Hear the Manobo Chant

              In this modern era, it is so seldom to hear traditional music. It became so peculiar to see youths performing traditional dances too. Most of the youths are into techno-pop, and pop-rock genre of music. Even I, myself, would admit that most of my playlists are pop songs from various artists like Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry, Sara Bareilles, Lady Gaga, Demi Lovato, The Corrs, The phenomenal JaDine loveteam, etc. But my passion to hear unique kind of music has never gone anyhow, it's fervently burning inside me. Celtic Woman which I considered as the most distinct of all the artists I have in my playlist for they are more into reviving traditional Irish music by combining it to their songs. 

Bayang Barrios, a Filipino local singer
known for her deep love for tribal music
and for reviving traditional songs through
blending them on her original music.

             If someone tries to ask a group of millennial students about the most trending songs, for sure many would dare to write their favorite music. But if someone would try to ask the same group about the traditional songs or folk musics they knew, for sure no one cares. Despite the growing popularity of modern songs, despite the frequent requests of modern songs on radios, traditional music of Filipinos has never lost anyhow, it just needs a lot of care and revival.
             During the conduct of our research about the Manobo tribe of Sta. Irene, Bayugan City, I and my teammates witnessed an idiosyncratic type of music performed by one of the Manobo residents. Tud-um, which is the tribal term for chant, refers to  rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones.

A breathtaking view of a fairy tale like mountain
 met us on our way to the Manobo community of Sta. Irene, Bayugan City.

              Chanting is a commonly used spiritual practice. Like prayer, chant may be a component of either personal or group practice. Diverse spiritual traditions consider chant a route to spiritual development. 
              Aling Teneng, a pure Manobo gave us a spectacular Tud-um. Aside from her beautiful facial outlook despite old age, her voice is truly amazing to be honest. Right at the moment when I heard her singing, I feel like I'm crossing to another dimension; a magical world where all of my favorite fantasy characters exist. 

A picture with Aling Teneng, beautiful pure Manobo
 who welcomed us in her home.

              I asked her where did she learn the tune of the Tud-um or chant she sang, she said that it comes into their mind naturally. An abian (a spirit) in which they believed as a superior being and considered as their protector gave her the tune. Whenever they are going to perform a certain ritual for wedding, birth, dedication, etc., a chant must be sang as a way of communication to their abian.
             Likewise, I asked her what does the song convey since it was sang on a Manobo dialect.
             "The song tells a story of a son who lost his parents when he was young and reunited with them after a long time. He is expressing his heartfelt gratitude to an Abian for keeping his parents safe and for giving him the chance to see them before his parents died." She said.
             A video of her performing a Manobo chant is posted below. She is quite shy while performing Tud-Um. Watch and enjoy!

               

The Fundamental Disciplines of Social Science

“The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.” 

― Jane Addams 

        

             When I was a kid, I used to raise a lot of questions to my parents. I wonder why the sky is blue, why the ocean has waves and where does it ends, why grasses are green, why can't we breath underwater, why societies are distinct to each other, etc. Although for a normal parent, it is hard to give answers to these queries,however, my parents never failed to send me to school where my questions served as a stepping stone to acquire new knowledge. 

            When I was in elementary I have a deep liking for history. I love to read history books and watch movies that depict ancient battles. Even at a young age, I love to trace the origin of things. Luckily, I topped the history quiz during elementary and represented our school for the annual Division History Quiz. 

             When I reached high school, our Social Studies teacher let us define 'Social Science' in our own understanding. Having less knowledge on the matter, neither of the answers from the class satisfied our teacher.

               When I stepped for college, the same question was threw by our professor in Social Science. Even if I had the prior knowledge from high school, words were not still able to come out from my mouth to coherently define the term. 

              I remember my professor said that Social Science is a complex matter. It is where a person who has a fine kind of living sacrifices his pleasure, deals with the distinct dilemmas from the society and tries to figure out for the best solution. People in this kind of field are often dubbed as 'Social Scientist' although Social Science has broad range of disciplines. These words prompted me to take Social Science as my major aside from the fact that I fancy history so much.

            So what really is the precise definition of Social Science? 

            According to a reliable source, Social science is a major category of academic disciplines, concerned with society and the relationships among individuals within a society. Social science tells us about the world beyond our immediate experience, and can help explain how our own society works - from the causes of unemployment or what helps economic growth, to how and why people vote, or what makes people happy. It provides vital information for governments and policymakers, local authorities, non-governmental organisations and others.

            So what are these academic disciplines from Social Science? The fundamental disciplines of social sciences include economics, political science, geography, demography, history and sociology. In a broader sense, social science also includes some fields in the humanities such as anthropology, archaeology, psychology, jurisprudence, and linguistics. 

              Let us focus on the fundamental disciplines of social science. 

Positive growth in the economy is
the ultimate goal of every nation.

              When I hear the word economics, the first thing that comes to my mind is money. It is probably because it deals with the flow of businesses. I still remember my professor during our economics 01 uttered that the greatest challenge to humanity is how to distribute natural resources equally despite scarcity. Basically, economics seeks to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth. The classic brief definition of economics, set out by Lionel Robbins in 1932, is "the science which studies human behavior as a relation between scarce means having alternative uses." Without scarcity and alternative uses, there is no economic problem. Briefer yet is "the study of how people seek to satisfy needs and wants" and "the study of the financial aspects of human behavior."

               One of the fundamental disciplines of Social Science is Political Science. Many would say 'what's a political science?' or some would say 'Is it politics over science?' In a precise form, political science is an academic and research discipline that deals with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. Therefore, we could say that political science plays an important role for stabilizing our political system. It is where laws are observed and uphold and protocols are truly followed.

              Geography as a discipline can be split broadly into two main sub fields: human geography and physical geography. The former focuses largely on the built environment and how

The Physical Geography of the Earth

space is created, viewed and managed by humans as well as the influence humans have on the space they occupy. This may involve cultural geography, transportation, health, military operations, and cities. The latter examines the natural environment and how the climate, vegetation and life, soil, oceans, water and landforms are produced and interact.

              The next discipline is demography. It is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. It encompasses the study of the size, structure, and distribution of these populations, and spatial or temporal changes in them in response to birth, migration, ageing, and death.

Herodotus of Halicarnassus is
the Father of History

              My most favorite discipline of social science is history. Since, I was young I noticed that I have deep liking for it. It is where I am travelling back to the past for free. History books require a lot of great comprehension but if you just keep on reading you'll understand and learn new things along the way. 

               But what really is history? History is the continuous, systematic narrative and research into past human events as interpreted through historiographical paradigms or theories. Most people would say that history is only for victors and that historians could make up stories and add details to history. This probably is true, but I believe in order to understand history one must not limit his researches on one perspective only and that thorough investigation and consultation should be done. With this, the cat is killed, and we tend to be more investigative making us more vigilant on issues around us, preventing us from being deceived.

Émile Durkheim is considered one
of the founding fathers of sociology.

                The last fundamental principle is sociology. Sociology is the systematic study of society and human social action. The meaning of the word comes from the suffix "-ology", which means "study of", derived from Greek, and the stem "soci-", which is from the Latin word socius, meaning "companion", or society in general.

                   The above quote signifies the importance of application of Social Science. Since social science deals with the society, it parallels to the phrase that a man should reach out to his fellowmen, that he must practice the virtue of kindness and try to live selfless. 

                  Social Science must not only be practiced at schools. Parents should put emphasis on it at home too in order to produce citizens with much love for the country and for the people. Teachers, on the other hand must inculcate on the mind of the students that social science is not a boring subject. It is their mission to make a chamber for an interactive world where social scientists explore and share ideas. 

                  After all, the fundamental principles of social science once taken seriously we can expect therefore of a sound and productive society. 

References:

Social Science. (2016, November 22). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_science

Demography. (2016, November 23). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography

What is Social Science. (2016, October 20). Retrieved from https://What is social science_ - Economic and Social Research Council.html

Images

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