NAME: Rianne Anjela R.

Sierra
COURSE & SECTION: BSY11
SUBJECT: G-SOSC001 – Mga Babasahin HInggil sa Kasaysayan ng Pilipinas
PROFERSSOR: Sir Jumel G. Estrañero

A Critique Paper Regarding the Power and Meaning of

History into the Lives of People

What is History? What can we learn from it? What is the significance of learning
and connecting it to the personal lives of people? Those are some of the questions that
the webinar that took place on the 23rd day of October, year 2021, aimed to answer. It
was a Question and Answer type of interview. Thus, it answered questions of the
participants regarding history and its impact to people’s lives, as well as tackled issues
regarding the relation of history with politics, criticisms and historical distortion. Moreover,
the said lecture was organized by the BYU or Brigham Young University Management
Society. The title of the lecture was “The Power of History in our Personal Lives”, and the
main speaker that enlightened the audience with his insightful opinions and reasoning is
no other than sir Michael Charleston “Xiao” Briones Chua. He was a known Filipino
historian and a television personality or commentator with his appearance with the news
segment called “Xiao Time” on public television station named “People’s Television
Network”.
If I am to be asked if I do have takeaways from the said lecture, the answer will be
absolutely yes. The first thing on my list of takeaways is that in history, in order to
understand more and truly learn the whole side of the stories, one must be humble
enough to say that he or she is a student, and that we must not stop thinking that we need
learn since it will really be the end of it if we put a stop on our desire to learn more. Another
is that, if an individual has a genuine desire to learn about history, everything begins with
the news or learnings about current events. This will help us open up our curiosity and
intensify our aspiration to learn about the past.
Furthermore, Professor Xiao Chua quoted one phrase in Gregorio Zaide’s book
entitled ‘World History’ that goes something along the lines of “Today’s events,
tomorrow’s history”. I also consider this line as one of the points that struck me since it
basically tells us that history really happened in the past, which if studied well, can make
our present much better, that will also lead us to a greater future.
Another fact that I learned and want to put an emphasis with is that history and
politics cannot really be separated. In history, there will always be politics. And it doesn’t
always mean a negative thing when we talked about politics. It just tells us that in history,
we cannot deny the fact that one will always have his or her own stand, opinion or
principle. We must respect each other’s stand about a certain topic in history, and just
focus our energy on gathering facts that can support or strengthen our own beliefs and
principles.
For the discussion regarding the criticisms that a historian gets when their works
and learnings become published on social media or the interne, for me, it is a shame how
some people even send threats to someone who just have the intention of sharing to the
public what they have learned about the past. Just like what I included earlier, we must
respect each other’s stand and opinions. It is much better that instead of threats, if you
want to correct or commend someone’s opinion, constructive criticism is a better way to
go. Just give suggestions and helpful feedback to others in a more civil or friendly way.
There is no need to raise more unnecessary issues about your topics.
As an addition, I can attest on the fact that the lecture entitled “The Power of History
in our Personal Lives” was really informative and insightful. Since it was a Question and
Answer type of interview, it was very engaging and really answered the concerns of the
participants. The way on how the speaker relates the topic to the modern society and
lives of people was very convincing and coherent. I also noticed how experienced and
knowledgeable sir Chua is, basing on how he shared the turning point in his life for
becoming a historian, as well as sharing some of his own experiences relating to the
questions being asked.
In conclusion, remember that history doesn’t repeat itself. It is the people that
makes them repeat, after not learning from the lessons of the past. Hence, instead of just
studying about history and not really understanding it, we must take time to take those
lessons from the past, make them an inspiration, and let that gives you an identity. Just
like what is said in the lecture, enjoy learning about history so that it can make relevance
in our daily lives. It is a privilege to go around the world without even going out from the
comforts of our homes, as well as go back in time without time machines. We can only
get those from history.