Shelving the cha-cha: Not forever, we hope

By Gerry Garcia

THERE’S definitely a need for foreign investors because local capital being a Third Worldish is not enough to fund our development. The problem is that there are provisions in our current Constitution which are rather too restrictive than protective of our economic gains and these tend to turn off   foreign investors. Consequently we lose a rare chance for more capital to be infused into our economy to keep it going and growing. The bottomline: there’s a need for charter change (cha-cha), not exactly over-haul, to remove protectionist economic provisions because these have served to be deterrent to foreign investments.

The cha-cha exercise in meant to stabilize the nation, no to prolong the stay of unwanted politicians in the government.  It’s the failure to grasp the point behind this basic statement by traditional politicians (tradpols) that they do not see or refuse to see that we would be setting our first shot at attaining a level comfortably higher than our current Third Worldism.

* * * * *

As Christmas-time nears, we are once more, if temporarily, leaving a year of social and political turmoil and begin greeting one another in joy over the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord.  It’s season again where there’s joy more in giving than in receiving.

Although it often happens when little tots or dirty little angels singing Christmas carols door to door  for few pesos  or so always end up with “Tenk you, tenk you, ang babarat ninyo!” if you give them veinteng  or 25 or 50 centavos.

Elder carolers, on the other hand, bent on raising funds from Christmas caroling, don’t care about preparing for and singing inspiring carols that draw appreciative rewards of P100 or more.

That’s why poor and sloppy carol singers, who hate “wasting” practice of rehearsal hours, are often gifted with P20 or P40   seldom more per door session.

A musically literate group leader (who can read music notations) can form an informal singing group, like mixed chorus  (of boys and girls) and get them to practice very common Christmas carols, like “Joy to the world”  or “Silent Night” and any one of the popular Tagalog carols, like “Ang Pasko ay Sumapit”.

In mixed chorus, the melody is carried by the soprano (first voice) accompanied by the also (second voice) in the girl or female section while boys of  male section composed by the tenor and bass combining to form a mixed chorus.

Even a common carol, like Gruber’s “Silent Night, Holy Night” when sung in its original 4-part vocal arrangement, will easily fetch donations of from P100 to P500 per door session. Especially when painstakingly rehearsed and finally rendered without a hitch.

Same thing with “Joy to the World”.

* * * * *

 I had occasion to try this in December of 1993 in Athens, Georgia (USA) where some members of the Northwest Fil-American Association invited me to form and train them as a caroling group. Targeted destinations include homes of their fellow Fil-Ams in various counties of Athens. Our repertoire was limited and simple: three Christmas carols including “Ang Pasko ay Sumapit”. Opening number was “Joy to the World” followed by “Silent Night, Holy Night”. Climax was our Tagalog favorite sung in unison.

After multi-night sessions of caroling, we went home rich in dollars and new acquaintances.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/here-and-there/  Readers may reach columnist at sundaypunch2@yahoo.com . For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments