Which historical figures do you like and dislike?
July 16, 2006 | 12:00am
I was fascinated to chance upon old newspapers from 1949 in a small antique shop in Pasig City. Going through the news then, my dad and I realized that the issues and problems of the time were exactly the same as what we’re dealing with today. Nothing has really changed – not even the names of prominent political families. It was nice to read how the beliefs and causes of these historical figures have influenced our generation today. They are people we can learn from and whose lives can inspire us.
PRANDY YULO, managing director, Hella Phils.: The historical figure I like is James Hudson Taylor, a Christian missionary to China and founder of China Inland Mission (renamed Overseas Missionary Fellowship or OMF International in 1964 and based in Singapore), served there for 51 years, bringing over 800 missionaries to the country and personally baptizing an estimated 50,000 converts. He was famous for his commitment to cultural sensitivity, wearing Chinese dress even though this was rare among missionaries at the time. Hudson Taylor has been referred to as one of the most significant figures – foreign or native – in the history of 19th-century China. The China Inland Mission was responsible for the widest Christian evangelist campaign since the first century when Paul the Apostle brought Christian teaching to Europe.
The historical figure I dislike is Saloth Sar, better known as Pol Pot, the ruler of the Khmer Rouge and prime minister of Cambodia from 1976 to 1979. Pol Pot created an aggressive regime of agricultural reform designed to create a utopian primitivist society, which was known for repressing intellectuals. Today the excesses of his government are widely blamed for causing the deaths of up to two million Cambodians.
Secretary ARTHUR YAP, Presidential Management Staff: I cannot really say whom I like or dislike since I’ve never met these historical figures. But let me just say these two leaders (I have kept the selection to Asian leaders) are the ones I admire and loathe. I admire the diminutive Deng Xiaoping for his political savvy and personal courage in recognizing what needed to be done to liberate his people from hunger and poverty. It meant turning back Maoist-communist ideals for which he risked his life and millions of lives for and yet, as he said, "It is not important if a cat is white or black, as long as it catches mice." For him, the economic system was not important as long as he could liberate his people from inhumane living conditions. His sacrifice and determination are a lesson and inspiration for all of us. If China, with its billion people, can as one nation drive towards that vision, we, a nation of 84 million, can surely do it.
As for Pol Pot, he is an easy choice for people to loathe for the genocide he perpetrated against his own people. Adolf Hitler tried to annihilate a race and culture that he felt was anathema to the Aryan race, but in Pol Pot’s case, the violence and killing were directed against his own people and his own culture.This was an insane man whose will was tragically imposed on his own people.
LEICA CARPO, Modern mythology boutique owner: The historical figure I like is King Arthur – his existence may be partially fictional but he is supposed to be based on a real king of the Medieval times. I like the Arthurian legends because I am such a romantic. Stories of Camelot, the Knights of the Round Table, the quest for the Holy Grail, and the tragic love triangle between Guinevere, Lancelot and King Arthur never cease to enthrall me.
I dislike Hitler the most, hands down. His actions and beliefs represent everything I deplore in humanity.
Senator BONG REVILLA: I admire Jose Rizal, who showed the value of education to every Filipino and exemplified that, truly, the pen is mightier than the sword. You may be able to enslave the body but it is almost impossible to enslave a free mind.
CELINE GABRIEL, PR director, Fatally Femme Productions: The historical figure that I’ve always admired is Andres Bonifacio among all Filipino heroes because of his love of country. He was poor and not that educated but he fought with passion for the freedom of our land. And that’s a quality you don’t see much of in this day and age.
Historical figure I dislike: Adolf Hitler. Enough said.
Lt. Col. DENNIS ISLETA, Philippine Army: The person in history I love is Jesus Christ for obvious reasons. He didn’t give up. Just imagine if He did. (I can talk endlessly about this but I don’t know the length of your article so I’ll leave it at that).
Historical figures I dislike – many. How about Douglas MacArthur for absolving all wartime puppets of Japan? As a result, we’re stuck with the same rich people lording it over the masses, notwithstanding what they did. Or how about President Manuel Quezon who cursed the nation with his statement, "I would rather have a nation run like hell by Filipinos than one run like heaven by Americans." Let’s go back to the Bible… How about Adam and Eve? Just imagine if they loved God more than their personal desires?
JIMMY DUAVIT, executive vice president and COO, GMA Network: The historical figure I admire the most is no less than Jesus Christ. No single man has influenced the way we think and live as much as He has and continues to. In the very short period He lived on earth He established the foundations of the belief system of billions of us by exemplifying virtue and sacrifice, at the expense of no other life except His own. As a historical figure He remains the sole example of one whose relevance and significance is further strengthened by the passage of time.
The one I dislike most is Joseph Stalin. Motivated by maintaining himself in power, he was responsible for the deaths of millions upon millions of his own countrymen, purportedly in the interest of protecting an ideology that encouraged oppression, poverty and misery. In contrast, the ideology he espoused has proven obsolete and his memory consciously obliterated by his successors.
For comments and suggestions, send e-mail to monswordsworth@yahoo.com
PRANDY YULO, managing director, Hella Phils.: The historical figure I like is James Hudson Taylor, a Christian missionary to China and founder of China Inland Mission (renamed Overseas Missionary Fellowship or OMF International in 1964 and based in Singapore), served there for 51 years, bringing over 800 missionaries to the country and personally baptizing an estimated 50,000 converts. He was famous for his commitment to cultural sensitivity, wearing Chinese dress even though this was rare among missionaries at the time. Hudson Taylor has been referred to as one of the most significant figures – foreign or native – in the history of 19th-century China. The China Inland Mission was responsible for the widest Christian evangelist campaign since the first century when Paul the Apostle brought Christian teaching to Europe.
The historical figure I dislike is Saloth Sar, better known as Pol Pot, the ruler of the Khmer Rouge and prime minister of Cambodia from 1976 to 1979. Pol Pot created an aggressive regime of agricultural reform designed to create a utopian primitivist society, which was known for repressing intellectuals. Today the excesses of his government are widely blamed for causing the deaths of up to two million Cambodians.
Secretary ARTHUR YAP, Presidential Management Staff: I cannot really say whom I like or dislike since I’ve never met these historical figures. But let me just say these two leaders (I have kept the selection to Asian leaders) are the ones I admire and loathe. I admire the diminutive Deng Xiaoping for his political savvy and personal courage in recognizing what needed to be done to liberate his people from hunger and poverty. It meant turning back Maoist-communist ideals for which he risked his life and millions of lives for and yet, as he said, "It is not important if a cat is white or black, as long as it catches mice." For him, the economic system was not important as long as he could liberate his people from inhumane living conditions. His sacrifice and determination are a lesson and inspiration for all of us. If China, with its billion people, can as one nation drive towards that vision, we, a nation of 84 million, can surely do it.
As for Pol Pot, he is an easy choice for people to loathe for the genocide he perpetrated against his own people. Adolf Hitler tried to annihilate a race and culture that he felt was anathema to the Aryan race, but in Pol Pot’s case, the violence and killing were directed against his own people and his own culture.This was an insane man whose will was tragically imposed on his own people.
LEICA CARPO, Modern mythology boutique owner: The historical figure I like is King Arthur – his existence may be partially fictional but he is supposed to be based on a real king of the Medieval times. I like the Arthurian legends because I am such a romantic. Stories of Camelot, the Knights of the Round Table, the quest for the Holy Grail, and the tragic love triangle between Guinevere, Lancelot and King Arthur never cease to enthrall me.
I dislike Hitler the most, hands down. His actions and beliefs represent everything I deplore in humanity.
Senator BONG REVILLA: I admire Jose Rizal, who showed the value of education to every Filipino and exemplified that, truly, the pen is mightier than the sword. You may be able to enslave the body but it is almost impossible to enslave a free mind.
CELINE GABRIEL, PR director, Fatally Femme Productions: The historical figure that I’ve always admired is Andres Bonifacio among all Filipino heroes because of his love of country. He was poor and not that educated but he fought with passion for the freedom of our land. And that’s a quality you don’t see much of in this day and age.
Historical figure I dislike: Adolf Hitler. Enough said.
Lt. Col. DENNIS ISLETA, Philippine Army: The person in history I love is Jesus Christ for obvious reasons. He didn’t give up. Just imagine if He did. (I can talk endlessly about this but I don’t know the length of your article so I’ll leave it at that).
Historical figures I dislike – many. How about Douglas MacArthur for absolving all wartime puppets of Japan? As a result, we’re stuck with the same rich people lording it over the masses, notwithstanding what they did. Or how about President Manuel Quezon who cursed the nation with his statement, "I would rather have a nation run like hell by Filipinos than one run like heaven by Americans." Let’s go back to the Bible… How about Adam and Eve? Just imagine if they loved God more than their personal desires?
JIMMY DUAVIT, executive vice president and COO, GMA Network: The historical figure I admire the most is no less than Jesus Christ. No single man has influenced the way we think and live as much as He has and continues to. In the very short period He lived on earth He established the foundations of the belief system of billions of us by exemplifying virtue and sacrifice, at the expense of no other life except His own. As a historical figure He remains the sole example of one whose relevance and significance is further strengthened by the passage of time.
The one I dislike most is Joseph Stalin. Motivated by maintaining himself in power, he was responsible for the deaths of millions upon millions of his own countrymen, purportedly in the interest of protecting an ideology that encouraged oppression, poverty and misery. In contrast, the ideology he espoused has proven obsolete and his memory consciously obliterated by his successors.
BrandSpace Articles
<
>