YPS

The late Heath Ledger as The JokerIn his piece on Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight for Time, Richard Corliss writes, “Nolan has a… subversive agenda. He wants viewers to stick their hands down the rat hole of evil and see if they get bitten. With little humor to break the tension, The Dark Knight is beyond dark. It’s as black—and teeming and toxic—as the mind of The Joker.”

“Our planet is so little; all the world is here in this festival.”

Festival finale

So observed Donízio Faízca of the Portuguese group Fadomorse during the 11th Rainforest World Music Festival, held from July 11 to 13, 2008 at the Sarawak Cultural Village in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.

I’M USUALLY QUITE A SNOB when it comes to the neighbours. I believe in the inherent goodness of humankind, but because I live in a condo located in a not-so-great area in Pasay City, populated by a lot of transients—and because we’ve already experienced a break-in where the only things that were stolen were MY wallet, MY everyday jewelry, and MY cash—I tend to be suspicious of the folks living around me. So when I see our Chinese, Korean, or Middle-eastern neighbours, I hardly acknowledge them. On some really bad days, I pretend they’re not there.

Now I understand what some young Filipinos abroad feel when they are exposed to life outside the country (and its accompanying efficiencies and lifestyle upgrades): they are torn between helping their country here, being with their family and friends, and being where all the needs are; or becoming productive members of more affluent societies so that they can make their money, enjoy a certain lifestyle, and still manage to help the needy back home.

I used to think MY personal answer would be certain and clear-cut—“Stay, of course!”—but now I’m not so sure.

First published in Starfish Magazine, Volume 2 Issue 2 (2007)

I recently posed this challenge to some like-minded colleagues: draft a want ad for this country’s next president, then let’s see how we are able to articulate the skills, qualifications, and necessary track record of the Philippines’s Chief Executive. After all, we cannot even begin to seriously assess our current crop of presidential hopefuls if we don’t know what we are looking for in the first place. I honestly thought that it would be quite easy because the exercise had to be somewhat similar to writing an ad for a CEO of a large corporation.

You may be in the process of hiring a key leader for your organization, or you already may be thinking about your choices for 2010. Wherever you may need the crucial skills, qualities, and
characteristics of a leader, consider asking these 10 questions to assess your candidates:

1. Does the candidate possess the right character for leadership?