mikha and what have you's!

many thoughts.... although most times, there are no thoughts

[mkapls]

11. Restrictive Abortion Laws Have Got to Go

Prompt: What is currently illegal in your country that you think should be legal? Why?

For the past few weeks in the STCQC Alumni Association Facebook group, there's been a heated debate about the morality of abortion. It has been quite the messy debate with a lot of name-calling and some shaming, but I think this whole debate just further affirms my stance on the topic.  I believe that abortion should be a legalised practice in the Philippines and that uterus-bearers should have safe access to this procedure.  

The Philippines is one of the countries with the most restrictive policies regarding abortion. Since the Spanish rule, it has been criminalized and do not contain any exceptions that allow abortions, not even to protect the health of the bearer. “Therapeutic abortion” may be allowed under justifiable grounds such as rape and incest but there are no explicit provisions and there are various other reasons why bearers choose to undergo abortion such as the inability to provide for the child, having more children than initially planned, and health risks. Physicians and midwives who do conduct an abortion even with the bearer’s consent could face jail time and risk the suspension or revocation of their medical licenses. Add cultural and religious stigma surrounding reproductive health that work to ‘punish’ these people to the mix, and the result is an environment that risks the health of the bearer and various barriers towards medical treatment.  To illustrate the severity of the situation, about 600,000 Filipino bearers had abortions in 2012.  Many, especially the poor and marginalized, turn to unlicensed doctors, folk medicine and even self-induced methods which could add to further complications.  It is estimated that about 1000 die every year from related complications, which contributes to the country’s high maternal mortality rate.  Despite the provisions of the Reproductive Health Law that could potentially reduce maternal mortality, its full implementation has yet to be realized. 

Given the status quo, it’s clear that criminalizing the procedure failed to stop it all-together and only creates a discriminatory and dangerous environment for those who need it. I believe that legalizing abortion and approaching it as a healthcare issue is a way to ensure that bearers would be able to receive abortion and post-care safely. In 2016, two U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) and two other U.N. committees recommended that the Philippine government take measures to reduce the incidence of unsafe abortions and maternal mortality like amending the abortion law, improving access to contraceptives and sex education. Moreover, the World Health Organization suggests policies should be geared towards respecting and protecting the rights of women, achieving positive health outcomes and providing quality reproductive health services. 

Beyond legalization, there are still challenges to address such as the cost and accessibility of the abortion procedure, but at the moment, policymakers need to take the first steps towards decriminalization. It is understandably a sensitive topic, but I’m optimistic that even against the odds, it will gain traction to promote reproductive rights and fair healthcare.  

(Word count: 491)

References:

Center for Reproductive Rights. n.d. Facts On Abortion In The Philippines: Criminalization And A General Ban On Abortion. [online] Available at: <https://www.reproductiverights.org/sites/crr.civicactions.net/files/documents/pub_fac_philippines_1%2010.pdf> [Accessed 3 October 2020].

Padilla, C. and Padilla, M., 2018. [OPINION] It’S Time For The Philippines To Decriminalize Abortion. [online] Rappler. Available at: <https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/time-decriminalize-abortion-philippines> [Accessed 3 October 2020].

Guttmacher Institute. 2013. Unintended Pregnancy And Unsafe Abortion In The Philippines. [online] Available at: <https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/unintended-pregnancy-and-unsafe-abortion-philippines#> [Accessed 3 October 2020].

Center for Reproductive Rights. 2020. U.N. Committee: Philippines Must Allow Legal Abortion, Improve Access To Contraceptives | Center For Reproductive Rights. [online] Available at: <https://reproductiverights.org/press-room/un-committee-philippines-must-allow-legal-abortion-improve-access-to-contraceptives> [Accessed 3 October 2020].

Safe Abortion: Technical and Policy Guidance for Health Systems. 2nd edition. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2012. 4, Legal and policy considerations. Available from: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK138197/> [Accessed 3 October 2020].

[mkapls]

10. A Letter to MiMAP

To: Microinsurance MBA Association of the Philippines (MiMAP)

I am Mikhaela Ysabelle T. Baliola, a third year Development Studies student from the Ateneo de Manila University.  For my class in Communication for Development, my group and I have been tasked to collaborate with an organization aligned with our chosen advocacy and create a communication strategy to help further the advocacy.  In particular, we chose to focus on the field of microfinance for our advocacy, and considered your organization, or more specifically one of your member institutions CARD-MBA,  as a potential partner organization.  

As you may be aware, the global pandemic has heavily impacted the  economy, leaving many people unemployed and many businesses closed.  This on-going health crisis and its impact has prompted our generation to recognize the importance of money management skills in preparation for any crisis.  With this backdrop, we believe that equipping the youth with a solid foundation on financial knowledge will better prepare them to handle unanticipated events.  Financial literacy in the Philippines generally remains low and the distress brought about by the pandemic leaves many vulnerable.  I have read how MiMAP has not only mobilized its operations to continue helping its beneficiaries validate claims during the lockdown, but also taught its members and beneficiaries on how to utilize technology and relevant software to ensure the timely submission of their documents.  I greatly admire this because it builds upon the organization’s capacity to utilize new technology, while also imparting knowledge to your beneficiaries that would help them adapt to the new conditions.  

As your organization aims to promote greater financial inclusion and to reduce poverty through microinsurance, I believe that widening the scope of financial literacy to the youth, more so those in the rural areas, would help young people understand the available financial resources that could protect them from different risks.  It’s important as well to recognize that there is an unequal access to financial education and this could easily intimidate people who have little background on the topic, thus it is only more important to ensure that this information must be communicated in an appropriate manner. With more digital options being made available in light of the pandemic, it is still pertinent to push for the knowledge on how to use these tools properly so that they would be able to comfortably navigate their options. Financial literacy is also a powerful tool in establishing financial emancipation for the youth, allowing them to become more financially independent and secured from their families early on.  All these could be disseminated through information campaigns that could produce educational content and tools online to make it more accessible and far-reaching.  

In a time where the importance of money management has been highlighted, I have confidence that the youth would be able to enhance their financial capabilities and better plan out decisions with a good financial foundation. 

We hope to hear from you.

Sincerely, 

Mikhaela Ysabelle T. Baliola

[mkapls]

9. Guess that Fallacy!

*Kris Aquino voice* MGA KA-108, GAME KA NA BA? THIS IS:

Here are your questions:

1. This one comes from a Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics textbook I saw online and it was SO FUNNY I HAD TO INCLUDE IT:

“Ludwig Boltzmann, who spent much of his life studying statistical mechanics, died in 1906, by his own hand.  Paul Ehrenfest,, carrying on the work, died similarly in 1933. Now it is our turn to study statistical mechanics.”

2. A: “I was watching a documentary about farm animals and they were so cute! I love them so much, they’re so precious.”    B: “You love them a lot? Bold words from someone who isn’t vegan.”

3. C: “I think we should be more vocal and critical about the behaviour of the police since they’re behind the accounts posting dangerous content.”    D: “Wow, so you want this country to not trust EVERY police officer then? You sure do want criminals to run freely since apparently, we’re not trusting any officer now.”

4. I gave my cat a bath a while ago, and now it’s raining! I shouldn’t have done that!

5. Anti vaxx Karen: “My son doesn’t need to get injected with those chemicals because they’re all manufactured and unnatural! You know what that does? Goes up in his brain and ruin it, that’s what! My essential oils are organic so I know it’s much more effective!” 

[mkapls]

8. The wonderful world of Twitter! /s

I’ve never like Sec. L*csin and his tweets since I first learned about him in high school.  Really, for a diplomat, I sometimes think that he’s not doing a very good job.  I’ve got other personal opinions about him but for now, let’s focus on his “Sabah is not part of Malaysia” tweet.

In my opinion, this is should really not be in our list of concerns at the moment.  The tweet dates to July 27, guess what was happening at that time? We were in the middle of a pandemic, our unemployment rate was rising, our people are starving, Chinese vessels are creeping closer to our shores, and people were dying due to COVID. With the multitude of pressing problems, I really can’t believe that he chose revive this issue and spend his time on this.  

What REALLY gets me was his reason for reviving the issue which he says: 

“I have decided to reactivate the North Borneo Bureau after realising that the rest of the world has forgotten our Sabah claim, casually designating it as another country’s territory when we have not forgotten,”

Of all things! People are dying Kim!! 

But that’s not all! He then goes on to say this when commenting on the undocumented status of the residents of Sabah, who are often targeted by Malaysian authorities for repatriation to the Philippines:

“We need to proceed very carefully ... They must be Filipino, because Sabah is ours. That’s all there is to it. If Malaysia doesn’t like that, that is too goddam bad for them.”

THE AUDACITY!! THIS MAN IS A MESS!!! HOW IS THIS MAN OUR PREMIER DIPLOMAT??!!! WHY DO WE EVEN LET HIM SPEAK ON BEHALF OUR COUNTRY???!! WITH THE WAY HE’S GOING IS HE TRYING TO START A WAR??!!

For a diplomat, he’s not really doing much diplomacy if he’s riling up our allies and sowing seeds of discord like this!  

Man, if I was just a bit more outraged on Twitter, I think that would fuel me to actually reply to his tweet. I know I’d reply with a thread (that he probably won’t read or drag me to the dirt) that basically calls him out. 

I’d say that first of all, act more diplomatic sir! You’re representing the Filipino people and this is how you’d go about doing it? Really, he should have at least a degree of civility when going about international affairs.

Then I’d say that this really such an unnecessary fight.  We have more pressing problems to resolve. But alright, say that I’ll follow this line of thought and that we have to defend our sovereignty, where is this energy against the Chinese vessels encroaching our territory? I think it’s crazy how we’d take more action over disputed territory over territory that is already rightfully ours.  I think that it’s extremely foolish to take this on, especially considering the looming presence of Chinese vessels in the whole West Philippine Sea, intimidating ASEAN countries.  

Lastly, I’d say, why does it feel like we have to go to war for this? To me, it looks like he’s agitating Malaysian government and with the tone he’s going with, it’s as though we’ve already declared war with Malaysia. There are more peaceful ways to resolve this (which he should really talk about since that’s his job). The Malaysian and Philippine government could try to have the International Court of Justice settle the issue.  

This dispute has really been going on for decades and I don’t think that I could properly give a stance on it.  Even with the historical context and current news about the sides of each country, I think I’m too distracted to actually focus on the issue of Sabah at the moment.  I’m not too optimistic that this would gain traction though, as I think it may die down a few months down the line, then resurrected again when there’s tension between the two countries... rinse and repeat, I suppose.  For now, I really do think that our country should really try prioritizing our problems.  

My references:

Philippines pursuing Sabah claim against Malaysia as ‘we have not forgotten’, says Locsin

Can the latest confrontation between Malaysia and the Philippines over Sabah change anything?

[mkapls]

7. Logical Fallacies

fergalicious, fallacious, make them boys go loco

Here are my 3 fallacies! I’m not so great at making them up but I hope you get what kind of fallacies they are!

1. A: “We young people totally demand for better climate action now.”     B: “You can’t push for climate action because you’re just a bunch of snowflakes who don’t know anything about the real world! We need real leaders!"

2.  C: “I like singing in the shower.  Sometimes I do a little dance too.”      D: “Oh didn’t you know? If you sing and dance in the shower, you’ll slip on the wet tiles then you’ll be needing medical attention or else you’ll die from all that blood loss. You got a death wish or something doing just that?”       C: (Internal screaming)

3. E: “Oooh I love your two-toned hair color and your make-up! I bet you’re just like those e-girls on TikTok who dance and stuff. I’ll follow you, what’s your @?”     F: “...I don’t even have a TikTok?”

[mkapls]

6. Social Media Mores: Think Before You Click, kids!!

SNSs are a cesspool of all sorts of information and sometimes I hate it.  Honestly, I would never imagine social media would ever grow to become this influential but now that we’re living in a time where it’s become like a digital newspaper. But unlike a newspaper that passes through several stages of editing and verification, the kind of information you could get there is could be downright disinformation if you’re not careful.  

Every morning when I wake up, one of the first few things I do is to check Facebook > Twitter > the News app to know what happened in the world while I fell asleep. I do it in this order because the way I think of it goes something like this:

Facebook is generally unreliable until proven otherwise.  All sorts of information come from your relatives, friends, acquaintances, famous people you follow, etc. so sometimes it gets all muddled up.  A lot of trolls also lurk around these parts so always take whatever they say with a grain of salt.

Twitter is somewhat more reliable than Facebook because I find it easier to curate your experience there.  Chances are, if something is trending on Facebook, its hashtag equivalent on Twitter will also be trending so viewing that tag would give a better comparison.  Moreover, the speed at which people tweet is r-a-p-i-d at times-- if there’s some false information spreading about, you wouldn’t even see the original tweet. You’re most likely to see quote tweets or threads debunking that misinformation.

News app.  I trust the news from news agencies because it’s been through stages of editing and fact checking.  I’m generally inclined to believe something at this point.  

Even though my mind is still quite groggy, I still do a quick version of fact-checking just to make sure that what I’m reading is legit. It’s quick in a sense that I have a small list of things that I look for in the posts that I read to ensure its reliability. It’s kind of like my personal barometer for real news.  Here are some of the details I look for:

1. Host website.  If the website is something satire-ish in nature like Adobo Chronicles or the Onion, I’ll think it’s a good joke.  If it’s something more ridiculous and obviously “fake” peddling, it’s an immediate no from me.

2. Author. If there’s no author indicated, I’d have a bit of reservations.  If there is an author, I quickly check the “about the author” section just to know what kind of credentials they have.  

3. Date. Man, have I been a victim of outdated news at times.  It’s great that there are SNSs with features that indicate how recent the article was but it’s still good to check the date to be sure.

4. Content. How biased the author is, or if they’re peddling for a particular angle of the story.  I understand that it’s hard to be completely objective and that the framing of a story affects how it is perceived, but if it’s obviously catering to a certain group, I’d be wary.

5. Who shared it in my feed. I don’t want to sound so mean, but if I get news from older people, I’d generally think it’s 60% fake.  It’s really not their fault but I think older people fall victim to fake news more often, so I try to be patient and cross reference information for their sake too. 

Be smart, kids. The internet’s a great place to gain new knowledge but it’s also easy to get fooled by misinformation. If you could tell that there’s something’s wrong with the information you’re presented with, I say trust that feeling and look deeper into it. 

[mkapls]

5. Issues that Matter in Development

Our group chose three tentative advocacies during our brainstorming period: housing, financial literacy, and child protection online. I’ll be discussing particularly in housing, because it’s something I’ve always been interested in.

Housing

Housing is a basic human right. I think we can all agree on that.

Adequate housing improves our access to basic services such as water and shelter, improves our overall well-being and it provides us human dignity.  For something so essential, there still exists inequality with the access to housing. 

Our group initially thought of the issue of the lack of affordable housing for Millennials and Zoomers due to the rising costs of living and poor urban planning. There is the expectation for us to be financially emancipated when we come of age. As most jobs opportunities are found in cities, there is the common trend of living alone and renting an apartment or condominium unit among this demographic. On top of this, issues such as poor urban planning and unequal access to resources aggravate the living situation in the metro. 

Relating the issue of housing to the issues presented in the post, I’d say housing plays a very significant role in terms of homelessness and poverty. In our DEV 106.1 class, we viewed a video that reported the living conditions of those living in poverty during the pandemic. Housing plays such an important role in trying to contain the virus-- that’s why quarantine protocols dictate that if our activities are non-essential, just stay at home to lower your chances of getting infected.  But what about the people who have no houses or whose houses are so close to each other, it’s impossible to socially distance? That’s exactly what the report covered.  

The people who live in the slums of Tondo couldn’t afford to socially distance from each other because there’s simply no space.  Their quarters are cramped and their environment is unclean, which not only increases their chances of getting COVID but other diseases as well. Furthermore, most of the people are daily wage earners, so now that many of them lost their source of income, they’ve got nothing to provide for their families.  Seeing the conditions on how they live and considering the penalties of the law enforcement when they catch poor people not observing quarantine protocols, could we really blame them? 

[mkapls]

4: Individual Responses

Note: First off, I apologise for this new version.  Tumblr Mobile was not edit friendly so I accidentally deleted my whole entry ;(. As I rewrite it, I’m trying to remember what I originally put and include more stuff.  Thank you!

Our group had our first meeting last Friday to discuss about our own insights and understandings about the reading. I’ve known most of my group mates because we are all in the same course and we’ve worked together in the past, but I still do think it’s great to meet new people!

I’ve only known Ange recently and any knowledge I had of her was pretty much second hand knowledge from my friends since we have similar social circles. Getting to know with her for a bit, it’s so very inspiring how passionate she is with her advocacies and goals! 

Portia, Eljay and Margaret are all very lovely people I’ve had the greatest pleasure to work with. In our past groups for previous courses, I enjoy the work ethics and the general dynamics going on because I find that it works pretty well. I was really glad that I got grouped with them for the intro because discussing readings such as this with others always helps me have a better understanding of it as opposed to me doing it all on my own.

So for this class, we’ve been assigned three readings to introduce us to the concept of development communication and communication for development.  I’ll be listing my insights below the cut and organizing them per reading.

__________________________________________________

Introduction

From this reading, I think I was able to generally understand the difference between dev comm and comm for dev. Dev Comm focuses more on facilitating development through communication by ensuring wider public access to information. On the other hand, Comm for Dev focuses on the exchange of ideas among various sectors towards a common goal. My impression is that we should strive to achieve Comm for Dev because of the emphasis on dialogue, but I wouldn’t want to completely disregard the use of Dev Comm.

I still had a few questions from this reading:

Whose underlying values are reflected in Communication for Development? While it does aim for mutual understanding, I think compromises would be inevitable. In that case, are there values or ideas that may seem more dominant than the other?

Should communication for development still try to mimic the standards of progress set by Western countries or transplant ideas and practices from developed countries to developing ones? There are still remnants of modernization theory when we think about development after all.

Generally though, I think the reading was able to provide sufficient details and definitions for the two concepts! 

__________________________________________________

Quebral Primer

I found Quebral’s primer to be quite interesting and I did make some striking insights from it. For instance, I think their notion of development is one that’s quite rooted on economic progress.  With this as the foundation, I noticed how some prescriptins and goals for development communication were geared towards improving people’s technical skills and capacities to become more productive members of society.  While not bad, per se, I just find it to be a narrow basis of development.  Considering how 

Also raised some questions as well such as:

Does economic growth ensure greater social equality and the larger fulfilment of human potential? I am not 100% on board with this concept because human potential could be an end in itself, not just for the good of the economy.

Could corruption just solely be resolved with a robust values system? Wouldn't it also require strong political institutions? Somehow this sounds a bit... archaic? (I can’t put my finger on it but something bugs me about how this comes across

I also feel that the discussed relationship between the media and politics, in particular, is something that isn’t really contextualised/realistic. Or maybe just a tad optimistic.  

For instance, there’s the recent passage of the Anti-Terror Bill that grants authorities the power to detain people on the grounds of suspicion of terrorism.  This greatly infringes on the right to free speech and freedom of press because it penalizes intent. With this atmosphere of fear and suppression, it is certainly a powerful motivator to monitor the type of information that is circulating. 

A related example I could think of would be the cases of ABS CBN and Rappler, two media outlets that were under fire for making critical news against the current administration, the former of which was shut down. Rappler’s CEO Maria Ressa had been convicted of cyeberlibel over a controversial article. ABS CBN has been known to broadcast news that were particularly critical of the government-- something the president’s supporters saw as biased and unfavourable news about the president.  Honestly, I think that the proponents of these are just very petty people with fragile egos just because the media is technically doing its job. The power and pressure the government have over the media is a very dangerous game to play for it can easily trample over basic liberties. 

__________________________________________________

Chatterjee Article

Just like Quebral, I think their notion of development is also rooted on economic progress. Which, again, is not bad, just limiting.  For instance, they mentioned that effective communication development must be through tangible and measurable terms of development. I’m not entirely sure if this refers to  economic indicators but if so, then I think this doesn't really considers other non-economic measures of development such as health, happiness, etc.   

I also want to raise a few points:

I personally don't agree with Chatterjee's statement that activism is a problem in development communication. I think activism against oppressive structures opens up important avenues for discourse. In my opinion protest should be seen as another form of communication because its effects could make waves.  I reckon most of our modern practices such as the 40/hr work day and the right to suffrage wouldn’t have been the norm without protests.

How did informing become the most useful method of doing development campaigns?   I’m still quite confounded with this because in my mind, this kind of overlaps with the purpose of education since it’s quite crucial during the formative years. 

If stakeholders have different objectives when it comes to development communication, how do they decide whose objective would be the most important to carry out? This conflict of interests seem like it could also lead to conflicting information.  

Aside from these, I think that the discussion about Development Journalism as a different field of journalism that aims to promote humane development was pretty interesting. Although it was mostly the basics, I do intend to learn more about this field!

I’m very grateful for my groupmates who took the time to dissect these readings with me.  I think I have a better understanding of the concepts of dev comm and comm for dev than I would’ve had if I just read it alone.  Having said that, if the are any misunderstandings I’ve made, I’m always welcome to constructive criticism!

[mkapls]

3: Writing About Issues that Matter

Describe what you value most in your elected leaders.

The one trait I value in my elected leaders is their capacity to for humility. 

When I was in high school, I was fortunate enough to have batchmates who were good leaders.  They were charismatic, assertive and well-loved for their service to the student body.  While they were all very good leaders, I only admired a select few because I felt that they truly embodied what it meant to be a servant leader.  

Servant leadership was a mantra that we were always taught to be in high school.  We are not leaders that expect to be served because of our position, but we are leaders because of our desire to serve. I think it’s very noble and contrary to the traditional notion of a leader.  Of course, it’s not so easy in practice, especially if one’s pride gets in the way of being a servant leader.  Why would you lower yourself when you’re in position of power and influence right? You could literally use your powers to steer your organization to the direction you want it to go.  

Pride is good sometimes because it could cultivate self-respect and satisfaction with the work you do.  But also, pride could be a tricky thing when it’s exaggerated, keeping you from listening to others and may lead to crushing lows.  That’s why I think leaders should have a measure of humility in them.  Humility helps you acknowledge your flaws and limitations, encouraging you to seek help from others rather than just keep things to yourself.  Humility makes you vulnerable, but through this vulnerability, it helps you grow with others. 

I do want to stress this though: humilty doesn’t make someone a people pleaser.  Rather, it makes someone more human. 

I think our politicians need to have some more humility in them.

These days, I don’t really put a lot of faith in elected officials in the government because they’re mostly jokes from prestigious families who somehow, yet again, managed to hold office.  From the moment I could understand how messed up politics were in the Philippines (which I think was around the time when the news was reporting about Hello Garci and the ZTE Scandal during GMA’s time), I don’t think I was optimistic enough to live under a fairly decent administration.  We have many self-serving politicians who use their power to advance their interests, and politicians who really give some out of touch responses when confronted with the struggles of ordinary Filipinos.

Which is why it boggles me how much I admire (and admittedly hold on a pedestal) officials like Vico Sotto, who literally do the bare minimum of their jobs.  It’s not great to idolise them because they’re also humans prone to making mistakes but sometimes, it’s just so hard no to when they’re the ones who I see are actively doing good things for their constituents.  There are even days where I wish I was from Pasig just so I could be under his leadership, my goodness. And the thing is, a lot of people share my sentiments.

It’s like when we’re actually confronted with a competent public servant, we all lose our collective minds.  If anything, I think it’s an indicator that we Filipinos deserve better. 

There are certainly other factors that I think makes a public servant admirable such as their sense of justice, their relations with their communities and their integrity.  Nonetheless, I believe that these wouldn’t work well if they don’t have some degree of humility that enables them to go beyond themselves and acknowledge other people as equals. 

[mkapls]

2: Writing for Social Justice and Change - Personal Writing

I aspire to be satisfied with the way I write to express my thoughts honestly and creatively.

I mentioned in my last post how I felt I had lost my creativity in my elementary days. Was I in a slump? Or was I experiencing a bout of writer’s block? Honestly, I couldn’t tell but I was very sure I could pinpoint the moment I couldn’t bring myself to write so freely as I once had.  The moment I felt I couldn’t write creatively anymore coincided with the moment I felt the pressure to achieve.  Not to say that the path to success is one void of creativity, it was just that with the pressure I felt in trying to be the best in my academics... I felt I had to sacrifice something to achieve that. I thought I had gotten better at writing because I received high marks, but when I read back on my works, it doesn’t really feel like me.  

My father once told me after reading my ACET admission essay that it felt too impersonal and objective. Ouch, I guess. That wasn’t really what I was going for.

Like I said, I want to be satisfied with what I write.  I hope I could refine whatever skill I have right now to be to make it more reflective with my character.  I don’t want to be too verbose or too embellished, I just want my writing to be honest.

Aside from expressing myself through creative writing, I aspire to write honestly about the issues that matter to me. To properly articulate my thoughts on current events, policies, trends, arguments... I think I would like my writing to reach editorial levels if I could.  

I want to put into words the feelings that make me uncomfortable when I read about the way the government is running our country.  I want to express my anger without resorting to fallacies when I encounter historical revisionist remarks online.  I want people to know why I am against certain policies without constantly rehashing arguments.  I guess in a way I want to be able to explore different lenses to the same problem.  

I don’t think I’ll be as good as editorial writers though, but I’ll still aim for the stars right? It’ll be good for me to set a direction with what my writing to be.

[mkapls]

1: Why You Should Keep A Journal

TW: mentions of death

Hello fellow reader! 

I’ll begin with a short introduction. My name is Mikha, from 3 AB Development Studies. I love reading, sleeping drawing,  and taking random quizzes about my personality to fulfil my confirmation bias (!).  Out of the four, I love sleeping the most because sometimes I think it’s the only way left for me to truly relax without worrying about anything.  Reading has always been a comfort for me, but I think my days of being able to finish a full length novel have gone because I now find myself unable to focus for too long.  Nevertheless, I still love reading short stories when I have the time. Finally, I have a guilty pleasure of taking random online personality quizzes partly for my confirmation bias but I also lowkey believe that they would help me understand how others would see me, if that makes sense. 

When I was in high school, I used to keep a journal and put down my thoughts when I was sad.  It was actually more of a collection of stories or writing exercises that all had 100 or so words and I tried to write about anything to get the sadness out of me.  At that time, I believe the main cause of my sadness was the increasing anxiety of the choosing a course when I got to university because it was a very big deal for my family. As the eldest child, I had an implicit responsibility in providing for my family in the future. But to my family, the best way to provide for them was to have a high paying job.

I was studying in STEM at that time, thinking that I wanted to pursue becoming marine biologist.  But as the school year progressed, I became less convinced that this was what I wanted to do and I began to despair that this would what I’d spent my future doing.  I love learning about biology and physics and all that, but I don’t think it ever made me really happy.  

My mother, in particular, tried to encourage me to take the traditional path of becoming a doctor or a business manager.  Her side of the family was still quite traditional so I understood where she was coming from. Nearly everyone in her side of the family is involved one way or another in the finance or medical field.  I pretty much missed out on my chance to become a doctor and I never thought I had the financial literacy and capability to be a business owner or a manager.  I remember her being incredibly livid at me when I told her I didn’t want to be any of these.  It was a passive aggressive silent treatment for three weeks, which really broke something in me.  I wrote down my feelings during this time because I was too scared to try to say anything.  

As I write this now, I realise how sadness was such a big motivator for me to write my thoughts down.  The sadness I felt when my mother didn’t approve of my choices, when I felt like I was too different from the family and when I felt so conflicted on whether I try to follow what I think I wanted to do or what they wanted to do... they made quite the entries in my old journal.  But I think none were the stronger motivator in writing for me than my mother’s death. For all her flaws, I still loved her dearly and even to this day, thinking about how she had passed in 2018 still makes me cry sometimes.  

She succumbed to cancer on New Year’s eve, just hours away from midnight.  I remember how there were fireworks exploding in the background, how weird it was thinking that people were celebrating while others were mourning. I wrote about it. About how it hurt me when I saw how thin she had become when I came home after staying in the condo in Katipunan, about how helpless I felt when my aunties were basically giving her palliative care because the cancer was too advanced at this point, about the sinking feelings I felt when I realized I lost my mother.  

All things considered, I suppose my point of keeping a journal was to let out the feelings I couldn’t bring myself to openly express. I revisited old entries and I could see how it has always been an outlet for me to try to understand the hurt I felt.  But now, I want to try to use journaling for a different purpose.  While I still keep it for venting out strong emotions, I also want to try to keep one to try to foster creativity.  I thought I had long lost my creativity in my elementary days because I couldn’t find it in me to try to do creative writing anymore. I’m slowly trying to rediscover it because it has always brought me such happiness when I could share my ideas with others. I want to try to use journaling for something more positive because while I recognize that the sadness I felt in the past is valid, I think that at times it just begets more sadness on my part.  Shining a ray of hope and happiness is something I want to reflect in my entries.  

For such a simple question, I sure do ramble a lot. I hope that I won’t lose sight of my motivators for keeping a journal because I know how easy it is to get lost in the torrent of emotions. Here is my first entry, and I hope that the joy of writing comes back to me.