Thursday 23 July 2009

Final Part of My Manila Trip 2009

This is my final post on my recent field trip to Manila, Philippines. No more after this. Nanti muntah si Mus dan Sham, asyik baca isu-isu yang dah basi. Hehehe

And I wanted to share with you pictures of my fellow participants and a couple of interesting facts about them.

Here we go!

This is Mr. Henry T. Itliong from the Bangko Sentral ng Philippinas. He was born and raised as a Catholic, but after reading a poem written by a non-Muslim about Islam, he decided to learn more about Islam and Prophet Muhammad saw. Later, he converted to Islam.


Next is Mr. Ronnie B. Tabucanon, from the Agriculture Credit Policy Council (ACPC), Philippines. I didn't have much opportunity to mingle with him because he only joined some parts of the training.

Another participant from ACPC, Mr. Jonathan S. Giray is blessed with a good vocal. He did a wonderful job entertaining us at the farewell party. I like the barong he wore! Can't wait to wear mine, but unfortunately yet to find the right time, the right event! Mus... please organise one!

This is Ms. Janet D. Duduaco, from ACPC too but from Tarlac region. She was so happy to attend this training because according to her, she hardly get the opportunity to attend courses outside her kampung. Oh yeah, she helped me to compile a list of similar words in Bahasa Melayu and Tagalog such as payung, sakit, lima, mahal and murah.

Mr. Kennedy A. Garabiag reminds me of someone that I might know in Malaysia. Tapi, aku betul-betul tak ingat, siapa ya! He read his Master degree in Economic Development on part-time (same like my friend, Zetty)! Really admire those would could complete their postgraduate studies on part-time basis. I salute you, Ken... Zetty!

She'd came to Malaysia one or two times, and she likes Malaysia a lot! Ms. Mary Sunshine O. Marquina has just got her first baby early this year. A girl, in case you guys were wondering.

MR. Isukapalli R. Reddy is one of the three Indians participating in this course. Very proud of what his bank has been doing for micro enterprises in India. He's very keen to learn about Philippines' financial landscape, especially the micro finance institutions.

Oh, my... I was having hard time to understand what Mr. Parikshit Subuddi said. Not only my fellow participants and I, the hotel operator too. He came to my room one night to say that he was locked outside his room and asked whether he could use my phone to call the housekeeping for help. He made not one, not two but five calls before someone came to help.
"Don't laugh", he said to us the next morning!

When I first met him at the hotel lobby, I thought Mr. Darwin V. Bautista is an Indonesia while he thought I'm a Filipino.
"You look so like a Filipino. In fact, he look more like a Filipino than Mr. Henry!"
Oh, yeah... he's a good singer too! I wonder if all Filipinos were born with good voice.

Mr. Paterno L. Esteria was very concerned with pre-marital sex and keep asking me whether or not it is prevalent in Malaysia as it is in the Philippines. I informed him that it is against the Shariah law in Malaysia, but I cannot rule out of its existence. In fact, some of my non-Muslim friends are practising it openly. Dia dan seorang lagi peserta menunjukkan kegusaran tentang anak-anak mereka yang bersekedudukan di kota Manila.

Ms. Josalyn T. Jomuad is my duet partner. We did "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" after countless requests from the organiser for non-Filipino participants to sing a song. Judging from the applause I could say it was not so bad lah! Can you tell from the following for pictures? Hehehe...





Unfortunately, I don't pictures with the three Nepalis and Dr Eswaran from India.

But... I do have two more interesting pictures which are uniquely Manila, because I've never seen it elsewhere.

Saturday 18 July 2009

Field Visit to MFI clients

When I was in Manila, I'd the opportunity to witness the operation of a MFI run by a Christian NGO - Center for Community Transformation (CCT).

Menariknya, kumpulan sasaran CCT adalah golongan wanita dan menurut jurucakap CCT, kadar pinjaman tak berbayar adalah sekitar 1.25%. [Siapa cakap orang miskin tiada kemampuan untuk bayar balik pinjaman?] Dan pinjaman yang diberikan adalah dari sekecil 1000 peso santak 100,000 peso.

We were then brought to a slum area in Manila to see the conduct of a fellowship meeting, which was held in a house of one of fellowship members for about an hour.

Mesyuarat mereka dimulakan dengan nyanyian dan ikuti dengan bacaan ikrar. Kemudiannya, fasilitator akan membincangkan satu petikan daripada kitab Injil dan ahli-ahli akan memberi pandangan masing-masing dan bagaimana nak mengadaptasi ke dalam kehidupan masing-masing. Modul untuk sesi ini disediakan oleh CCT.

Akhir sekali barulah diteruskan dengan mengutip bayaran pinjaman. Di mesyuarat fellowship ini, ahli juga mengambil kesempatan untuk membincangkan masalah-masalah dalam perniagaan yang dihadapi mereka.

Here are some pictures during the said field trip.