Science: Wanting Better When We Had Best

by Sherri Maigne A. Meneses

           Within a city where modern technology is rapidly booming, an old wooden house lies quietly—watching while everything around it changes into something new. The old house made of mulawin wood and capiz windows shelters two old maids both in their 90s. Inside their house are several antiques that surely caught my attention.  It seemed to me that everything around this house could cause a fortune! Antiques like sewing machine, chairs, wooden sofa set, tables, altar, television, paintings, and lots more. I even saw an old batya, the one which looked like a giant tansan.

            The house does not look attractive anymore. The roof is rusty. Its inside was dark, cluttered, dusty, and has lots of webs. The large backyard is full of weeds and stuffs that the two elders do not want to throw away. There was also a well that is not being used anymore. The elders’ grandniece was so excited to show me the old stove at the backyard. On our way to its location, she described that it was a big stove made of stone with two holes where you cook food over burning wood. At the side was a chimney where all the smoke would go—and never to your face. However, to our disappointment, all was left of the stove were ruins. She said that the caretaker probably destroyed it—seeing it as useless.

           Inside the house, there were lots of jars—big and small. But I was interested with one of the many jars. This one found in the kitchen is big and has a cover. It even has a spigot attached at the bottom of it. I assumed that it was used to store water. It is called tapayan. I interviewed one of the old ladies living in the house.

            Matilde Banatin is 90 years old but she is still full of energy and still has a keen memory. She is the youngest of her siblings. Two of her sisters, 92 and 100 years old, and his brother, 102 years old, are still alive. I really wonder how they lived that long but I was not able to ask. Lola Matilde has trouble hearing, so I just asked few questions. She described that their house was built in 1939. It was one of the houses that were not burned down during the Japanese occupation. Their house is made of strong wood called mulawin and is no longer available in the market. It is a strong wood that termites are not able to destroy it. She said that only the roof was usually repaired. I asked her about the tapayan. She said that in the old days, they used it to store water. She said they had it since they were little kids—that would be almost a hundred years old! The other jars that they have, as she called it, were kaang.

            According to some references tapayan is a knee-tall jar that in the old days was indeed used to store water from a nearby well. Before, old Filipino houses would have two pieces of tapayan—one in front of the house near the ladder (Cantada, 2010) and another in the batalan. The one in front of the house was for washing one’s feet before entering the house—paying respect to the owner of the house and to the house itself. The other found in the batalan was for cooking and washing pots. Tapayan is also considered an accessory for courtship (Cacdac, 2004). In the old conservative days, courtship involves paninilbihan wherein a man courting a maiden must serve the latter’s family before allowing her hand in marriage. The act of fetching water and filling up the tapayan is part of this practice.

            Thinking about it, we are so fascinated of the new things that we tend to forget about the old things that are practical and useful. Tapayan could help reduce the problem of water shortage. Using the technology of tapayan in storing water, we can lessen the water wasted during our daily activities. Pots and other jars are better to use as containers instead of those plastics that would eventually be non-biodegradable wastes. And the most important point is, if we preserve the use of tapayan, we also preserve the Filipino culture. 

               I admire how the two elderly value what they have. I usually spot that characteristic of being sentimental on old people. Perhaps because they are wise enough to know the real value of what they have. We, the new generations, usually throw away things that have no value for us. When we break them, we throw them away—then we buy a new one. Seldom do we try to fix. What’s worse is we sometimes choose to buy the latest item although we already have the perfectly functioning old version.

              In this experience, I have learned about the old things. I have learned how simple life was compared to the hustle and bustle of the present. Human beings are always not contented with what they have now. They would always produce new technologies and discover more things about the world. They would always care more about the future but seldom about the past. It is good to know more if we don’t forget what we’ve learned. If we always think of the future and  how to make things better, how would we see the best things that we already have?

Literature Cited:

Cacdac,HL  J. (2004). Dating Tubig sa Lumang Tapayan: Should Labor Relations Law Be 
          Transformed?. Ateneo Law Journal, 49(3).

Cantada, R, P. (2010, July 5).  The Strange Material Culture of Natives of the Philippines in 
           the 16th Century. Retrieved December 23, 2010, from website: 
           http://mananalaysay.blogspot.com/2010/07/strange-material-culture-of-natives-
           of.html.