13th ASEAN Summit – Do Filipinos know what ASEAN is?
The 13th ASEAN Summit will be held in Singapore from 18-22 November 2007. The Singapore-based broadsheet The Straits Times conducted a poll among ASEAN member nations’ students on their knowledge on the 40-year old regional organization. A total of 521 responses were obtained to the eight-point questionnaire by local schools in five main ASEAN capitals Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Singapore. This is only the second The Strait Times AsiaPoll survey related to ASEAN. Victorino Mapa High School in Manila is one of the participant institutions. Some of the institutions which took part requested anonymity.
- Have you heard about ASEAN?
- What does ASEAN stand for?
- How many members does ASEAN have?
- Does ASEAN have a president?
- Which year was ASEAN born?
- Have you ever visited another ASEAN country?
- Do you know other students from an ASEAN country?
- Is the time the same in all ASEAN countries?
Do you know the answers to these questions?
Win a trip for two to Singapore!
I thought the title might catch your attention. Uniquely Singapore Project Postcard 2007 might be your ticket to a holiday for two in Singapore! I’ll send you a postcard and you’ll get a chance to win!
The grand prize:
Singapore Airlines (SIA) return economy class tickets to Singapore for two, 4D3N hotel stay at The Rasa Sentosa Resort, IndoChine restaurant vouchers, Retreat Spa vouchers, CapitaVouchers by CapitaLand, complimentary tickets to the DUCKtours, the HiPPO Bus tours and Singapore River Cruises.
Leave your e-mail here and I’ll send you a Singapore postcard!
Advertlets.com to try Philippine Blogosphere
I got it straight from the horse’s mouth, Malaysia-based online advertising network Advertlets will try to test the Philippine Blogosphere market. They recently, and successfully, ventured into Singapore.
Advertlets.com is an Asian blog/weblog advertising network that offers the remarkably sensible proposition of targeted, unintrusive advertising that benefits the online advertising and blogger community, as well as their readers.
The group is already consulting some of the popular Filipino bloggers to become their ambassadors. Learn about how you can earn more with Advertlets.
Hopia Fix
For some time, during my summer vacations in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, I enjoyed eating hopia. I would usually buy from my aunt’s sari-sari store at P3.00 per pack. Those were the small hopia with red beans as filling. A summer day won’t be complete without a trip to the store to get a pack or two of hopiang munggo and a bottle of ice-cold POP cola. I would sometimes get the hopiang baboy, only if the red bean favorite is not available.
Whenever I’d drop by their store, my cousins, with an ever-annoying grin, would still tease me, “Hey! We know what you’re going to buy… hopia and POP cola! Correct?!” Like before, I would go back to our house, with no more appetite for lunch or dinner, as I just had my hopia fix.
But that was a few years ago. I’m now an OFW here in Singapore. It was only recently that I came to know about similar delicacies from neighboring Malaysia, Penang’s tau sar peah and Ipoh’s heong peah (Is it why we Filipinos call it hopia?). It was only here that I have seen hopia in an utterly different presentation, somewhat more sophisticated and with a slightly different name. They call it mooncake. It’s still hopia for me.
Filipino Robert Sunga eliminated in Singapore’s Live the Dream
Filipino landscape designer-turned-Singapore TV celebrity Robert Sunga was eliminated from the singing competition Live the Dream.
What happened? Read more!
Make More Money with Advertlets!
Need to make more money with your blog? Tired of international blog advertising programs that display advertisements irrelevant to your blog readers? Tired of making little money from international online advertising programs, because there aren’t enough advertisers for our region?
Advertlets.com provides targeted advertising through the means of real time demographics profiling for your blog – meaning, you get LOCAL advertisers, matched with the target audience for your blog. They wouldn’t show ads on high-heel shoes on your blog if they know you had 80% male visitors, for instance.
Blog Action Day
On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind – the environment. Every every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.
Blog Action Day is about MASS participation. That means we need you! Read more on how to participate.
Isang Wika, Matatag na Bansa. Hindi nga?
Paano mo maituturing na isang bentahe ang pagkakaroon ng maraming dialekto ng Pilipinas? Marahil hindi. Si
mulat-sapul, ang pagkakaroon ng ating bansa ng kung ilang dialekto ay nagdulot na ng hindi mabilang na hidwaan dala ng hindi pagkakaunawaan.
Napakalaki ng ating bansa, napakarami nating mga Filipino. Higit na mas malaki ang bansang Tsina, at hindi hamak na mas malaki ang populasyon kumpara sa Pilipinas. Ngunit tulad natin, marami ring dialekto and kanilang ginagamit. Tulad din natin, mayroon silang ginagamit na pangkalahatang wika, and Mandarin. Sa Estados Unidos, malaking bentahe ang pagkakadala ng mga Europeo ng wikang Ingles. Dito sa Singapore, bagaman nahahati sa tatlong lahi Instik, Malay at Indian, na may kanya-kanyang wika, Ingles ang pangunahing ginagamit.
Paano mo masasabing matatag and isang bansa? Maganda ang ekonomiya, iginagalang and mga namumuno, walang nag-aaklas at nagproprotesta sa lansangan, walang nangangamba kung ano ang mangyayari kinabukasan, masayang namumuhay ang mga mamamayan. Isang pagmumuni-muni po lamang, kung hindi man, isang napakalaking kalokohan. Alam naman nating lahat na ito’y malayo pa sa katuparan, mana pa, sa katotohanan.
Kahit papaano pagbali-baligtarin ang mundo, matatagalan bago tuluyang matanggap lahat ng Filipino na isa lang ang wika ng Pilipinas. Tao, hind lang wika, ang magpapatatag ng bansa. Kung hindi mo kayang unawain ang kapwa mo Filipino, kahit na nag-iisa lang ang wika natin, walang mananalo, lahat tayo, Filipino, talo.
Ang Katulong (Singapore)
Ika-pitong buwan sa Chinese lunar calendar, nagbubukas and pintuan impiyerno. Nagbabalik sa lupa ang mga kaluluwang hindi matahimik. Marahil mayroon silang hindi naisaayos bago sila pumanaw. Ang paniwala ng mga Intsik, kailangan mag-alay ng mga materyal na bagay gaya ng pagkain, inumin, damit, at kasangkapan upang mayroon silang magamit sa kanilang patutunguhan. Ngunit mayroon ding nagbabalik, hindi para sa mga materyal na bagay…
Mahigit isang taon na akong namamasukan sa Singapore nang makilala ko si Rosa. Bata pa siya, wala pa yatang veinte anos. Hindi ko na naitanong kung saang probinsya siya galing. Mabait si Rosa, maganda at masunurin. Doon siya napasok sa pamilyang Teo, sa mag-asawang nagpapatakbo ng makalumang Chinese opera.
Hindi sinasadya, nawalis ni Rosa ang abo ng sinunog na pekeng perang papel na alay para sa mga kaluluwa… (may kasunod)
