Monday, October 10, 2005
saw Marc, a climbing buddy and a Lasallian, at the gym. I needled him about La Salle losing to FEU. And you know what he showed me? A text message that read "CONGRATULATIONS TO FEU. YOU DESERVE TO WIN. WE WILL MEET AGAIN. WE KNOW YOU WILL END UP WORKING FOR US."
My reaction though was at first "what arrogance and gall!" But if you really think about it, it is reality and it is the truth. In this country of ours, the powers in business and government are held by alumini, mostly (I didn't say all)graduates from FOUR major universities: University of the Philippines-Diliman, Ateneo De Manila, De La Salle-Taft and University of Santo Tomas or Universities from the US and Europe. I see it in everyday life: most members of the Rotary Clubs, FINEX (Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines), MAP (Management Association of the Philippines), MBC (Makati Business Club) and the PCCI (Phil Chamber of Commerce and Industry)are alumini of these four universities. The only industry grouping that does not have any domination from the big four universities is the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce. But the children of these Chinese business people end up in the big four universities. There are few UE or FEU graduates holding top corporate positions or owners of businesses but they are few.
Does it only happen here in the Philippines? I guess not. It so happens in the rest of the world there are what is called academic centers of excellence. In the USA, they have the so called ivy league schools or the top state schools; in the UK, Cambridge and Oxford comes to mind; in Singapore, the University of Singapore produces their leaders and in Japan, the University of Tokyo. What is facinating though are the alumni organizations that these top universities have. The alumni organizations are very powerful networking organizations and very powerful lobby groups. More so in this country of ours. If the alumni organizations unite within their organizations and cooperate with each other, they can bring change and sometimes even a change in government.
I attended a reunion of old gay friends last Saturday night. It was funny to see those old pictures 25 years ago. I had a very full head of hair and a svelte figure. Hahahahaha. Now I have this buffed body with a tummy. hahahahaha. It was fun though looking at the old pictures. Glen is going to email me those retro pics and I'm gonna post these pics in the this blog.
I ended up in Bed last Saturday. Bed had this closing party since it will be renovated soon. I can't wait to see how it will look like. doctony was taking pictures again. And I didn't come out in his pictures!
My reaction though was at first "what arrogance and gall!" But if you really think about it, it is reality and it is the truth. In this country of ours, the powers in business and government are held by alumini, mostly (I didn't say all)graduates from FOUR major universities: University of the Philippines-Diliman, Ateneo De Manila, De La Salle-Taft and University of Santo Tomas or Universities from the US and Europe. I see it in everyday life: most members of the Rotary Clubs, FINEX (Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines), MAP (Management Association of the Philippines), MBC (Makati Business Club) and the PCCI (Phil Chamber of Commerce and Industry)are alumini of these four universities. The only industry grouping that does not have any domination from the big four universities is the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce. But the children of these Chinese business people end up in the big four universities. There are few UE or FEU graduates holding top corporate positions or owners of businesses but they are few.
Does it only happen here in the Philippines? I guess not. It so happens in the rest of the world there are what is called academic centers of excellence. In the USA, they have the so called ivy league schools or the top state schools; in the UK, Cambridge and Oxford comes to mind; in Singapore, the University of Singapore produces their leaders and in Japan, the University of Tokyo. What is facinating though are the alumni organizations that these top universities have. The alumni organizations are very powerful networking organizations and very powerful lobby groups. More so in this country of ours. If the alumni organizations unite within their organizations and cooperate with each other, they can bring change and sometimes even a change in government.
I attended a reunion of old gay friends last Saturday night. It was funny to see those old pictures 25 years ago. I had a very full head of hair and a svelte figure. Hahahahaha. Now I have this buffed body with a tummy. hahahahaha. It was fun though looking at the old pictures. Glen is going to email me those retro pics and I'm gonna post these pics in the this blog.
I ended up in Bed last Saturday. Bed had this closing party since it will be renovated soon. I can't wait to see how it will look like. doctony was taking pictures again. And I didn't come out in his pictures!
