There is one sense in which the man is like the pictures that he shoots: humble and unassuming, yet certainly, not found lackingin depth of field. There is another sense, equally significant: the images he creates reflect poetry in them; and not surprisingly, there is a cadence one can pick up along his life story
Let the photos speak for themselves while we essay into the poetic measure of the man.
Stanza I
He was one of eight children raised by parents in the rustic scenery of the intimate community setting of Inopacan Leyte.
In the same village, a girl from a similarly large family of nine, was born on the very same day.
They went to the same school and were in the same class. He had his eyes on her since they were young children, quietly admiring how intelligent she was and taking notice of how well she carried herself. She, on the other hand, was clueless. One day, at the circus, as the class watched the show, one of the boys flicked her from the back. She turned around and he was looking at her. She stood up and punched him! That hurt. He was not the culprit. But now, at least, she knew he existed. In high school, they ‘went steady’ and wrote love letters to each other delivered through wingmen, keeping everything under wraps, to avoid the teasing of friends and the awkwardness at family gatherings.
After high school, they went their separate ways. He was sent to Bukidnon to pursue a degree in Education at Mountainview College, an exclusive Adventist boarding college in Bukidnon.
She was sent to Manila to study Nursing. Before she could finish, her sister who lived in Australia sent for her to help with the restaurant business. She packed her bags and flew to Melbourne.
He threw himself into his books and was a Dean’s Lister. When he got his Education degree and passed thebBoard, a teaching post was awaiting him at Conalum National High School, back in Inopacan. Their family founded the school. It was mandatory that he served there. He had to honour the family commitment.
Came the Christmas holidays in 1994. And guess who has come back to town for a visit all the way from Melbourne? Yet it wasn’t until the last few days of her holiday that the teacher from Conalum learnt she was around. Gathering enough courage, he went to see her. One night of reminiscing childhood and high school memories was enough to bring them back together again!
StanzaII
After serving out his mandatory stint at the family-run school, it was time to flap his wings and fly on his own.
On this one day in 1996, he happened to be at POEA in Manila to look for possible job postings abroad, he overheard two Chinese ladies having a conversation about job opening for workers in Taiwan. As he had just collected his passport, he presented himself. For the next three years, he would be working on 12-hour shifts in a robot assembly plant in Taipei manufacturing car parts, a long way away from a teacher’s desk in Leyte, and a longer way still to Melbourne. Meanwhile the telephone lines burnt nightly between Melbourne and Taipei.
But if he could not visit her lady love in the land Down Under, she certainly could fly up north, couldn’t she? In 1998, it happened. A quick visit for the holidays. Then off she went again. Their child was born in Melbourne in 1999. The father, when his Taiwan contract expired, sought work back in the Philippines, and was contracted by a car plant in Subic Bay. The mother took care of the child on her own. He would speak to them everyday by phone. When the baby was 3, the mother took her to visit Subic Bay in the first reunion between father and child.
By 2003, the family was finally united in Australia.
StanzaIII
In 2006, Amil Gudmaling and his lovely wife Isa, moved to Perth with their only child, Jana.
Isa had come to Perth on holiday in 2003 and simply fell in love with the place and the agreeable weather
With her work background in the food and hospitality industry , it was not difficult for Isa to get her first job in a Whitford cafe. She currently works at Pan Pacific in Perth CBD.
Amil did not have to wait long for his turn. He has worked for the last 10 years at Steggles and is presently engaged as quality control officer, having been rotated in various departments as part of staff training.
Jana has blossomed into a young lady, now in her last year of high school. She will turn 17 in June.
The Gudmalings live north of Perth, close to the ocean, in a quiet suburb perfect for morning walks along the trails or down the beach. Perfect for shooting poetry. TPS
– Filipinos of Perth by Cecilia Concepcion
Moving from Stress to Unstress
Poetry does have its share of stress, as well as unstress. How one constructs life to move from stress to unstress – that itself is lyric to be written.
Life for Amil in Bukidnon was semi-monastic, where discipline dictated that food be scarce. This allowed scholars to focus on their work. Amil did so, and was on the Dean’s List every term until he finished his course.
When Amil, then in his early 20s, returned to his hometown, it was as if liberation had come. He feasted everyday and ate to his heart’s content.
Believe it or not, the 5-foot, 8-inch (172cm) young man blew himself up to 220 pounds (100kg) when no one was looking!
Looking at the man today, you would have no clue that he struggled with the excessive weight through the next seven years. No skin wrinkles or stretch marks that would give him away. His sister, a doctor, wisely passed on to Amil the timely advice: Lose the weight while you have youth on your side and your skin is still elastic. If you wait for much longer, it will be too late.
He didn’t wait for too long. In time, with Isa back in his life and a beautiful baby to take care of, Amil mustered the very same discipline that the boarding school in Bukidnon had taught him to get rid of the excessive weight. And he succeeded! Today, Amil is back to 70kg. TPS
