Raw egoism, materialism on display
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:57:00 08/30/2008
The Aug. 23 news feature on medical board exams topnotcher Marlon Diaz Garcia should not have been printed—not in its entirety, anyway.
I cannot say my love for country is overflowing, but as I was reading that piece on Garcia dying to just move on to America for the proverbial “greener pasture,” I could not help but get overly patriotic and really very disgusted.
Surely, his 26 years of life must have been a privileged one because obviously it takes money to get a degree in medicine. Then he was exposed to the poor, the poorest of the poor trying to get medical help. He knows the country is lagging behind in providing basic health care, he knows the sorry state of our hospitals and medical facilities, and he knows the country could use some help from doctors like him who might be willing to sacrifice a bit in the name of service to countrymen.
And then he blurts out that he can hardly wait to go to America!
Talk about raw egoism, thinking only of one’s material needs and financial security, of self-preservation and self-advancement! I agree, these are very basic human desires. However, the good doctor has had his share of financial blessings, maybe, all throughout his entire 26 years of life. Maybe, it is time he thought of sharing some of those great blessings by giving time and doing service for the less fortunate.
He doesn’t have to be Mother Teresa incarnate, and he doesn’t have to stay forever in this poor, hopeless country. He is still so young. A year or so of helping those who need medical assistance will do much more for his soul and self-fulfillment than all the millions of dollars he can accumulate in the same period. He is a far cry from that summa cum laude graduate of the University of the Philippines who opted to stay in the country to be of service to her less fortunate brothers.
Garcia should be thoroughly ashamed of himself—and so should the Inquirer—for printing such a long piece about him.
MYRNA C. BALLESTEROS (via email)
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