Are we a damaged culture?
I first came across the phrase “damaged culture” from the late Maximo Soliven (my favorite columnist) in his column “By The Way”. He said Filipinos are a “damaged” culture. And this is because we had been under two colonizers – the Spaniards and the Americans. Which is why we don’t know how to appreciate our own. We did not learn to love our own. We looked up to these “white” people so much, that we unconsciously looked down our own.
If we loved our own, we would have strived to do our best to make our products “world class” and not just enjoy buying from other countries. More than five decades ago, we were ahead of our Asian neighbors economically. In fact, more than five decades ago, Korea looked up to the Philippines and thought that we were unreachable. When I was in elementary, people used to look down on Japanese products because of their inferior quality. But look at where they are now and where we are now. Most Asian countries have bypassed us. Now, even Vietnam, who was ravaged by war four decades ago has left us behind.
Is there hope for our country? Of course, there is. We must love our country. We must change our attitude and do our part for a better Philippines.
Max Soliven, along with Teddy Benigno and Louie Beltran were my favorite columnists in the Phil. Star, in that order. Max Soliven was right when he said we are a damaged culture under our 2 colonizers. Somehow we inherited some of the negative traits of our colonizers, specially the Spaniards. It is best illustrated in the Noli Me Tangere & El Filibusterismo, two of our required books in High School. For one too, siesta time is of Spanish origin. Not that its bad per se , in fact , for us elderly we are advised to have it at midday. Some overdo it tho' that they forget we are in the Philippines and not in Spain. A brother who has travelled to European countries mentioned that Spain has the longest noon break in all countries of the world in its malls & offices because of their siestas & the longest number of days of annual paid leave of its employees that enable them to have yearly vacations. Before, I wondered why the US had to import nurses all these years. I think it is because few Americans would like to have this kind of job. The American High school curriculum leaves a lot of vacant time for students that they get jobs even in high school, they enjoy their independence too much. It's high time we roll up our sleeves , set aside politics & corruption which is giving us to the dogs, (sanamagan! says Soliven) & get to work to be at at par with countries who were way, way behind us.When & how, that is the big question. We are a resilient & hopeful people, these traits will see us thru.(comment from Linda Cerna)
ReplyDelete