The news of the plastic surgery “transformation” of the internet sensation named Marlou Arizala, who now goes by the moniker “Xander Ford”, has been making headlines as well as memes on social media. Marlou had features typically associated with Filipinos: Dark moreno skin and a flat nose. His appearance when he was still Marlou got…
Author: Nicole Wong
At night, when people slip into their pajamas, lights from windows flicker out one by one, and the mundane world stays still, the red light districts come alive. They look the same as they do every night: bold and beaming, lurid with fluorescent signs, and piercing with loud music. Matching the scenery are fire truck…
He stands at the center of the stage. Everyone’s eyes are on him while he plays to his heart’s content. Beads of sweat drip from his brow to the strings of his violin. The music crescendos, deafening the otherwise hushed atmosphere of the audience. Then, it slowly fades away, his piece drawing to a close.…
“It is when the night darkens, that dawn breaks,” President Rodrigo Duterte quoted on his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), a month after he sat on power. The nights have darkened, the doors were broken, yet dawn never came for the people of San Andres. The president, despite the inconsistency with his statements,…
It takes only one generation for everything to change. A lifetime is enough for a whole new world to emerge from the depths of human civilization. It is this change that separates us from the past and ourselves. It defines us, may it be a generalization or a stereotype. Such is the case for our…
Depictions of meditation, or spirituality, have evolved in media throughout the years. Gone are the days when Ben Kingsley’s portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi in Gandhi or Jim Caviezel’s Jesus Christ in The Passion of the Christ inspired a kind of spirituality that can be practiced by people from all walks of life. Yet here come…
At educational institutions such as our own, the act of plagiarism is treated gravely. Heavy punishments are usually meted out to any offenders who get caught stealing—or copying—someone else’s intellectual property. With tools such as Turnitin seeing widespread use among students and professors, it is clear that plagiarism is treated seriously in the academe. Merriam-Webster…
Over the years, the infamous Republic Act No. 10354—colloquially known as the RH Bill but now called the RH Law—has been constantly delayed in implementation due to the uprising of the church and pro-life groups. Although the bill has long been passed, there seems to be little to no change in the healthcare scene as…
The last few days of every year are usually met with the same mundane routine: Christmas zips into New Year’s Eve, people rush around traveling or attending parties, and, when asked, ‘How was your year?’ an indifferent ‘Meh, uneventful’ would probably be the reply. Last year proved to be different. There’s no denying that 2016…
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A very secular Christmas
It begins, as most celebrations do, with the act of informing everyone at arm’s length that it is almost here. We then count the days that lead to it—excitedly and religiously—and there is almost a sense of collective relief as we get to cross off another day on our calendars. Then there are the images…