Prelate's Advice: Wed Before 35 By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO October 24, 2010, 4:55pm

Prelate's Advice: Wed Before 35
By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO
October 24, 2010, 4:55pm

MANILA, Philippines – Still single and wanting to be wed?

A senior Catholic prelate has this simple advice: Do it before you hit 35.

Retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said those wanting to get married should do it before they turn 35, saying it would be far more difficult for couples to work on their marriage if they go past that age.

“It is imprudent for old people – 35 years and above – to get married. Reason? Marriage is a blending of a couple. Old people, however, are already set in their ways of living, defined in their likes and dislikes. And above all realities, they are used to living alone!” he said in a statement.

“Too many of such marriages pitifully end up in separations, not to mention annulments,” added Cruz, head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ National Appellate Matrimonial Tribunal (CBCP-NAMT).

But getting married in teenage years, he said, is also not advisable as young people are still unprepared for something permanent such as marriage.

“The young are still volatile in their options or choices. It is either hard for them to have a lifelong happy and successful marriages. Hence, a big number of such marriages sadly fail,” Cruz said.

And since the love life of President Aquino became the focus of the media this past week, Cruz did not balk from giving his two cents worth: “At his age, the earlier he gets married, there is greater chance he has at having a successful marriage.”

That is why, Cruz agreed with Ballsy Aquino-Cruz, the Presidential sister, who appealed to the public to allow her brother to go on dates.

“I, whole heartedly, agree with the plea or request of a sister of the President to give him more time and space to meet and know women, one of whom he might actually choose as the First Lady of the Philippines,” said Cruz.

Tinuy-an Falls

Nokia mini laptop

Nokia would launch its first mini laptop named "Booklet 3G".It weighs 1.25 kilos and measure two centimeters and it will use Microsoft Operating System and have battery life up to 12 hours. Nokia will announce the price and availability of its new netbook come September 2009.

Giant Carnivorous Plant found in the Philippines

A newly discovered giant carnivorous plant in Mount Victoria, Palawan, Philippines which is large enough to catch a rat as well insects in its leafy trap., according to a story by the BBC. The botanist have named the pitcher plant after naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough, Nepenthes attenboroughii, is a member of the pitcher plant family, so-called because of it is shaped like a large pitcher plant.

According to Stewart McPherson of Red Fern Natural History Production which told BBC that "The plant is among the largest of all carnivorous plant species and produces spectacular traps as large as other species which catch not only insects, but also rodents as large as rats."

The species was first noted by a group of Christian missionaries who scale Mount Victoria in 2000 which pricked in the interest of natural history explorer tewart McPherson of Red Fern Natural History Production based in Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom and independent botanist Alastair Robinson, formerly of the University of Cambridged, United Kingdom and Andreas Fleischman of Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany.

"At around 1,600 metres above sea level, we suddenly saw one great pitcher plant then a second, then many more," Stewart McPherson told BBC.

The team has place type specimens of the new species in the herbarium of the Palawan State University and they also encountered another pitcher, Nepenthes deaniana, which had not seen in the wild for a century.

Lemon Cola as holy water in Baptism

In the town of Stord, Norway, Priest Paal Dale used leomon-flavored cola instead of water in baptism ceremony after its taps were temporarily turned off because of freezing temperatures.

Full text of the apology issued by the Publisher and Editors of HK Magazine

The publisher and editors of HK Magazine wish to apologize unreservedly for any offense that may have been caused by Chip Tsao's column dated March 27.

HK Magazine has long championed the rights of Filipinos working in Hong Kong. We note that Filipinos have often unfairly treated in Hong Kong, and that they make an important contribution to this community.

As a magazine, we would never want to say anythinh that would negate that belief.

The column in question was satirical. One aspect of satire is that it can at times be read in different ways. In this particular case, many people have read meanings into this column that were never actualy intended.

We wisg to assure our readers that we have nothing but respect for Filipinos, both living in Hong Kong and abroad.

Asia City Publishing
301 Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Road,
Hong Kong

Philippines as a Nation of Servants (Full text of "The War at Home" by Chip Taso

The Russians sank a Hong Kong freighter last month, killing the seven Chinese seamen onboard. We can live with that-—Lenin and Stalin were once the ideological mentors of all Chinese people. The Japanese planted a flag on Diàoyú Island. That's no big problem-—we Hong Kong Chinese love Japanese cartoons, Hello Kitty, and shopping in Shinjuku, let alone our round-the-clock obsession with karaoke.

But hold on-—even the Filipinos? Manila has just claimed sovereignty over the scattered rocks in the South China Sea called the Spratly Islands, complete with a blatant threat from its congress to send gunboats to the South China Sea to defend the islands from China if necessary. This is beyond reproach. The reason: There are more than 130,000 Filipina maids working as HK$3,580-a-month cheap labor in Hong Kong. As a nation of servants, you don't flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter.

As a patriotic Chinese man, the news has made my blood boil. I summoned Louisa, my domestic assistant who holds a degree in international politics from the University of Manila, hung a map on the wall, and gave her a harsh lecture. I sternly warned her that if she wants her wages increased next year, she had better tell everyone of her compatriots in Statue Square on Sunday that the entirety of the Spratly Islands belongs to China.

Grimly, I told her that if war breaks out between the Philippines and China, I would have to end her employment and send her straight home, because I would not risk the crime of treason for sponsoring an enemy of the state by paying her to wash my toilet and clean my windows 16 hours a day. With that money, she would pay taxes to her Government, and they would fund a navy to invade our motherland and deeply hurt my feelings.

Oh yes. The Government of the Philippines would certainly be wrong if they think we Chinese are prepared to swallow their insult and sit back and lose a Falkland Islands War in the Far East. They may have Barack Obama and the hawkish American military behind them, but we have a hostage in each of our homes in the Mid-Levels or higher. Some of my friends told me they have already declared a state of emergency at home. Their maids have been made to shout 'China, Madam/Sir' loudly whenever they hear the word "Spratly". They say the indoctrination is working as wonderfully as when we used to shout, "Long live Chairman Mao!" at the sight of a portrait of our Great Leader during the Cultural Revolution. I’m not sure if that's going a bit too far, at least for the time being.

Its summer and it's Hot.

Try coconut water for rehydration.