Rich Man, Poor Man?

By Frank A Hilario, guest blogger

In the background: That’s the boat coming in from Wonder Island as it nears the wharf; in a little while, it will be ready to ferry passengers to that little island in the middle of that big lake.

In the foreground: That’s a man trying to reach for his snack? bait? even as he has his hook, line and sinker in the water near the side of the wharf waiting for a fish to bite.

The wharf has been built by the man who owns Wonder Island. Because he wanted to help his people in the City of Calamba enjoy themselves as well as do something productive like fishing. And that's only a little part of the story of the Island Father (read Lourdes Jiz de Ortega's article 'Island Father' in the Manila Bulletin of 2000 June 18).

This one looks like a photograph badly composed. In this one picture, there seems to be two different stories, right? Right. And they are not related to each other, right? Right.

And wrong. In fact, the story is the same, and I want to call it The Waiting Game. Both the boat and the fisherman are waiting for something to happen. The boat is here, hoping for some passengers to arrive; the fisherman is here, hoping for some fish to bite.

There are always passengers who come; there are always fish who bite. But: Suppose no island visitors come today? It's okay - Wonder Island is always there, waiting. Suppose no fish bites today? It’s okay, if I were the fisherman. I would have enjoyed the very act of fishing on a wharf overlooking an island in the middle of a lake, with mountains all around me. The owner of Wonder Island is rich. The fisherman is rich -just enjoying Mother Nature makes one so rich.