Future Filipino Leader....?

Last Sunday (Saturday night in the US) on May 3, Manny Paccquiao knocked out the British champion boxer Ricky Hatton within the second round in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Throughout the Philippines, I believe, all citizens watched that fight, an unbelievable fight! A knock out just within two rounds after about 15 minutes.

I watched a video clip from the Youtube. In Davao city, the entrance fee per head in the malls was 350 pesos (USD 7). It was not quite expensive for Paccquiao's big fans in the country since his fight comes twice a year. Imagine every single citizen watched the fight. Large audiences watched the fight not only as their hobby but mainly for their national spirit in support of their boxing hero. Of course, Paccquiao is their hero indeed. If I were a Filipino, I would be truly proud of his victory against the Briton Ricky Hatton.

I heard that Manny Paccquiao earned USD 12 millions (kyates 12,000 millions) only for this fight excluding payments of the TV shows, ads and other commercial personal ads. Imagine how much money Paccquiao has earned for this time alone!

Until now, people in Davao city talk about Paccquiao's fight. Every Filipino is proud of him. Everywhere people gather and talk about him. What an amazing blessing for the Philippines!

In the national newspapers, all pictures were very powerful. In those shots especially in the front pages, I could imagine Paccquiao like David who defeated Goliaiah in the Old Testament. I had a goose bump!

However, Paccquiao still wants to run for congress in 2010 election. According to the CNN, Paccquiao said, "My dream is to become a congressman." That statement signaled to his mass audience an electric shock. I noticed that few journalists in the papers agrees about his dream. Probably, they dislike his idea because of his poor education background. Paccquiao has not yet graduated. He is taking a special distance study in Nortre Dame University of Gen Santo. According to a local source, he takes a course in business management.

Of course, there is no right for anyone to interfere in one's personal dream. Many political experts in the newspapers do not want their beloved national hero to be involved in the political field which they have allegedly called a corrupt institution. Simply they do not want to see Paccquiao to be manipulated by the corrupt politicians. It was a major concern.

Honestly I do not know much about boxing. With this match, I watched two boxing matches. In Myanmar, there is a boxing which was known as the Myanmar traditional boxing. It was quite similar to the Moy Thai boxing from Thailand. From time to time, I watched Paccquiao's old fight video clips again and again.

I realize that Paccquiao is very different from other famous celebrities. He always prays before and after his fights. He never looks angry nor aggressive in the fights. He waits patiently for his opportunity to throw his powerful fists. Unbelievably, his punches are too fast for his opponents but those punches are very precise and accurate.

According to the papers, he has already won five world titles in different weight divisions. Inevitably, he has become a multi-millionaire from the Philippines. I assume that he can buy his dream as a congressman with his money and fame. I do not think that he will stop as a congressman but go for the presidency of the Philippines.

During these days, I imagine if I were Paccquiao, would I have the same dream? I would not have. Of course, I am not Paccquiao. But Paccquiao deserves to achieve his dream. Anyway, I believe that he will learn a lesson from his first political loss in the regional election of Gen San city last year

I believe Paccquiao will be a president of the Philippines because it is not just he is a legend of the boxing arena but because he has a certain capability which makes him different from other celebrities. He has won the fight against his own poverty. Before, when he was a young boy, he was a very poor vendor in Gen San city. His life itself proves that he is just not a normal boxer.

He is now a source of power and inspiration for the Filipinos who are badly needed to have a man like Manny Paccquiao. As he has a dream to become a politician who wants to change his country's future, I believe that Paccquia will be a good leader in the Philippines. Who knows? I believe, if there was a actor president in the Philippines before, why not Paccquiao, a legend and the boxing champion of the world become a president of his own country? Why not Paccquiao, a hero for his country, can fight back against his country's corrupt Politicians? Why can not Paccquiao learn the tricks in his new political world since he is only thirty years old?

With these questions, I fully support Paccquiao to try his luck again in this coming election 2010. With prayer, I like to yell, "Go, go, Paccman! But do not get caught with the tricky and deceitful politicians”

Escapism Through Books.

Luckily, after my high school, I got a job as a tutorial teacher in my free time. Traditionally, the students in Myanmar who had passed the previous high school year exam, must wait for two years to enroll at the college.

I got plenty of time. I remembered I really wanted to read English books. I dreamed that I could read them very well. From the first time, it was not easy to start with the English books but with determination and confidence, I could begin to read them.

I still remember that the next morning I asked my uncle to borrow his English books and sought his suggestions about reading them. Happily my uncle let me borrow some of his books and encourage me how to find the words I did not understand in the dictionary. It was very tiresome and boring for every single word which I had to look at up the dictionary. I remember on one page I did not know how many times I looked up at the dictionary.

Once a classmate brought me to the Kachin National Culture and Museum on the way home. I found many books. The Museum had two departments such as the exhibition arts and the library. Every Friday and Monday, I went to borrow and return books in the Museum. Later the Librarian who was a very kind, hospitable and warm lady, explained to me that all those books were donated by individuals. They collected those donated books into a library. The library was very small compared to other libraries in the country. In all, there were about five hundred books.

Leisurely, from time to time I visited the Young Men Christian Association in Myitkyina, Myanmar. In the YMCA, there was a library where I found many English books and cassettes for the English beginners. There were at different levels.. For membership, each one must pay 500 Kyates a year. (50cents). It was quite expensive for me. But with that membership, a student could have 15 hours to listen to the English stationary tapes. In the library, there was a cable TV where I watched the BBC. The time was awesomely joyful.

I used to have a morning class in the school. Sometimes I did not have a class. Deliberately I enjoyed reading books with my limited vocabularies and became quite isolated from my classmates.

Firstly, I was very interested to explore and learn about other people in different countries, about their thoughts and their lifestyles. Normally, I would not understand everything in the books in detail. But I tried to grasp the story.

In my home, I tried to listen to the VOA special English program on my radio. I liked the program very much. But, I worked at night so I did not then have time for listening.

Once, my younger brother asked me if I understood all the English words in the news. I told him I did not. It was a simple and honest answer. I explained to him the reason I liked to listen to the English program.

The reason I wanted to study English was to enable me to read English books. I did not have any plans for going abroad and study in another country. With a dream I could read the English books from the different countries' literatures and works which were normally written and translated in English

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First and foremost, my background education was inadequate in helping me for a better preparation. Inevitably, I did have great difficulty in the beginning. Without surrendering these challenges I worked hard to better my English.

Among my friends, memorizing the slang words or idioms by heart or the dialogue was the norm. I believe that that practice would still be popular among the young English learners in my country. It was very funny for me to see those people practicing their English. Of course, it could be a technique or shortcut for learning English. Until now, I like to use simple English. I accept that English is like a tool which can be used differently by people. With English I always remind myself to express my thoughts but not to impress.

As a worker in the computer stores I was busy but I found time to continue my English. Studying English was not a job but a hobby for me. I used to buy the used English books at very low prices. I walked around the bookstalls along the Seik Kan Thar street and the Ban-do-la street (Bar-lan) before going back to my dormitory. Of course, I spent time going to the Christian library which was founded by the Chin youths. It was free for everyone. But one condition, for those who wanted to borrow books, you must be a member in the library. It would cost 600kyates (60 cents) for membership.

During stressful times, I could enjoy myself with books. Maybe it was my recreation after the whole day in the miserable hours of work. I found reading fulfilling. You might wonder what I received from reading books.

Simply I have received countless benefits. I encourage you to read and read. It will be your refuge for your whole life and a great treasure for your future.