It's the Miss Universe beauty pageant season once again, and my Twitter and Facebook feeds would on occasion be bombarded by posts telling everyone to vote for the Philippine representative to this contest (Shamcey Supsup) online. I know this is not necessarily a bad thing, but asking everyone to KEEP voting everyday, every hour, or even every minute? That's just plain ridiculous! The online polls were set-up to give the people around the world a chance to let their voices be heard on who they think deserves to win. The people behind this pageant created the online polls with the impression that people would actually vote only once. People log-on to the website, vote for their favorite, and that's pretty much it. Clearly though, the event organizers have not met a typical Pinoy frantic voter.
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| "Pipolz! Let's support Shamcey Supsusp! Please vote for her! Keep voting!" |
It's always the same thing for contests like these--be it an international one or a barangay-level one. I'm sure you have been asked at least once to "like" a page on Facebook then "like" a photo because the photo with the most number of "likes" would win--I know I have, and many times at that. It doesn't matter if the contest entry is a really crappy one and that there are others who really do deserve to win--for as long as you get as many "likes" as possible, then you're good to go.This whole "voting frenzy" for the Miss Universe pageant also reminds me of a similar campaign for the "New 7 Wonders" thing--I mean, so what if the Palawan Underground River doesn't make it to the top 7? What if the voters from other countries didn't really think it was deserving enough to win? What if there really are other natural sites in other places more majestic, more beautiful, and more deserving than that Underground River in Palawan? I'm not saying that this Underground River isn't beautiful (from what I have heard from people who have been there, it is in fact an interesting place to visit); I'm just saying that the winners of these contests ought to be the ones who really do deserve to win because of their merits, and not because they have an entire voting-crazy nation to back them up.
Are we Filipinos really desperate attention seekers? Are we really so kulang sa pansin? Do we really need to spend so much time voting on these online polls or waste time asking everyone on Facebook or Twitter to keep voting just so a Filipino would gain worldwide recognition for something that more than half of the global population wouldn't really give a damn about? Don't we have other things to worry about? Don't we have to do well in school, graduate, get a nice job, and have a decent life? Don't we also have an entire country to fix? So what if Shamcey Supsup doesn't win this contest? So what if the Underground River doesn't become one of the New 7 Wonders? Is it really the end of the world? Pull yourselves together, people, and enough of this "Pinoy pride" nonsense! Be proud of yourselves when we have truly accomplished something collectively as a nation (such as bringing this country to progress), and not because of an individual's own accomplishment! Taking credit for another person's accomplishment is stealing.
The Miss Universe pageant tomorrow is just probably a two-hour program. After the program, now what? Would it really matter if Shamcey Supsup would win or lose? Our country's still going to be a mess either way--not unless, of course, we start acting NOW. I don't know about you readers, but I think taking action NOW would seem to be a better option--going about our regular lives and actually being productive and helping the country actually seems like a great idea compared to just bumming around and sulking when Ms. Philippines doesn't win tomorrow (or celebrating if she does). What'll be your next move? Take your pick--but pick once; time is precious.
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