Check against delivery

Thank you very much for the kind introduction, I appreciate it.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, most especially to the delegates of the Global Young Leaders Conference. My name is Renjie Butalid and I am from Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, a city that is home to one of the most famous and recognizable products in the world: the Blackberry smartphone produced by Canadian company Research In Motion. Now for my own curiosity, how many of you own a Blackberry? Well then, I actually own an Apple iPhone myself, but please don’t let that information leave this room, since I do have to go back to Waterloo after all.

It is my sincere pleasure to be with all of you here in Washington, DC this evening.

On a personal level, my presence on this stage is extremely humbling. You see, back in 2002, I was a 17-year old teenager who had just graduated from high school in the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East. That summer soon after finishing high school and before I went off to the University of Waterloo in Canada to eventually earn a degree in Economics and Political Science, I found myself here at the Global Young Leaders Conference as a delegate. At the opening keynote, we were in a room much similar to the one we are in now and I was in the audience surrounded by a group of exceptional young people from all over the world, just like all of you today. Many of the people I met back at the GYLC, I still call friends to this very day.

And just so everyone knows, when I was a delegate at the GYLC eight years ago, I was a delegate representing India. Where are the Team India delegates in the audience this evening? Namaste.

And I remember all I could think of when I sat quietly and reflected, after having traveled thousands of miles to get to this conference, which was also my first visit to the United States of America, was,

“What am I really doing here?”

“Am I really a leader?”

“I don’t even know what it takes to lead, let alone, know what it takes to be a ‘global young leader’.”

Now, if you find yourself asking these very same questions at this particular moment in time, I will let you in on a secret that has taken me a while to discover.

That it is OK to be scared and uncertain, not knowing what to expect and to not have all of the answers all the time. At times, it is ok to even question whether you have the capacity and makings of a leader. I know that I’ve certainly questioned myself in the past, especially when I was a highly involved student leader at the University of Waterloo, where at one point, I had the responsibility of overseeing a budget of over $1.2 million dollars on behalf of 24,000 undergraduate students when I was on student government. I’ve also questioned myself on numerous occasions, most recently as a community organizer involved with a number of local community events back in Waterloo. But I prevailed.

What I have learned throughout my own leadership experience is to let that feeling of self-doubt and uncertainty motivate me and I would encourage all of you to do the same; there is after all, only a very small difference between excitement and fear of uncertainty. Instead of being scared, tell yourself that you’re excited to be here and open yourself up to the possibilities that exist out there in the world. There is a reason why you are all here in Washington, DC and will be in New York City, attending this global conference on youth leadership over the next ten days. This is an opportunity of a lifetime and I really hope that you make the most of it.

The fact that you are all here this evening tells me that you all believe in yourselves, and that there are people out there who also see your leadership potential and capabilities, be they your parents, teachers, guidance counselors, friends or mentors. There is something very powerful in the notion that someone out there believes in you. It is equally as important to have this boost of confidence at such a young age and this is one of the many reasons why I am truly excited for all of you in the coming days ahead. This is only the beginning of your global leadership journey, where you ultimately begin to believe that you are a leader; it eventually becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Now, in a world where the real and pressing problems of climate change, poverty and hunger, deforestation, peace and global conflict, water and food scarcity, conservation, overpopulation, human rights, and many more; where these problems are accelerating at a pace and level of complexity never before seen in history, it is evident we require new tools and approaches that will enable us to tackle these problems at their level of scale. If ever there was a time the world needed young people to step up to the challenge, to work together and find innovative solutions in order to tackle these complex global issues, that time is NOW. And that is why, standing before you this very evening at the opening of the Global Young Leaders Conference, where all of you will have the opportunity to discuss many of these problems in greater depth and working towards solutions in the days ahead, I remain hopeful, especially as a young person, who is not much older than many of you in this room today.

For I firmly believe that young people – us – have the power and the opportunities like never before to affect positive change in this world today. At this conference, you have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world, to make new friends from countries that perhaps you never knew even existed, and to imagine a world of new possibilities as you begin to interact and work with people and organizations, especially those in positions of leadership on the world stage, such as the United Nations.

If you are willing to step up to challenge the status quo, with the firm belief that there is a better way to operate as humanity in the world today, know this, that you are joining a movement, which according to renowned environmentalist, social entrepreneur and author, Paul Hawken, describes as the largest movement the world has ever seen. In light of many of the world’s problems and challenges, this movement currently provides hope, support and meaning to billions of people all over the world. And again according to Hawken, no one really knows exactly how large this movement of tackling the most salient problems of our day, really is; all we know is that the action is taking place all over the world, in schoolrooms, farms, jungles, villages, campuses, companies, refugee camps, deserts, fisheries, and slums. I would add conferences like the Global Young Leaders Conference into the mix as well.

I would also like to throw a note of caution for the young, intrepid changemaker however. Ric Young, one of Canada’s foremost thought leaders on social innovation, has forewarned that the real work of change is long and frustratingly slow, with these moments of transformation every now and then. Profound social change is not something that happens overnight, as the mainstream media including 24-hour cable television, would have you to believe. Nor is it something that is linear or predictable. Throughout history, we have seen that transformative social change – from women’s suffrage, to moving from an agrarian to an industrialized, and now knowledge-based economy – has happened and can continue to happen in the future; all we have to do, according to Young, is tap into the latent energy that exists in society, in communities around the world. There is no question that we all live and operate in this world, and that we do have some measure of responsibility and the opportunity for having an effect in it. It is not hard to convince people who have a leadership mentality that making a contribution now to the future is a significant thing to do. It no longer becomes a question of why, but how?

Now that I’ve given you an overview of the context of the world we live in and described some of the challenges that we, as humanity, collectively face, let me now say a few words about leadership, most especially servant leadership, and how these types of leaders enable and inspire others.

To use the often-quoted saying by Marianne Williamson,

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us… Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you… We are all meant to shine, as children do. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Building on this, I now want each of you to take a moment to just think about the words “Leader” and “Leadership” based on your own experiences. What do these words mean to you?

Now that you’ve given this some thought, I would like to make the distinction between leaders and those who lead. Leaders, using the textbook definition of the word, are people or organizations that hold formal positions of power and authority. In short, these types of leaders are the ones who say, “I’m the boss and I’m in charge around here.” They also usually say, but not always, “It’s my way or the highway.”

On the other hand, those who lead, are people or organizations that do not necessarily hold any formal positions of power or authority, but are able to inspire and motivate us because they are driven by firm beliefs and convictions. We follow them not because we have to, but because we want to. We ultimately believe in what they believe and stand for, and eventually we take their cause as our own.

A great and very recent example of this was the election of Senator Barack Obama to the White House in 2008, where he was elected to became the first African-American President of the United States of America. The Obama campaign slogan of “Yes We Can”, ultimately spoke to the millions of Americans, especially young Americans, who came out in massive droves to volunteer for the campaign and to vote Obama into office. Obama’s presidential campaign at the time, spoke to the urgent need and desire for profound change in the country, and in the world. However, we do need to keep Ric Young’s warning in mind, the work of real change is long and frustratingly slow, with these moments of transformation that do not just happen overnight.

We also only need to look at the thousands of people who came out to hear Obama speak when he was out on the campaign trail, both in the United States and abroad, as an example of a leader who was able to inspire others to dare to imagine possibilities. To go back even further into history, we have the examples of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi who led movements of thousands of people, based on the causes they believed in.

Obama, Martin Luther King and Gandhi are all household names and almost always come to mind when we think of great leaders able to inspire and motivate others. But how many of you have heard of Majid Mirza? Ruby Ku? Kristina Lugo? Nick Petten? And the list goes on and on. Chances are, you probably haven’t… yet. You see, they are all friends of mine, and in some way, shape or form, they inspire me for they are all working towards creating a positive impact out there in the world, both in Canada and as far away as Pakistan, Botswana, Malawi and Thailand, in ways that fulfill their desire to challenge the status quo.

Now, take Majid for example, an introduction to the term ‘social enterprise’ a couple of years ago led him to an internship with the Acumen Fund in Pakistan last summer, to work on their Micro Drip Project where he helped farmers in rural areas grow their crops in a sustainable manner. Social enterprise in this case, refers to a practice of operating a business model that has a positive social and environmental impact, while generating monetary returns allowing it to be financially sustainable in the long run. In other words, it is a new way of doing business where the bottom line is not solely how much money can be made, but what positive impact can we have in society in the process as well.

Of course, Majid’s story is similar to Ruby’s, Kristina’s, Nick’s, and the hundreds of individuals I know that are just like them. They are ordinary young people just like you and me wanting to change the world, doing what they do and inspiring others in the process. What I am trying to say is that you don’t need to be rich and famous, a great speaker, or even have the best hair, in order to be a great leader. Of course having the best hair always helps, but it is not essential.

French writer and aviator, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, once said

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather, teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

Going back to the Barack Obama example, “Yes We Can”.

Inspired leaders – those who lead – are driven by a cause, a higher purpose or a strong belief that there is, and can be, a better way of doing things. The traditional model of leadership involves being in charge, having the position of authority and power and being served by others. In the world we live in today and the complexity of the global challenges that we face, we can no longer afford to depend on the traditional model of leadership, where one person sits at the top and makes the decisions that affect us all. The good news is, this traditional model of leadership is giving way to the evolving concept of Servant Leadership, first coined by Robert Greenleaf in his seminal 1970 essay entitled, “The Servant as a Leader”, which suggests that true leadership involves humbling yourself and serving others. Other characteristics of the servant leader include, being trustworthy, self-aware, a visionary, empowering, relational, competent, having good stewardship and being a community builder.

Again, we follow these inspired servant leaders not because we have to, but because we want to. When you talk about what you believe in, you will attract those who believe what you believe, and right then and there, you have the beginnings of a movement.

Remember, always strive to be someone who leads, inspires and serves others.

And finally, now that I’ve talked about the context of the world we live in today and shared some of my key insights on inspired servant leadership, I would like to use the last portion of my talk to discuss humility and self-identity within the context of leadership.

Paul Saltzman, photographer for The Beatles and award-winning film director, has said that the concept of humility is “not about making yourself feel small but rather, understanding your size in the vastness of the universe”. To me, this speaks volumes in understanding how you see yourself in this world, let alone the universe, as well as to the concept of true leadership requiring humility and the capacity to serve others.

In the opening of my talk, I mentioned that I was from Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, simply because I have lived, studied and worked there for the past eight years, and it is as much a part of me as my cultural heritage and background. In many ways, the story is a lot more complicated, as beyond simply “coming from Waterloo in Canada,” I do consider myself to be a global citizen given my background and history.

I was born in the Philippines to middle-class, hard-working Filipino parents, who decided to move to the United Arab Emirates when I was five years old, in search of new beginnings and a better life for our family. Growing up in the United Arab Emirates until I was seventeen, I was always unsure of my identity and where my place was in this world given that I was living in a foreign country. Was I Filipino who just happened to have lived-Middle Eastern experiences? Or was I Middle Eastern with a Filipino background? Two years ago, I became a Canadian citizen, so you can imagine the thoughts that were going through my head when I thought about my identity and where my place was in this world.

Now I tell this personal story of my background and my search for identity because I believe that it is important to know who you are as an individual and where you have come from, in order to begin to understand where your place is in this world and where you are headed in the future. Of course, this is a journey with an unknown destination, and going back to early on in my speech, it is ok to not have all the answers all of the time. I’m still not too sure where I am headed in the future, but all I know is that I am headed in the right direction and I am excited for it. Being with all of you here this evening in Washington, DC is certainly a clear indication of that to me.

To go back to what I believe in, I firmly believe that young people – us – in this day and age, do have the power and the opportunities like never before to affect positive change in this world. And if those opportunities somehow don’t exist, there is nothing stopping you from creating them. As humanity, we are more connected today than we have ever been in the past; we literally have the world at our fingertips. How many people here have Blackberrys and iPhones again?

I also only have to look at my friends Majid and others, as concrete examples of young people affecting positive change in their communities, to be convinced that there are better ways of doing things – from creating effective government policy and better business practices that generate not only financial, but also social and environmental returns, to ensuring education, healthcare, food and clean drinking water is available to everyone, most especially the world’s poor, the 1-2 billion people living on less than $2 a day.

As GYLC delegates who are about to embark on a shared journey together, embrace this opportunity of a lifetime, dream big and strongly believe that you CAN make a difference in this world.

In the words of William Shakespeare,

“Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them”

I wish you all the very best of luck. Thank you for having me. It has been a pleasure to be here this evening and I look forward to your questions.

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Clay and his partner of 20 years, Harold, lived in California. Clay and Harold made diligent efforts to protect their legal rights, and had their legal paperwork in place—wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives, all naming each other. Harold was 88 years old and in frail medical condition, but still living at home with Clay, 77, who was in good health.

One evening, Harold fell down the front steps of their home and was taken to the hospital. Based on their medical directives alone, Clay should have been consulted in Harold’s care from the first moment. Tragically, county and health care workers instead refused to allow Clay to see Harold in the hospital. The county then ultimately went one step further by isolating the couple from each other, placing the men in separate nursing homes. Ignoring Clay’s significant role in Harold’s life, the county continued to treat Harold like he had no family and went to court seeking the power to make financial decisions on his behalf. Outrageously, the county represented to the judge that Clay was merely Harold’s “roommate.” The court denied their efforts, but did grant the county limited access to one of Harold’s bank accounts to pay for his care.

What happened next is even more chilling: without authority, without determining the value of Clay and Harold’s possessions accumulated over the course of their 20 years together or making any effort to determine which items belonged to whom, the county took everything Harold and Clay owned and auctioned off all of their belongings. Adding further insult to grave injury, the county removed Clay from his home and confined him to a nursing home against his will. The county workers then terminated Clay and Harold’s lease and surrendered the home they had shared for many years to the landlord.

Three months after he was hospitalized, Harold died in the nursing home. Because of the county’s actions, Clay missed the final months he should have had with his partner of 20 years. Compounding this tragedy, Clay has literally nothing left of the home he had shared with Harold or the life he was living up until the day that Harold fell, because he has been unable to recover any of his property.

With the help of a dedicated and persistent court-appointed attorney, Anne Dennis of Santa Rosa, Clay was finally released from the nursing home. Ms. Dennis, along with Stephen O’Neill and Margaret Flynn of Tarkington, O’Neill, Barrack & Chong, now represent Clay in a lawsuit against the county, the auction company, and the nursing home, with technical assistance from NCLR. A trial date has been set for July 16, 2010 in the Superior Court for the County of Sonoma.

If say for example, Monika and I had been living in the United States in the early part of the 20th century, based on our race (i.e. Filipino and German-Portuguese), our relationship would have been looked down upon and in some cases, we may have even been thrown in jail if we decided to get married.

Anti-miscegenetion laws, otherwise known as miscegenation laws, were laws that prohibited interracial marriage. From the 19th century into the 1950s, most US states enforced anti-miscegenation laws. In 1967, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in the landmark case Loving v. Virginia that anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional, overturning Pace v. Alabama (1883) and ending all race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States.

Im happy that society has progressed to the point where interracial marriages are no longer an issue (generally speaking). In fact, in Canada, interracial marriages are on the rise especially as the number of visible minorities in Canada continues to climb where it is expected that an increasing number of them will marry outside their ethnic group. This comes as no surprise to me as I know a lot of mixed-race couples who have plans on getting married, having kids and raising a family even though they come from seemingly different backgrounds (in terms of race, culture, religion, etc).

It seems that Monika’s baby nephew, Nikolas aka “Tumbles“, is indicative of the emerging face of Canada/US (and perhaps other parts of the world), being of mixed Chinese-German-Portuguese heritage, but still 100% Canadian.

Back to the case at hand, it seems that society has not progressed far enough when two people who have spent a long time together, are forcibly kept apart by government strictly on the basis of their sexual orientation and with whom they choose to spend their life with. Everyone has the right to love and be happy with whomever they want, whether it is with a member of the opposite or the same sex.

I hope that Clay gets the justice that him and his partner Harold deserves, and that we finally recognize and place the same emphasis on gay relationships and unions just as we do with heterosexual relationships.

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Renjie Butalid’s obsessed with change. Not the monetary type, but with the sort that launches movements, spurs creativity, tests organizations and attracts followers.

He’s the Communications Co-ordinator of Social Innovation Generation, a Waterloo-based collaborative partnership between The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, the University of Waterloo, the MaRS Discovery District, and the PLAN Institute. He has also been featured as a speaker at Ignite Waterloo, and was the Lead Co-ordinator for the team that put together the TEDxWaterloo conference last month.

I recently treated Renjie to his very own personalized speaking session, which featured my 7-question barrage.

You were a member of the TEDxWaterloo organizing committee, and were recently featured as a speaker at the Ignite Waterloo conference that took place last Wednesday. How did you make the wide transition from Waterloo student to “socialpreneur” in such a short amount of time?

Transitioning from university student life to working full-time was an interesting experience to say the least. In many respects, helping to organize events such as TEDxWaterloo and Ignite Waterloo in the local Kitchener-Waterloo community was very similar to the many student-run events and initiatives that I was involved with while at the University of Waterloo. This time however, these events (TEDx, Ignite) were done on a much larger scale and had the capacity to impact and connect a lot more people within the broader KW community. At the end of the day, its all about being passionate about what you do, and having fun while you’re doing it.

Could you name perhaps one or two key events in your life so far that has led you to where you are now?

A key turning point in my life happened when I was selected to attend the Global Young Leaders Conference (GYLC) in Washington DC and New York City right after I graduated from high school in the United Arab Emirates in 2002. The GYLC is a leadership development program held every year organized by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council, that brings together young people from around the world to build critical leadership skills in a global context.

In order to understand why this is a key turning point for me, it is important to know that I was born in the Philippines to Filipino parents, raised in the UAE since the age of 5, and only came to Canada for university once I graduated from high school. Given all of this, the GYLC helped to solidify part of my identity as a global citizen, as well as helped to provide me with the necessary confidence and foundational leadership skills at an early age (I was 17 when I attended the GYLC) that has led me to where I am today.

As a Waterloo student, where do you see the University of Waterloo going in the next few years in terms of social change and social leadership? Where do you see the Kitchener-Waterloo region going in the next few years?

Along with the rapid pace of development found within the Region of Waterloo, the University of Waterloo is certainly positioning itself to become a global leader in social innovation and social change. Examples include the recent launch of the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED) within the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo, with the goal of integrating knowledge on environmental sustainability, business management and economic development.

Another example is the early stage development of the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation (WICI) being spearheaded by Thomas Homer-Dixon of the Balsillie School of International Affairs and Frances Westley of Social Innovation Generation, to help facilitate the trans-disciplinary, collaborative research focused on innovation and resilience within complex adaptive systems. These are just two examples of many coming out of the University of Waterloo that I am sure will help to define UW as well as the Region of Waterloo in the years to come.

Do you have any advice to share with current university students who harbour ambitions of being the social leaders of tomorrow?

For university students who are very interested in the (broad) emerging field of social change, I would highly encourage you to learn as much as you can about the issues that you are passionate about. Read everything you can about the subject matter at hand in books, magazines, blogs, websites, etc. I would also encourage you to reach out to mentors and thought leaders within your own personal network (e.g. professors, community leaders) as well as people/organizations who are on Twitter and are engaged in the space that you are interested in. By reaching out, you are allowing people to help move your thinking along by constantly having your assumptions challenged and therefore, giving you permission to refine your ideas. That, and you never know what opportunities might come your way by putting yourself out there. Also, I firmly believe that you learn by doing, so if you are just starting out, I would encourage you to get involved in whatever way you can.

What do you plan to conquer next on your horizon?

I am planning a trip within the next year or so to the Philippines, with the specific intent of traveling around the country as a photojournalist/blogger for two/three months, illuminating compelling stories of people affective positive change in their local community set within the context of a developing country. The last time I went to visit the country was way back in 2004, a trip back to the Philippines is clearly overdue. This journey for me is driven by a burning desire to learn more about my cultural heritage and history, so if anyone is interested in coming along for the journey, or even interested in working together as a partner of any sort, I would definitely be open to a discussion and sharing of ideas.

I can’t help but throw in a classic interview question, but where do you see yourself in the next 3-5 years? 10 years might I ask?

I see myself continuing to work in the emerging field of social entrepreneurship and social change, having a much deeper understanding of how broad transformational change happens on the ground within a complex system. I also recently obtained my open water scuba diving license, so in 3-5 years, I’m hoping to have a lot more scuba diving experience under my belt. I may even venture into the world of underwater photography.

If you could name one thing that coaxes you to wake up on a daily basis, gives you your drive throughout the day and makes you passionate enough to view sleep as an unwelcome interruption, what would it be?

I continue to imagine what the world will be like twenty years from now when children that were born in the past five years, have all grown up into young adults similar in age to myself and my peers today. Knowing that I have the capacity and the opportunities to help create a better future with the decisions I make today, drives me. Working with others who share this drive and having fun while doing so, is an added bonus and I consider myself to be an extremely lucky person in this regard.

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See and download the full gallery on posterous

The question of what it means to be Canadian has always been intriguing to me, given my background as a person born in the Philippines to Filipino parents, raised in the UAE from the age of five to high school graduation at seventeen, and who decided to come to Canada by myself (with the financial help of parents of course) on the basis that tuition fees for international students was much cheaper in Canada compared to the United States.

That was a number of years ago, and I am glad to have obtained my Canadian citizenship earlier this year. Early in our relationship, I used to tell Monika that the only reason I was dating her was to expedite the process of getting my Canadian papers. Jokingly of course.

It certainly makes a difference having a Canadian passport especially when traveling. Even more so when going across the border into the US. I remember having to wait hours at the border to get my fingerprints taken and eyes scanned, simply by virtue of traveling on a Filipino passport and a 10 year multiple-entry US visa. When traveling elsewhere, the reaction has almost always been positive when I mention that I am from Canada.

Copenhagen 2009

That is why when it comes to the issue of the environment, it saddens me to see that Canada is now to climate change, what Japan is to whaling

WIth the Copenhagen talks set to take place next week, the impression that the current Canadian government will do everything in its power to wreck the talks reflects very poorly on Canadians, especially since this is incongruent with the movement building and gaining momentum in Canada right now, especially among young people.

Although the minority Harper government has used stalling tactics to delay a vote on Bill C-311 (Climate Change Accountability Act), an act to ensure Canada assumes its responsibilities in preventing dangerous climate change, parliament passed a motion last week that was supported by all three opposition parties, that Canada adopt the first target from the delayed Bill C-311 as its position in Copenhagen.

That, in the opinion of the House, Canada should commit to propose at the Copenhagen conference on climate change

1. reducing, through absolute reduction targets, greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized countries to 25% lower than 1990 levels, by 2020;
2. the necessity of limiting the rise in global temperatures to less than 2oC higher than in the preindustrial era; and
3. supporting the developing countries in their efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and adapt to climate change.

Unlike Bill C-311, this motion is not legally binding. However, this does send a powerful message to other countries and world leaders involved with the Copenhagen talks, that the current Canadian government’s position on climate change does not represent the majority view of the Canadian people.

To end on a lighter note, below is an email forward that I received from a friend this morning, that helped to spark this blog post, along with the accompanying photos taken in various Canadian cities over the years, that I feel helps to capture the diversity of the Canadian landscape (or at least the places in Canada that I have visited). I am also looking forward to attending the Guelph Lecture on Being Canadian next week, featuring John Ralston Saul, considered to be one of Canada’s foremost political and economic thinkers. This lecture will certainly help to put what it means to be Canadian into perspective.

An Australian’s Definition of a Canadian

You probably missed it in the local news, but there was a report that someone in Pakistan had advertised in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed a Canadian – any Canadian.

An Australian dentist wrote the following editorial to help define what a Canadian is, so they would know one when they found one:

“A Canadian can be English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. A Canadian can be Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Arab, Pakistani or Afghan.

A Canadian may also be a Cree, Métis, Mohawk, Blackfoot, Sioux, or one of the many other tribes known as native Canadians.

A Canadian’s religious beliefs range from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu or none. In fact, there are more Muslims in Canada than in Afghanistan. The key difference is that in Canada they are free to worship as each of them chooses. Whether they have a religion or no religion, each Canadian ultimately answers only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

A Canadian lives in one of the most prosperous lands in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which recognize the right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

A Canadian is generous and Canadians have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.

Canadians welcome the best of everything: the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services and the best minds. But they also welcome the least – the oppressed, the outcast and the rejected.

These are the people who built Canada .

You can try to kill a Canadian if you must as other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world have tried, but in doing so you could just be killing a relative or a neighbor. This is because Canadians are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, can be a Canadian.”

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In light Efren Peñaflorida’s CNN Hero of the Year win, I wanted to share one of my favorite Def Poetry Jam videos, Taylor Mali showcasing that teachers do make a difference in the lives of their students.

That being said, there are so many teachers from elementary, high school through to university, that have made me the person I am today, and I would like to thank each and every one of them. Of course, there are also numerous friends and family members that have taught me a thing or two about life, and I would not be the person I am today without them as well. Thank you.

Video(s) after the jump.

And since it is a Friday after all, I figured that I would include some of my favorite Def Poetry Jam videos as well. See below and enjoy!

Gemineye: Penny for your thoughts

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Efren Peñaflorida of the Philippines was named CNN Hero of the Year 2009 last night, at a gala event taped before an audience of 3,000 people at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

In his acceptance speech, Peñaflorida acknowledged the work that his co-volunteers put into the Dynamic Teen Company, an organization that provides Filipino youth in slum areas an alternative to gang membership, through education programs. Peñaflorida will receive a $100,000 grant to continue his work with the Dynamic Teen Company.

“Serve, serve well, serve others above yourself and be happy to serve. As I always tell to my co-volunteers … you are the change that you dream, as I am the change that I dream, and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be. Mabuhay.”

Sincere congratulations to Peñaflorida, as well as to everyone who made it to the CNN Heroes top 10 from an initial pool of more than 9,000 viewer nominations.

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To provide some context, Monika and I are working towards getting our SSI Open Water Scuba Diving certification, and this weekend, we’re doing our mandatory open water dives out in Lake Simcoe, our last step towards becoming fully licensed to scuba dive.

Although I am keenly interested in the social innovation process and how transformative social change happens, when it comes to the environment, I do care, but I would not say that I am absolutely passionate it… until now that is. I joke that after having spent some time in British Columbia visiting my family this summer, I may have turned into an avid environmentalist overnight. When you’re out in BC, you can’t help but become an advocate for the environment. Everywhere you turn, you are surrounded by mountains, trees, and lakes, absolutely breathtaking.

My friend Kristina Lugo, had a brilliant guest post over at Justice for All by Akhila Kolisetty a couple of weeks ago, and she has some great insight on how to get people to care about a social issue, or any social issue for that matter:

And on that note, with a sudden interest in diving and given some of the photos below, I now have much more of an interest in preserving not only our environment on land, but in the water as well.  A little self-serving perhaps, but in the end, I believe to really get people to care or even be inspired to take on an issue, it really needs to be brought down to the personal level.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

(above diving photos courtesy of Jobelle Nepomuceno, taken in the Philippines)

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(The above photos are courtesy of my friend Dyan Pascual, Boston: The Big Picture, Flickr, BBC and the Definitely Filipino group on Facebook)

I came across the first picture in the above photo gallery a couple of weeks ago when my friend Dyan Pascual in the Philippines posted it on Facebook in the direct aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana (also known as Ondoy in the Philippines). And since then, I have not been able to stop thinking about what happened to the little boy attempting to float in a bucket in the flooded waters.

In case you missed it, the Philippines was hit by Typhoon Ketsana towards the end of September, and no sooner had the rains cleared leaving a warpath of large flooded areas, destroyed homes, thousands stranded, hundreds dead and millions of dollars worth of damage, did Typhoon Parma make its way to the Philippines shortly thereafter. Entire villages were flooded triggering deadly landslides, the worst it has ever been in the Philippines in over forty years. In total, over 600 people have been killed and according to government officials, an estimated 300,000 people remain displaced or in shelters. It seems that in the weeks following the floods, fears of water-borne diseases are growing due to the stagnant, rancid and infested water left behind.

The use of social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and Youtube played a big role in keeping communication lines open, as communication by telephone was rendered impossible due to the floods. Google has set up a resource page for the victims of Typhoon Ketsana, and students from Ateneo de Manila University have set up a Wiki allowing people to post information on missing persons as well. Suffice to say, social media has played a critical role in documenting the impact and extent of the floods and landslides, as well as helping to rally people together to help their fellow countrymen affected by Mother Nature’s fury.

It seems that parts of Asia and the South Pacific were not spared either, as an earthquake rocked Indonesia around the same time period, a tsunami devastated American Samoa, and southern India saw the worst rain and floods in more than a century.

A return to the Philippines. But what would it take?

There is a reason why I decided to write a blog post on the state of calamity in the Philippines. A part of it has to do with the sympathy vote. Of course, if you are moved and are able, please feel free to donate both online as well as in-kind using the resources page listed on Google.

However, a larger part of it has to do with my wrestling with the notion of returning to the Philippines. With the advent of Typhoons Ketsana and Parma in recent weeks, I am beginning to seriously consider taking the leap and moving to the Philippines within the next year or so. And yet, the sticking point always revolves around the notion of impact, and what “good” can I really do for the Philippines when I am there?

I have friends who upon graduating from university in Canada as recently as this past year, decided to move to Hong Kong or mainland China to live and work, as a result of lower costs of living, a surging economy and to pursue opportunities that were simply not found in North America. And many of them were of Chinese descent as well.

Given all of this, the one question that comes to mind when put into context is,

“What would it take for young Filipino graduates/professionals who grew up and studied abroad, to go back to the Philippines to contribute to ensuring a robust economy and a resilient society?”

It certainly may be a lack of perceived opportunities in the country. However, there is the example of Filipino social entrepreneur, Efren Penaflorida, recently recognized by CNN Heroes for his work with Dynamic Teen Company in providing Filipino youth in slum areas an alternative to gang membership through education programs, that has convinced me that there is no shortage of opportunities in the country to make a difference.

On a side note, please take a moment to vote for Efren Penaflorida for the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year

But is making a difference enough? What about the practical and financial aspects of moving to the Philippines?

Sadly, I don’t have the answers to the questions posed above just yet. However, I have always imagined what it would be like if my fellow (young) Filipino peers, who lived, grew up and studied abroad as a result of the Filipino Diaspora, and are now young professionals in a wide range of sectors and industries, returned in massive numbers to the country of our parents’ homeland.I know that this is not as simple as it may seem, given the economics of the situation as outlined by Bong Amora in his brilliant blog post on the Filipino Diaspora (the blog post is a bit dated, but still brilliant nonetheless)

I know that there has to be a solution.

Returning to the Philippines.

What would it take? Hmm…

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims affected by the natural disasters, not only in the Philippines, but across Asia and the south pacific as well.

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Former President Ramos is currently in Calgary for the next couple of days to raise money and showcase his support for Gawad Kalinga, representing his foundation, the Ramos Peace and Development Foundation. From their website:

The Ramos Peace and Development Foundation, Inc. (RPDEV) serves as a catalyst of constructive change, a medium for fostering unity, stability and progress and a force for mutual understanding.

Our aim is to contribute in bringing about the “good life” for democratic societies through a culture of excellence and global competitiveness.

I am so glad to see that President Ramos has been active in his post-presidency years, and for a person who is currently 81 years old, he still retains, a great spirit of youth and energy, even mentioning at one point in the evening that it is not about how old you are, but how young you feel.

In any case, the political junkie in me was really excited to meet him. Ramos was president of the Philippines as I was growing up (I was too young to remember the people power revolution that overthrew the Marcos regime, and saw President Cory Aquino as the first woman president of the Philippines). For those of you who don’t know, the current president of the Philippines is also a woman, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Ramos’ keynote speech at dinner was one that focused on Pinoy pride. Speaking mainly in Tagalog, he talked a lot about being proud of who you are, whether you are Filipino, Canadian or even Filipino-Canadian. I never knew this, but Ramos also highlighted the meaning of the Filipino word “Mabuhay“, with its significance stemming from “may buhay” or in English, “there is life”.

Ramos also acknowledged and extended warm wishes to Canadians on the occasion of Canada Day. Speaking on this topic, Ramos talked about Philippine Independence Day as well, asking the audience when Philippine Independence Day was - with the answer being June 12, 1898 (though not without relevance to Philippine history as noted in this Wikipedia article). Unlike Canada or the United States where independence day celebrations always take place on July 1 and July 4 respectively, Ramos mentioned that lately, Malacañang Palace has misplaced priorities (and has taken them to task) where instead of keeping to tradition and declaring June 12 as a national holiday every year, they declare a national holiday for independence day the Friday on, or around June 12. In other words, independence day in the Philippines is technically on June 12, but if it happens to fall on a Thursday, then the following Friday is declared a national holiday in order to make way for the long weekend.

Ramos’ point is that you can play with dates with regards to other Philippine national holidays, but when it comes to Philippine Independence Day, it should always be on June 12 to uphold respect for the country, the flag and for those who died in its name.
I am so proud to be Filipino AND Canadian.

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