Metaphor is the writing lesson for today.
And yes, it’s applicable even if you were writing about sex, the coronavirus, or agriculture.
Love of reading led me to literature, among other things. Since high school in my hometown of Asingan in Pangasinan, as I was fond of reading among other publications the Reader’s Digest, not because we could afford to subscribe but our high school, Rizal Junior College (HS Dept), founded & owned by the Eleazars of Tayabas, Quezon, had an excellent library for a voracious promdi reader like me, I became an admirer of Abraham Lincoln and Oscar Wilde, to name 2 geniuses, one American and one British.
Beyond the Gettysburg Address that I memorized, 272 words in all, according to Cornell University[1], I have loved and memorized this short verse of 20 words by Irish poet Oscar Wilde:
Between the optimist and the pessimist,
The difference is droll.
The optimist sees the doughnut,
The pessimist sees the hole!
The difference is droll.
The optimist sees the doughnut,
The pessimist sees the hole!
Why am I telling you this? Because every now and then I come across Facebook sharings by a persistent someone, never mind who, and some kindred souls, journalists and columnists, who only see the negative news in what is happening in the Philippines in terms of Agriculture, under the leadership of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie. For one, those gentlemen cannot go down from their self-exalted positions and present themselves as friends of the Filipino people, especially the farmers.
Look at the image again[2], and read these revised lines:
Between the wide-eyed and the cross-eyed,
The difference is droll.
The wide-eyed sees the doughnuts,
The cross-eyed sees the holes!
The difference is droll.
The wide-eyed sees the doughnuts,
The cross-eyed sees the holes!
I am now dedicating my revised Oscar Wilde to the critics of Manong Willie.
I always write it thus: Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie, because Manong Willie wishes to be and acts familiarly with the people, no airs of superiority, He is an Ilocano; wishing to be referred to simply as “Manong Willie,” which means “Brother Willie” in the language, which is both a title of respect and term of endearment. This Ilocano assures you Manong Willie has no atmosphere of arrogance around him. I have known him since January 2007 when based on one blogpost he appointed me international consulting writer for ICRISAT, where he was Director General from January 2000 to December 2014.
Even before President Rodrigo Duterte appointed him Secretary of Agriculture on 05 August 2019, Manong Willie had masterminded what he called “The New Thinking for Agriculture,” a Scientific Revelation with 8 Commandments that he called “Paradigms,” set on a Tablet of Digital Stone:
(1) Thou shalt modernize.
(2) Thou shalt industrialize.
(3) Thou shalt promote exports.
(4) Thou shalt consolidate small- and medium-sized farms.
(5) Thou shalt develop infrastructure.
(6) Thou shalt have higher budget & investment.
(7) Thou shalt have legislative support.
(8) Thou shalt develop a national roadmap.
With “The New Thinking for Agriculture,” how can we lose the war for The New PH Agriculture!?
We can if we stay stubborn and negative!@517
[1] https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/gettysburg/good_cause/transcript.htm
[2] https://www.food.com/recipe/best-baked-doughnuts-ever-73315
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