Christmas, annual Christian holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ
(1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.)
Yesterday, experiencing traffic and commutation after a long time, I played the role of an audience watching a live performance or an onlooker silently watching without participating.
Cubao is a place where I grew up. Nothing much had changed except that additional structures and infrastructures were added making it look more crammed than orderly. It was not hard finding my way in it because I practically went to the place often to shop, to watch movies, to eat at fast food centers, or to plainly pass by to go to school and other destinations before I got married. It is one of the strategic places in the metro.
Yesterday, I noticed that nothing really had changed. Cubao, as always, whenever there is a holiday season, is adorned and elaborated with Christmas ornamentation that sends a yuletide feeling which is often nauseating. The common malls and department stores seem to compete with each other with their lavish get-ups even without a pageant. It was as if the country is not in bedlam. It was as if its people are prosperous and content.
On some parts of Cubao are the nomads, stretching out, probably sleeping, on the pavements of a timeworn building. One can see a cluster eating with their dirty, bare hands at the other end of the building. It was like they had made the dilapidated building’s wall and pavement an asylum.
Returning from my destination, I had to go back to Cubao. The PUJs had to stop at an intersection across Alimall. And while the jeeps are immobile, a grimy and barefooted boy of probably eight to ten years old suddenly climbed up and wiped the passengers’ (including me) shoes then begged for money. It was only seconds after that a teen girl boarded the jeep and distributed envelopes. After that, she played a Christmas song with her flute which reminded me of the TV series Cedi.
It seemed to me like the objects in a village prototype were arranged in juxtaposition. It was like truth and lies laid before my eyes. It was a combination of bounty and scarcity. It was like the degree of lightness and darkness. It was like tuyo and ham set on the table for Christmas Eve.
Christmas is always a reminder of the big difference between the Christmas of the affluent and of the poverty-stricken. And will forever be a symbol of commercialism. Not of commemorating the birth of Jesus. Could it be because the Christ’s birthday is not really on December 25? That is why the spirit is more of commercialism than the celebration of his birth? I have always wondered about the truth of that claim.
(1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.)
Yesterday, experiencing traffic and commutation after a long time, I played the role of an audience watching a live performance or an onlooker silently watching without participating.
Cubao is a place where I grew up. Nothing much had changed except that additional structures and infrastructures were added making it look more crammed than orderly. It was not hard finding my way in it because I practically went to the place often to shop, to watch movies, to eat at fast food centers, or to plainly pass by to go to school and other destinations before I got married. It is one of the strategic places in the metro.
Yesterday, I noticed that nothing really had changed. Cubao, as always, whenever there is a holiday season, is adorned and elaborated with Christmas ornamentation that sends a yuletide feeling which is often nauseating. The common malls and department stores seem to compete with each other with their lavish get-ups even without a pageant. It was as if the country is not in bedlam. It was as if its people are prosperous and content.
On some parts of Cubao are the nomads, stretching out, probably sleeping, on the pavements of a timeworn building. One can see a cluster eating with their dirty, bare hands at the other end of the building. It was like they had made the dilapidated building’s wall and pavement an asylum.
Returning from my destination, I had to go back to Cubao. The PUJs had to stop at an intersection across Alimall. And while the jeeps are immobile, a grimy and barefooted boy of probably eight to ten years old suddenly climbed up and wiped the passengers’ (including me) shoes then begged for money. It was only seconds after that a teen girl boarded the jeep and distributed envelopes. After that, she played a Christmas song with her flute which reminded me of the TV series Cedi.
It seemed to me like the objects in a village prototype were arranged in juxtaposition. It was like truth and lies laid before my eyes. It was a combination of bounty and scarcity. It was like the degree of lightness and darkness. It was like tuyo and ham set on the table for Christmas Eve.
Christmas is always a reminder of the big difference between the Christmas of the affluent and of the poverty-stricken. And will forever be a symbol of commercialism. Not of commemorating the birth of Jesus. Could it be because the Christ’s birthday is not really on December 25? That is why the spirit is more of commercialism than the celebration of his birth? I have always wondered about the truth of that claim.
That's why these days,the Yuletide season depresses me more than the Lenten season.Or maybe I'm just getting too old and grumpy....LOL!! :D
ReplyDeleteNice post. I have fond memories of the Filipino Christmas season. Simbang gabi, puto bumbong at bibingka, langkay-langkay na bata patungo kina ninong at ninang. It's been 13 years since I last spent Christmas in the Phils., I do miss it, I do think about it, but I know if I came home and try to relive the memories again, I'd be disappointed.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your weekend!!! :-)
oist, snglguy, di naman siguro dahil dun ha ha
ReplyDeleteei, rhada, ang tagal mo na palang wala rito sa Pinas, ano? for me, the christmas of yesterday is better than of today.
i've never been to cubao. and i've never spent christmas in manila.
ReplyDeletedito sa probinsya namin, simple lng ang christmas... w/c makes it all the more memorable...
but my dad says it's a sad christmas coming up.. lots of problem besetting this country... i havta agree with him this time...
hi, aurora. what makes me more sad is of the possibility that Christmas will never be for the destitute, and that it will come to pass just like an ordinary day for them.
ReplyDeleteAdvance Merry Christmas para sa may ari ng bahay =)
ReplyDeleteadvance merry christmas din, Kadyo..!
ReplyDeleteX-mas is for everyone. The poor and the rich, the good and the bad. It does not change. Our perceptions do.
ReplyDeletehi, noel..
ReplyDeleteyou are very right. and i have missed that point, too, i guess.
about X-mas as another representation for the word 'Christmas'. i remember someone told me that we should avoid using X-mas because the true essence of the season is Christ. replacing it with X is just like crossing him out thus making it X-mas.
i hope you'll have a merry Christmas, noel. (",)
Never thought of it that way. It's funny, though.
ReplyDeleteI wish you and your love ones a very merry X-mas too. X as in exceptional.
...lapet na ako matapos maglaba.
ReplyDeletemalungkot na masaya. christmas have always been that way sa pinas. siguro we just have to learn to accept that.
oo nga pala. maligayang paXsko.
that's better, noel, X-ceptional he he
ReplyDeletehi, goryo! musta na?? tagal namang paglalaba yan at ngayon mo lang ako nabisita.. sangkaterba ba?
sana'y maging maligaya rin ang iyong pasko.
would i sin if i say "merry xxx-mas"?
ReplyDeleteisang x nga, taboo na, e. triple x pa. ikaw talaga, Nico,... but that's funny how your mind works he he
ReplyDeleteChristmas comes once a year for children, but not for adults. It doesn't have to be dec. 25. Pwedeng Feb. 14. or kaya pag kinsenas. Pero pag december pang bata talaga. if you don't feel the christmas spirit on Christmas Day, okay lang. Malay mo Baka sa Dec. 26 manalo ka ng lotto.
ReplyDeleteFunny how Christmas seem to differ in one's eyes as they grow older....Ahhrg,maybe its just me and my cynicism.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas Bing!!
ReplyDeleteAt magbuhat ngayon kahit di Psako ay magbigayan.......
maligayang pasko po!
ReplyDeletei have the same observation like yours, 'was also thinking to post an entry about it, but after reading your post, i've decided na 'wag na :) you already have written about it and ... maganda po ang pagkakasulat... natumbok mo lahat :)
lalo tuloy akong nalungkot after kong basahin ang entry mo :)
hi, tk! ha ha natawa naman ako dun. as if, winning lotto will mean Christmas everyday. well, i do believe that, too, that Christmas is for kids. Pwede naman sa lahat,actually, pero most of the time adults spoil the spirit he he
ReplyDeletethanks for dropping by. have added you na in my list. hope you dont mind.
snglguy you're not being cynical, palagay ko lang ganyan minsan ang nagkakaedad ha ha mood swings ha ha (joke lang)
flexj, kahilig mo talaga sa awit, 'no? kagaling mo siguro kumanta he he maligayang pasko sa 'yo at sa mga minamahal mo sa buhay!
salamat, jan.. naku, i didnt mean to make people sad. this is just an honest observation. i don't want din naman to spoil the fun of it all kaya lang cant help myself be affected of what is happening around. merry christmas, jan... ngiti naman jan he he
I can agree with snglguy - Xmas can be depressing. Just think about the money you'd be spending! where I am , weather-wise it adds to the depression.
ReplyDeleteI hate decorating the outside of the house with lights in the cold weather but my wife is absolutely thrilled with it so I have to make her happy right ? Talk about dismantling them later. duh
Nowadays the spirit is more on the commercialism and I agree with Bing's observation. People take advantage of asking donations left and right. Malls are out to suck your pockets dry.
Back in RP Xmas is really big. I remember a few years ago I was arriving at the NAIA airport third week of Jan and the Little Drummer Boy is still being played at the airport! Suffice to say that celebrating Xmas in RP is unbeatable when it comes to feeling it
and the way people revel in it.
Moreover in RP you dont have to worry about the stress of being politically correct, when to say Merry Christmas vesus Happy Holidays. Why can't non Christians simply accept Merry Christmas or as the Brits say Happy Christmas without acting like pricks? I mean, what the hell is wrong with wishing someone Merry Christmas? Beats me. I don't feel insulted when I geet a Muslim Eid Mubarak or an occassional Happy Hanukka to Jews. I don't quite get it.
Ma'am:
ReplyDeleteAng sinabi mo pong truth about Christmas (not the birth of Christ) ay ang siyang isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit kaming mga INC ay hindi nakikiisa sa Christmas celebration na ginagawa ng Catholic and Protestant churches.
- Ka Webspy
Hi Bing...Ang celeration ng Christmas natin ngayon, medyo commercial na nga. Sana this year, we will be more truth ful to the real meaning of the season, which is peace and giving and not merely merry-making.
ReplyDeletehi, bw! ako naman i love to decorate but if i think of the escalating electric bill, the desire wanes. it is really expensive to spend Christmas lalo na ngayon. but there are ways naman to trim the expenses - to cost-cut 'ika nga. kids love to receive gifts and it doesnt matter how much you'd brought the gift, ang mga datan lang naman ang maaarte pag dating sa gifts.
ReplyDeleteka webspy, hindi lang mga INC ang nag-ke-claim nun. other religious groups like some born again groups claim that there are facts in the bible that can attest to that. there are some explanations that are valid.
major tom, that is a very nice idea - not to focus on the revelry but on the meaning of the season - enough reason to commemorate the birth of the Lord Jesus.
Hi, Bing! Talagang Christmas celebrations all over the world reek with commercialism. I, for one, don't like it. Santa Claus is more popular than Jesus Christ.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Dec. 25 thing, Jesus was born daw in summer, and not during winter. Remember, the shepherds were out in the fields when his birth was announced. They wouldn't be able to do that during wintertime (nag-snosnow din sa Israel). The Jews, even the Messianic ones, actually don't celebrate Christmas.
I felt a bit sad reading your account of the poor people begging for money in Cubao....
hi, jayred! mukhang mas popular siya tuwing pasko, i agree. kaya nga i dont buy Santa decors anymore, e.
ReplyDeleteexactly the same facts that i learned. they are valid arguments naman, e.
those kids... i cant forget the look in the eye of the first kid who boarded the jeep. i am saddened of the fact that they work at an early age...
Bing batang Cubao ako dati... and lots had changed since my time, of course I am older than you (konti lang naman..hehehe)I remember how we would go to COD to watch their moving christmas display... definitely wala na yon but people looked forward to it before.
ReplyDeleteDati halos nilalakad lang ang mga lugar doon (kahit di ka pumunta ng US makakarating ka sa Cambridge, Purdue, Harvard, Yale, Minnesotta ng naglalakad lang, yun ang mga pnagalan ng kalsada don) ngayon konting distancia lang me tricycle or trisikad na..tamad ng lumakad mga tao. Mas madaming mga sasakyan sa aurora halos di na gumagalaw!!! pero kahit papaano maganda naman yung Gateway ngayon, nadaan ako minsan eh...
Ngayon Divisoria girl na ako... mas grabe yung commercialism dito...lahat ng balingan mo puro paninda tao at sasakyan..HAyyy... Buti na lang di ako mahilig mamili... kaya sa akin yung Pasko ko di pa rin napasok ng commercialism-- kahit papaano si Jesus pa din ang bida (kahit na di talaga December 25 birthday niya!)
batang cubao din ako dati, elizabeth. pumupunta din kami tuwing pasko sa COD ha ha hinihintay ko nga palagi.
ReplyDeletehumanga din ako sa ganda ng Gateway but it seemed ironic kasi marami ang nakapaligid sa Cubao na hindi kailangan ang Gateway. there are parts of Cubao which is a total contrast of that beautiful and pompous edifice.
Jesus should be the reason always of this celebration. and a lot seemed to have forgotten that it is not about too much revelry. i agree with TK na it is more para sa mga bata.
Maybe Christmas was a big lie after all... :-(
ReplyDeletei dont think so, sidney. a Savior was really born. it's just that the date does not coincide with what is in the Bible.-->
ReplyDelete