Red and Blue

Oh, the case of an inverted flag.

During the meeting of Pres. Obama with the ASEAN leaders in New York, it was noticed that the Philippine flag flown upside down, meaning the red stripe was on top and the blue stripe was at the bottom.

Regulations dictate that flags are flown inverted only in times of distress or as a sign of protest. Or in time of war. Hmm.

The US Embassy has since issued an apology saying it was “an honest mistake” and the DFA spokesperson Ed Malaya said that the incident should not “detract from the true significance of the summit”.

But still. Utmost care should have been undertaken by the organizers such as checking more than once if flags to be flown during the meeting are in correct position. Had it been the other way around and the US flag was done the mistreatment, what would have happened? I can only imagine.

At yours own

Living in this place for more than two years now, I am still taken aback by the sometimes confusing signage. They do make sense, if you really think hard. Just stop and read for 10 seconds.

Spoken English here is confusing. Some people may pronounce a certain word very differently from what you’re used to. Some may use words that are on the brink of obsolescence, that you need to Google them to be enlightened.

I constantly remind myself to be on guard all the time, and not succumb to the ways of the weak. One time I had to slap myself in private just to snap out of it.