be an activist. Nor did I want to be one. I stayed away from all the political talk, shunned them all, and rolled my eyes whenever some activist would explain about the country's state for the nth time. I wasn't okay with going against the flow and fighting for human rights by cutting class and walking out. Someone told me to join the walkout. I reasoned out saying I can't miss my classes since they were my majors. He simply shot back saying he was walking out of Math, which is a very important non-major. So what? My parents paid my tuition and other fees already. My parents paid the university for me to study and go to my classes. Skipping class just to join a walkout was bogus to me because that meant wasting my parents' money and efforts. It's not like we just had one walkout. We had more than that. If you joined every single walkout, how much would you have wasted? I mean, sure, you're supposed to tell the authorities that you don't like paying for expensive tuition and lab fees, but you already paid the school. You were able to pay, so can't we just abide by the rules and graduate at the right time? If you hate the university that much to the point of just going to the academic buildings just to walk out of class and rally through the corridors, then you shouldn't have paid your tuition. It's an open university. You can do that for free, right? Just walk in and share your sentiments. I may sound mean and tactless with this, but I really don't see the point. If you would go to every rally and walkout existing, make sure your grades aren't failing because once you fail a subject, you have to retake that subject, which means paying for that subject AGAIN. I don't know about you but I'd rather finish and graduate ASAP.
So, yes, I speak for those who are called apathetic, for those who you may think as people who don't care. I speak for the rich kids. I speak for those whose education matter so much to them that's why they were willing to pay the university the amount needed to study there even if the units got expensive. I speak for those who don't go on the streets but rather stay in the classroom and work their asses off taking advantage of every scholarship available. I'd rather do my part as a student, because that's what I am. I went to college to study, to create a solid road towards my desired career. I don't want to waste my parents' trust and money.
So, passive, you say? I'm not passive. I am also an activist, just for other reasons. I am an anti-political activist. I don't really care about that now, not because I believe we no longer have hope, but rather because, I don't want to waste my time burning myself under the sun and hurting my feet and throat when I have papers and plates to pass in the next few days. I'm sensible and logical about this. May this be respected.

It's Like Watching Money Burn

If you live in Davao City, you'd be very familiar with the Diversion Road. It cuts from Ulas all the way to Buhangin. We frequently pass it lately since we take this road to head to Bajada or F. Torres. And if you have been passing by the road frequently, you'd definitely notice the numerous curve arrow signs found on both sides of the road. These signs come in handy at night since Diversion Road is indeed curvy and accident-prone. But DPWH wasted money by putting too much of these signs. Even areas with curves as little as 5-25 degrees have these, even those curves that are even barely noticeable. We reportedly have around 500 or 600+ of these curve reflector signs while Subic only has 15. The project engineers, I know, are not blind and stupid. They just chose to be because they got money out of it. Lots of it. We all know that a huge percentage of the budget for projects by the DPWH gets pocketed by the officials and project engineers. Our roads are obvious signs of corruption in the country. I mean, hello, we all know that we have educated drivers (you can't get your license if you aren't one anyway) and our drivers know how to handle roads. The whole Diversion strip isn't an accident-prone area. The reflector signs look like expensive trash on the sideline. I swear, the government doesn't know how to handle money, the taxpayers' money, the peoples' money. They just go around wasting it on useless projects and want the world to think that they are providing us with quality service. Hello, the money used on all the useless crap placed on Diversion Road's sidelines could have been used for health, education, or housing purposes. In this way, a certain few in the 90% of the country's population could have felt the service that the government owes its people.
As our car speeds down Diversion Road one more time, I try to ignore these attention-seeking red reflectors. I try to ignore the idea that I'm flying by millions of pesos. The thought gives me a headache.

Crude & Lewd?

Music is a very powerful and popular art, dating since who knew when, from wordless classics to purely rapped lyrics. Music has been used as a weapon and avenue to convey messages, ranging from sweet emotions to statements promoting activism. If you can’t speak it, might as well, sing it. It has developed and grown through the years and it has changed depending on the times and the way people wanted to use it.
Let’s take the 20th and 21st centuries. What are the popular music of these times? Yes, there’s pop, jazz, but there’s also rock (alternative, heavy metal, grunge, emotive hardcore, poetic, etc.), house, and, of course, hiphop. Hiphop seems to be the most popular. And of course, anyone my age would know Tupac Shakur, Eminem, Nelly, T-pain, Jay-Z, Soulja Boy, and David Banner. We all know that most the hiphop artists release extreme emotions in their singles, like Eminem, who shamelessly disses his own mommah and wife in his songs. These songs are jampacked with emotions and certain experiences written down for sharing. Others, though, talk about useless stuff like cars, parties, food, new dances (read: Soulja Boy*). It sometimes feels stupid to listen to these songs but they have catchy beats and sometimes really cool featuring artists so I stay hooked listening to them on my mp3 player and I don’t have plans of erasing them. But as I listen to my hiphop music collection, I notice a certain trend in every song. 95% of them have one topic: sex. Now we all know that people don’t like talking about sex in the open, considering it lewd since it is meant to be private. That’s why Literotica/Literotika is considered pornography, together with sex videos and other visual androgenators out there. Even certain indie films are banned and are only limited to being viewed in the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) or the UP Film Institute in UP Diliman. People are ashamed to talk about this issue, something which I know, is very natural.
Now, back to music. Anyone who listens to music these days can say that, indeed, the music right now focuses on sex most of the time. I mean, sure, we still have people talking Tortilla Chips, Nikes, Vans, love, but we all know that the popular ones talk about drugs, booze, parties, flirting, foreplay, and sex. And some aren’t very discreet about it. You want examples? Here: Play by David Banner, I’m So Horny by Ashanti, by [even the popular and loved Booty Music] and many more. The examples I sited are a few of the most crude and explicit sex songs that I’ve heard, it’s like someone singing literotica! Music artists are really smart, I have to say. They know that EVERYONE listens to music, and even if there are censors and radio edits, they know that their listeners are still able to grab hold of the originals. Now, people cannot ban music. What’s life without hearing beats and words in tune? I know that many of today’s songs need parental guidance (actually, some have won themselves an XXX rating!) but music, just like writing and speaking is an art. It’s a good thing no one’s banning such lewdity in songs because talking about sex in songs and actually describing it down to the details is a very brave thing to do. Nobody likes talking about sex not because they find it gross (if they found it gross then the production of babies should have stopped ages ago) but rather because they are shy to admit that all those thoughts, moans, and sensations talked about concerning sex are true. People tend to get bashful about these stuff because it’s something very personal (imagine: my reserved CEO knows wild sex?!), usually just talked about in hushed tones because society has wired us to think that this isn’t something to be talked about casually. But, as we all know, the more you suppress, the more people would do it, as the popular Filipino saying goes, masarap ang bawal. Sex is a human weakness, admit it. You cannot control the way your body would react when stimulated because you were created that way. God created sex to be fun. And you can’t help not thinking about it, especially the boys because it was scientifically proven that there’s a certain part of a male’s brain wired for sex. Music artists who talk about sex and describe certain sexual encounters in detail in their art admit such weakness. They’re saying, “Hey, I think about sex all the time to the point of making songs about it!” They aren’t ashamed to sing and write about it because they know that anyone can relate. They may be crude and lewd to many but you have to admit, these songs don’t lie. And no matter how disgusting it may seem, music is still an auditory art.


*note: Soulja Boy is all grown up! Check out one of his latest: Pow.