Welcome to the Second Semester!

Faculty General Assembly
November 8, 2007

Fr. Joel Tabora, S.J.

The day after the Penafrancia Fiesta used to be touch and go as far as it being a non-working holiday.  This it seems was totally up to the wisdom, generosity or caprice of the University President.  In the early part of my administration, I remember being requested, or begged, to call the day off.  I did, in compassionate consideration of the stress that comes with the celebration of fiesta.  Since I recognized the fiesta fatigue would be an annual recurrence, we  institutionalized the Monday after Fiesta as a regular holiday, now President’s Day.

The Zhang Visit

For key collegiate university officials in charge of academics, formation, and student services, however, the last President’s Day was not a holiday, but an extraordinary working day.  It was the day when the school welcomed its invited guests from China, including and especially Mr. Zhang Jiuyuan, Secretary General of the  Fujian Provincial Educational Association for International Exchange, which for purposes of brevity we shall refer to simply as the “Fujian Association.”

Prior to this meeting, we had known that we wanted to go into a partnership with them.  We also had a draft of the Memo of Agreement that we had worked on jointly before this meeting.  This three-day working visit aimed at clarifying what the implementation of the MoA would entail.  Copies of the MoA are available in our webpage;  I will therefore not attempt to repeat the content of its five pages here.  Let me however sum it up in five propositions: 

First, they will send us teachers of Mandarin. 

Second, they will send us students; these students will enroll from freshman year in all our colleges, except nursing 

Third, we will send them teachers of English.

Fourth, we will send them students of Mandarin, especially conversational Mandarin. 

Finally, we will together put up a Center of Chinese studies including not only Mandarin but studies on the culture and history of China as well as on business conditions and opportunities. 

The Deans presented the academic programs open to the Chinese; Mr. Zhang presented the Fujian Association now open to the Filipinos.

His statements were enlightening.  Fujian Province services a student population of nine million.  Their inland educational system today however can only accommodate 60 percent of this group – or 5.4 million.  This means that 3.6 million students need to find their education abroad.  Of these, a large number would opt first to go to schools in countries like the United States, Germany, France, England or Japan. But many would be interested in a school like the Ateneo de Naga University – whose quality is beyond dispute, but whose cost is only slightly higher than the cost of education in China today.   This is one-fiftieth of the cost of education in the University of San Francisco and one-hundredth of the cost in Boston College University.

Important also for us to understand is that the Fujian Association is a quasi-government structure, bringing under its umbrella 76 Universities in Fujian Province (alone) and some 1000 lower than tertiary schools.  All the Presidents of the Fujian Universities, including those of Xiamen University and Fujian Normal University, are vice presidents of the Fujian Association.  We are partnering therefore with a powerful organization of schools where creative interventions in exchange are welcome.     

As a high point of the visit, the MoA was signed here in this Arrupe Converntion Center – imperfectly.  Imperfectly, because the President of the Fujian Association was not around.  I signed for the Ateneo, with Dr. Torres and Mr. Ayo witnessing.  Witnessing for the Fujian Association were Mr. Zhang and Mr. Ray Tang.  The imperfect MoA was brought to China.  Last Oct. 17, 2007, we received it back by courier now signed also by Zhuo Jiarui President of the Fujian Association.

An Agreement in Friendship

We now therefore have a legal and binding agreement that is unique to us in Bikol and among the Ateneos in the Philippines.  But we do not have merely a piece of paper.  With such as Mr. Zhang, and Mr. Tang, and Ms Nadine, we also have an agreement in friendship.  In this person-to-person environment we can now move forward; to take advantage of this situation we must move forward now.  Only we are in a position in agreement with our friends to accept students from China on the undergraduate level.

In our university, we have many concerns.  And many loves.  I think perhaps through the friends we are gifted with we may wish to develop a preferential love for China.  James Kynge, in his fascinating book entitled, China Shakes the World (Phoenix: London, 2006), says in his final chapter:  “…from a global perspective, China’s emergence is of enormous economic benefit.  The value created by the release of 400 million people from poverty, the migration of over 120 million from farms where they perhaps raised chickens to factories where they churn out electronics, the quantum leap in educational standards for tens of millions of children, the construction of a first world infrastructure, the growth of over forty cities with populations of over one million, the commercialization of housing and the vaulting progress up the technology ladder have helped unleashed one of the greatest ever surges in general prosperity.  The prime beneficiary of this has been China itself, but the mobilization of wealth on such a scale is necessarily, in aggregate terms, lifting the fortunes of the planet” (211). In 2005, the value of the commerce between China and ASEAN was $130 billion, from which our country certainly profited. Kynge however also paints a picture of its “insatiable hunger” for raw materials and technology in order to keep its massive productive machine working, its worker employed, and to create a necessary 24 million new jobs every year.  This a hunger that looks for raw materials wherever they might be found, and does not count the enemies of the US and the UK its enemies if raw materials might be secured through them.  In satisfying this hunger, China sins grievously against its own environment, proscribes its laborers from organizing for collective bargaining, refuses to move effectively against rampant industrial piracy, and at five-hundred female suicides daily, chalks up the highest female suicide rate in the world. 

We want to rejoice in the treasures and achievements of this neighboring country, and grow in our appreciation of it.  At the same time, in the context of the same preferential love, I believe we want to learn critically of its limitations, its mistakes, its pain, and its insecurity. We want to live with China not in ignorance, but with knowledge; not in fear, but with confidence; not in passivity but in proactive love.

We pray that as China increases in influence in the world, for good or for ill, this agreement be a boon to our university, to Bikol, and to our nation.

On the Practical Level

So how are things shaping up – practically?

For next academic year, they are sending us two Mandarin teachers specializing in teaching Mandarin to non-Mandarin speakers. 

They are also sending us students.  When I asked how many, Mr. Zhang said that we would start slowly; they would therefore not send us 2000 students immediately.  When I asked him what a “slow” start meant, he said about 50 students.  I am interested in your views on this.  Tentatively, I have told him that we could accommodate some 30 to 40 students next year.  But in four or five years, that may mean some 200 Chinese on campus.  My hope was to be able to integrate them with our existing dorms.  But admittedly this would take a lot of doing.  And may not be possible for all.  Meanwhile, students from China may begin arriving as early as January for intensive English lessons. 

We are still waiting for their request for English teachers.

And we still must determine who among our students might go to learn Mandarin there, and for how long.

But our immersion tour of Fujian, Guilin and Xian is being organized for April.

And our Mandarin course begins this weekend. / has begun?

The agreements that have been entered into through this MoA, I believe, are only part of a conviction, hopefully increasingly shared among members of our community, that with China shaking the world, for better of for worse, we have to grow in our knowledge of China.

One area is just on the level of language.  Mandarin is a difficult language.  Mastering its tones is essential for learning it.  I am very happy that in some courses like BMHP and BS tourism and BSBA major in management, Mandarin is now mandatory;  I am happy that in other courses like BS Computer Studies, Information Technology and Information Management, it is a recognized elective.  It is my hope that the number of our students who apply themselves to learning Mandarin increase with our recruitment of good teachers.  We work for the day when Mandarin will become part of our core curriculum, when students might choose between courses in English or in Mandarin.  We will try to encourage this with contests and games.  For this, I am hoping for the support of the Faculty.  I am truly elated by the 87 who have signified willingness to participate in the special weekend Mandarin course for faculty.  Hopefully, the experience will be fun!

But general knowledge of China must increase through our academic delivery program. I am very happy with the efforts, especially in the College of Arts and Sciences under Dean Goingo, to renovate the content of courses to include more China material in teaching Philosophy, History, Economics, Psychology, Sociology, English and Literature, Humanities and Media Studies.  For instance, in world literature courses, the Chinese experience expressed in their literature will be treated in comparison with the literatures of other peoples.  The dialogue with Chinese human experience will enrich our students’ understanding of themselves in their own culture, now and in the future.  In communications courses, the remarkable success of Chinese filmmakers in penetrating the global market by showcasing their culture and lifestyles shall now be treated.  In Philosophy the Chinese concept of the human person, of Interiority and Exteriority, of Intersubjectivity and Social Engagement, of Religion and morality shall be taken up, treating also topics such as Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Mohism and Feng Shui.  Here, comparisons between Filipino philosophies and Chinese philosophies can be drawn, inviting deeper appreciation of both.   In Political Science, as the Philippine Constitution is treated, a discussion of the Chinese Constitution will also be treated, including the political culture of China, its current government regime, structure and system, key institutions such as the Communist Party, the National People’s Congress, as well as the role of China now plays in the international community. In economics, the Chinese economy will be treated, the factors impelling its incorrigible growth, and its propects in becoming an economic power in the world.  In sociology, Chinese culture will be in focus. In world history and Philippine history, there will be a discussion of Chinese civilization and the impact of this on the globe as well as on the Philippines.  I am certain that much also can be said learned about engineering, computer science, health care and business practices in China. Much more can be done.  But we have at least begun. 

Finally, we undertake to attract interesting speakers for all on China.  The first shall be a team of Fr. Aristotle Dy, S.J., from the Confucius Institute of the Ateneo de Manila University on Saturday, November 17.

Opportunity to Strengthen the Basics

We are defining a new thrust.  It does not contradict our anti-poverty thrust in Bikol.  But it does give us important material to reflect on.  Twenty-nine years ago, China was still plagued by widespread poverty.  It is now among the economic giants of the world.  How did it do it?  And at what price?  Even in working against our poverty in this Bikol, we must understand the secret of China’s experience.

We have put in new structures in our university to promote our culture of research and to improve our index of intellectual discourse.  Much can be done with China as an object of study – in history, political science, theology, philosophy, computer science, commerce – to enhance our instruction, or to widen our critical knowledge about China, especially in its relatedness to us. 

But with our new thrust, we must strengthen our basics.  For our students who shall go to China, a way to go that would avoid their spending approximately two thousand dollars per year in local tuition fees would be to teach English in one of the thousand basic education schools of the Fujian Association.  This would free the student of fees and afford him or her with free accommodations.  Yet, with many of our students still struggling to keep subjects and predicates in agreement, and shy to use English in public, how many students could actually take advantage of this?

With the renewal of our Level III accreditation now just around the corner, we must continue to strengthen ourselves in basics.  We need clean slates in Faculty and Instruction.  Are we teaching within our academic disciplines?  Do we come to class on time?  Are our lesson plans prepared?  Is our teaching content up to date? Do we teach well?  Do we have good classroom participation?  Do we use appropriate instructional aids to enhance our teaching?  Do we innovate our teaching methods and strategies to the documented benefit of our students? Do we give our student timely feedback on their performance?  Do we actually help our students to think reflectively in our world?  Do we help them to be good Catholics, good Christians, good people? 

These basic concerns are ours not just because Big Brother PAASCU is watching.  They are ours because we define ourselves as teaching professionals at the Ateneo.  In the silence of our relationship with our God, in the calm of our self understanding, we know this to be our calling, his calling.  When we fulfill the imperatives of our calling, we are fulfilled, and worthy of happiness, even should happiness not always there.  When we fall short, we are demeaned, and every happiness, even when given, is somehow estranged from us.