Chulalongkorn's Elephants: The Philippines in Asian History

Looking Back #4

by Ambeth R. Ocampo

"Chulalongkorn’s elephants are the bronze elephants the King of Siam gave to Singapore and Java as gifts during his travels in 1871. I met the Singapore elephant first as I traced Rizal’s footsteps and found a reference to it in his diary. It was upon meeting next the Jakarta elephant that prompted me to compile this collection of essays that begins and ends with an elephant. More reflective than usual and going beyond Rizal and my 19th century comfort zone, these explorations still carry my trademark irreverent humor."

From the Preface

Genres: History, Essays, Nonfiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Lamberto R. Ocampo better known as Ambeth R. Ocampo (b. 1961) is Filipino historian, academic, journalist, cultural administrator and author best known for his writings about Philippines' national hero José Rizal, and for his bi-weekly editorial page column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, "Looking Back." He became the Chairman of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines in 2002 until 2010, and was appointed as Chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in 2005 until 2007.

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thailand is one of the countries that I had the opportunity to visit the most. Along with Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, my previous and current employers sent me to these countries for business many times that when I finally had enough frequent-flyer mileage, I was able to bring my family to go with me. I estimated my trips to Thailand around 20 times (4 of which with my family at tow). I now can commute around the city without fear of getting lost and I could still remember some conversational phrases to be able to properly communicate even with people on the streets including taxi snd tuktuk drivers.

Ambeth Ocampo also had the chance to visit these Asian countries as part of his work as a writer. The only difference we had was that we wrote his experiences in the articles included in this book. I, not being a writer nor even a serious reader like now, did not even record any of those. In this fourth book in the series, there are stories about the elephants that King Chulalongkorns gave as gifts to Singapore and Indonesia. Why did the king not bother to give one to the Philippines? It's not stated in the book but I guess it could either be due to the distance between the two countries or maybe we do not share their predominant religion, Buddism. There is also an article about susu, this one is from his trip to a supermarket in Kuala Lumpur and the was so amazed to find out that susu in Bahasa means milk while in the Philippines, suso means breast. This reminded me of a lunch in Kuala Lumpur when I was having a milk drink and we, the Filipinos, laughed about pretending to say to a lady office mate that her susu was delicious.

Similar to the previous three books in the series, I had a nice time knowing interesting tidbits about lesser-known heroes even the boxer Pancho Villa and our brother in the South, Cesar Adib Majul. I was also struck by the realization that major enclaves (exclusive villages) in the city are named after Spanish governor general: Legaspi, Magallanes, Dasmarinas and Urdaneta. That's one proof again of how many Filipinos, especially our grandfathers, still have colonial mentality (anything that imported is better than local) in them.

The most interesting article here for me is "Quezon Saved Jews From the Holocaust." Anything about President Quezon for me is interesting because I was born and am now living in Quezon City and grew up in Quezon Province. So, whenever somebody asks me from where I am, I always say, "Quezon" a very short answer whenever I am not in the mood for a conversation and I leave him to figure out if I am referring to the city or to the province.

I also will not easily forget this book because this was in my car when two of my friends were with me last week. Those two friends of mine are now estranged from me because of some misunderstanding. If we don't work together to rebuild the lost trust, this book will serve as a remembrance of the nice days we spent together.

[Aries · Rating 4 out of 5]

Less satirical, more serious. This is what the first leaf till the last contains. And Ambeth Ocampo already made that clear on his introduction that this issue is quite different from its previous.

However, like in his previous, Ambeth's writing style of surprising connections and unexpected revelations is still manifested in this book.

[Michael Gerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book at the Manila International Book Fair at the Mall of Asia last year. What made this book memorable was Ambeth Ocampo himself was in the place when I bought it, so I got to have the book signed by him and even had a short conversation and a photo taken.

Although the book is a far cry from his previous books because of its small size, the contents are what really matter. It's another must-read. I really liked the piece about the Philippine Commonwealth's help to Jewish refugees in Germany to seek safety and a new life here in the Philippines. I feel proud that the Philippines did its part in standing up to the Nazi regime and helping people suffering from persecution and eventual genocide. We can proudly say that the Philippines did not choose to look the other way and do nothing, even as Japan was already invading China and war clouds were also gathering in other parts of Asia. Our country extended a helping hand to peoples in need and undoubtedly saved a lot of lives. What a shame now for the tenant in Malacanang (noynoy) to decide to shun away from attending the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo, just to try to appease China and spare three Filipino drug traffickers the death penalty, all to no avail. Noynoy never learned of the lessons of the past and the dangers of trying to appease dictators. Well, not actually surprising, since he is now showing signs of wanting to become a dictatorial wimp himself.

[Dyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a free copy of the book when I attended Ambeth Ocampo's lecture ("Parricide in Paris: Juan Luna in His Paintings") at the National Museum today. The book is a bit different from the usual 19th century history that Dr. Ocampo usually writes about, as the topics of his essays varies from pre-history, colonial Philippines, even the Commonwealth years and World War II. I read the two-thirds of the book on my homeward commute (very long trips) and I couldn't help but giggle while poring over it. The essays were informative and humorous, and personally, it made me long for Indonesia. There was an essay about similarities in between Bahasa Indonesia and certain languages in the Philippines. It was kind of embarrassing that Prof. Ocampo probably learned more words in his two months in Jakarta compared to my two years of work there (but then again, our objectives in going to Indonesia were a bit different, him to learn more about the culture and me for work, so yeah...). Anyway, I enjoyed reading a lot of the essays and it made me want to know more about my nation's history, especially our pre-colonial past and the influence of our relationships with our Asian neighbors (and vice-versa?).

[JL Torres · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read a book by Ambeth Ocampo when I stumbled upon Rizal Without the Overcoat in our high school library. I got immediately hooked. It presented tidbits of interesting facts about Rizal that would normally not be mentioned in a dreary classroom setting.


Ocampo’s approach to move the historical subject off the pedestal continues in this slim volume. The subject was not one personage, but scattered historical connections he was able to glimpse off his travels abroad. By and by he was able to renew and pique my interest in some of the facts he presented, like the piece about the Governor and the Archbishop as well as the connection between Bin Laden, Geronimo and Lawton.

I was hoping though, that he would offer something quite different in this book compared to his previous works, since he did indicate that this would be ‘more reflective than usual’. Sadly, I could barely distinguish this reflective mood in his pieces. He did point to us those distant things that float in the surface, but it was left to other to do the diving.

[Wogie · Rating 4 out of 5]

About Philippines and Other Asian Countries history and how they linked.

[Monzenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breezy read, good book.

[Bookbed · Rating 3 out of 5]

"History? Fun? Yes! History, after all, is a collection of stories, complete with characters, settings and plots. History, in Filipino, is “kasaysayan,” which means “salaysay na may saysay.” That translates to 'meaningful stories.' People like stories, right? More so if they bring meaning to them. Some of these stories can be found in the Looking Back series by Ambeth Ocampo." Continue reading our post here.

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[Pusang_Gala · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don’t get me wrong with the 2-star rating. This is my first read from the Looking Back series and reading Philippine history is not something new to me. (Well, I included the history reading lessons from way back. 😹) But history with humor and story? Well, that’s more than interesting! Maybe it is just me but for my first reading experience with the series, I found this one more serious than I expected. Humor was
thrown in once in awhile but mostly it got me a little confused and I think with these essays, readers are expected to dig a little deeper with each story/topic. I may get used to this with the other series and besides, if I am a curious cat I will definitely dig deeper.

[Tito Quiling, Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series of books on history is easy to digest given the length of the chapters, and with the right amount of information on Asian histories that relates to Philippine society. I find it interesting that apart from having the "twin" sets of Thai elephants, there was supposed to be one in Manila, but given the turn of events, there is no bronze elephant in any of the public spaces in the Philippines.

[Bianca (The Ultimate Fangirl) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating compilation of essays once again from Sir Ambeth Ocampo. From animals to rare findings in Philippine history, it is always a delight to be fascinated by our rich past.

Also this is me begging Anvil Publishing to upload more books on Scribd. Lol

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite books so far in the Looking Back series

[jellybean]

learned more fascinating stuff plus some essays were kinda funny too

[Paransis · Rating 4 out of 5]

DON'T LET ELEPHANTS STARVE TO DEATH smh >:(

[Jona · Rating 4 out of 5]

ganda pala nito 🤧

[kb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anytime is a good time to read about history, especially our own. Ambeth Ocampo always offers easy-to-digest info and a little bit more exciting trivia about people and places of Philippine past that make for both an educational and entertaining read. Lucky my brother has almost all his books so I don't have to go buy 😂 This one in particular treads on our neighboring countries, and how we're supposed to be more interconnected than what's as is.

Everything I read in 2020 here :)

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate how Ambeth discusses history in a conversational and compelling manner. Unlike textbooks and essays that talks too seriously, Ambeth's works are engaging because it has a pinch of humor into it. Most of the people don't want to read history written in a very serious tone! If history is written too "academically", it would deliver its reader to boredom. No wonder why many people hate reading history.

This book offers fresh tidbits of history to its readers. The works here spanned from the Philippines to our neighboring countries. Thank you to Ambeth, he refrained writing too many Rizals in this book. This book is full of twists and turns! Who says that twists only happen in movies? History is the best movie ever!

[Matthew Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book when it was released during a lecture on Rizal in 2011. This is more serious book because instead of the usual social commentaries of our heroes, it harkens towards the Philippine role in Southeast Asian and East Asian history in terms of commerce, politics, foreign relations and even word etymology.

[Trixie Garvida · Rating 4 out of 5]

This different from the previous books of this series, not only because of the lack of a Rizal essay, but also because Philippine history is viewed with respect to surrounding countries. Still informative and a must read.

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Admittedly not as good as his other books, but still it gets 3 stars for enlightening (most agreeably!) this reader about her country's history.

[Robert Tetteroo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very inspiring historic essays, a joy to read and very helpful to understand Philppines’ past.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating collection of some essays.

[Carlo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Articles in this book are almost unrelated to each other. :)