newsflash

My thoughts…

Ever since I worked abroad, I’ve become a news buff… When I was still a student I watched the news because I had to… But now, I watch the news because I want to… I now derive pleasure from it. Since I left the country, I’ve been keener about what’s happening back home. Not just I, but many other pinoy here suddenly became more conscious about current events. Perhaps the reason for this ardency for news is the ‘homesick’ factor… Watching the news or any particular show from Pinas somehow alleviates our homesickness. It gives us the feeling that home is just within our reach. It also has the power to delusion us to feel that we’re actually just at home… But lately, watching the news has become [more] draining. Hearing about food crisis, rampant corruption, unending rallies, heinous crimes, and etcetera can be so exhausting and disheartening. Sometimes, the more I watch it, the less excited I feel [to come home]. But I try to tell myself not to believe in it too much. News programs [media] are gatekeepers. They have the ability to alter or exaggerate things.

I honestly don’t know if this is a good thing or not; when you read news papers here in UAE, you will hardly see bad news, nakakapanibago. If there are any, they would focus on the bright side of it. For example, the recent accident of almost 200 cars on Sheik Zayed Road, at the boundary of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, they put more attention on how they cleared the roads within few hours and how many people were saved. Also in the fire that happened in Al Quos last month, where a Pilipino died. They focused on how fast the firemen and ambulance came to the rescue. I hear stories from Pinoys who’s been here for quite a long time; they say that UAE is so powerful that they can tamper news. They say that Dubai may be a fast growing city but it’s still young… and it can’t afford to have negative impression to them from other countries, so they focus on good news that sometimes it comprises that real news. Hmm…I really don’t know if it’s true or just a mere speculation.

On the other hand, I wonder if the news back home is the truth or the half truth or exaggerated truth. Why do this? I have two theories… Pinoy have the tendency to make paawa to foreigners. We have a deep-rooted belief that when foreign people take pity on us, they would assist us, they would shower us with help… but what is in return? (I was a bit shocked when I saw GMA said in Hong Kong that ‘Filipinos are more pro-Americans than Americans’). Why wait for deliverance from foreigners? Another theory is yellow journalism. Maybe TV networks are after the ratings that they overlook other things. They exaggerate the news to get viewers’ attention. Well, I don’t know…these are mere theories of mine.

Even if the news were true, still I tell myself not to feel hopeless no matter how shocking the news may be… Because once sense of hopelessness takes over, apathy will surely come next. I just thought… people always long desperately to come home when they are abroad. The only thing is what they are coming home to.