OPINION
October 17, 2016
TALKING STORY IN ASIAN AMERICA
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 7
Philippines Historama:
A Celebration of Filipino Heritage
October 29, 5:00pm
n Polo
Filipino heritage in great
sorrow and great joy
t won’t take you long into a perfor-
mance of Philippines Historama to
arrive at a deeply painful and simply
beautiful understanding of the tough and
tender peoples of the Philippine
archipelago. It takes me about the same
time, not long, to see and feel the same way
about Filipinos when I stay in their
beloved
homeland.
The
same
is
abundantly obvious when either you or I
visit any Pinoy family in their warm
American home.
The conclusion we reach is: These
folks have suffered so much, so long.
And in equal opposite amount, these
families seem to celebrate just as much, so
often.
“How’s that even possible?” you have to
ask yourself. After centuries of cruel
mismanagement by imperial Spain, then
by the United States, then by Japan; after
70 years of independence marked by
alternating cycles of great idealism and
bad governance — how can Filipino
optimism still be so present? But then, on
second thought, maybe humbling personal
sorrow balanced by infectious communal
joy, are actually essential if a people are
going to stay healthy and happy. Sure it is.
And sure they are.
I
Celebrating national Filipino
American History Month
Carmelita Salonga Tapia, founding
producer and director of Philippines
Historama: A Celebration of Filipino
Heritage, answers this central question
simply. “I am a Filipino. Take me for what I
am,” she says proudly. “Take me for what I
am because of this history.” She’s been
saying so over four years of west coast
touring with the cast and crew of
Historama, out of her new home grounds of
Victoria, B.C.
Madam Carmelita will be saying it again
during Historama’s single evening perfor-
mance on Saturday, October 29 at down-
town Salem’s historic Elsinore Theatre.
Her all-volunteer production team of more
than 44 artists, technicians, and civic
activists are sponsored by Oregon Filipino
community elders Jaime J. Lim and Dory
Osilla-Lim, as a proud centerpiece to na-
tional Filipino American History Month.
The U.S. congress recognized the month
of October as Filipino American History
Month in 2009, following the Filipino
American National Historical Society’s
1988 declaration of Filipino American
History Month. Portland’s City Council
made the same official proclamation
Gripped by grief, Thais mourn death of beloved
Continued from page 16
coronation.
It is not clear who the regent is in the
absence of a king and what are the
constitutional implications.
Television channels ran non-stop foot-
age devoted to the life of the king, who was
deeply revered and held up as a unifying
figure in the politically fractious country
despite two coups in the last decade alone.
Most Thais have seen no other king in
their lifetime and thought of Bhumibol,
who reigned for 70 years, as their father
and the embodiment of goodness and
godliness.
Although a constitutional monarch, he
wielded enormous political power and
served as a unifying figure during Thai-
land’s numerous political crises. But in
recent years, he suffered from a variety of
illnesses that affected his kidneys, brain,
lungs, heart, and blood. He remained
publicly detached from recent political
upheavals, including the 2014 coup that
brought Prayuth, an army general, to
power.
“His death means that the Thai political
system must find an alternative focal point
around which to unite the country’s
factionalized population,” said Tom
Pepinsky, a Southeast Asia expert at
Cornell University.
He said one challenge that royalists will
face is the possibility that the monarchy’s
popularity would be undermined by the
crowning of Vajiralongkorn, who does
not command the same respect his father
did.
Bhumibol
Adulyadej
(pronounced
poo-mee-pon ah-dun-yaa-det) became king
in 1946. He anchored the Southeast Asian
country through violent upheavals at
home and communist revolutions next
door with a blend of majesty and a common
touch.
So revered was Bhumibol that his
portraits would be displayed in virtually
every Thai home and business, generally
depicting him in arduous travels to remote
villages, where he often went to see the
situation of his subjects first hand.
But recently, whenever Bhumibol
appeared in public, he was in a wheelchair,
waving feebly at his subjects. Even those
rare appearances stopped as he became
confined to the hospital.
He died a little before 4:00pm on October
13, the palace said. It said he passed away
peacefully.
“He is now in heaven and may be looking
over Thai citizens from there,” Prayuth
said in a statement. “He was a king that
was loved and adored by all. The reign of
the king has ended and his kindness
cannot be found anywhere else.”
Messages of condolences poured in from
across the world.
“With a creative spirit and a drive for
innovation, he pioneered new technologies
that have rightfully received worldwide
acclaim,” U.S. President Barack Obama
said. “His majesty leaves a legacy of care
for the Thai people that will be cherished
by future generations.”
French President Francois Hollande
hailed the king for “exceptional human
qualities ... his profound sense of justice,
his care for modernity and sustainable
development.” Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi described him as “one of
the tallest leaders of our times.”
Besides Vajiralongkorn, the king is
survived by his 84-year-old wife Sirikit
who herself has been ailing and rarely seen
in public in years. The couple has three
daughters — Princess Sirindhorn, the
most beloved royal after her father,
Princess Ubolratana, and Princess
Chulabhorn Walailak. Sirindhorn is
unmarried; Ubolratana is divorced from
her American husband and their two
daughters live in the U.S.; Chulabhorn is
also divorced and has two daughters.
Associated Press journalists Nattasuda Anusonadisai,
Natnicha Chuwiruch, Jerry Harmer, Kiko Rosario, and
Tassanee Vejpongsa contributed to this report.
Downtown Salem’s
Historic Elsinore Theatre
170 High Street S.E.
Salem, Oregon
Tickets:
www.elsinoretheatre.com
www.philippineshistorama.com
earlier this year.
Salem’s performance will begin with an
homage to the island nation’s indigenous
peoples, followed by short plays, song and
dance numbers representing the arrival of
Chinese and Muslim merchants and
settlers; the arrival of Spanish armies and
priests; the successive struggles against
ruling Spaniards, occupying Japanese and
Americans. Historama then continues on
to the excesses of the Marcos era; the
sudden assassination of opposition leader
Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino; then the national
optimism of President Maria Corazon
“Cory” Cojuangco-Aquino’s years.
“Future generations will know”
Historama producer Carmelita Salonga
Tapia says she is deeply indebted to her
co-writer, Philippines historian, national
labor and trade attaché attorney Bernie
Julve for the historical fidelity as well as
the steady reassurance he provided in the
development of the Philippines Historama
project.
It is a Filipino community commitment
reinforced by Jaime Lim and Dory
Osilla-Lim, by the Philippine American
Chamber of Commerce of Oregon
(PACCO), and the Council of Filipino
American Associations (CFAA) of Oregon
and Southwest Washington — all of them
providing the local leadership necessary to
bringing their precious history to town.
“Philippines Historama
is about portraying
Philippine history
so our present and
future generations
will know and
remember our past.”
-- Jaime J. Lim
Filipino-American elder, civic activist,
entrepreneur, philanthropist
“Philippines Historama is about
portraying Philippine history so that our
present and future generations will know
and remember our past,” says Manong
Jaime. “Today, most millennials don’t
even know about the dictatorship that
Marcos inflicted on the Filipino people,
because most textbooks teaching our
youth have not updated our history for 30
years.” Those were 30 intense years. And
that’s a lot of history lost to Filipinos, to
Americans and Filipino Americans.
It won’t take anyone long into Saturday
night’s Historama performance to arrive
at a deeply felt understanding of the tough
and tender peoples of the Philippine
archipelago.
It is a history of misrule by imperial
outsiders and arrogant insiders. And yet,
all these excesses notwithstanding, the
Filipino story is also one of irrepressible
idealism, responsive and responsible
leadership.
Unspeakable sorrow balanced by
contagious communal joy, it’s all there —
it’s in Philippines Historama: A
Celebration of Filipino Heritage, it’s in the
Republic of the Philippines, it’s evident in
every last Pinoy household of the Great
Filipino Diaspora.
Nepal’s most popular Buddhist nun is a musical rock star
Continued from page 16
an insect.”
Her singing offers listeners a way to
practice meditation and “is about invoking
a spiritual quality,” she said in a recent
interview with The Associated Press.
“That is what I rejoice in.”
She refused to say how much money she
has earned from album sales and concerts,
but said she donates much of it to
education charities through her Nun’s
Welfare Foundation and runs a kidney
hospital.
Still, compared with most Nepalese
living in the impoverished mountain
nation, Drolma lives like a rock star —
with a luxury car and a new home in an
upscale neighborhood of the capital of
Kathmandu.
“It is a very conservative point of view
thinking that a nun should be poor and
wearing rags. That’s a wrong attitude,”
she said. “My concerts make very good
money, my CD sales make very good
money, and I think that helps me to afford
such [a] comfortable life.”
Drolma said she was 13 when her
mother allowed her to join the Nagi Gompa
nunnery to escape from an abusive father.
She also dreaded getting married, as she
would likely have been forced to do as it
was the custom in Nepal at the time.
“I had the impression that getting
married was the worst thing to do in life,”
she said.
At the nunnery, just north of
Kathmandu, she learned to chant the
Buddhist scriptures. But while most
recited the lines quickly, she stood out —
chanting melodiously and drawing the
other nuns’ admiration.
In 1994, American musician Steve
Tibbetts visited the nunnery and, being
impressed with her voice, recorded her
singing. He returned after receiving
interest from U.S. record companies, and
recorded Drolma’s first album, Cho,
released in 1997.
The album royalties and performance
fees that came after left Drolma a bit
stunned. Most Nepalese have humble
lives, with a quarter of the country’s 28
million people living in poverty and
heavily reliant on subsistence farming and
remittances from family members
working abroad.
“The question was, what do I do with the
money?” she said. “I realized that this
money can help me fulfill my dream, so
that is how I started the school.”
She set up an educational foundation
and opened the Arya Tara school, on a
mountainside just south of Kathmandu.
The boarding school offers about 80 girls,
between five and 18 years old, free lessons
in Buddhist scripture as well as math,
science, and computer skills. The
foundation also covers the cost of sending
the girls to college.
The students, similarly clad in saffron
robes, giggle and smile when talking about
Drolma.
“Ani is more than my mother. My
mother gave me birth, but Ani raised me,
gave me education, took care of me, and is
the only reason that I have reached this
far,” said 17-year-old Dolma Lhamu, who
is now enrolled in college.
Drolma is similarly adored at the kidney
hospital she runs in Kathmandu, where
hundreds of patients receive free dialysis
twice a week.
She said it’s her work at the hospital and
school that keep her singing and accepting
invitations to perform. For the critics who
question her globetrotting lifestyle or high
income, she has little patience.
“People in society will have different
opinions,” she said. “I try my best to see
how I can improve my attitude toward life,
toward people, and toward the world, and
to find ways to make the best use of my life.
“I am famous today, but tomorrow
people will not know me. It fades away.
That is the reality,” she said.