I’d like to travel more often once this pandemic is over. I want to visit China so I can practice speaking Mandarin. Of course, I’d also love to go to the US and Canada to visit my family there. In the Philippines, I’d like to go to Palawan.
An INFJ who I encountered (not really “met” per se) in real life said that we shouldn’t just enjoy the tourist spots when we travel abroad. Instead, we should seek to discover other countries’ secrets to success and apply them in the Philippines. That’s why I went to Singapore a few years ago.
The Beggar’s Pile of Gold
I chose Singapore because of its remarkable progress despite having almost no resources. Or perhaps, that’s why it prospered. Singaporeans know that they have very little, so they innovated to bring the best out of whatever they had. When I was there, the spaces and the buildings were maximized to showcase as much beauty as possible.
Singapore is so different from the Philippines. My country has more resources than what Filipinos can ever dream of. We have world-class, affordable tourist spots. Our lands are fertile. We have abundant and diverse flora and fauna. We have various bodies of water. Moreover, we have 26.3 Trillion USD worth of oil deposits.
Despite all that, the Philippines has food insecurity, water shortages, and a looming energy crisis. The problems can be so severe that it’s enough to drive many patriotic Filipinos out of the country. If you’ve chosen to stay, you’ll most likely get disillusioned. I know that, because I’m experiencing waves upon waves of disappointment. I wonder sometimes if my frustration is turning into an early midlife crisis.
The water shortages in 2020 made me question if I should’ve just worked in Australia. Imagine, I had to dodge exposure to COVID-19 in the hospital all day, only to be at risk of getting dengue when I got home because we had to store water in basins and buckets. Hey, maybe I could’ve even contracted both!
On the other hand, Singapore has solved its water crisis through rainwater collection, wastewater recycling, and desalination.
From Brownouts to Blackouts?
Another issue that makes me question my choice to return to the Philippines is the looming energy crisis. The Malampaya gas field where Luzon gets its electricity will dry up in 2027. I'm infuriated that despite the prospect of a power shortage, so many Filipino politicians are virtue-signaling about using renewables only to phase out fossil fuel, without prioritizing nuclear energy. Don’t they know that renewables can’t generate enough electricity? How hard is it to google “Renewable energy pros and cons”?
If all these climate alarmist politicians will have their way, we will be living like how we did in the late 1980s and early 1990s when we had blackouts everyday. Good luck maximizing telehealth when that happens.
Woke Virtue-Signaling
Yet many Filipinos are willing to cancel their loved ones over these politicians. The Filipinos who cancel those with opposing viewpoints tend to be professionals with fancy degrees from elite universities. Obviously, I’m not saying that all college graduates are this divisive. The point is that many of these woke virtue-signalers are quite privileged that they might one day land positions that they can use to malign me, fire me, and deprive me of my rights. And they will elect people who are like them.
These are not unfounded fears. I’ve witnessed how many of these hoity-toity “intellectuals” gang up and humiliate those who think differently from them. I, for one, have been told that I should just switch careers because I don’t handle patients the way that they would regardless of the clinical evidence that I have. I’ve been accused of being unprofessional just because they didn’t like a particular word that I said. They sabotage projects. They slander co-workers. It’s not surprising that this privileged class now wants to cancel those who disagree with them politically.
These people are a pain! Who wouldn’t have a midlife crisis when you have to walk around eggshells when dealing with them? Actually, in some ways, a midlife crisis is the appropriate response to such sanctimoniousness. Feeling distressed and desiring radical changes at least indicate that one can clearly see that their wokeness is destructive. I have to make sure though that I don’t compromise my values in the process.
If I experience a midlife crisis in my 30s (or if I’m already experiencing it), I hope it will facilitate my transition to something better. Who knows, maybe it will empower me to study in Singapore. It might compel me to take my Mandarin lessons more seriously. Maybe I’ll even find my future husband! Of course, it will be great to have all that without having to go through a crisis.
(Photo by Coleen Rivas)
HE Who began a good work in you anak will complete it. Great writing style! Very honest but not cringy.😘
Climate -Change alarmists gaslight their opponents in their lunatic defense of the anti-science, leftist green new deal. Save the planet, even if the cost is the destruction of human lives.