A Grief Online
“I FOUND, when I was a child, that if I could put the hurt into words, it would go,” Jean Rhys wrote. And so in the days following my mother’s death I can do nothing but write, mostly about the things...
View ArticleCruel and unusual
According to a 2002 article in the Journal of Forensic Science, it takes an average of 8.4 minutes for a lethal injection protocol to achieve the desired end.
View ArticleBurnout
Teka muna, teka lang/Pwede bang wag na lang?” Bullet Dumas sings in one of the scenes of the film “I'm Drunk, I Love You.”
View ArticleThriving in the gig economy
“My Uber driver is earning ridiculously well,” I thought as we cruise down empty highways past dimly lit skyscrapers and starless city skies.
View ArticleDecoding Art Basel
It was that time of the year in Hong Kong, March 23-25, when Art Basel displayed outstanding and premier works from all over the world in one eagerly anticipated event—considerably the most important...
View ArticleThe long walk
We used to take the long way home, my best friends and I. Our high school was within walking distance from our houses, but we came up with all sorts of reasons to prolong the walk, gabbing endlessly...
View ArticleThat drug called hate
There is an abundance of material that can put you slightly on edge these days: a marital conflict gone awry and political, a local celebrity’s social media blunders, a price hike in commodities, the...
View ArticleA paradox of life and death
My mother spent three days in an intensive care unit before we said farewell. There was an element of “playing God” in it—we “kept” her alive long enough for the family to be able to gather and say...
View ArticleAre you threatened by us?
Dear college students,” began one tweet. “Are you threatened by us, Senior High School kids?
View ArticleRevolution in the commute
Taking public transportation in the Philippines is like rushing headlong into a war with the elements. You do battle with the mind-numbing traffic, the crazed drivers, and the illness-inducing...
View ArticleWho watches the watchmen?
My father, a newspaperman in China, used to tell me about shocking news items he came across while doing his duties.
View ArticleA summary of evil
It’s the most frightening thing, this movie “It” based on the novel by Stephen King.
View ArticleThe singing streets
In the latter months of the year, when streets come alive with the dancing of holiday lights, a song climbs up into the jeepneys and knocks on car windows at traffic stops. The song is a coarse carol,...
View ArticlePower play
Why does catcalling affect you so much?” a friend once asked me. “It’s not a threat, it involves no physical contact whatsoever, and it’s even a compliment!”
View ArticleStudents and yearend stress
We have very stressed university students at this time of year. And no, it isn’t because of the holiday traffic. It is because of the yearend exams. Indeed, it is that time of year again.
View ArticleOur holidays, or lack thereof
I have spent the last three of four Christmases in the hospital, serving people other than my own family.
View ArticleWhere the wild kids are
For the record, I don’t think it’s true that kids today don’t play outside anymore.
View ArticleNot your feel-good fad
Back in 2011, when Earth Hour was fairly new and trendy, one of the big supporting events in my city was a lights-off outdoor show that featured the lighting of dozens of sky lanterns.
View ArticleMost toxic year ever
We are a few days shy of bidding 2018 goodbye, and it seems like it took some sort of divine benevolence for us to finally reach this point.
View ArticleChildhood ruined
We all miss our simpler days—back when our entire lives seemed to stretch before us
View ArticleMale privilege and women’s month
To be born male in the ’90s meant growing up with less of the patriarchy of the “Mad Men” era.
View ArticleLaziness or depression?
It will seem like I am making excuses for that one coworker who keeps calling in sick or that student who shows little effort in class.
View ArticleGreat art, bad artists
A haunting tale of child abuse and psychological damage, the spine-chilling documentary “Leaving Neverland” was broadcast by HBO in early March.
View ArticleWhy pop culture matters
Pop culture took over our short attention span in the past week or two. Any consumer of mass media, whether avid fan or mere spectator, would know why. First, “Game of Thrones” finally debuted its...
View ArticleA time for watchers
It was upsetting news when the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) announced that it was withdrawing this year
View ArticleLessons from corporate governance
Leadership plays a focal role in the natural world wherever communal living is necessary for survival.
View ArticleA pro-people wish list
Congress has resumed sessions this week after a three-month break for the midterm elections.
View ArticleThe economics of attention
That’s what I thought to myself when my mother asked how people make huge money from mobile applications and social media services.
View ArticleChoosing to be child-free
Sorry, Ma and Pa—you may have to wait a long time before you see your first apo. That is, if a growing number of millennials are to have it their way. Any sample of 20- and 30-somethings in 2019 might...
View ArticleA new decade rising
In a few days, we will be bidding adieu not just to a year but also to a decade. Surely, that is nothing short of remarkable. We are amazingly on the brink of what will become our own take on the ’20s....
View ArticleNaomi Osaka: Setting a boundary
Even non-followers of sports can learn something valuable from a recent shock on the tennis stage. Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka announced Monday that she was withdrawing from the French Open, after...
View ArticleOur changed grief (and new kindnesses)
We are never getting out of this mess,” a friend remarked ages ago, referring to how the threat of COVID-19 would keep resurging. As an optimist, I would not accept it at first, but as the months...
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