reflection

The Seminar was entitled "Dealing with difficult Times". Many speakers were supposed to speak during the seminar, but, unfortunately, we were only able to listen to one of them due to time constraint. On the lighter side, however, the very short time that I spent listening to the first speaker was a worthwhile one and somehow was able to implant relevant lesson into my life.
The speaker dealt with the reality of life that we, Filipinos, are facing right now. He gave emphasis on the insurmountable economic woes that we are facing today. These woes are being worsened by our bad individual nature that might have been brought about by our being Filipinos. I gave a nod to the speaker when he mentioned about the corruption that is rampant in both the government and private sectors in our country.
The manifestations of corruption in our government are obvious; these do not need any proof. We must admit that corruption is a natural thing that is happening everyday… a norm that everybody is doing and a practice that threatens to destroy our moral foundation as a Christian country. The worse thing is that, the economic woes that we are now experiencing are attributed to corruption.
The speaker, whether directly or indirectly, tended to ask; what happened to our country today? Look at Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and other Asian countries; where are these countries now in terms of economy? A few years ago, the speaker said, we are on top of these countries. What happened?
Although the speaker suggested so many possible causes why we are lagging behind these countries, I chose to focus on one thing only; corruption, the most primitive, or perhaps, common problem that any country has. Corruption is a wide issue and is both social and moral problem. It has a wide-ranging effect on our economy and even peace and order situation. A classic example of the effect of corruption is the lingering woes of the Filipino people brought about by the Marcos regime.
But what relevance did the speaker's views have to do with corruption? Well, the speaker proposed; we must make a difference! If we really need a change to our system, we need to change our norms. And it should start from our individual selves.
Making a difference, as the speaker described it, is a kind of action, one has to make, which will lead others and make them realize and recognize the RIGHT and WRONG, the MORAL and the IMMORAL. If we are able to inculcate this to every Filipinos, only then we can say; WE HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE.