Days before the whole world said goodbye to 2007, the world also said goodbye to one of the bravest, if not the bravest woman in Pakistan. On December 27, 2007; the late great Benazir Bhutto - Leader, Mother, Wife, Sister, Friend and Woman, was assassinated in front of the very eyes of her thousand supporters after departing a Pakistan Peoples Party rally in Rawalpindi, a Pakistani city, two weeks before the scheduled general elections in Pakistan where she was a leading opposition candidate.

I first encountered the name Benazir Bhutto when she made courageous homecoming and was welcomed by thousands and thousand of her supporters last October 2007. Then, I came across of her name again when I was reading Hillary Clinton’s Living in History.

For those who do not know here, Benazir Bhutto came from the prominent family and succeeded Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, her father, as the chair of PPP. Her father was hanged to death by the military government in the 1970’s on the charges of corruption. During the late 80’s, Benazir made history as the first Pakistani woman who won as a prime minister. She was removed from the office 20 months later on the grounds of alleged corruption. In 1993, the late Benazir made a comeback when she was re-elected but was once again removed from the office on the similar charges. I do not know whether those allegations were true. Benazir and her family put themselves into self-exile in Dubai and had lived there since 1998.

During the times of the exile, Benazir took care of her children and ailing mother. She also continued strengthening PPP by contiuing to contact its supporters. She was a critic of Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf. I made several inquiries about the late Benazir Bhutto through my Pakistani friends and numerous cab drivers I met. Majority of them told me how they like the late Benazir and how good she was. However, some Pakistani conservatives opposed the idea of woman in government and woman taking responsibilities aside from being a mother and a wife.

I joined the whole world mourning and condemning the tragic assasination of Benazir Bhutto. There are a lot more senseless political killing happening in the whole world. The harsh reality is, most of victims are defenders of democracy and human rights, good leaders and innocent civilians.

Three days after the tragic assasination of the late Benazir, her son, a nineteen-year-old man, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, succeeded her as the head of PPP, with his father effectively running the party until the young Bhutto completes his college education at Oxford. Nobody knows what to expect with the leadership of the young Bhutto but everybody is hoping for the best not only for Bilawal and his Pakistan’s People’s Party but also most especially to all the people of Pakistan. The world is watching and I am pretty sure, the late Benazir watches her son too.

Last month, Pakistan held its national elections. Bhutto’s political party and the other opposition party won a significant number of seats on the Congress. The world is watching what will happen next. Truly, there is no defeat in Benazir Bhutto’s death. Because victory already came when she defended, what she knew was right while she was still alive.

image taken from here.

Everybody will agree with me with this: All of us do get frustrated with our jobs. But when are these frustrations enough to make us pack our things and make us leave our present jobs?

For the past months, I have been complaining about the downside of the job that I have. My present job as a private PT does not meet my personal and professional needs. I almost talked to my employer and asked him to send me back home. The professional growth here is nearly impossible for I am only practicing the minor fraction of what I studied in college. I was really frustrated, disappointed and my emotions were so high. Kiko told me, “Huwag kang magpadalos-dalos. Tsaka huwag ka kasing magpadala sa emosyon mo”. Good thing, I came to realize that I have to be extra careful in making decision whenever my emotions are intense.

I am compensated well enough here compared to the most of the practicing Physical Therapists in the Philippines. Though money is not in the major list of the reasons why I should give up this job, it is still part of the endless list. But looking upon the history of man, grass is not always greener on the other side of the field. There are chances that I might end up under employed again or even worst underpaid.

Just recently, a friend asked me, “Happy ka naman diyan?” I struggled to answer that question. I just said that happiness is a vague term. I am not completely happy but I am not totally sad. I try to enjoy my sedentary life here. I talk to people, I go out with some friends, or I walk whenever I can during late afternoons for I might find a life there or watch the glorious Arabian sunset. I stopped complaining. I guess I am sick and tired of the worries that this job gave me. I am so done with wishing for the impossible things to happen here (I grew up in a very different world). I started to appreciate the life that I have no matter how hard it is. And it feels good.

We all get frustrated - with our jobs, our relationships and our lives. Let me just share another realization here, unhappy workers often are struck in the negative side and nothing about their present situation will ever be good enough. So let us stop worrying, let us start to cheer up. Enjoy the life what we have right now and appreciate the little things that we have. Life is beautiful. Oh yes it is!

Right after the Sunday mass, I decided to dine in Tagpuan, a Chinese-owned Filipino restaurant in Abu Dhabi. Immediately after the dinner, I went straight to Abu Dhabi Mall to meet Lourdes and Richie. My two good friends did their monthly shopping. Just before eleven in the evening, we were heading home. There was too many people waiting for the cab and we decided to cross the street.

As expected, there were some other individuals waiting for the cabs on the other side of the street. FYI, wala pong pila sa taxi bay! We patiently waited and five minutes later, the cab finally arrived. The taxi stopped right in front of us. I was hesitant to approach the cab because somebody else came there first, so I just stared at the cab and waited for something to happen. Thirty seconds passed, and nobody approached the cab. So, I decided to open the cab’s trunk and started to put the items we had. As I opened the door, I heard a voice some meters away from us (verbatim):

Voice: Hey, Kabayan, you do not see people here?
Me: I can see you.
Voice: I came here first. You do not have shame?
Me: I don’t have.
Voice: You motherfuck*r! F*ck you! Motherfuck*r and bitches! Blah blah blah.

Whatever! I just gave the nagging woman (who I think is from Morocco or Lebanon) a smile and waved at her as the bad words continued to come out of her mouth. I bet, the bad words coming out her mouth is as bad as she smells.

The cab driver confessed that he decided to pick some passengers on the taxi bay because he saw some Filipinos waiting there. He even said that the nagging woman is crazy. FYI, most of the taxi drivers here prefer Filipino passengers. Drivers would even say, “ Filipine number 1!”

Whenever I can, I read the news online to update myself what is happening back home. The Philippine politics is like a teleserye with all the drama, comedy, suspense, action, betrayal and a lot of surprises. One of these surprises is the sudden change of Sen. Joker Arroyo.

I was flabbergasted when I learned that Joker is no longer funny.

I used to believe that Joker Arroyo is not one of the politicians pretending to be the "holy" one. I expected a lot from him. But then again, he turned out to be a major disappointment. I long for the old Joker I used to know. What happened to the old Joker? Nasaan na ang Joker na galit sa kurap?!

We all know that “The Joker” was the villain in the comic series Batman. I guess, Mr. Joker Arroyo is trying to live up now with how “The Joker” was portrayed in the series. You are another disappointment Sen. Arroyo. You disappointed him, her and a lot more Filipinos who voted for you. I feel sorry for myself that I am one of the disappointed millions. I used to believe that you mean business in Senate. But heck, you're a joke.