Filipino Pride.... WHY?

2010-05-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

I don't understand why Filipino born in America are proud to be a Filipino.

I for one am a Filipino but i don't go around advertising it. Why? because i'm not proud to be a Filipino. The reason why I'm not proud to be Filipino is that the cons outweigh the pros. People who are living in the Philippines don't take any pride at all of being Filipino. They would be rather be another race.If you watch Filipino media, they all fawn over Americans, Japanese, Korean etc. They hardly have any support for their own nationality.

If you have seen the show called A.S.A.P. (All-star Sunday Afternoon Party)you'll just see actresses/actors singing popular English songs. Most of the singers sing songs that is popularized in America and hardly sing songs from their own language nor have compose any up to date songs. All of the tagalog songs they sing is either a remake 100x or something so old.

So this idea came to mind when I was watching Charice Pempenco on youtube. Plenty of people comment "I'm soo proud to be a Filipino." Why? Just because she is such a successful singer and for the fact that she's Filipino is something to brag about? I don't hear Americans saying "I'm proud to be American" just because a popular singer become a global phenomenon.
And even then, before Charice became popular in the Philippines she became popular first from different country before Philippine media started taking notice of her. Because the harsh truth is, Filipinos are very superficial, they look at her and see that her face is very provincial, not pale looking or Americanize. So they didn't even bother with her until she became popular.

I digress, The issue here is that most Filipino born here in America doesn't know the hardships living in the Philippines. If they knew about it, I don't think they would proud to be a Filipino.

- Government is very corrupt. One of the reasons is that when people vote their, they go by popular vote. Hardly anyone there reads the platform of the person running for government. The reason they voted for the person is because someone else wants them to vote for that person. i.e. Using a popular Actor/Actress on their campaign. And what happens? Living in the Philippines I experience 2 cycle of president campaign. Erap and Arroyo. At first people voted for them for popularity and for whatever reason. After they have gained the presidential sit, people saw how corrupt they are. That's why most people there blame the countries mishaps on the president. But seriously, I think people who voted for them is at fault for not spending time on knowing what they stand for before voting.

- Police are easily influence by money. You can easily ran away from a speeding ticket, running someone over, or other driving violation by just tipping off the police. That's why there is hardly any order. Even in the media, police are portrayed as useless things in society. They would arrive at the situation very late, after the protagonist of the movie save the damsel in distress.

- Environment. Living there as a child, I will always hear these three words everyday: RAPE, KIDNAP, and MURDER. Especially being a girl, they emphasize on rape. I could not get out of my house to enjoy playing outside because I might get abducted, rape by neighbors or might die from wild fire shots. And its not like i'm living in the ghetto area, I was living in the urban parts of the city. And even though the province is potrayed to be safer compared to the city, it's even worse. My dad is from Batangas and you'll hear random gun shots in the afternoon just because.

- Personality. I think the most problem with Filipinos is their personality of crab mentality. I don't mean to generalize, but it happens so often. They cannot accept the fact that one person is better than them. They would suddenly make a very small issue and exaggerate it as much as possible so that person wouldn't be successful. My family members experience this first hand. You may think I'm bias for being with my mom's defense but i'm stating it as a fact. My mom who works at a financing firm for housing issues or bankruptcy had this problem. She is a very diligent worker, and for some reason her co-worker doesn't like the idea of seeing her that way. So that co-worker made an issue about her being out for lunch for 45 minutes. Seriously, by California law you're allowed to have an hour for lunch break, and my mom even notify the manager that she'll be late that day (they're only allowed to have 30 min). So why make that issue?

- Immigration. If people are so proud to be Filipinos why do they immigrate out of the Philippines? Cause there is hardly any job there. It's either be a domestic helper in a different country or be a nurse. Most people I meet up here in America who are Asian and immigrated here as well, look down on Filipinos. Why? because they see us as Maids. If theres a pyramid of how racism goes i guess we go below compared to other Asians.

So here are just the few of many reasons why I'm not proud to be a Filipino. Why would be a success of well-known singers or athlete cover up the many cons of being Filipino.

What do you think? should i think otherwise?

One bowl of answers please

2010-03-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

Lately,I have been thinking a lot what i want to do with my life. Even though i spend a lot of time thinking about what i want to do, i feel that i couldn't find the answer by just laying in bed and rolling. I'm currently a 4th year Biochemistry student at UC Davis. Even though i'm graduating within 10 weeks, i feel that my days spent here at the UC was way too fast and unproductive. I feel its way too fast in a way that 10 weeks isn't really long enough to digest all the materials that they present to you. I always feel i'm in a buffet when i'm at a quarter system. I just keep on eating all the information and during test time i'm in a food coma. Unlike semester system, i feel like i have time to enjoy the material and able to digest, understand and retain the information. Well what am I complaining about, Even though I spent about 2 years here at the UC, i guess i just can't get used to it.
At the moment, i'm still unsure what I want to do with my life. Even though getting a BS degree means something I feel that its not what i really want in my life. Sure i have options of what i can be doing after i graduate but with the present economy, finding a job would be tough, competitive and scarce. And what about going to grad school or med school. With my current grades right now, I feel that I'm not qualified nor dedicated enough to take up on higher education just yet. I feel i need to spend time earning experience on my career first to see if i like it or be interested in.
Other than having academic and job related problems, I feel like i'm a very plain person. Not that i chose to be one. It just difficult to find what i would be interested at. Sure there is video games but its more for entertainment and stress reliever than having something that I can be good at and be proud of it. Sure if I'm 10 years old, it would be a nice to brag about beating a game within so and so days and so and so hours. or Joining a competition for fighting games. Or having a high level character on a popular MMOrpg. I feel that I'm only good at domestic chores such as cooking, cleaning, organizing etc.. If I'm not partially ambitious I would just go for a house wife. But then i feel i would be bored at it after a few days. All and all i feel i need a new hobby or something that i can be really passionate about. To that, I'll start something new and write this blog. Maybe i'll find my bowl of answer.