Thursday, April 26, 2007 Magsaysay: Gorgeous at 85! By Jo Magsaysay Whatever
OLD age can be beautiful and most certainly, Felisa Yap Chiongbian at 85 years of age is absolutely gorgeous. A fluffy cloud of platinum silver hair frames her smiling face, her skin uncommonly smooth for her age. Must be her Oriental genes, Asian women reportedly, are blessed with exceptionally fine complexions. Felisa simply defies age and is wrinkle-free.
Purveyors of beauty products seduce aging women to look younger because youth is beauty. One would think it is a crime to be old, a curse to have age spots and wrinkles. In a panic, the aging woman clutching desperately to her fading youth scrambles to the cosmetic counters and splurges on anti-wrinkle creams, rejuvenating ointments, age-defying lotions, Botox injections and some other extra foliating stuff guaranteed to peel off the crinkling outer layers of skin and hold back the encroaches of time. It is a losing battle, sweetie, why fight the inevitable? Surrender to the wicked liver spots and gruesome wrinkles, relax and enjoy your old age. Feel good about yourself and look good, you owe it to your aging years. You’ve earned it.
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Ask Felisa Chiongbian what is her beauty secret and she will tell you that her attitude towards life defies age, she is worry-free. Not that problems do not beset her, she has legions in her case; she has had her share of tragedies, a near fatal brush with death but surmounting fears and anxieties she copes, she survives. She thinks about others and loses herself in helping others. No saint, Felisa: she’s choleric, she scolds, she nags, she storms, she rages and she is not goody-goody about it. But when the world is too much with her, she puts herself in God’s hands and lets Him take over. Easier said than done. Indeed it takes tremendous effort, a profound source of faith and trust, an all-encompassing love to empower a positive attitude towards living a life as it should be lived. For others.
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Giving much and receiving more in return Feling Chiongbian has accumulated such wealth through the years although she would be the first to tell you she is not wealthy at all. But rich, yes, plentiful, abundant, and excessively rich in having friends, keeping friendships alive. Affluent and influential with friends who look up to her as lady bountiful in her social concerns; friends in the corporate world because she herself had walked the corridors of power and management; friends among club women since she too is involved in socio-religious activities; friends among underpaid school teachers having herself served in the noble and thankless job of educating the youth; friends among nuns and priests, the handicapped and homeless beneficiaries of her charities.
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They were all there at the grand ballroom of the Marco Polo Plaza in a tremendous outpouring of love to pay her a glowing tribute on her 85th birthday. His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal heading the clergy, Hank and Lulu Aboitiz, Annie Aboitiz representing the shipping and real estate businessmen and women of various organizations and just about all the 600 invited guests too numerous to name, giving honor to the affair. The favorite granddaughter and apple of her eye, Jaja now Edu Rama’s very own radiant love orchestrated the celebration with the precision and professionalism that had been sharpened by her stint with Shangri-La Mactan – "my best finishing school."
A smiling approval from Richard, the man in the family, the main man of the clan, the party host who endlessly pampers his Mama Felisa lavishing her with gifts of love. The color code decreed was red and practically all the members of the family wore red, the flaming color of love, the vibrant color of joy, the glorious color of jubilation. The birthday girl was a stand-out, a golden girl in an elegant yellow gown that Felix Yu, her favorite couturier, sprinkled with glitter on the bodice. Loving to play favorites, she chose her favorite godchild Marlinda Angbetic Tan to be program emcee, narrator of her biography and writer of speech.
Mayen extolled the accomplishments and generous spirit of her ninang and drew laughter commenting on what would have been a five-minute speech she wrote for her ninang that Felisa turned into a marathon ad-lib. Favoring the taste of Myra Sun’s sweets, she insisted that Myra "must" bake her birthday cake so a confection was created that Felisa glowed as "unique, a labor of love" with clusters of cakes of different sizes and four different flavors, set ablaze with 85 flaming candles, including cupcakes and mini cakes for give-aways.
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Tonight, Felisa announced, is my night and I’m feeling high. High on cloud nine, she walked, pranced, shimmied, danced and tossed flying kisses when Eva delos Santos took her hand and paraded her around. A great singer, Eva’s powerful voice a la Barbara Streisand was almost drowned out by the thunderous piano accompaniment. In her non-stop ad-lib, Felisa raised chuckles, cheers and claps, so delighted was her audience. She now looks forward to a bigger and better celebration when she’s 95. Attagirl!
