COMPASSION

By: Abdullah R. Sirad

Honesty is the best policy. It’s an old saying in which those people before us lived with. I remember my grandmother saying that during their time, when the accused says “honest to God or swear to God” he mean it’s really true. During those times, there were no NBI or police agents to investigate crimes but still they managed to live peacefully. People have high respect to one another because they strongly fear God’s admonition as consequence to their every deed. Once they committed mistake, they admit and repent about it.

Today, such simple kind of living does not exist anymore. I guess people of today are too intellectual that they could easily distort truth at their favor. We see crimes, oppressions and other injustices on TV involving people of high profile but most of those cases still remained unjustified especially when victims are those weak members of the society.

Rich people and those who have power in government continue to dominate in terms of control in the society. They use their authority and wealth to exploit poor people. They keep on deceiving poor people through their bogus benevolence to take away properties and rights from them. they used to let poor believe that they are compassionate enough but the fact is they are insensitive to the poor suffering and want to grab as much as they can – be it wealth, be it territory or be it symbols of power out of the poor ineptitude. They are overpowered by their greediness and hence can never understand poor people needs.

Politicians, for instance, who claimed to lead people and the country into prosperity, are the one stealing wealth from the poor. They used politics as alibi to balloon their investment while leaving the poor to their usual malady social status after they succeed in their plan. Almost all politicians claim that they are pro poor. That they would serve the poor if elected in the position and they will have plenty of programs to alleviate poverty.

The fact is rich become richer and poor become poorer. And the worse is more than 1.4billion of the world population live at poverty line or below(http://www.globalissues.org/article/4/poverty-around-the-world). In Philippine, it is said to have more than 30.6 million Filipinos or 6.12 million families who are suffering from poverty (2http://www.txtmania.com/articles/poverty.php). Yet, people in authority seem not affected with this. Now look whose talking. Where is then the compassion that these people are saying towards poor? Did they walk their talks? My answer is a vivid NO! Compassion really means sensitivity to others suffering. A person cannot be compassionate unless he/she is sensitive to others suffering. The current status of our political and social system in which poor are neglected and are not given due justice is an evidence that compassion is absent.

In my opinion, unless the powerful and rich section of the society walks the real meaning of compassion by treating the weak sectors in a humane way that our nation shall advance socially and politically. In Islam, the Prophet (PBUH) not only asked people to treat their slaves in a humane way and give them to eat what they eat and give them to wear what they themselves wear but also encouraged them to liberate them and set example by liberating his own slave Zaid and adopted him as his son and treated him most affectionately. The Qur'an says that "And those who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in Allah's way – announce to them a painful chastisement." (9:34)

People who were given fortune in this material world should learn to be honest and realistic to every promise they pronounced. They must give active desires to alleviate others suffering. They must liberate their people from the dungeon of poverty. And compassion is the key to do this.

THOSE OLD PHOTOS… and MANG PIDOY

By: Abdullah R. Sirad


Man, in nature, has no photographic memory to retain all events that happened to his life. We may recall some events but not fully unless something caused us to remember them. There are too many events of both sweet and bitter that happened in our youth days but it seems to fade away in our memory as time passed by especially when we were hooked to something significant like we have our own family and work to spend much of our time with.

I am a lone boy among siblings. When I was a kid, I spend most of my day times with my friends because it was with them that I found compatibility. In fact, I had repeated my primary grade in school for three times due to abseentism. I always hanged up with my friends. I go for where ever they go. It seems as if I can’t live a day without mingling with them. I found my happiness with them playing all sorts of boy games and more. My buttock was thick enough of being beaten almost everyday by my father for I been invisible in our home the whole day.

Wait. Am not talking about how weird I was but the memories of those moments and the value of those people that took part with it. I am now on my 31st years of age (still young anyway, lol) and I been looking forward to see and meet those old peers of mine. I had tried searching them over Facebook and Friendster but ironically I forgot their names (I can’t even picture out their faces). Every time I used to reminisce how they colored up my life when I need them, I felt seemingly guilty. I don’t know how to exactly describe the feeling but it’s something like regrettable. I used to remember those forgotten things that we used to do every time I see young boys playing in the ground, roaming around everywhere, etc. It’s a heart wrenching of wishing how you can possibly turn back time and share same moments again.

It was to my great surprise when one time I logged in to my Facebook account and receive one inbox message. I really don’t have an idea who’s this person in spite of the visible picture he has on his profile. The tone of his message is hesitant, though he had recognize me on my photo the very first time he saw it, because he thought I might not consider him. We exchange messages to clear vague and doubts and when he started mentioning the foolishness we have like when we were escaping from our classes and went to the farm (bukid) instead to play and pick some fruits, there I confirmed that he is Ali Paca, my boyhood best-close friend. There then I stared to his photos and felt my tears fall down unintentionally. We meet the following day and we enjoyed the moment we were together after such long time.

Seeing old photos really reminds us of the wonder behind it and causes us to either laugh or weep. It reminds us of the whole history that it tells. In fact, we used to murmur as if we are communicating personally with the persons in the photo.

One of my friends, in Capitol University, tagged me of the photos she had uploaded in her Facebook account. The photos were taken in a two different setting but both settings tell so many histories; full of inspiration, passion, courage and love. I don’t wanna spell out every detail in it for I might be censured (lol) but Xena, Tere and Chingkai knows the deeper history. Huhhh… was the first reaction I had as I keenly take a look on those photos. I remember the first night in Camiguin when I was surrounded by angels, the ala-Melason Inlove candle dinners we shared (kay brownout man that time), the ala Derek-Angelica moments in the bayside, and those moments with Mang Pidoy in the conference room. Wooohhhwww!!! It’s really flattering to see poise of pairs in the photos. Those times you feel sky-hi because of the reciprocal feelings you are sharing and those times you feel ambivalent of whom to be with between Babe and Sugar. Hayyyyyyyy seems like a telenovela.

But above all, the cake on the table defines the sweetness of everyone in those photos as well as the value of its message and that’s what I treasured and will treasure the rest of my life.

S I P S I P

SOCIALLY INSECURE PERSON SEEKING INSTANT PROMOTION
By: Abdullah R. Sirad



When I was in grade school, I often used the word SIPSIP as my “hate” expression against my classmates who were getting too close to our teacher just to be given an extra attention and eventually a higher grades on their report card.

SIPSIP, at our age then, is perceived to be someone like a Leech that sips or suck blood once it gets to human’s skin. Thus we hate too much of being called SIPSIP. It was when I was in college that I knew what SIPSIP really stands for. My professor in social science explained to us that SIPSIP is actually an acronym for “socially insecure person seeking instant promotion” or popularity, privilege, power or protection depending on the situation that it fits.

I had then realized that a SIPSIP person is nothing different with a leech that keeps on sucking blood and then tries to leave unnoticed. Thus I stand still to my perception when I was a young boy that being a SIPSIP is being a Leech. According to Wikipedia, being a leech or leecher refers to the practice of benefiting, usually deliberately, from others' information or effort but not offering anything in return, or only token offerings in an attempt to avoid being called a leech.

I don’t mean to attack anyone or to brand someone as leech. I am only trying to express my perceptions on this behavior as it is a very observable practice in any field of organizations. Let me expound on it in a work setting. SIPSIP is now a normal practice especially among individual belonged to a certain company or organization wherein competition is at tough.

If you had worked and seated with a manager, you would observe how employees sarcastically tried to seek attention from him. Everyday, employee would come in his convenient time to boast what he has done in the whole day. He is very verbose of naming what he has accomplished when in fact he is only claiming other’s accomplishments. Eventually, he start attacking other employees, especially to those whom he thinks is a sore to his eyes. He would start to fall down and backbite the person whom they feel insecure with all odds and foul descriptions. After they convince the superior, there then that they ask for their real intention, which is to ask something at their own favor (e.g. promotion, popularity, privilege, power or protection).

Another observable approach among SIPSIP employee in seeking manager or superior’s attention is being a pet or third eye by their superior. Izhar Ahmed has this reaction to the latter. “People to protect their own interests and to get or preserve favors become pets of managers and supervisors. Catering to every wimp and cry, assuring they have no discomfort whatsoever. The other side, the hourable and self respecting sub ordinate limits his interaction to work related topics but ironically he is looked down upon and criticized for his self respecting behavior. This is what goes on in the office”. Ahmed is exactly correct of his reaction. These SIPSIP people watch every details of others’ action and make their own conclusion which is of course negative and reached such report to the manager or immediate boss. Boss, who doesn’t verify information’s received, immediately reacted and impose corresponding sanction to the subject person. Sounds very pity. People who hooked themselves to work were discredited of their effort just because of the false report against them.

Why do people use other people at their own benefits by providing false information?

It’s not wrong to listen to people below at our level. In fact, managers would help them grow emotionally because they (employees) would feel that they are welcome and that their ideas are valued. However, managers are not only superior in position but in the ability to evaluate justly all information that they are receiving as well. They can balance their reaction by appreciating the news received from someone reporting and by validating the truthfulness of the report in fairness to the one being reported. Managers should know that when their subordinates keeps boasting only for their accomplishments, gives flowering complimentary, or keeps on spoiling others identity; it means that these subordinates are blood sucker, a leech that is. These are those insecure people who fear that their wits are inadequate to be loved by their boss, thus they would do everything to please their boss even if it means hurting other people.

Because of lacking self confidence that they maybe out competed by their colleagues, they behave like a Leech so that they can win their immediate boss attention and trust. They keep on sticking with someone whom they think they can benefit at the expense of other people. Due to their fear that they maybe perceived worthless by their boss and eventually may loss their position or may not be given promotion that they chose to fabricate information against someone else in the organization.

Such practice is alarming if the concern boss continuously believes at them without cross-checking the veracity of the report. This would become an endemic problem for it will create partisan system among employees in the organization. It devaluate the image of the organization in general.

In a scenario like this, manager should live by the company values while maintaining professionalism in dealing every people and situation. He has to assure that he could not be fueled up by anyone to impose unfair actions against someone else. He has to remember at all the times that as manager; he knows more, well capable of, and could never be persuaded by mere complimentary or free riding. Likewise, “trying hard” employees should admit who they are. Using other people for their own advancement will not help them grow. Soon or later, truth will be disclosed and they would be put in a much bitter jeopardy. Being too intimate with the boss insinuate something else, a parasite look-alike shall I say. A Leech to be specific!