Entry #3: 2015 Southeast Asian Games

JUNE 21, 2015

What is Southeast Asian Games?

The 28th Southeast Asian games or simply, SEA games, is a sporting event in which eleven Asian countries participated. Four thousand three hundred and seventy athletes joined in the said event and competed in different thirty-six sports. This year, the SEA games occurred in Singapore. It is the fourth time the country had hosted the games. From the fifth of June up until the sixteenth, people from all over the Southeast Asian countries were excited with the games and rooted their own favorites.

Participation of the Philippines

With four hundred seventy-two participants in the Philippines, the Filipinos were excited and looked forward with this year's SEA games. Alyssa Valdez, one of the volleyball players, was the chosen one to carry the flag. At the end of the games, the Philippines accumulated twenty-nine gold medals, thirty-six silver medals, and sixty-six bronze medals. Overall, the country won one hundred thirty-one medals and ranked in the sixth place out of eleven countries. 

Alyssa Valdez leading the parade while carrying the flag

Diving Fails

John Elmerson Fabriga, twenty-one years old, and one of his teammates, John David Pahoyo, seventeen, went viral when their video was posted in the Internet. The two men were divers and both participated in the SEA games. The two failed in their performance when they landed in the wrong positions. This gained them the score of zero from all the judges. 

"I even laughed at myself after I did this dive," he [Pahoyo] said, tagging his teammate Fabriga. "I am still proud because not all of us has the privilege to represent our own country to such a big sporting event like this. And by the way can I ask all of you if you can still smile after getting embarrassed in front of thousands of people?"  (http://time.com/3918579/diving-philippines-sea-games-filipino-john-elmerson-fabriga-john-david-pahoyo/)

You can watch the controversial video in this link: https://youtu.be/ToPRDDPN4xg

Fabriga and Pahoyo, Filipino divers

Rationality of Philippines joining in the SEA games

Even though a lot of people were happy with the sixth place, the coaches and leaders are still baffled by this year's performance, particularly with the controversial Filipino divers. Ronnie Nathanielsz, a Filipino sports analyst, was unhappy with the news. "Tragedy," said Nathanielsz. "This was an unmitigated tragedy." (http://cnnphilippines.com/sports/2015/06/17/2015-Sea-Games-Philippines-do-better.html) 

In my own personal opinion, I think the Filipino divers was a bit disappointing and upsetting. But it wasn't their fault. They do not deserve the bash that they receive in social media. The one should be questioned is the coach. It wasn't an accident why Fabriga and Pahoyo landed that way. They were taught the wrong way.

Compared to the past years where the Philippines was normally part of the top countries, this year, it is ranked in the sixth place. A lot of people were disappointed about this, but it is okay. There is also a saying that there is always a next time. Filipinos are just human beings and we all make mistakes. Just because we failed in one sport doesn't mean that we are losers. The participants in the triathlon, rugby, boxing, billiards, softball, cycling, taekwondo, tennis, basketball (and many more) gained gold medals. Even at sixth place, I am proud of my own country for wearing a smile in the lowest of times.

References: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Southeast_Asian_Games

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines_at_the_2015_Southeast_Asian_Games

© Lovella Mole | SY 2015-2016

Entry #2: It Wasn't Just Any Other Day

JUNE 12, 2015

The October 15, 2013 Earthquake

To some people, October 15, 2013 was just a normal day.

It was normal enough for me. It was announced by the Department of Education that all classes were cancelled because of Eid ul Adha. Eid ul Adha is a public holiday in all Muslim countries. Even though I go to a Catholic school, we still respect the holiday for my other Muslim schoolmates. I was happy, that there were no classes because even though it was only a Tuesday, we get to rest from all those tiresome events in school.

Unfortunately, I was unable to rest at home because one of my classmates wanted to practice for our project. The next day, October 16, 2013, was supposed to be the assigned date that we were going to perform our play. It was a play that I co-wrote with the director and I had a supporting role. We practiced a lot because we wanted this to be perfect for our audience the next day.

Normally, I wake up at four in the morning to prepare for school. Since the practice was going to be held in my classmate's house that was near my apartment that we used to rent, I decided to wake up at around six in the morning. I took a bath at around six-thirty and ate breakfast at seven-thirty. I thought it was just a normal day. Nothing bad or major was going to happen.

While I was finishing my breakfast at around eight in the morning, the ground suddenly shook. I panicked momentarily, because I wasn't really used to react with earthquakes. My mother quickly told my brother and I to grab our phones and go outside in case something falls. It wasn't just a normal earthquake that we sometimes encounter. This one was quite strong. When we were sure that the earthquake had stopped, we went in back to the apartment and checked the news for anything. Because the earthquake only happened just two minutes ago, the news didn't immediately report it.

My mother was the type of person who worries a lot, and so she told me that I shouldn't really go to the practice anymore because I might be harmed. I reassured that it was going to be fine, and that I'll just go home early. I needed to be in that practice because even though I only had a supporting role, I wrote the script and I sometimes help the director with the actions of the actors. Eventually, my mother agreed to let me go. I didn't wait for the news about the earthquake in the TV and left the first chance I got.

When I arrived at the house of my classmate, everyone of them were talking about the earthquake that just occurred. I also joined in, recalling to them about my experience while I ate my breakfast. One even joked that he was in the toilet while it happened. We laughed because we knew everything was just fine and it was only an earthquake and no one got hurt. But when one of my classmates turned on the TV and went to the ABS-CBN channel, we were shocked to learn about the damage the earthquake caused.

No one might have got hurt here in Davao, but not in Bohol and Cebu. According to the news, ninety-nine people were reported dead and two hundred seventy-six people were injured because of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake. It was also the deadliest earthquake recorded in the Philippines in twenty-three years. It was also compared to the Hiroshima bombings during the World War II, saying that the earthquake was equivalent to thirty-two Hiroshima bombs. Many people lost their family members, their houses, and most of their properties because of this October 15, 2013 Philippine earthquake.

My classmates and I were immediately guilty because we were making jokes earlier. We soon realized that it was no laughing matter. My mother's family in Cebu called and told her about the house creaking and some of the floor boards cracking. It was just another day for me, but it wasn't for many people that was affected. 

Some pictures taken from the Internet resulting from the deadly earthquake

© Lovella Mole | SY 2015-2016 |

Entry #1: What is Sociology?

JUNE 9, 2015

Sociology - Introduction from Lovella Mole

According to our trusty friend, Google, "sociology" is the study of development, structure, and functioning of human society. It is also referred to as the study of social problems. It came from the French word "sociologie" and was adapted into an English word during the mid 19th century. But setting all the knowledge stuff aside, what is sociology?

In my own prior knowledge, whenever I hear the word "sociology", the first word that comes into my mind is society. It is the study of society, wherein we talk about the people all around us, and the community that surround us. How do the other people interact with other people? Why are they acting that way? These are only one of the many questions we ask ourselves whenever we go out of our house and observe the people all around us. Sociology will help us to understand the community - why they think that way and why they act that way.

Another word that can be associated with "sociology" is anthropology. Overall, anthropology means the study of humankind. We talk about humans - our species - in sociology. There are two kinds of anthropology - cultural and physical. Cultural is the comparative study of human societies and cultures and their development while physical is the science of human zoology, evolution and ecology. But we're not going to talk about the physical anthropology that much. Sure, it might talk about humans and evolution, but those are in the science department. There's a thin line between science and sociology, and that is anthropology. 

A quote from W.H. Auden, an Anglo-American poet

The third word that I can associate with "sociology", is history. We observe the people all around us and think about, "How? Why?" We also think about, "When did this all start?" In sociology, we also tackle about the moment when it all began. When did the girls start to wear really short shorts? When did all the boys begin to wear skinny jeans too? We watch the youth today and ask these questions. You know you're old when you ask these questions. Just kidding!

Sociology is also associated with, simply, life itself. You can't have sociology when there's no one living. You can't observe the society without life. You can't start history when nobody started to live. 

Last but not the least, the study of sociology from a Marxist perspective is called Marxist sociology. It is both a mixture of sociology and political philosophy. It is influenced by Karl Marx (philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist, revolutionary socialist). According to Wikipedia, Marxist sociology has questions like: "How does a mode of production influence the social class?" and "How do economic factors influence inequalities such as those relating to gender and race?" It is a much complicated view of sociology, but it is still talking about the society. 

Karl Marx influenced Marxist sociology

Discussed VS Textual Definition

Yesterday, our teacher asked us about our own perspective of sociology. We came up with a lot of different answers, but the gist is still the same. Sociology is about people. Written above is the textual definition of sociology and I can confirm that the words that we discussed and the textual definition is quite the same. We have a fair amount of knowledge about sociology, but we want to learn more. 

The more you know....

Great Expectations

Normally, when we have new classes, we have expectations about what our classes would be. Would it be really fun? Would it be amazing? Would it be exciting? I have great expectations in this semester. I think it would be really great because I am excited with this subject. It is a very interesting class, since I always wanted to talk about the society all around us. 

Inspiring quote from our very own Rocky Balboa

© Lovella Mole | SY 2015-2016 |