The Voice of Chinatown

By Sonny Go

God bless the Philippines, with its grand beauty and other melodic sets of metaphorical adjectives. Hum... Yeah... Whatever. (I must be either drunk or high.)

I live in a part of the capital, Manila, called Sta. Cruz, near Chinatown. As people can recall, that's where you can buy your fake ID and college diploma. That's also where you can either get kidnapped by some crime syndicate or get your ass hauled over by various street gangs that go by 3-letter acronyms. Also the place where you can hire a prostitute for 300 pesos (around $6) and get a dildo for 900 (around $18) from stalls set up at the sidewalks of Avenida, a recently revived shopping district. Yes, that's right. I live in a place of perverts' dreams.

I live in a condominium right across a public market called Arranque. Just around the corner is the legendary C.M. Recto Avenue people here talk about. Towards the other direction, the borderline between Sta. Cruz and Binondo, which is regarded as Chinatown. As I looked over its grand majesty through my window during one lazy afternoon, I had one thought going through my brain. Damn Catholics, who do I have to fuck with to get a damn brothel in this place?

I know what you're thinking. This teenage Chinese asshole doesn't give a damn about decency and morality. I don't know about that. Sure, sure... I do believe in God and Jesus Christ, but if you're someone who's living in an environment that encourages you to either pluck your third eye out or give up and get laid with a cheap prostitute who can show me how to grind hard, you'd think twice. Yes, I truly AM an asshole.

Ironic though. I've never had sex before. That's right. I'm still a virgin. And yes, I'm proud of it. I am a 19-year-old virgin, and I flaunt it. I am proud of being locked in my house alone, with my dick in one hand and Vaseline in the other, watching porn movies while counting sheep in my daydream filled with naked female bodies. Oh my, such imaginative artistry. Because, when you're in a daze by the time you wake up from your bed, while taking your shower, while eating your breakfast, and while walking down the street to your school or job, you tend to want to either just end it all or give yourself a break. The whole world is a migraine headache in need of an overdose of painkillers.

Let's analyze the situation. Want to know what's wrong with me? What's wrong... with ME?!? Maybe it's because I live in a place where everything is thrown in reverse and made logical with the intestines of a hamster. Maybe that's why there's something wrong with me. Maybe the materialism is getting to me. Maybe the white collar obsession is getting to me. Maybe all the ambition is getting to me. Maybe all this social disease is getting to me. Maybe all this blood rushing to my head is getting to me. Maybe that's why there's something wrong with me.

Most of the modern era is what we know now. We all know about money. We all know about mansions. We all know about gorgeous girls wearing 10-thousand dollar swimsuits. We all know about jewelry known as bling. We all know about expensive cars. We all know about politicians. We all know about movie gods. We all know about business tycoons. We all know about magazine covers. We all know about someone's name on your clothes and underwear. We all know about rock stars. We all know about tax evasion. We all know about white collar crime. We all know about guilty luxuries. We all know about commercialization of sin. We all know about graft and corruption. We all know about stealing, killing and destroying. That's what we humans all know about.

Life gets complicated most of the time because, usually, we let it become complicated. Somehow, it gets to you. But we all can learn from the wise words of the late stand-up comedian, Bill Hicks. All we need to do is understand that it is all just a ride. It's just like a roller coaster. Up, down, round and round, with thrills, chills and spills and a whole lot of turnaround. There are those good people who remind us about it. They tell us once in a while that it's all a ride. They tell us, and we... kill those people. Have you noticed that? Think about it. We believe that life is so real that we would go nuts once we hear that. We would shout out about money, families, responsibilities, burdens, problems, trials and tribulations. We would scream out that it must be all real, that it is not just some ride. Then, we would assassinate that person who told us that, either physically or psychologically. Think about it. Jesus dead, Gandhi dead, Martin Luther King dead. Hell, include Filipino icons in there. Jose Rizal dead, Ninoy Aquino dead... Hell, even journalists dead. But that doesn't really matter, because life is just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no money, none of that. It's only a choice that you can make right now between fear and love.

It is never too late to set your soul free. Once it is, let your free soul show you how to live. By that time, it won't be a question of when you will stop riding, but whom or what is going to stop you...

...either that or grab your six-dollar whore. (Better think about it though. Why would they be so damn cheap?)