A dry April

I knew that having a blog meant an obligation to write regularly. But I have written so many in my head these past months but hesitated to encode them in the hopes of coming up with THE post. I am finally drawn to write today just because I would hate to end the month on a dry note.

So here's my one of my thought threads: I watched a news segment last February on Chinese New Year where Manila's mayor staged a dragon dance and parade through Chinatown in the hopes of, as he said, firming up the alliance between Filipinos and Chinese. Made me think: since when have we been operating as a dual state? Isn't the mayor a prime example of a racial assimilation? Hasn't centuries of trade, communication and inter-marriage mixed the races enough to render distinctions moot? And should an elected official publicly support racial distinctions at all?

Of course, there are many among us sporting foreign passports - either because we have opted for foreign citizenship or because our grandparents or parents have settled among relations and given birth here - but fully identify as a Filipino. In this case, then yes I agree, they are foreigners and should be subject to the laws of the country as it applies to aliens. So was the good mayor referring to these visitors? Then, why should aliens enjoy special rights over and beyond what the law stipulates?

Just my ten renminbi