If Disney Princesses Were Filipinas

By Heather Chen

BBC News

Image copyrightGoh Wei Choon

Once upon a time, Disney's famous princesses were re-imagined as zombies and even as bowls of water. But one of the most intriguing spins on the iconic characters is what is happening among fans in the Philippines.

The fairy tales have taken on a new life, which is poignant but with a bittersweet edge. So princesses were re-imagined singing karaoke, but there were also Disney princesses to reflect the political and social preoccupations of the Philippines.

"If Disney princesses were Pinay, then Mulan would definitely be claimed by China," said one user from Cavite province.

"They are the faces of fairy tales today and are huge internet favourites," said Rebecca-Anne Rozario, a professor from Monash University who has written on the cultural significance of Disney princesses. 

"Their happy endings aren't discarded - new stories are being told. Fan artists are "freeing" them, re-imagining them in different styles and ethnicities but what's also interesting is that new stories involving tweets and memes are fleshing out the lives of the princesses themselves."

This is the take of Disney-mad Philippine social media on the trials and tribulations of ordinary Filipina women.

Cinderella gets stuck in traffic

Image copyrightGoh Wei Choon

Image captionNot even Cinderella would be able to escape Manila's infamous traffic jams, as Twitter users in the Philippines pointed out

Princess Jasmine probably wouldn't be able to escape the Manila traffic either, and would, like many Filipinos in the capital, "arrive at least 30 minutes late to work".

She would ride a traditional 'Jeepney', the country's most popular means of cheap public transport, and not a converted pumpkin.

Cinderella as a domestic helper

She would be an overseas foreign worker, a domestic helper, which is a path that awaits some Filipina women who travel to find better incomes than they would get at home in households in the Middle East, Hong Kong and Singapore.

"If Disney princesses were Filipina, Cinderella would be an OFW in Hong Kong," one post read drawing the direct comparison with Cinderella's harsh beginnings.

Image copyrightGoh Wei Choon

Image captionWhat would life be for Cinderella, if the fairytale took place in modern day Hong Kong - home to thousands of Overseas Foreign Workers (OFWs)

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Elsa the snow queen would create ash and floods, not blizzards

Elsa, one of Disney's newest princesses, is known for her ability to produce or manipulate ice, frost and snow at will. But that didn't stop users talking about her weather powers, the kind of conditions that frequently wreak havoc in the Philippines.

"Elsa would not be creating snows but flood," remarked one user. "More fun in the Philippines!"

Image copyrightGoh Wei Choon

Image captionElsa wouldn't be a snow queen in the Philippines, home to volcanoes

To another user, a Filipina version of Elsa would be more adapted to creating ash, not snow at Mount Pinatubo, near the island of Luzon.

Others were more optimistic. Elsa should maintain the ice rinks at mega-malls in Manila.

Whitening products...for the fairest of them all

Fair-skinned princess Snow White, was another popular focus among many Filipinos discussing the trend.

Image copyrightGoh Wei Choon

Image captionIf Snow White were Filipina, she would have been enticed by a mango, not an apple

"The evil queen would have given her a poison mango," said one user.

Her much vaunted fair complexion would make her the perfect ambassador for whitening products, used by a number of Filipinas, others pointed out.

"Snow White would also be on a lot of whitening commercials because she's the fairest of them all."

Karaoke microphones and singing competitions would be the obvious choice for a Filipina Ariel: "She and Snow White would be fighting it out in singing battles," said one Twitter user.

The princesses imagined in the Filipina context play on both the power and powerlessness of women.

This social conversation has cleverly twisted the popular global trend and recreated a Philippine version with humour and ruefulness.

But the Philippines already has its own Disney princess

World-renowned Filipina singer and actress Lea Salonga, has voiced not one but two Disney icons: Princess Jasmine and Mulan.

And while many saw the dark side of Disney in putting her in Philippine scenarios, others remembered her role in one the world's most enduring entertainment phenomena and cite her as a role model for Filipina women.

Image copyrightGetty Images

Image captionLea Salonga: The Philippines' very own Disney legend

"Idina Menzel and Mandy Moore may be modern and nice but Lea Salonga will always be the reigning 'Disney princess' in the hearts of Filipinos," said a fan on Twitter.

Another said: "When I hear Lea Salonga, I get emotional because she sang as my two favourite princesses."

Illustrations by Goh Wei Choon.

Nuclear energy booming in Asia

SAT, MARCH 19, 2016 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINION

BY KLAUS DORING

Yes, in my opinion, it’s indeed amazing and is actually taking my breath away. Five years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, India and China have still embraced nuclear power. Other countries in the region also want to build more plants – even in high-risk areas prone to earthquakes and tsunamis. GRABE.

When Sun Qin talks about the future of nuclear power, his eyes light-up. In China alone, there are 31 nuclear power plants and another 24 are under construction, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Now, the president of the China’s National Nuclear Corporation wants (CNNC) wants to build 30 additional nuclear power stations – not only in China, but also in the neighboring states along the so-called “New Silk Road.” CNNC has already exported six reactors abroad, but the Chinese want to expand further.

“We face very strong competition in the international nuclear market,” says Sun Qin, adding that “countries like Russia, South Korea, Japan and the United States are all exploring the global nuclear market aggressively.”

Five years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and thirty years after Chernobyl, the nuclear industry, in particular in China, is on the upswing.

China: on track to becoming number 1?

Following the Fukushima disaster, China’s government initially suspended the construction of additional nuclear power plants. Instead, comprehensive security policies were adopted. But in the autumn of 2012, Beijing lifted the moratorium on future development – and since then, has pursued a more ambitious nuclear program.

What China’s nuclear industry wants to expand – also internationally -is making me breathless. China needs to restructure its massive energy sector. Currently, the country produces some two-thirds of its total energy from outdated coal power plants. The Chinese people complain of air pollution and other environmental damage, which is why the government in Beijing will shut down about 1,000 coal plants by the end of this year.

Nuclear power, on the other hand, is considered a relatively “clean” alternative to coal. In daily congressional meetings, the Communist Party has been discussing plans for a massive expansion of nuclear energy. By 2030, a total of 110 nuclear power plants will be in operation.

With this, China would overtake the US as the country with the most nuclear power plants connected to the grid. German Greenpeace nuclear expert Heinz Smital views the speed at which the reactors are being developed as problematic: “The Chinese safety authorities do not have the capacity to examine the buildings properly,” said Smital. “They will likely wave things through, rubber-stamp everything and not mess with the state-run construction consortium. There is a big security risk.” Indeed, there is! Who on earth seems to care?

India’s economy grows at a rate of about six percent per annum. But its ailing energy infrastructure inhibits economic development. Large areas of the country suffer from regular blackouts and obsolete infrastructure. Like China, India’s renewable energy sector needs to be massively expanded. But the country’s political elite are convinced that India must exhaust all possibilities of electricity. Therefore, Delhi is planning a far-reaching expansion of nuclear power. Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to build dozens of new reactors in the next 15 years.

The technical know-how is sourced internationally. Over the past decade, India has reached civil nuclear agreements with the United States, Canada, France and Russia. 21 nuclear power plants are already in operation. Two of the plants are in Kudankulam and Kalpakkam, located on the southeast coast of the country – areas prone to tsunamis. In December 2006, a tsunami hit Kalpakkam causing extensive damage, but not to the nuclear power plant, according to its operator.

Let’s take a look to Pakistan: Do you remember several reactors in flood-prone areas? India’s neighbor, Pakistan, is also struggling with blackouts and outdated infrastructure. The country currently operates three small reactors, with the nuclear plant west of Karachi – located in a flood-prone area – being one of the oldest in the world.

The remaining two reactors are situated in an earthquake-prone area some 300 kilometers (186.4 miles) south of the capital Islamabad. The government is planning to build two other reactors in the same area. According to Pakistan’s Atomic Energy Commission, Islamabad wants to build a total of seven new reactors by 2030 – with assistance from China.

Although South Korea is about the size of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), the country boasts 25 active nuclear plants. Three additional ones are under construction, while two others are set to be completed by 2029. South Koreans are becoming increasingly skeptical about nuclear energy – and not just because of the 2011 Fukushima disaster. In 2012 and 2013, a scandal related to the use of fake safety certificates rocked the country’s nuclear industry lobby. State-owned (KHNP) had thousands of small components featuring falsified certificates fitted into the country’s nuclear plants. As it turns out, large amounts of bribe money changed hands between KHNP employees, construction firms and politicians.

This led not only to Korean media speaking of a “nuclear mafia,” but also to a massive drop in the approval ratings for nuclear energy – from 70 percent before the Fukushima disaster to 35 percent. In spite of this, Seoul is sticking to its plans to expand the use of nuclear power in the East Asian country.

In Southeast Asia, the production of nuclear energy is a hotly debated issue. For instance, while Vietnam wants Russian assistance to build eight nuclear plants, Hanoi has yet to make a final decision. Thailand is planning to build five reactors, whereas Malaysia and the Philippines each want a nuclear reactor to go online.

Despite protests, the South Korean government wants to expand the use of nuclear energy

However, it’s unclear whether such plans will ever see the light of day. “It will be very difficult to find people willing to invest billions of dollars in this area, especially given the likelihood of another accident taking place in another part of the world,” said Greenpeace nuclear expert Smital.

“The costs related to the production of nuclear energy are only likely to increase, whereas renewable energy is becoming increasingly affordable. This is why the free market can only barely manage to finance nuclear plants at the moment,” Smital added.

Nuclear energy is keep on booming in Asia. Where are the disadvantages and benefits for us and our future generations? Somehow, I feel scared. And not only me. You too?

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Email: doringklaus@gmail.com or follow me in Facebook or Twitter or visitwww.germanexpatinthephilippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdoringsclassicalmusic.blogspot.com

World Happiest: Philippines Ranks 82nd

By Charmie Joy Pagulong (The Philippine Star) 

 1  168 googleplus0  1 

The report, which urged nations, regardless of wealth, to tackle inequality and the environment, showed the Philippines as a happy place to live in, one notch higher than China. Philstar.com/File

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is the 82nd happiest place out of 157 economies, according to a report released yesterday by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

The report, which urged nations, regardless of wealth, to tackle inequality and the environment, showed the Philippines as a happy place to live in, one notch higher than China.

The top 10 this year were Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden.

The United States came in at 13th, followed by the United Kingdom at 23rd; France, 32nd, and Italy, 50th.
Syria, Afghanistan and eight sub-Saharan countries are the 10 least happy places on earth to live, the report said.

The bottom 10 countries were Madagascar, Tanzania, Liberia, Guinea, Rwanda, Benin, Afghanistan, Togo, Syria and Burundi.

Headlines ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

In Asia, Singapore (22nd) was categorized as the happiest country to live in, followed by Thailand (33rd), Taiwan (35th), Malaysia (47th), Japan (53rd) Hong Kong (75th) and Indonesia (79th).
“There is a strong message for my country, the United States, which is very rich, has gotten a lot richer over the last 50 years, but has gotten no happier,” said Jeffrey Sachs, head of the SDSN and special advisor to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
While the differences between countries where people are happy and those where they are not could be scientifically measured, “we can understand why and do something about it,” Sachs, one of the report’s authors, told Reuters in an interview in Rome.

“The message for the United States is clear. For a society that just chases money, we are chasing the wrong things. Our social fabric is deteriorating, social trust is deteriorating, faith in government is deteriorating,” he said.

The report, now in its fourth edition, ranked 157 countries by happiness levels using factors such as per capita gross domestic product and healthy years of life expectancy.
It also rated “having someone to count on in times of trouble” and freedom from corruption in government and business.

“When countries single-mindedly pursue individual objectives, such as economic development to the neglect of social and environmental objectives, the results can be highly adverse for human wellbeing, even dangerous for survival,” it said.

“Many countries in recent years have achieved economic growth at the cost of sharply rising inequality, entrenched social exclusion, and grave damage to the natural environment.”

Yardstick of happiness

The first report was issued in 2012 to support a United Nations meeting on happiness and well being.
Five countries – Bhutan, Ecuador, Scotland, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela – now have appointed ministers charged with promoting happiness as a goal of public policy.

The 2016 survey showed that three countries – Ireland, Iceland and Japan – were able to maintain their happiness levels, despite external shocks such as the post-2007 economic crisis and the 2011 earthquake, because of social support and solidarity.

Sachs cited Costa Rica, which ranked 14th, ahead of many wealthier countries, as an example of a healthy, happy society, although it is not an economic powerhouse.

Rex Navarrete Teaches Us How To Spot Pinoys Anywhere In The World

Candle-Lighting to Highlight Duterte-Cayetano Rally in Davao City

PRESS RELEASE

15 March 2016

Candle-lighting to highlight 

Duterte-Cayetano rally in Davao City

DAVAO CITY—This is one big event the people of Davao have been waiting for.

In what is considered the biggest political event in Davao history, the city and its people are expected to come out in droves today for the grand rally to support the tandem of  Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte and Senate Majority leader Alan Peter Cayetano. 

The gathering at the Freedom Park along Roxas Avenue starting at 4 p.m. will actually cap an eventful day as March 16 also marks the 79th founding anniversary of Davao City.

A candle-lighting ceremony will highlight the rally dubbed “Kahayag sa Pagbag-o” where Dabawenyos are encouraged to go out of their homes or open their windows and light a candle for the Duterte and Cayetano tandem. 

The activity’s theme is consonant with the agenda of Duterte and Cayetano, to end the disorder and bring genuine change in the country.

Duterte has vowed to stop illegal drugs, criminality and corruption in the first three to six months of his term if he wins the presidency in the May national elections.

Since the campaign period started last February 9, Duterte has been busy on the campaign trail trying to cover more grounds, although he has yet to hold a rally in his beloved Davao. Cayetano will join the tough-talking mayor in the said event. 

The stage is finally set today, and it will be extra special as the city is also celebrating Araw ng Davao.

Earlier in the day, City Hall will hold the annual civic parade called “Parada Dabawenyo” and to be attended by government officials led by City Administrator Jesus Melchor V. Quitain and heads of the different line agencies and sectoral representatives.

The city’s law enforcement agencies like the Davao City Police Office and Task Force Davao are also expected to join the Parada and showcase their might and capabilities before the Dabawenyos.

It can be recalled that Davao is Duterte’s Exhibit A in his presidential run, having presented and promoted the city’s meaningful legislation and accomplishments to the public.

Meanwhile, organizers of the twin activities have assured the public that the Parada Dabawenyo will not be hampered by the Duterte-Cayetano political rally.

Duterte/Cayetano: Day 3 on Bank Secrecy Challenge

PRESS RELEASE

16 March 2016

"Day 3 on bank secrecy challenge"

Call to open bank accounts gains ground, Cayetano draws similarities between Binay's ill-gotten wealth and $81-M money laundering scheme

The call of vice presidential bet Senate Majority leader Alan Peter Cayetano for fellow candidates to open their bank accounts as part of their commitment to transparency continued to gain ground. This was after the administration's presidential candidate, former Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas signified intention to make public his bank records.

Cayetano welcomed Roxas' statement but urged him to prove his sincerity by immediately signing the manifesto they prepared pledging to open all bank accounts in local and foreign currencies, both here and abroad. Roxas agreed to open his accounts after Duterte and Cayetano wrote a letter to them urging them to sign the waiver.

"I welcome the response of Sec. Roxas to our challenge. Since 2007, when I scrutinized the bank accounts of then first gentlemen Mike Arroyo, I already called for the lifting of the bank secrecy provisions of the Bank Secrecy Law for public officials. I'm glad that the administration is finally with me on this issue," Cayetano said.

"Extremely similar"

Meanwhile, amid the Senate Blue Ribbon investigation into the $81 million money-laundering operation involving the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), Cayetano drew attention to Binay’s own “money-laundering scheme” using the same bank.

Cayetano cited an Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) report where Gerardo Limlingan, an alleged dummy of Binay, had transactions with the RCBC amounting to P3.1 billion. The senator said Limlingan’s transactions alone are equivalent to $68.1 million or just $12.6 million short of the $81 million allegedly withdrawn from Bangladesh’s bank account in the United States.

The one-page portion of the report Cayetano distributed to the media showed that Limlingan had one transaction of P2 Billion, and two transactions of P500 Million through the RCBC, the same bank in question in the ongoing Senate probe.

"The similarities are extreme. Like Binay's ill-gotten wealth, the same bank is involved on both cases. Both involved dummy accounts. And unscrupulous people are hiding behind the same banking law. The only difference is, Binay doesn't need hackers to amass ill-gotten wealth," Cayetano said. "I hope the government has the same enthusiasm in holding the vice presindent and his accomplices accountable for stealing from Filipinos as it now has in probing the $81-million money-laundering scheme," he added.

Day 3: Still Duterte and Cayetano

The duo signed a manifesto committing to open their bank accounts and challenged all candidates to do the same. To date, only Duterte and Cayetano are the only candidates who have actually signed the document.

Waiting for a ‘better calling’?

SAT, MARCH 12, 2016 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINION
KLAUS DORING

Career is a rapid motion. A course of action. Sure! A professional conduct in life. Even a progress through life. Here we are! That means, a careerist is one, who rushes widely and makes his own personal advancement as well as his (or her) own aim in life!

What can we do, if “career doubts” won’t go away? First allow me to quote my bible, especially Jude (Watching out! Sounding an alarm!), who writes in a style of a teacher who is watching a freight train bear down on his student’s driver. Yes, bells ring out: “Be merciful to those who doubt.” (Jude 2:22).

My parents always wanted me to become a banker. So far so good. Why not? Maybe I would have been much more happier in my job during those times. Maybe not? I wanted to be a journalist already at the age of 6… . Believe it or not!

The pressure “to be” (or later NOT TO BE – thank you Mr. Shakespeare!), started early in my life. Not only my parents, also my peers and teachers began to exert their influences on me. Yes, I even didn’t know yet where my inclinations lay. I only knew, I wanted to become a journalist… .

Suddenly being a doctor or a lawyer? Yes, I was interested in law and medicine at that time. I really got very lucky becoming an editor of German law magazines during my last 18 years in Germany. But I never became a lawyer – or doctor! Now, I would ask myself – who cares?

“The way that people pick up careers is incredibly  primitive,” said Nicholas Lore, founder of the Rockport Institute, a career coaching firm, and author of “The Pathfinder”. Strong tobacco, indeed. That’s why so many people are indeed dissatisfied with their jobs. I wanted to be a journalist, but mass communications wasn’t my major subject yet. During the early 1970s publishing house management, German language, marketing and writing skills training. Once upon a time in Germany….

Believe me, I always thought about a true calling for myself. Sure, people, whose careers aren’t the fight fit often  feel like impostors, as Professor Robert I. Sutton, an organizational psychologist at Stanford University in Palo Alto, said. Very, very well said, Sir.

How about you, my dear reader of this column? Are you also placing too high a value on the external rewards of job, like money, prestige and power? Of course, for many of us (most?) these things are indeed important. Hold on, please! The work you do and the skills  your opportunity  require and the value of your work are really more vital to fulfillment. Paper work, or not…. You think, you find a better career fit? Go ahead – but don’t expect that this is your life’s career!

I waited for my “better calling” (what a terrible term!) experiencing many even better and wonderful moments in life. I experienced also that several professional things I did in the past had been not very much compatible to me. But I stored many valuable experiences.

Today, I am what I am. And, I am proud of it. Human thinks – but our Lord leads … !

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Questions, comments or suggestions? Email me: doringklaus@gmail.com or follow me in Facebook or Twitter or visit one of my websites www.germanexpatinthephilippines.blogspot.com.or www.klausdoringsclassicalmusic.blogspot.com.

Going to the movies

TUE, MARCH 15, 2016 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINION

Klaus Doring

Film Review: Gods of Egypt

This week, for the first time ever, my wife took me to a cinema in Davao City.  Gods of Egypt in a 3D screening. It was my first experience with 3D seating, and was pretty fun. I hadn’t heard of Gods of Egypt, despite it having such a large budget and star crew, so I went in without expec-tation. It was so close to being so bad I loved it. Close, but no cigar.

Gods of Egypt is set in, controversially, not Egypt. In the very beautiful establishing shot at the beginning, you see this fantastical city with impressive buildings, which have been loosely based on what can be considered  Egyptian designs. This confused me, but as the film goes on, I realized that it wasn’t even earth, and I kind of wish I had known that from the start. A very minor thing, but it bugged me the entire way through the movie.

Now I really want to point out how much I wanted to enjoy this film. I loved Egyptian mythology as a child, I love fantasy as an adult. ‘Gods of Egypt’ had the concept and budget to be able to pull off something really amazing. It had elements of things I love seeing on screen. Gods transforming into beasts, rich scenery and with a diverse variety of settings – mythology. Yet despite having all the ingredients, the final dish was disappointing.

The plot is very simple. King is killed by evil brother, who takes over kingdom. Prince must go on a journey to defeat the evil new king and take his place as rightful ruler. Helped along by a mismatched sidekick. With such a classic plot line and colorful costume arrangement, I really would have expected the film to be marketed towards a family audience.

The film instead takes itself seriously to be an epic adventure, and the actors deliver the shoddy script with as much vigor as they can. Some scripts however will sound wooden no matter how much effort one puts into delivering it. The few jokes and banter that is written between the main characters Horas (Nikolaj Coster-Walda) and Bek (Brenton Thwaites) fall flat as I can only assume there is no chemistry between the two characters. That and their size difference, made by cgi, is a bit disconcerting.

Overall, I don’t really want to write much about this film. I felt like it had everything it needed to be something I really enjoyed, as a fan of Hollywood blockbuster films and Egyptian mythology. I’m still sort of dealing with the disappointment it left me in. I feel like you should see it in the cinema, simply to enjoy the beautiful scenery work, which won’t come across as well on TV.

The 3D experience was really interesting, possibly more so than the film. Going to the movies. Maybe once more. It’s something different than being a cable television subscriber. And, of course, it depends, which movie I am going to watch next time.

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Email: doringklaus @gmail.com or follow me in Facebook or Twitter or visit www.germanexpat inthephilippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdorings classicalmusic,blogspot.com.