Mid-year resolutions

Today is June 30. Tomorrow is July 1. Happy Mid-Year! So how has your 2012 been so far? Be it an individual or a corporation, now would be a good time to step back and review the first six months as well as plan for the remaining months of the year. If 2012 were a basketball game, we would be at half time. We need to assess our strengths and weaknesses and resolve to build on the former and improve on the latter.

So if you have been achieving goals or meeting targets, now is not the time to slacken off. Use the positive momentum to finish the year strong. But if you have been falling short of objectives or not reaching budget, then you must double your efforts. Six months should be enough time to play catch up. Given the foregoing, it would seem that regardless of your performance during the first half of the year, you need to work as hard, if not harder, in the second half. This situation reminds me of Thomas Friedman’s anecdote about lions and gazelles:

“Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest Lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. So it doesn’t matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you better start running.”

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Longer lives?: Parenthetically, I have always wondered why our age is counted in terms of years made up of 365 days? Adam supposedly lived to be 930 while Noah reached 950. The oldest person is Methuselah who died at 969. I am certain the years then were not 365 days long. The succeeding Biblical patriarchs lived much less — Abraham lived to 175 while Jacob reached 147. Moses died at 120. Perhaps they computed their ages in terms of half years? If we did it that way, most of us would die in the “hundreds.” Won’t that be cool.

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Time warp: At 11:59 tonight, our horologists (i.e., time keepers) around the world will be doing what I thought was the impossible — stretch time. The last minute of June 30, 2012 will consist of 61 seconds so that astronomical time and the more accurate International Atomic Time (ATI) will not be too far apart. Apparently this will be the 25th intervention to add a “leap second” which is supposed to ensure everyone on Earth is on the exact same time. A moment when the supposed unforgiving minute is worth more than 60 seconds of distance run.

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Outstanding Fil-Ams: This week’s four centavos are given to outstanding Filipino-Americans who have recently excelled in US sports and entertainment. First, there is Miami head coach Erik Celino Spoelstra who steered the Heat to their second NBA championship in six years. Born in Evanston, Illinois but raised in Portland, Oregon, Spoelstra is the first Asian American head coach in the history of the four major American sports leagues and the first Asian American head coach to win an NBA championship. A player himself, Erik was named the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year. Apparently, one of his professional regrets is not having been able to play for a team in our Philippine Basketball Association. Erik’s mother, Elisa Celino, originally hails from San Pablo, Laguna.

The second outstanding Fil-Am is American Idol first runner-up, Jessica Bugay Sanchez. At the tender age of 16, she has consistently turned out nightingale performances. Her mother, Editha Bugay, was born in Samal, Bataan. Editha’s father, Eddie Bugay, is a retired US navy sailor. Apparently, Jessica regularly carries a rosary in her purse and prays quietly before going on stage, a habit formed because of her maternal grandmother.

Then we have Vanessa Guangco Hudgens of the High School Musical series. Aside from appearing in television and the movies, Vanessa is also a singer whose first Album, “V”, was certified Gold by Billboard 200. Her mother, Gina, is from Manila.

Fourth on my list is Allan Pineda Lindo Jr., more popularly known as apl.de.ap, a rapper who is a member of the Grammy Award-winning group “The Black Eyed Peas.” Born in Angeles City to Cristina Pineda and a US airman stationed at Clark Air Base who later abandoned his family, he was the eldest of seven siblings. Abandoned by their father, they had to subsist on meager resources. The Pearl S. Buck Foundation, an organization that matches abandoned or orphaned American children, found a sponsor in Joe Ben Hudgens (no relation to Vanessa). Allan initially visited the United States at the age of 11, for the treatment of nystagmus, a condition that leads to an involuntary movement of the eyes. He was officially adopted and permanently moved to the United States three years later.

Apl.de.ap regularly gives back to the community through his Apl Foundation. Sapang Bato National High School received 18 desktop computers while Holy Angel University was the recipient of a music library and studio which encourages students to enhance their musical talents.

Finally, I have Tim Asis Lincecum, starting pitcher of the San Francisco Giants. He was instrumental in the Giants winning the 2010 World Series. His mother, Rebecca, was born in Cebu.

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Harvard gathering: The annual general assembly of the Harvard Club of the Philippines will be held on July 10, 5 p.m. at the Manila Golf Club in Makati. Guest of honor and speaker is fellow alumnus, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile (LLM’ 55), who will be discussing the recent impeachment proceedings and other issues of national importance. Alumni from the law, business, school of government and other schools are invited to attend. To receive an invitation or obtain other particulars about the event, you may email Ms. Ingrid Semeno at [email protected]

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“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” — Oscar Wilde

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E-mail: [email protected]