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Mga anak ng jueteng (PJI editorial 28 April 2005)

WE COULD have opted to adopt into our way of life precious lessons plied by Sun Tzu or Zhuge Liang in their war manuals—“Know your self; know the enemy. In a hundred battles, gain a hundred victories.”

We could have learned and taken to heart the teachings of Lao Tzu on how to effectively wield power and shape national character through that classic “Tao Te Ching.”

We could have adopted the mindset of a Confucius or Mencius—and sprang off low-technology, low-cost devices that allow farmlands to rake in the equivalent of a few million pesos in gross earnings per hectare per month.

We could have learned the secrets of acupuncture and the health-giving, life-prolonging regimen inherent in wuyiquan or qigong.

We pirated something less interesting—wei tung, a hand-me-down game of chance from the likes of pirate Lim Ah-hung.

Wei tung (flowers in a water vessel) evolved into a plague of sorts called jueteng.

Jueteng continues to infect the nation, its claws clutching beyond the bone marrow right into the realm of dreams.

Pioneering psychiatrists Carl Gustav Jung and Sigmund Freud, dream interpreters both, would whack their brains out at an affliction of the national psyche—why, every object, item, and article in a Pinoy’s dream correlates to numbers 1 through 37 that can be wagered on as lucky numbers in a jueteng draw.

As reports have it, the jueteng take from bettors and dreamers nationwide can reach into billions of pesos.

Part of the proceeds keeps politicos, military and police authorities looking the other way while jueteng lords and their minions keep the common folks caught rapt in a fascinating game of chance

Interestingly, the Chinese folks have chucked off the game. Sa maniwala o hindi: wala na ni anino ng jueteng sa China.

It ought to be a culture thing.

Jueteng numbers have wormed their way into our dreams, probably into the national psyche.

Who dares to eradicate a damaged culture thing?

Lim Ah-hung and his sea hordes are turning in their graves, probably from laughing at the infection that has become a nation’s plague.
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(Filipino translation)

PINILI na lang sanang pinulot at isinalin sa ating pamumuhay ang mga aral nina Sun Tzu o Zhuge Liang ukol sa sining ng pakikidigma—“Tahasang kilalanin ang sarili, kilalanin ang kaaway. Sa sandaan mang sagupaan, aani ng sandaang tagumpay.”

Pinili at pinulot na lang sana ang mga aral ni Lao Tzu sa “Tao Te Ching” ukol sa masinop na diskarte sa kapangyarihan at pamamahala para mahubog ang mas matinong katangian ng taumbayan.

Namana na lang sana ang kaisipan nina Confucius o Mencius—nang makalikha ng tipid-gastos at malikhaing kasangkapan para kumabig ng katumbas na ilang milyong pisong kita sa bawat ektarya ng sakahan buwan-buwan.

Binungkal na lang sana at nasinop ang mga lihim ng acupuncture at mga pampalusog, pampalawig-buhay na pamamaraan mula wuyiquan at qigong.

Kakatwa ang sinunggaban at inangkin—wei tung, isang anyo ng sugal mula sa mga kampon ng piratang si Lim Ah-hung.

Nagkaugat at lumago sa bansa ang wei tung (bulaklak sa sisidlan ng tubig) bilang jueteng.

Matindi ang impeksiyon ng jueteng sa bansa, sagad na sakmal ng mga kuko nito hindi lang buto—tumagos hanggang sa panaginip.

Pawang umunawa sa katuturan ng panaginip sina pioneering psychiatrists Carl Gustav Jung at Sigmund Freud. Pero malulugaw ang utak nila sa pagtukoy sa katuturan ng panaginip-jueteng na nakalukob sa bansa—bawat bagay sa panaginip ng Pinoy ay may katumbas na bilang mula 1 hanggang 37 na matatayaan sa jueteng.

Lumitaw sa mga ulat na umaabot sa ilang bilyong piso ang nahahakot sa mga mananaya ng jueteng.

Bahagi ng nahahakot na bilyones ang nagpapapikit sa mata ng mga pulitiko, pulisya at military habang walang patid na lumilikom ng taya sa taumbayan ang mga panginoong may jueteng.

Pansinin na lubusang itinakwil ang wei tung sa China. Sa maniwala o hindi: wala ni anino ng jueteng sa China.

Nakaugat marahil sa kultura ng Pilipino ang jueteng. Payo nga, “pulutin ang mabuti, ang masama’y iwaksi.”

Nakalublob na ang jueteng sa panaginip, baka nagtatampisaw na pati sa singit ng kaluluwa.

Mahirap nang tungkabin ang ganoon.

Nakalibing man si Lim Ah-hung at ang kanyang mga kampon, tiyak na humahagalpak sila ng halakhak sa kanilang iniwang pamana sa Pilipinas.

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