Rizal in Singapore by Ambeth Ocampo

WHILE everyone cursed the crowds and traffic at cemeteries yesterday, I wondered why it is a must for Filipinos to visit their dead on Nov. 1 when graves don’t move and can be visited any other day in the year. If you look closely at the Roman Catholic Calendar, Nov. 1 is the Feast of All Saints (Todos los Santos) not All Souls (Todos los difuntos) which falls on Nov. 2. Surely, many of our dear and not so dear departed were far from saintly in their lifetime--why not visit them on Oct. 31, Halloween, and beat the rush? Or, better still, visit on Nov. 2 and save money on pre-owned flowers and discounted candles?

This long holiday weekend saw my sisters taking Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon’s advice to help domestic tourism. One went to cool Tagaytay while the other one swam with the dolphins in Subic. I sulked at home and wrote this column, while my dutiful father took our place in family memorial plots in Taguig and Pampanga. It must be hard for him to explain away our absence at these once-compulsory family reunions.

Times are indeed changing. If you drove around Manila during Holy Week 10 years ago, the city was a ghost town, but in recent years the business districts may be dead but the malls are packed during the Holy Week break.

If we have more long weekends, more urban people might take a break from the cities and the malls to visit the rest of the country. Whether Pinoy tourism will all add up and make up for the loss of foreign tourists, I don’t know but at least more Filipinos will cease to be foreigners in their own country.

In my work I often use foreign travel accounts of the Philippines to recreate the past, though I wish we had more Filipino sources to describe socio-cultural life in the 18th and 19th centuries. Now I am left with the recollections of tourists. One of the books I intend to write, if I find enough material, will be to use Filipino accounts of London, Paris, New York, Madrid, etc. to see the world from Filipino eyes. Like "Lonely Planet" in reverse. On my recent trip to Singapore I retraced Jose Rizal’s steps using his travel diary of 1882. It took me three hours to fly from Manila to Singapore, but for Rizal who traveled by steamship, it took a week.

It was Rizal’s first trip abroad, and aside from the anxiety that accompanies all travelers, Rizal had to cope with the fact that he left secretly without even bidding his parents goodbye. All these weighed heavily on him and on May 9, 1882 he had a nightmare he recorded in his diary the next day:

"I’ve had a sad and frightful dream which seemed so real. I dreamed that while in Singapore my brother [Paciano] had suddenly died and I told my old mother about it because she was traveling with me on the boat. The dream was confirmed by Sor Catalina and then I had to return, leaving everything in this country. Why did I have that dream? I’m thinking of sending a cable to Calamba to find out the truth; but I’m not superstitious. I left my brother strong and robust.

"It is true that I had a dream once that was fulfilled. Before the examination for the first year in Medicine, I dreamed that I was asked certain questions but I didn’t mind them. When the examinations came, I was asked the questions in my dream. May God will that it might not happen thus!"

Rather than contemplate his dream, Rizal distracted himself by hiring a coach, took a tour guide and drove all around Singapore. His travel impressions are quite striking--there were lots of shops and English was spoken everywhere. He noted that Singapore Chinese looked better and more honest than Philippine Chinese. I see little or no difference today. As I walked around "little India" I noticed that there were very few Indian and Malay women in the streets. Rizal said the same thing though he was told the women stay at home. I thought they were in the shopping malls. Rizal noticed Chinese women with artificially deformed feet. I did not see them though their beautiful shoes are now sold in antique shops and can be seen in the museum. I saw no VIPs in Singapore because their politicians are busy campaigning for the elections. Rizal saw the Maharajah of Lahore and described him as “an old stout man, respectable-looking and garbed in European style but wearing a sort of apron." Nothing escapes his curious eyes so if Rizal visited the gothic Protestant church so did I.

Rizal mentioned the Palace of the Rajah of Siam marked by "a small iron elephant and whatnot on the pedestal placed in front of the building." I saw the Royal Thai Embassy on Orchard Road but found the elephant in front of Singapore’s Parliament. A little research revealed that the iron elephant was a gift of King Chulalangkorn who visited Singapore in 1871. It used to be in front of the city hall but was replaced by a statue of Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore.

While it was fascinating to get to know Singapore through Rizal’s eyes, I should visit Singapore longer next time and be prepared to retrace the footsteps of Emilio Aguinaldo who was promised Philippine independence by the US consul in exchange for Filipino support during the Spanish-American war. There is much to Philippines-Singapore history before Flor Contemplacion.

from his column in THE PHILIPPINE INQUIRER November 01, 2001