Feb. 20, 2012 - AT SINGAPORE AIRPORT

February 20, 2012 - AT SINGAPORE AIRPORT

This is another article I found in the small Journal I used to carry along in my travels during the 1970's. I will print it "Verbatim"- word for word as written then.


9 June 1979, Saturday 8:28 PM - SINGAPORE AIRPORT

From the Singapore Airport Duty-Free Emporium, my gaze wondered on to the passport check area and thence to the wide departure lounge which was bustling with a remarkably large crowd of "jet-setters," real and otherwise, at that time of the night, of varied origins but which was predominantly Australians. There were three almost simultaneous flights scheduled for Sydney, Perth and Melbourne of Quantas Airways, British Airways and Singapore Airlines, respectively. Oops, made a "faux pax" there! Qantas is the only exception to the rule in spelling... so says the aadvertisement I heard or read somewhere! A swift scan of the diversified conglomerates, some overtly manifesting signs of the much-talked about airborne anxieties, others continuously gabbing about their pleasant and not too pleasant experiences in country so and so, a topic obviously to be repeated up to the nth time to the folks back home, so to speak, family, relations and friends alike. The degree of exasperations will, of course, vary to the kind of listeners, the highlights of the 'star's role,' and the desired impression to be conveyed to the open-mouthed acceptors of fact/or fiction.

The majority of teeming crowd to the ratio of seven to one, I presumed, were senior citizens who have responded to the call of "Swing It Asia," as boldly printed on their blue and white bags. I smiled, lightly amused at the enthusiastic response to the "travel itch" of the numerous elderly couples each partner overly concerned about the other's comfort as I delightfully relished hearing comments, "You sit here.",,,"Would you like a cup of coffe?"..."Is the bag heavy?" or see a bespectacled wife brush off some particles of dust or foreign elements from an equally bespectacled man's coat lapel, who unmistakably must be her husband. The endearing look as he straightens up for the wife's easy reach and the courteous "Thank you" completed the lovely tender scene. Confused whether the happenings before my very eyes were in accordance or not to what social scientists have written about married life in later years, I just savored the thought of being lavished such care and attention when my face would have become a network of wrinkles and saggy flesh.

The cycle of marriage darted through my mind as I recalled the sacred sacrament starting off with man and wife and later on to be active instruments of God's love through begetting children, only to be further enriched by the presence of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, perhaps, at a much later time. The embellishments of time and love notwithstanding, the togetherness or mavbe, the aloneness of man and wife culminates the matrimonial scenerio. The memory of the marriage pageant of which I was and still is, an ardent and exuberant dramatist gave me a light-hearted feeling of satisfaction and unrestrained pride! Such a feeling must have been occasioned by the fact, I truly and honestly believe, that I have lived fully all the days of my life..... complete with the travail and ecstasy of natural childbirth in all four counts,( a Readers' Digest article, " The Most Glorious Experience" impressed me so much); the joys and heartaches of motherhood; the sacrifices and confidence cum independence of a working mother and the well-placed pride and happiness of an international diplomat (haven't I represented the Philippines in more than fifty United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asis and the Pacific- ESCAP and Association of Southeast Asian Nations - ASEAN meetings in the field of SHIPPING) and awardee of plaques of appreciation from President Ferdinand Marcos, the Chamber of Maritime Industries of the Philippines, Chamber of International Trade and three other business organizations. The highly coveted, at least from my point of view, was the Plaque of Leadership and Comradeship from my own Overseas Shipping Staff. Added to my life experiences were the times of helplessness and sorrow of one faced with monetary needs inevitably wrapped up with life's very existence or requirements of children's education suffered in silence and in private. But then, the spectacular jubilation and earth-shaking pride of a mother's heart over her children's self-developed skills, performances and academic successes and last but not least, the fantastic ten-feet-tall feeling of someone addressed to, figuratively and literally as "globetrotter" having had the enviable opportunity of visiting todate, June 1979, twenty-eight(28) countries of the world.