In Abiding Faith (Vidal A. Tan)

Dr. Vidal A. Tan was the first Filipino dean of the UP Department of Civil Engineering. Here's a sample of his writing.

In Abiding Faith
By Vidal A. Tan

Death, be kind
make not the waiting long
the suffering unbearable
when I embrace THEE
laid in a box of unvarnished wood

Lord, teach me
to live that I might die in peace
to die that I might live forever.

Let not those who love me
grieve over my everlasting rest.

Let not my friends send
flowers whose beauty and fragrance
I shall no longer enjoy,
but tell them to remember
the mindless that languish
in their dungeon of despair.

Rid our hapless country
of rulers unworthy to lead;
teach our people to choose
good and wise men
that peace and happiness
may soon be theirs.

All these I beg of YOU:
GIVE!

I don't know when he wrote this on a sheet of paper with an R.I.P. letterhead, but that just goes to show you that engineers can write something other than technical manuals. I hope this inspires more Filipinos to take up creative writing. Use your blogs and experiment, and try not to flinch too much if the posted comments are not that flattering.

(For the curious, here's a bit of UP College of Engineering history.)

[ First posted on 10/03/2006 by Manuel Viloria ]