Sunday, May 12, 2019

We Vote For...



What motivates you? If we get a closer look at the motivators of people, we could sum up to three: money, power and fame. So often, society conditions us to believe that success is about accumulating as much wealth, power, and fame as possible.

So, when one gets interested on a certain thing (like politics), this might be the potent question: What drives him or her? Social scientists often anchor such discourse on Maslow’s theory: the hierarchy of needs. When a certain need is unsatisfied, the person dwells on it.

MONEY. Whatever people lust for, that’s what they seek. A lust for money is greed (foxbusiness.com, 2013). Deprivation of the basic needs like food, clothing and even shelter causes people to lust for money. This is the reason why others resort to illegal trade since they do not want to be hungry or “unsecured” any time. Some people invest on political positions because of wealth. They see government seats as opportunities to become wealthier. And the voters could be bought as well since there are those who lust for money. Any amount could make them fill-in a certain need…to eat or drink, probably.

POWER. It is a neutral tool-one that can be used for good or ill. Power represents your ability to get things done though other people-the more power you have, the more things you can do. Accordingly, there’s nothing morally wrong with consciously seeking to increase your Power, provided you do so while respecting the rights of other people (Kaufman, 2017). 

But what if the one who sought for leadership was deprived of functioning according to his will due to overly strict parents or a domineering wife and circle of friends? Is s/he making this as an opportunity to satisfy an unmet need?

The majority will also feel that the election is the time to allow them to experience power. During the campaign period, politicians will kiss their asses for the votes! People demand. They play their roles in making the politicians become ordinary ones just like them. They make them dance and sing. They take pride when the politicians eat with them or be with their “poor”. They are in power even fleetingly.

FAME. There is a difference between becoming famous because you happen to do something noteworthy that deserves recognition and becoming famous because you actively and desperately seek out fame. If you grew up feeling ignored, neglected, or otherwise unacknowledged, the appeal of fame can be intoxicating. We all need a healthy dose of attention to help mold us into healthy adults, but some don't get that. As a result, they could seek attention from the public that they never received growing up as a form of self-validation.

The definition of success varies depending on who you talk to. Some people equate success with fame, when that isn't necessarily correct. A healthier way to define success is to feel happy and accomplished in what you do and who you are. As people equate success with fame, they also tend to attach their assessment of their own self-worth to public image (Markarian, 2016).

What if the leaders only feed on the thought of being “recognized” than to serve?

As adults, we need to understand how to evaluate our actions based on our needs. This is important since it is also a need for us to become actualized: to reach that level when we now understand and “in control” with our actions based on our motives. We must see the extrinsic and intrinsic motivators so to become better versions of ourselves.

Extrinsic motivation occurs when we are motivated to perform a behavior or engage in an activity to earn a reward or avoid punishment. In this case, you engage in a behavior not because you enjoy it or because you find it satisfying, but in order to get something in return or avoid something unpleasant. While intrinsic motivation involves engaging in a behavior because it is personally rewarding; essentially, performing an activity for its own sake rather than the desire for some external reward. Essentially, the behavior itself is its own reward (Cherry, 2018).

With the election of local and national leaders, we could use this as a gauge in dealing with those who are asking for our votes. We need to see whether they are motivated extrinsically or in an intrinsic manner. By doing so, we could be assured that we are not electing people who are still nursing on their unmet desires and needs.

Corruption, oppression and “epal” are by-products of unmet needs.

(Side note: This is the main reason why education, guiding the children and religious anchorage are good advocacies since we nurture the spirit of the young. Adults sometimes are “made”. They only choose what to learn. Mental health could be addressed as well when we start with nurturing the young. Gaps and deficits are confronted when the people are still able to cope. We have lots of adults who have cringing children inside of them. )

Friday, May 10, 2019

Objects



Lami amo da keyk! This could be overheard among male bystanders as they ogle on a beautiful woman who passes by. There are members of the gay community as well who would exchange antics on the “size” of their catch. Most of the time, they linger on the skin, face value and size… They are objectifying people.

At any given moment, according to a recent United Nations report, there are approximately 20 million human beings, women, girls, men, and boys, being retained in sexual oppression—sexual exploitation, sexual slavery, and pornography— against their will (Carter, 2017).

The objectification theory (Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997) posits that women often are looked at as objects by society, with a sexual focus being placed on their bodies rather than on their abilities. The ubiquity of these objectification experiences socializes women to internalize an observer perspective upon their body. This process is called self-objectification and occurs when women think about and treat themselves as objects to be regarded and evaluated based upon appearance (Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997; McKinley, 2011).

Although objectification is more directed to women, the concept is now being considered to men and boys as well. We see foreign and local actors investing on their body-sculpting and skin treatments for them to be more “presentable”.

It was mentioned in theconversation.com that if we only think in terms of the first form of objectification, and the consumption of “eye candy”, we are likely to conclude that the sexual objectification of men is a relatively trivial matter. Prevailing physical, political and economic power inequalities are such that in practice a man’s agency is much less likely than a woman’s to be overridden. Consequently, the objectification of men is much less likely to result in sexual violence. To this extent, a double standard might be thought tolerable.

However, in relation to the second form of objectification – where damaging norms and stereotypes are promoted and internalized – it’s difficult to defend the double standard. There seems to be no good reason to think that men are any less suggestible and compliant than women are when it comes to “normalizing” media representations. Young and impressionable men in particular may be as biddable and eager to play along as their female counterparts (Lucas, 2018).

There are those people who collect pornographic materials and their main focus are the parts of the bodies of people. They do not consider that these persons have feelings; that they have spirits and their importance is JUST on that certain part of their bodies!

Objectification and dehumanization represent motivational conundrums because they are phenomena in which people are seen in ways that are fundamentally inaccurate; seeing people as objects, as animals, or not as people. People may be perceived as lacking uniquely human characteristics, and thus likened to animals, or as lacking human nature, and thus likened to inanimate objects.

Both of these forms of dehumanization occur with varying degrees of subtlety, from the explicit uses of derogatory animal metaphors, to stereotypes that ascribe lesser humanness or simpler minds to particular groups, to non-conscious associations between certain humans and nonhumans (Haslam, 2013).

In the behavioral analysis unit of a criminal investigation team, the pornographic materials possession is one of the things that they look for to pin down a serial killer or a murderer. These are evidences that the criminal mind functions on objectifying persons not seeing them as human beings.

The research confluence theory states men with hyper masculinity that also involves psychopathic tendencies have low agreeableness, abuse, hostility towards women, impersonal sexuality combined with sexual permissiveness. When you have a confluence of those two things and violent pornography it may be a contributing factor to violent, abhorrent behavior (Puder, 2019).

It has been hypothesized that ‘high risk’ people who are high on rape tendencies are affected more by pornography and are at higher risk of becoming more sexually aggressive (Malamuth & Huppin, 2005). Among low empathy males attraction to pornography and violence is even greater (Cumberbatch, 2011). In a pornography meta-analysis, Oddone-Paolucci et al. (2000) argued that compared with control groups, in rape prone individuals, pornography may produce a 20-30% increase in the acceptance of rape as normal, in treating people as sex objects, in early age of first intercourse, and in coercive behavior.

With the exposure of the young to multiple sites, there must be filtering actions that the parents and teachers and other advocates on mental health on these facts. The only problem is when we see this as something NOT within our comprehension.

It takes a critical mind to wade and dive into such waters.

This, too, is another avenue when an individual reflects on his/her behavior towards people. Is s/he seeing them as human beings or seeing them as objects which could be dumped, rejected, hurt, pushed-aside, murdered, killed, or dehumanized? It is always an individual’s responsibility to look over his (mental) health.


Thursday, April 25, 2019

Shrinking



Yay boot! This will be heard when someone gets irritated with another person of the right age and performs immature acts. There are instances when physical growth is already obvious but the emotional capability of the person is still that of an adolescent. People might see you as old enough yet the actions and reactions to stimuli are that of a simpleton.

Maturation (according to alleydog.com) is the process of learning to cope and react in an emotionally appropriate way. It does not necessarily happen along with aging or physical growth, but is a part of growth and development. A situation a person must deal with at a young age prepares them for the next and so on into adulthood. Maturation does not stop when physical growth ends - it continues through adulthood.

But there are also instances when maturation is hampered or even curtailed. Pikunas (2010) mentioned that the sequential changes that occur in human personality and behavior include not only the unfolding and perfection of different dimensions but also the gradual deterioration of those dimensions. Thus, intellectual development encompasses both its emergence and perfection in the years of childhood and adolescence, and its gradual impairment in the late years of life. In order to understand personality and behavior, therefore, it is essential to trace the sequence of changes that occur in childhood and adolescence and also in the adult and later years of life. The significance of these later periods is great because the percentage of persons in this population group, as well as their influence on society, is growing at a considerable rate.

Again, we trace the importance of childhood as a formative phase since most of the things we do as an adult are either the good products of our being a child or the deficits we have during those days.

People who have fond memories of childhood, specifically their relationships with their parents, tend to have better health, less depression and fewer chronic illnesses as older adults, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
Recent research suggests that the role of other people and how children feel can be more important than the events. Getting things a child wants, academic issues, or failing to make a sports team are not strongly related to the adult perspective of childhood happiness. It is feeling loved by parents that makes the most influential contribution to childhood happiness. As adults, we no longer feel that the number of toys, sports trophies, or top grades we received as children were as important as we thought. What is important to us as adults is knowing that we shared joys and sorrows, successes and disappointments with people who loved us. Long after our memories of toys, gifts, test scores have faded, the feelings of trust, comfort, reassurance, and love remain (Batcho, 2012).

With our encounters with people in the workplace who manifest immaturity, we could directly infer that they do not have good experiences and relationships with their parents. Their anger, irritation, envy, jealousy and other negative acts stem from the lack of affection and attention they receive from their parents. Yet, it seems that such mistakes are ours since they will then attack our weaknesses by their so-called “power” and try to gain what they did not have during the times when they were young! What a pathetic way of doing things!

If the person refuses to act properly and continually causes problems for you, ignore them. They can’t act childishly in your presence if they aren’t allowed in it. People that you may need to see more frequently, however, are difficult to ignore. If a co-worker or a family member is the one who is immature, try to stay away from them as much as possible and keep the encounters that you do have brief. If you need to be around them for extended periods of time, find another person to keep you occupied so that you can prevent them from talking to you. They will eventually get the message that their behavior is no longer welcome in your life (Buckley, 2017).

The world is full of happiness and wondrous experiences. These immature persons could ruin such wonderful things to happen. Do not allow them to take away your peace and let them wallow with their pathetic lives. It is not your fault that they were deprived of joy and exciting childhood. Let them repair themselves. Their health and well-being are their responsibilities.

The truth is, this isn't your battle to fight — if the person is not willing to recognize his behavior and take steps to change it, there is little you can do. It may be particularly difficult for an emotionally immature person to realize he needs to change, as a hallmark of emotional immaturity is blaming other people or circumstances for one's bad behavior (Griffin, 2018).

The author continued that if the person won’t see reason or won't go away, you may need to be slightly confrontational and tell him that you cannot engage with him any further. Gather up all your courage and politely ask him to leave you alone, while simultaneously removing yourself from the caustic environment.

We deserve to be happy. If we are doing our work well, we will not allow others to destroy our spirits to continue doing what we maturely think as right and proper. We will not let someone destroy our credibility because he/she is nursing on his/her sanity.

We continue to check on our mental health through reflection and introspection. These may help us deal with our inner demons and become a better colleague.


Saturday, April 20, 2019

User



Sobra na ambisyon… It is good to dream. You see, in there we could be anyone. We could even fly. But when we are wide awake, we can draw the line between what is true and what is not. When our eyes are open, we see the truths around us. But there are some of us who keep seeing things differently even if their eyes are open.

One of the most inspiring lines in cinema history had to be "My ambition far exceeds my talents," said by Johnny Depp's character George Chung (Blow). This could be seen in a different way but, really, ambition sometimes overpowers a person’s capacity in doing things.

Ambition derives from the Latin ambitio, ‘a going around (to solicit votes)’, and, by extension, ‘a striving for honor, recognition, and preferment’. It can be defined as a striving for some kind of achievement or distinction, and involves, first, the desire for achievement, and, second, the motivation and determination to strive for its attainment even in the face of adversity and failure (Burton, 2014).

To have such mindset could be good since we will be pushed to a certain direction if we have some sort of a driving force. Even with the encounters of failure and difficulties along the way, one can continue to stand when fallen and strive to reach the desired destination.

But ambitions must be attained for the benefit of self-development which could then be translated to service and for the good of the family and the majority. When the ambition to become better for the benefit of the self alone (or only for the immediate family), we must be alarmed of selfishness and being clannish to overpower our capacity to be ONE with others – the majority.

There’s another way to see ambition: when someone is overly ambitious or not ambitious enough. If you aren’t ambitious enough, you’re simply settling with your current reality. It’ll be difficult for you to evolve or grow. If you’re overly ambitious, you might do unscrupulous things. You might decide to go for what you want no matter the cost (exploringthemind.com, 2018).

The article continued that at the other end of the spectrum is greed. Greed is all about boundless desire and coveting success and fame. Greed is like a bottomless pit because what the ambitious ones have never seems to be enough. They always want more and more. If they’re greedy, they’ll never be satisfied. Greed is a toxic feeling. It drags one to hell and takes down those around him/her as well. Greed won’t stop for anything. Greedy people believe that the ends justify the means. The most important thing is to get more and more. It doesn’t matter what they have to do to get it.

That’s the reason why in the workplace, you often feel “used” by these overly-ambitious people who are only good when they need your talents and resources. They are not actually befriending you for the sole purpose of friendliness. They just come to you because they can benefit from you. Once, you are NOT useful, they do not even acknowledge your presence. For them, you are now a non-entity.

For a study published in 2014 in Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, researchers at the University of California in Berkeley evaluated feelings of self-worth — inflated and deflated — as well as the motivation to pursue power in more than 600 young men and women. What they found was a link between those feelings and motivations and mental illnesses, including depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and narcissistic personality disorder. Sheri Johnson, PhD, a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and a senior author of the study, wrote that “people prone to depression or anxiety reported feeling little sense of pride in their accomplishments and little sense of power.”

That is why those who are overly-ambitious often create a lot of trouble among their companions since they have a defect in the mental state.

The treatment of mental illness has long been held back by the sense that disorders of emotion, thinking, and behavior somehow lack legitimacy and instead reflect individual weakness or poor life choices (Campo, 2017).

There is indeed a need for the Mental Health Law take effect as soon as possible. The organizations must also be aware of a great loss in resources if unhealthy people (especially those who are overly ambitious) thrive inside the offices.

Training and development won’t even have an impact to the sick mind. Whoever and whatever will train the sick mind, symptoms continue to be present and a vicious cycle of trouble with them happens.

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Judas, Is It You?



Kristyano kuno…In the gospel of John in line with Maundy Thursday, Jesus said this after washing the disciples’ feet: “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I, then your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also must wash one another’s feet. I have given you an example, that as I have done, you also may do. Thus, the concept of servant leadership was borne out of the traditional “imposing and authoritative” type of leading people.

But in reality, there are still those so-called leaders in our midst who want to be pampered and vowed as if they are major deities or gods of sorts. They raise their voices to us and command as if we are the slaves of their kingdom.

While servant leadership is a timeless concept, the phrase “servant leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first published in 1970. In that essay, Greenleaf said:

“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.

With the advancement in Psychology, it is later scientifically studied and diagnosed that there are balanced mental states and the other is of course, the sick mind.

A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid,” servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.

Pathological narcissism can be characterized by (1) entitlement, (2) vindictiveness, (3) unaccountability, and (4) lack of empathy, can we draw parallels to the autocratic leadership style, characterized by (1) unilateral power, (2) suppression of dissent, (3) lawlessness, and (4) exploitation of the masses? This was a question being studied by Benjamin Jurney of Columbia University (2018).

This was then qualified by Mahesh Kumar of Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology: Narcissistic leaders often express prideful and self-aggrandizing styles of leadership behavior; whether such leadership is related to authoritarian leadership. Because narcissistic leaders are excessively concerned with themselves, the control of power, and the neglect of others, they would use authoritarian methods to stabilize their own power in order to control subordinates or dominate the management of the organization, requiring employees to submit without reservation.

So where do we place those people who proclaims that they are followers of Christ when in fact they are the ones oppressing people under their supervision?

“Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His (Romans 8:9).” There it is as plain as can be! There— from the Bible—is God’s definition of a Christian! If one does not have, possess, and follow the Holy Spirit of God, he is not a Bible-defined Christian no matter what he says, how he acts, or what he teaches (Church of God International,2001).

Marrying the psychological aspects and the biblical definition, there must be a strong effort of an individual to know and understand his or her inner person. We could not just allow ourselves to claim that we are Christians yet we are oppressing people. We could not claim that we are servants when in fact we want others to serve US.

If you’re a leader, don’t just settle the question of IF you’ll serve others. Figure out HOW you will, and then go do it. By being a servant leader, you’ll have the joy of seeing positive outcomes and great growth in your people. It will be worth the effort (Maxwell, 2015).

The cgi.org continues: We should never be false or defeated Christians. Even if everyone around you seems hypocritical—or even if no one else around you is a Christian—you need to be a real Christian. That is our calling. You should be a Christian because God created you to contain Him, to be one with Him, and to express Him.

Then, if what you contain in your heart are bad intentions, envy, hatred, anger and inferiority, you are probably containing SOMETHING ELSE rather than God!



Saturday, April 13, 2019

Behind the Rituals



Relihiyosa pero… Have you observed those who have schizophrenic personalities? They put up an image of being religious yet their actions and deeds speak otherwise. They do not understand that being spiritual is not just a façade. It is about a deeper understanding of one’s being to be an instrument of peace and love. Yet, once they go out of their church, they could become the hideous villain for others!

Being spiritual according to Dr. Margaret Paul (2007) is synonymous with being a person whose highest priority is to be loving to himself and others. A spiritual person cares about people, animals and the planet, and strives to be a kind person. A spiritual person knows that we are all One, and consciously attempts to honor this Oneness.

In this case, being spiritual is that longing for inner peace; when one’s conscience and intentions are geared towards the common good. It is not the number of times he/she goes to church but for who the inner person is.

When evaluating how “religious” someone is, social scientists and the general public tend to rely on the frequency of religious activities, strength or type of religious beliefs, relative importance of religion in one’s life, or some average of these aspects of religious life (Denton, 2011).

Therefore, there are those people who frequently go to church and perform church rituals yet he or she is not spiritually clean. Being religious then is not an assurance of being “spiritual”.

For many, religion is ritual oriented rather than value oriented. By performing certain rituals and maintaining certain appearances they think they are religious. For many others, religion is a source of values rather than rituals. Rituals serve a sense of community and identity and often become mechanical exercises and hardly inspire any inner change (Ashgar Ali, 2010).

It is in these perceptions when we could infer that it would take an intellectual mindset to become highly functional. Religion could then be viewed and practiced to make the spirit richer and cleaner. If the rituals and community gatherings allow the person to steer his or her intentions towards the common good, then being religious is now merged with the longing and WILLINGNESS to be spiritual.

Psychology Today mentions that psychological research has tended to find that believing in WILL can be beneficial for mental health, and that reducing feelings of self-determination can make people more aggressive and less helpful. As long as individuals remain aware that many factors can influence behavior subconsciously, it may be healthier to think they have control over their destinies.

So, is this now another issue on mental well-being to create a front of being religious yet unclean thoughts and deeds manifest in the person?

Seltzer (2013) mentions that the recently published 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) lists precisely the same nine criteria for narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) as did the previous version, published 19 years earlier. So these longstanding diagnostic yardsticks are by now quite familiar—not only to professionals but to interested laypeople as well. Because only the extreme, or “classic,” narcissist fits all of these criteria, DSM specifies that an individual need meet only five of them (barely more than half) to warrant this unflattering label.

According to the article, here are the nine criteria of NPD:

1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance.
2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.
3. Believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions).
4. Requires excessive admiration [regularly fishes for compliments, and is highly susceptible to flattery].
5. Has a sense of entitlement.
6. Is interpersonally exploitative.
7. Lacks empathy: is unwilling [or, I would add, unable] to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.
8. Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.
9. Shows arrogant, haughty [rude and abusive] behaviors or attitudes.

Since their presence in church activities heightens “admiration” from others yet they show arrogant, rude and abusive behaviors, they could never be called spiritually sound.

They are actually SICK!

Monday, April 8, 2019

You're Plastic!



Pinta kalipa! When one is poor, things inside sachets seem to be the answer to have necessities at hand. Products inside small packages are more affordable than the ones inside bottles and canisters.

Sachet packaging, normally made of a thin film of plastic and aluminum in a sandwich laminate form, has captured many of the poor market segments and has allowed multinationals to gain market share and profit. It has also allowed the poor to enjoy quality products such as shampoos, toothpastes, lotions, condiments, even ready-to-eat food and drinking water from these global giants, products which were previously not viable with normal bottle and container packaging (Posadas, 2014).

Imagine the number of people who take a bath daily using shampoo in sachets! Do a simple Math and think about the mound of trash these things could give.

Posadas continues: In the Philippines for example, the Asian Development Bank and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources jointly project that if current trends continue, the country will need 200 new landfills the size of a current Manila landfill by the year 2020. Estimates vary, but the factor of 0.7kg per person in the metropolitan Manila area is being used, with a daily output of roughly 22,000 tons per day of municipal garbage expected to grow to 28,000 tons per day in 10 years' time.

Whenever there is a large gathering of people, one could see mound of plastic containers and wrappers thrown irresponsibly. The ordinances linked to RA 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act) seem to be policies made futile. Legislation with no teeth and less education will often turn them to flops.

Is there a correlation between the use of sachets and the economic status of a population?

The nextbillion.net says, small package sizes translate in lower costs per purchase and less “capital” bound in the storage rooms of poor households. With households struggling to manage their cash flow on a daily basis, these factors could make sachets attractive for poor customers, allowing them to purchase quality products normally out of reach.

Legislators might also consider the regulations on the use of these non-biodegradable since the majority of Filipinos are not rich enough to afford stuff in big containers. Here is a study conducted to a multinational:

In the Philippines, they (sachet packaging) turned out to be the answer to increasing rural sales of the company’s Rexona deodorant.  Unilever faced a tough challenge: Only half of Filipinos buy deodorant regularly, and standard package sizes were too pricey for rural consumers. To lower the price, the company first tried a small size of Rexona in stick form. The ministicks cost 35 cents, but that was not cheap enough for rural consumers. Then Unilever developed a cream version in a single-use-sized packet that cost about 10 cents (Manajan, 2016).

It could be remembered the scenario of “sari-sari” stores in the eighties where food and other stuff are placed inside preserving jars and will be wrapped with old newspapers when bought. There were no shampoo in sachets; no condiments in small plastic containers. We bring “lapad” or “lipig” when we buy cooking oil or soy sauce. Soda was sold in bottles not in “mismo” and “sakto” style.

But now, everything is placed in plastic containers. Even if we buy three pieces of onions in the market, they will be contained in those small plastic pouches.

According to Sarmiento (2018), Freedom Island is drowning in garbage. The last coastal frontier in the Philippine capital provides refuge to migratory birds and a thick mangrove forest there serves as a natural typhoon barrier for millions of city dwellers. Yet empty plastic water and soda bottles protrude from the sand, tattered clothes and plastic sheets hang over mangrove branches, and heaps of shampoo, toothpaste and soy sauce sachets litter the coastline.

But what are these telling us? There is a need to be aware of what we are consuming. If we shy away from patronizing the sachet industry and go back to the basics, we could be freed from the looming threat to our environment. The law of supply and demand tells us to think deeper.

If we enjoy the convenience these plastic sachets are giving, we must be responsible enough on how to dispose them. Or, we could start educating the people around us.

When you go inside a grocery store, think about the trash these colorful products could give!