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Philippine culture - Why?

Publikováno v Fórum Filipíny

Hi there,

Afer roaming the Philippines (Cebu) for a little over 2 years now, I learned a lot about the Philippine culture. The way they think, they way they behave, the do's and don'ts. As a foreigner I have to accept all of those traits even though they are 180 degree opposite to the Dutch, European and western way of thinking. What I am trying to do for those 2 years is to grasp and understand WHY they are so different in their behavior and way of thinking. To name just a few examples: The delikadesa, the mano po, Tampo, "Juan Time", "hya", no man is allowed to witness the birth of his own child, its impossible to address constructive criticism directly to a pinoy/pinay, the inefficient public transportation system (buses, jeepneys & tricylcles). My favorite website so far, by far is http://getrealphilippines.com.

My question is quiet simple: Can someone explain me WHY those people still think so different compared to us? The Philippines live today, like we lived 50-60 years ago (if not longer ago)

  • Profil uživatele Robert Haighton

    Publikováno uživatelem  v Fórum Filipíny 

    We dont need to be a governmental official to change things. We write to the city government with petitions or we simply protest and claim more efficiency, we go to the newspapers (who should already have published many reports about the inefficiency). As simple civilains we are not mouth-tied, gagged. We have the right to protest and more importantly we have the right to speak our free minds. If and when the city officials wont listen, then we wont vote for them the next time.

    Anne, I am not suggesting anything. I am just surprised that everybody accepts it so easily while having an efficient public transport is a win-win-situation and will lead to much more spare time. Your answer also implies, as if you dont care at all. I would be outraged by it. We are not sitting lame ducks here, we are pro-active about these things.

    Robert

  • Profil uživatele Mary Anne Dela Cruz

    Publikováno uživatelem  v Fórum Filipíny 

    Well, I believe nobody is enjoying the inefficiency. I wish I'm a government official and I could address that matter but I'm not.

    I'm fascinated how observant you are and how you suggest to these people to work etc etc when you've only gone to one place in our country. There are some truth to what you've said but you must not generalize.

    I have met a dutch Robert, a child and as a fourth grader she was nice enough to teach me some hard to pronounce words which requires some effort from my throat which later on led to giving up. I was also wondering why European words are hard to pronounce or even speak.

    Thank you for respecting ours while you were here and I believe it's really tough to understand someone's culture especially if you don't dig in. :) Only when you get to find friends that you'd be able to look on the better side of the boat.

    Anne

  • Profil uživatele Robert Haighton

    Publikováno uživatelem  v Fórum Filipíny 

    Dear Anne,

    We have been in war with Germany 70 years ago. Most of us forgot about that and started to live their OWN lives.

    What I am most surprised about is that the philippine society accept the public transport being so inefficient. If all was efficient it means you can wake up later and being at work faster and you will be home earlier. Result: more spare time. Spare time is valuable to me. Probably not for Filipinos.

    Robert

  • Profil uživatele Mary Anne Dela Cruz

    Publikováno uživatelem  v Fórum Filipíny 

    Robert, I am happy to have landed on your query and indeed it is interesting.

    Perhaps one factor is the historical background we have. We were colonized by different countries and therefore we were influenced by them in so many ways.Arabic, Indians, Indonesians, Chinese, Spaniards, Americans, Malays. All of these races have gone to our country before and influenced greatly our values, ways and beliefs. We embraced most of them and accepted what most of us are comfortable.

    I understand that it's really disappointing to experience the inefficiency in the public transportation system (buses, jeepneys & tricylcles). I can't explain why they are inefficient. I hated that fact as well.

    I believe lack of discipline is present in this country. It is indeed unacceptable but some still believe that we just have to be more considerate.

    Thank you for your time.

    Anne

  • Profil uživatele Lei Pangilinan

    Publikováno uživatelem  v Fórum Filipíny 

    Try living with a poor family for a week or a month, leave your money, gadgets and other things in your house when you live with them. Maybe by becoming one of them you will understand why. I've seen some documentaries about these poor family, they really try to work hard but it is different here, even if you kill yourself working, the compensation is not enough to have a decent life.

  • Profil uživatele Robert Haighton

    Publikováno uživatelem  v Fórum Filipíny 

    Thanks Lei.

    I rather wish someone could explain me why. Not to please or satisfy me but I feel they thermselves dont want to move forward, dont want to improve their circumstances, dont want to evolve, dont want to progress. They are stuck in the Middle Ages, the way I see it. They sit there on their asses doing nothing and accepting everything that happens as if they cant change it. That by itself is a worse form of poverty than the financial poverty they are in.

    That really goes beyond my comprehension as human being.

  • Profil uživatele Lei Pangilinan

    Publikováno uživatelem  v Fórum Filipíny 

    good observation Robert

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