REACTION PAPER: Sa Aking mga Kabata Controversy

' Sa Kabataang Pilipino when we watched the video ' Sa Kabataang Pilipino' we realized how
great writer Rizal is. We could hardly understand the lines in either the Filipino or English
language. It shows how intelligent, brilliant he is. The words he used for me are all
extraordinary, with deep meaning. But if you'll try to analyze it, the poem tries to awaken the
Filipino youth. The poem also shows the love of Rizal to our country and the people. This poem
actually tells about the significant role of the youth for the betterment of our country. And since
we have a significant role, we should develop a positive character and traits. On the first line
Rizal was trying to emphasize how important it would be for the youth to have self- confidence.
We should be confident, most especially we're now living in a very competitive world. It's one
instrument we could actually used to deal with the challenges in our everyday life. Without self-
confidence it would be very hard to get along with people and to compete with them. You'll be a
loser and will be behind with the normal flow of life. Good thing Rizal did emphasize is that our
character counts, that we have a significant role to do as we all strive for a better country. The
youth will always be the hope of our nation, and so with this poem it only tells us that as a youth
we must develop a positive character. Before I think I say that before we can serve our country
we should first think of ourselves. On the poem Rizal did also emphasized how important
intelligence is. As a youth it is our obligation to learn and nurture ourselves to become a better
person. And when we are already educated and wise we should know how to use it properly,
use it in a good way, not in a bad way. Perhaps it also tells us that parents who's responsible for
their children should not forget to send them to school and educate them, and give them a
wonderful life. Living without education is like living without any knowledge of every single thing
in this world. We'll never grow if we're not educated, we'll remain ignorant for the rest of our
lives. And since we have the opportunity to learn and grow, we should not waste it. After all we
could benefit from it, our parents and as well as our motherland. 

Based on Xiao Chua's video argument about Jose Rizal's "Sa aking Kabata," we disagree
because other historians have questioned if Rizal actually wrote the poem. It is popularly
attributed to Filipino national hero Jose Rizal, who is said to have written it when he was eight
years old in 1869. However, there is no evidence to substantiate Rizal's and other historians'
authorship, leading them to suspect it is a fabrication. The poets of Gabriel Beato Francisco are
thought to be the true authors of the poem. Rizal's precociousness and early growth of
nationalistic aspirations are highlighted in the poem, which is commonly taught in Philippine
schools.

"Sa Aking Kabata," or "To My Fellow Youth," is a Tagalog poem about love and one's home
tongue. It's shocking since one of his quoted lines from the poem is "Ang hindi marunong
magmahal sa sariling wika ay masahol pa sa hayop at malansang isda." It's unthinkable that an
8-year-old child could create such a poem, and the Tagalog vocabulary used is so profound that
it's impossible to understand. As a result, the poem is not original, and no extant manuscript for
his conventionally regarded debut poem survives.