moonglowHow Migrant Workers Keep the Philippines Afloat
December 15th 2008 03:01
Some people are born mean. They have it in the blood. They don’t even know they’re being mean! What it really means is your pre-occupation with yourself is complete. You have no room in either in the brain or the heart, ie, no intelligence or emotional quotient, to look out for other people.
It’s a most awful way to live, knowing your next door neighbor couldn’t care whether you lived or died.
In varying degrees this is true everywhere; but at least in the Philippines people still care. Maybe because of the history of poverty and foreign oppression, maybe it’s the fact that we are a thousand islands originally populated by more than a hundred different tribes organized around a clan basis. There’s an extremely strong sense of family and there’s a lot of empathy for suffering.
You see it in the street where one can still bother pedestrians, jeep and tricycle drivers for directions when you’re lost. And people, strangers really, are always eager to help.
You see it done vicariously, when people slobber over daily soap shows or showbiz news, that they really care about people, even fictional ones or entertainment personas.
People dying of a lingering illness such as cancer in this country are in even bigger trouble, actually. They have to draw extra reserves of strength even when their drained by chemo sessions just so they can entertain the long line of genuinely concerned visitors and family.
So the first thing that pre-school and family should teach children is to see beyond their own needs and to care about other people. First with lessons of “I love you”, “thank-you”, “please” and “I’m sorry” then to “stand in line and wait your turn”, “play nice”, “clean up after yourself”, “don’t steal”, then to love of country, live with nature.
But nothing beats culture as a teacher. In this country, you are not welcome when you are “mayabang” meaning you think yourself better than others; when you are “walang galang” meaning you don’t show respect for your elders; when you are “plastic” meaning you fake concern for others; the first thing old people ask you when you are introduced is which province you hail from so “batangueño” means your probably tough and feisty; “ilocano” means your probably thrifty and industrious, “bisaya” means your affectionate, etc, etc, etc. This empathic culture enables us to work with and adjust to all kinds of people. When you are sensitive to the needs and feelings of others you fit well in any environment.
We’ve got tons and tons of countrymen working overseas and this is the culture they’re homesick for. This is the secret to our overseas success.
It’s a most awful way to live, knowing your next door neighbor couldn’t care whether you lived or died.
In varying degrees this is true everywhere; but at least in the Philippines people still care. Maybe because of the history of poverty and foreign oppression, maybe it’s the fact that we are a thousand islands originally populated by more than a hundred different tribes organized around a clan basis. There’s an extremely strong sense of family and there’s a lot of empathy for suffering.
You see it in the street where one can still bother pedestrians, jeep and tricycle drivers for directions when you’re lost. And people, strangers really, are always eager to help.
You see it done vicariously, when people slobber over daily soap shows or showbiz news, that they really care about people, even fictional ones or entertainment personas.
People dying of a lingering illness such as cancer in this country are in even bigger trouble, actually. They have to draw extra reserves of strength even when their drained by chemo sessions just so they can entertain the long line of genuinely concerned visitors and family.
So the first thing that pre-school and family should teach children is to see beyond their own needs and to care about other people. First with lessons of “I love you”, “thank-you”, “please” and “I’m sorry” then to “stand in line and wait your turn”, “play nice”, “clean up after yourself”, “don’t steal”, then to love of country, live with nature.
But nothing beats culture as a teacher. In this country, you are not welcome when you are “mayabang” meaning you think yourself better than others; when you are “walang galang” meaning you don’t show respect for your elders; when you are “plastic” meaning you fake concern for others; the first thing old people ask you when you are introduced is which province you hail from so “batangueño” means your probably tough and feisty; “ilocano” means your probably thrifty and industrious, “bisaya” means your affectionate, etc, etc, etc. This empathic culture enables us to work with and adjust to all kinds of people. When you are sensitive to the needs and feelings of others you fit well in any environment.
We’ve got tons and tons of countrymen working overseas and this is the culture they’re homesick for. This is the secret to our overseas success.
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