Philippines national hero remembered

The Consulate General of the Philippines celebrated the 150th Birth Anniversary of the Philippines National Hero Dr Jose Rizal on June 19 at the Grand Oriental Hotel where he stayed during his four visits between 1882-1896 to Ceylon at that time.

Jose Rizal, at the age of three, learned the alphabet and at five, while learning to read and write, already showed inclinations to be an artist. He astounded his family and relatives by his pencil drawings, sketches and moldings of clay. At the age of eight, he wrote a Tagalog poem, Sa Aking Mga Kabata, which speakes of the love of one's language. At the age of 16, he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree. He passed the Surveyor's examination at the age of 17. At the age of 23, he was conferred the degree of Licentiate in Medicine. He mastered 22 languages.

He was an architect, artiste, businessman, cartoonist, educator, economist, ethnologist, scientific farmer, historian, inventor, journalist, linguist, musician, mythologist, nationalist, naturalist, novelist, opthalmic surgeon, poet, propagandist, psychologist, scientist, sculptor, sociologist and theologian.