Preparing for New Years evening
Already several days a few youngsters in our neighbourhood are firing firecrackers. They start early morning and continue to do so untill in the evening. If they do it for the coming new year celebration or a belated Christmas celebration is not clear to me.
The Philippines are celebrating a lot of things with fireworks. On weddings, baptismals, barrio fiestas and all kinds of other occasions.
The days before Christmas are also known for lots of giant fireworks all over the country. Some cities even have a fireworks display every night complete with light shows and giant well lighted Christmas trees like this one in Cubao near Araneta Center.
When the tree was first lighted a giant fireworks display was shown. I didn’t attend it live, but saw it later on the local news on TV. The same with other cities. Often it is shown on TV when the tree is lighted for the first time, usually accompanied by a giant fireworks show.
Back to the firecrackers in our subdivision. It makes me sick to know that so many people in the Philippines do not have enough money to send their children to school properly. They often cannot afford the tuition fees so children are just not going to school. Not to mention the people who are in evacuation centers in the Philippines at the moment. There is in Albay, near the Mayon Volcano, but there is still several people in centers too from the Ondoy typhoon. And from a fire in Makati and Pasay, a few days before Christmas.
It’s good that there are people like Efren Penaflorida, the CNN hero of the year 2009 who tries to teach poor children in Cavite to read and write.
I still remember from last year that so many fireworks was used to celebrate new year. It will be the same this year.
And do not tell me that the Philippines is a poor country. There is enough money, it is only that too many people have nothing and too few people have a lot.
When you see people shopping for Christmas or this new year celebration. Supermarket carts loaded with food and unnecessary snacks and luxuries ….. Some people even have more than one cart……
Filipino time:
