My OperaThey Paved Paradise
Friday, February 15, 2013 9:49:47 AM
Hi. My name is Rem. I live in a home on a quiet street beside a tiny rice field in Cainta, Rizal.
Ever since I was child, that tiny rice field holds a lot of childhood memories. We ran around the fields while watching the farmers harvest the rice grains. I would go there every morning to watch the sun rise slowly.
Planting season
That rice field was one of the things we loved in our place. It surrounded us in the left, back and right side of our house. In the afternoon, the cool winds would blow to our yard and help in drying our clothes. In the evening and early dawn, it served as natural cooling and ventilation.
Spectacular sunset
It was also the place where I used to go when I need to relax and unwind. Staring into a vast space of rice grains or green grass (depending on the season) and feel the breeze was a very therapeutic relief. A portion of the rice field also extends in the east side of our bedroom, providing a small but nice view of the sunrise that greets me and my brother every morning.
Early morning fog during the cooler months of the year.
In the cold season, immigrant birds would fly around the field as we enjoyed watching them with binoculars.
Birdwatching
As of late 2012 though, all of that is about change. We have only recently learned that the rice field was bought by Grand Monaco, and they are planning to convert the rice field into real estate houses.
That alone made me want to cry.
Mr. bulldozer taking away my childhood memories
Within a few months, the heavy equipment trucks and bulldozers became a common sight near our house as they rushed to pave over and build concrete walls and structures. What was once a great view of the blue skies from our dining table was disrupted by grey walls. The green ground became slowly eroded with brown and grey colors.
Gone are the green green grass of home.
The construction workers said that the land developer planned to build two-storey houses at a mere two meters apart from us. Our house is only single storey. That means, once the construction is completed, the houses will block EVERYTHING from our view, not to mention the cool breeze coming
from the field. Peace and quietness will no doubt be disrupted as more neighbors and people move in at such close distances.
The ongoing construction as of January 2013
Perhaps our most outstanding concern is that our place is very prone to flooding. Building more houses in our place would mean more floodwater will be clogged. The land developers assured us that their "engineers" have it thoroughly planned. We don't buy it. We heard that they're planning to take over the portion beside our bedroom and convert it into a drainage area to compensate for the flooding.
...
This is not a plea for the land developers to change their minds, as keeping the rice field the way it was isn't in the interest of everyone here. Rather, this is more of a lament of how one of our treasured "possessions" is slowly dying in front of us without our control. :'(
Ever since I was child, that tiny rice field holds a lot of childhood memories. We ran around the fields while watching the farmers harvest the rice grains. I would go there every morning to watch the sun rise slowly.
Planting season
That rice field was one of the things we loved in our place. It surrounded us in the left, back and right side of our house. In the afternoon, the cool winds would blow to our yard and help in drying our clothes. In the evening and early dawn, it served as natural cooling and ventilation.
Spectacular sunset
It was also the place where I used to go when I need to relax and unwind. Staring into a vast space of rice grains or green grass (depending on the season) and feel the breeze was a very therapeutic relief. A portion of the rice field also extends in the east side of our bedroom, providing a small but nice view of the sunrise that greets me and my brother every morning.
Early morning fog during the cooler months of the year.
In the cold season, immigrant birds would fly around the field as we enjoyed watching them with binoculars.
Birdwatching
As of late 2012 though, all of that is about change. We have only recently learned that the rice field was bought by Grand Monaco, and they are planning to convert the rice field into real estate houses.
That alone made me want to cry.
Mr. bulldozer taking away my childhood memories
Within a few months, the heavy equipment trucks and bulldozers became a common sight near our house as they rushed to pave over and build concrete walls and structures. What was once a great view of the blue skies from our dining table was disrupted by grey walls. The green ground became slowly eroded with brown and grey colors.
Gone are the green green grass of home.
The construction workers said that the land developer planned to build two-storey houses at a mere two meters apart from us. Our house is only single storey. That means, once the construction is completed, the houses will block EVERYTHING from our view, not to mention the cool breeze coming
from the field. Peace and quietness will no doubt be disrupted as more neighbors and people move in at such close distances.
The ongoing construction as of January 2013
Perhaps our most outstanding concern is that our place is very prone to flooding. Building more houses in our place would mean more floodwater will be clogged. The land developers assured us that their "engineers" have it thoroughly planned. We don't buy it. We heard that they're planning to take over the portion beside our bedroom and convert it into a drainage area to compensate for the flooding.
...
This is not a plea for the land developers to change their minds, as keeping the rice field the way it was isn't in the interest of everyone here. Rather, this is more of a lament of how one of our treasured "possessions" is slowly dying in front of us without our control. :'(
