19th Photohunt Theme 143: “Hope”
13 Comments
January 3, 2009 – 12:25 am
popping..“Hope is necessary in every condition. The miseries of poverty, sickness and captivity would, without this comfort, be insupportable.”
- Samuel Johnson
Happiness is relative.
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Filipinos in general are among the happiest in Asia. In general studies on poverty in the Philippines, one thing strikes researchers. They claim that the Filipino poor are among the happiest people in Asia if not the world as well. Living a huge part of my life in the Philippines, I’ve seen the worst of human conditions and it is disheartening and devastating. Yet mingling with the so-called poorest of the poor, you don’t see one bit of bitterness or anger in their eyes. They are happy.
Unexplainable as it is, I think that HOPE plays a huge part of it. Dictionary defines hope as “the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best,” “to believe, to desire and to trust.” The poor put their hope, faith and trust to each other, to other people, to the government and to God.
I must admit I have opposing feelings toward the poor in general because some of them are that way because they are simply lazy. All they want are dole outs. Teach them to fish and they ignore you. They just want the fish period. Most of them are drunks and gamblers who force their kids to work in the streets, take the money to buy alcohol and drugs and gamble. As though that’s not enough, they beat the heck out of these kids for fun!
Street kids and me | Outside the biggest public market in General Santos City, Philippines | March 2008
Then there are exceptions.
Most of the Philippines’ highly successful entrepreneurs are self-made men and women born in poverty, with hope in their eyes; from very humble beginnings who rise up above the ordinary. There’s so much hope in that. Hope for the poor. Hope may just be an empty word for those who lost it, but to those who have it- it is everything and it makes all the difference. And I see them- hope, in the eyes of these kids…
What is this flutter?
Why am I feeling this queasy feeling in my stomach?
I shouldn't feel this but I am feeling,
this crazy tremulous feeling.
Heart pounding, head racing.
It is exciting.
It is confusing.
Heck, it is ...
around this time
every year since you left
you get me in this pensive mode
it's not as painful as
when i think about you
around the time we met
yes see, i had to think about you
twice every year.
that's all ...
I agree, we are one of the happiest people
And I really hope that we would be able to teach others how to help themselves and at the same time not lose hope
Wishing you the best for 2009
Children are so much the hope of the future
A well written piece! I of course agree with your points…I would cite Arnel Pineda (singer; Journey) as an example of a success story. Happy weekend at salamat sa pagbisita!
hi! I’ve always thought that Filipino’s are indeed the happiest in Asia
but it took me by surprise when a British organization had a survey and Filipinos were at the bottom part of the list
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/10/happiest_countries/index_01.htm?chan=rss_topSlideShows_ssi_5
but I agree with you, Filipinos have hope. maybe Religion played an important role. the way i see it from my students, (they’re Japanese and they dopn’t have a solid faith) they commit suicide if they want to or lose hope easily because they don’t see the future as promising
what am I saying… ? hmmm
anyway, was here to greet you a happy new year Tatay pepe!
that’s so true and exactly what i’d observed in my 4 trips to manila! happy NY!
What marvellous shots. Here’s hoping that their future is bright. Happy weekend and a happy New Year
I went to Laos in January 08, and what i saw was similar to what u’ve said about Philippine… poverty maybe be a burden.. but they still live happily everyday… we should learn from them.. not to be too materialistic.. or “moneylistic”.. LOL
http://chewygummy.net/blog/2009/01/photo-hunter-hope/
@ pchi: depends on who is doing the research and survey I guess and the category index/factors included on the research like how wealth played a factor on the link you gave whereas for some research, it was more of the state of being happy (whether you have money or not)…
There are no recent articles about it and your link shows an article dated October 2006. These are other links showing different findings with older and newer dates:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-11/28/content_7162217.htm
http://www.gov.ph/news/default.asp?i=6765
http://www.sws.org.ph/pr050314.htm
But yeah, if we really dig into facts- we are no longer the happiest in the world but still AMONG the happiest anyways, not materially but spiritually…
Happy new year!
So true, so true!
Those are beautiful shots. Hope can make all the difference in the world between giving up and continuing to try against big obstacles.
Wonderful photos and I enjoyed reading about your country.
Hope for peace and well-being for all of us this year!
Thanks for visiting mine and happy new year!
I like the black ‘n white effect.
I played too
As always, I appreciate all your visits and taking the time to leave comments…
A happy, peaceful and hopeful new year to one and all!
Keep the faith.