[thoughts] Venus Raj

From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVGgtQR02WA:

Hmmm, watching this video clip again - America apparently did not notice anything (wrong or otherwise) about her English.  It's just that she didn't answer the question.  They thought though that she didn't answer because she wanted to portray "perfection," eventually leading to zero points for her.  I think that's not really what she wanted to do.  She was probably just really nervous because she was the pre-event favorite - she somewhat had expectations to meet.  Plus, I think in Filipino English, "one big mistake" means a really, really bad thing like crime or what, and so on, and well, I think she hasn't done anything really, really bad.  So actually she was being honest.  But in that sense I guess she did not really get the question, or even get to think what is the question really about.  Like Dubya when asked the same question, she was just not prepared for that kind of question.  Didn't she have a coach for that?  Lastly, I think she wasn't really there to win it all at all costs, or no, she wasn't going way out of her way to win it.  She was there to just do the best she can, get as deep into it as possible, but certainly a win would be a really big bonus.  It showed.  And she said it herself, "thank you so much that I am here!"  I think she was successful by her own goals and standards which are unfortunately not the same standard set by many other people on her.  Hey, she was the first Filipina to place in the Top 5 since Miriam Quiambao 11 years ago.  Miriam also "stumbled" but fortunately for her, it wasn't at the final, question and answer portion.  ABC News said "Miss Mexico is now Miss Universe 2010, but we are more interested in... Miss Philippines."  I think she's actually more popular now than the winner.  ABC News also asked in the video, "why is it that smart people have such a hard time with that question?"  Like most international beauty pageant winners, she is smarter than most people.  Unfortunately she's not as smart-ass as others.  And this reflects yet again the attitude of the Filipino: if you are good enough to be in the Top 5 but not get Top 1, you're not good enough to be respected.  This is why we don't have Michael Jordans, Michael Jacksons, or Donald Trumps, because our would-be-Jordans, would-be-Jacksons, or would-be-Trumps are scared of losing the "Pinagsamahan" and the respect from their own kind, in case they fail.  If ever there were Jordans and Trumps in our midsts, we will think they are mayabang or call them names.  "Nognog," "Weirdo," or "Bokal."  When they "fail," and get back down to our level, we tell them "okay lang yan, hindi para sa iyo."  Anyways, I think, like Miriam, Venus will use this "fall" as a learning experience and certainly she has a lot more in store for her; she is still just 22.  Anyways, I hope we can be more encouraging to each other.