Being Filipino, Complaints, Hong Kong, Observations, Philippines
Speaking or not speaking Tagalog doesn’t make the person more or less of a Filipino
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Filipino fast food in Hong Kong, originally uploaded by: takejiro
Yesterday at work, one of our clients approached me in my desk to ask something. Of course, I didn’t know he was a Filipino, so obviously I addressed him in my usual English greeting - perhaps I sounded an American, British or Filipino accented English, I am not sure - but he appeared to be a little bit embarrassed.
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The Filipino Me: “Oh hello, Sir how may I help you”?
The Filipino Man: “O, Pilipino ka? Bakit ka nag e-engles”?
The Filipino Me: “Oho, but we are not suppose to be speaking in Tagalog dahil hindi naman po ako sa Makati nag ta-trabaho and I had no idea na Pilipino pala kayo.”
The Filipino Man: “Nai-inis ako sa mga Pilipino na pa Engles-engles pag ang kausap ay Pilipino din”.
The Filipino Me: “Hindi naman po lahat na clients namin dito sa Hong Kong ay Pilipino. Saka ho, this is Hong Kong, we should address people in English kahit Chinese-speaking people sila at hindi naman lahat na clients namin dito ay Chinese.”
The Filipino Man: “Hindi ka kasi halata na Pilipino kung magsalita kahit alam ko na Pilipino ka sa hitsura pa lang”.
The Filipino Me: “Salamat po, but — but — pero we also don’t assume all our clients are Thai, Chinese, Americans or British either, so we use English, it’s our standard service.”
The Filipino Man: “Taga saan ka sa atin”?
The Filipino Me: “Bicol, po.”
The Filipino Man: “URAGON KA PALA”!
The Filipino Me: “Sure.”
Ang yabang! I don’t get it. A fellow Filipino is accusing me of something for not speaking Tagalog to him when I don’t even work and live in the Philippines? So typical. Oh phulez, Hong Kong is an International city and is one of the major financial centres in Asia. Don’t forget that English is a global language, and is considered as the language of commerce. How can one possibly transact business with other people if he doesn’t know the language of his clients?
Let’s be realistic. English, Mandarin or Spanish are the most spoken languages all over the world. And to learn just one of these makes a person competent enough to access the world. How much more if one learns all three? The whole world is just a word away and that is what I call, a truly GLOBAL FILIPINO.
Can he at least be proud that I speak English better than the many locals here who wished they too can speak English as good as mine? Can he at least be proud that Filipinos are everywhere around the World possessing the best quality at giving good service? Can he at least respect me that the main reason I work here is to help my family? Didn’t he realized that the remittances of Filipinos working and residing overseas helps the country’s economy from eventual collapse?
Next time if this man approach me, I’d say “No Sir I don’t speak Tagalog because I am not in Manila, I speak Bicolano because I am from Bicol.” Sad to say, Mr Santos, if our country is not creating enough jobs for its swelling population, one in 10 people is likely to seek employment elsewhere abroad. What can you do?
But the point is, I am a proud Filipino but I don’t think I’d be speaking in Tagalog with our clients unless I work for a Filipino company. If you’d ask me to have a San Miguel beer outside - ok, not San Miguel because I don’t drink beers, let’s order Kaldereta na lang - I can point you to the nearest Filipino Restaurant and you’ll see how proud Filipino I really am.
Speaking English is not the interest, particularly, it’s the opportunity. I even like to learn Mandarin or Cantonese because I work here. It wouldn’t be impossible to become fluent in any language unless you have to use it. In any circumstances, speaking or not speaking Tagalog doesn’t make the person more or less of a Filipino. There is no such thing as True Filipino. We are a mixture of all great races. The only thing that defines a true person is learning about yourself and learning where you came from. Then you will know where you can place yourself.
Unfortunately this can go on and debatable. These are just my observations and you are entitiled to your own opinion.
hahahaha. Natawa ako sa post na to , K!
I think it is very typical of Pinoys to do that. Just the other day, I witnessed a similar situation.
A Pinay friend held a Christmas lunch at her flat. Her nanny is Filipino. The guests of the lunch were mix. One of our Indonesian friends brought her baby along and the Pinay nanny started talking to her in tagalog. The Indonesian girl was surprised and amused. We had to tell the nanny that she’s not Filipino! hahahahahah pahiya tuloy sya!
yan kasi assuming….
duke recommends you to read…Holiday Season this and that
OMG Duke, she must be embarrassed? A sister of a friend of mine from way way back had the same incident as well. She’s fat (sorry to say), not a typical Pinay - must be her looks, maputi at parang Chinese. One sunday (you know the crowds) afternoon at the Star Ferry, she overheard two Pinays talking (the ngisi looking) about her body:
One lady said, “ang taba-taba nya siguro kung kumain yan sobra”.
2nd lady answered: “alam mo naman ang mga chekwa… baboy”.
Hindi nakapagpigil yung sister-ng-friend-ko, nilapitan nya yung dalawa at pinagmumura ng Tagalog.
btw, I like your new “christmasey” look! Luv the green
duke recommends you to read…Holiday Season this and that
hahaha. That line that goes “O, Pilipino ka? Bakit ka nag e-engles”?” struck me as funny. It’s as if our being Filipino should stop us from speaking another language. That person is sooo narrow-minded.
Merry Christmas, K! All the best for the coming New Year!!!
Marni recommends you to read…Ah Christmas!
Marni, he actually said that. Parang, “hoy ang kapal mong mag i-engles sa akin”. But you know, when people are bad at open-mindedness they don’t know it. In fact they tend to think of the opposite.
well, it is a protocol to communicate in english language at work, then, you were right and he was wrong. i just don’t like the way he acted when he said “bakit ka nag e-engles? as if he had the right to dictate on what language you should address him when you were not even his boss. well, maybe later, he can politely ask, “filipino ka ba?”
Belle recommends you to read…My Place Turned Community Beach
Belle, exactly. It’s just that, I find it really annoying. I have often wished I’d had the temperament to do an absurd jokes but I was not gonna make “patol” na sana - I admit it seems cowardly to keep quiet - well, the problem is, there’s so many things you can’t say.
baka insecure yung pinoy na yun kasi di sya sanay sa ingles. aba mabuti nga iningles mo pa siya e kung nagbicolano ka? patay siyang bata sia! lol
Ambo recommends you to read…Story of Two Girls and a Cup
Ambo, hehehe I’m afraid na-shocked sya dahil I can speak both English and Tagalog at the same time at hindi Cantonese yung greetings ko.
hahaha, i meant when he was not even your boss.
Belle recommends you to read…My Place Turned Community Beach
Ganyan din dito,isa pa nga irritated pa ata at english ang gamit ko instead of Bisaya,tagalog or german sa mga anak ko.Paki ko haha
cheh recommends you to read…Blue winter sky
Cheh, I vote for German speaking for your kids but don’t forget to teach them our culture. Ok lang if they can’t speak tagalog at least they know na Pinoy-mix blood din sila. And speaking of mix, they can be a star in Pinas balang araw sa ganda nila.
Ihr seid beide aus den Philippinen aber weshalb spricht ihr englisch? Pareho kayong Pilipina pero bakit kayo nag-e english? My answer was KEINE AHNUNG
Beng recommends you to read…Pinay Scandal At Its Finest
BWAH hindi pa ako tapos…lintik na enter tab to oo.
Hi K, huwag ka nang mairita…talagang ganyan ang ibang mga tao. Ang nangyari sa yo ay mukhang hindi na mangyayari sa akin ever dahil hindi na ako marunong magsalita ng ganyan. Hehehe, pagnakaharap ko yong mamang yon ge-germanin ko siya. tingnan natin kong di lumaki ang butas ng ilong niya
have a nice week.
Beng recommends you to read…Pinay Scandal At Its Finest
Ate Beng, ang puso. Ang wenta is I had my name-badge, so meaning I am at work, not in some kanto at nakikipag-inuman. I don’t mind if he’d ask me, “Uy, pilipino ka pala, ayos may makakausap akong kababayan sa HK”, then I’d be much obligated to make “plastikan” hahahaha. Kaso naalibadbaran ako sa dating nya. Ang siste, dapat pala may Philippine flag yung badge ko para automatic na pag lumapit sya sa, ta-tagalog ako agad. KEINE AHNUNG, diba? (Whatever that is, hahaha).
haha K this is so good cure hangover ko sa post na to.. sabihin mo next time wag sya mag assume agad ha… lol
shalimar recommends you to read…?when cooking takes over your life
Sha, I am sorry for making you laugh. The point is, I get it off my chest na. I was trying to explain it to my Pinoy colleagues and they too was surprised to think na nag tatanong na nga lang, ininsulto pa ako. There was this other Pinoy even said, “I thought you were a Chinese”. So what if I were a Chinese, what’s the big deal?
Kailangan tanungin ko si Mirriam Quiambao (the Miss Philippines who tip-toed on the pageant many years ago), she asked, “Kala ko Chinese ka, nag Englishan pa tayo pero I’m proud, dahil ikaw ang nag-initiate to talk in Tagalog”. I answered, “kasi popular kang Pilipina”. She replied in astonishment, “Ahhh yung pagkadapa ko”?
Exactly.
Btw, i tag you K.
Ambo recommends you to read…The 2007 OTWOMD Christmas Tree Blog Parade
Ambo, I actually made a post related to that meme. apologies medyo nahilo ako sa “rules” on tag. Considered it a meme (sa earlier post ko) kahit mali, hehehe. Salamat.
sa work ko, when I get to talk to our Filipino clients in the US…we’re not allowed to speak to them in Filipino…allowed lang IF ONLY IF THE CLIENT INSISTS. Otherwise, it’s english all day all night ’til my nose bleeds. LOL. Pero most of them, the minute they found out na Pinay ang kausap nila, they prefer conversing in Filipino talaga and they all get excited, may I pass the phone ang drama…hahaha. Asking the same things..taga saan…saan ka nag school…anong balita jan…etc.
Relax. Na-excite lang siguro yun na may nakausap na kababayan. Ganun lang siguro yun…have a nice day!
malen recommends you to read…I heart Reyna Elena
Malen, hinihingi din ba yung cell number mo? Hahaha. Iba naman kasi yung case mo (nakipag argue na), they knew it right beforehand kaya they “INISIST”. Pero on my case, hindi sya na excite, na-intimidate sya at hawak hawak nya pa nga ang blackberry phone nya pretending to send a SMS to someone kulang na lang sabihin, :”huy meron ka neto”? I swear.
First comment ko to, first visit ata - wala bang mag-ki-kiss dyan sa mga bisita dito??? O kaya mag-alay nang gumamela? Waling-waling man lang kaya? Anyone? Anyone?!
Hmpt!
Naku! If I was in HK with you, dinagukan ko na an na aki na dahil uragon na bikolana ining reyna na inio! at nakibutangan inio!!!
There are indeed Pinoys/Pinays like that everywhere, kahit na dito saamen. I’ve had several incidents already with Filipinos not talking to me in tagalog when i could see that they struggle soooo much talking to me in english taz me mga tono at intonation ever pa! Ang nakakatawa nito, when I speak to them in English, ni indi na nila alam kung ano ako because me mga twang twangalatoks na ang aking twanglish.
So when they ask if i am Filipino, my usual answer? “No, I’m Irish”. Taz tatanungin ka pa “Eh ba’t ka marunong managalog?”, my answer? I went to Temple University to study thagalug.
Ganun lang ang social climbing. hehehe
reyna elena recommends you to read…And the winner is?
Hi Reyna ng Bayan, hahahaha INURAG-URAGAN KA! Aliw ka. Thanks for the visit.
ang tsunget naman ng mama na yun, K! baka naman ‘meron’ lang sya that day? *lol* but it was right that you remained professional towards him…
to address your words “There is no such thing as True Filipino. We are a mixture of all great races. ” I’ll just play the devil’s ad here, k?
To say that there is no such thing as a true Filipino will be painful for our veterans to hear. They fought for our freedom, be from the Spaniards, Japs or G.I. Joes…all for the love of our country. Kahit dinumog pa tayo ng ibang lahi at nalahian… I will never call other races ‘great’ dahil sa akin, pantay pantay tayo lahat saan man ang bansa natin…kahit reyna at hari, mabaho ang sh*t gaya ng mahihirap …besides if you only knew how the royal dutch family came to power, baka isumpa mo sila ..their ancestors killed and killed innocent people to gain power…kung meron mang ‘greater’ than them, it’s us pinoy who fought for freedom at hindi para mang angkin ng bansa ng iba….ayy! napalayo ako sa topic…as I was writing, kahit dinumog pa tayo ng ibang lahi, totoong Pilipino pa rin tayo, hindi maita-tatwa yan…..kung ganyan tayo magmahal ng bansa natin, aasenso tayo.
Sa mga interviews ng mga high officials like Japan, China, Germany (o sha isama ko na Holland) they speak their own language kesehodang mag interpreter..and why? kasi proud sila sa lahi nila, ‘take me or leave me, it’s up to you’ ganuon lang…hindi din naman sasabihing hindi sila flexible just by not speaking english, pinapakita lang nila na tunay ang pagiging mamamayan nila ng kanilang bayan…which I really admire
ang haba..sensha na, ngayon lang kita nadalaw…pero do not misundertand me, agree ako sa iyo na gamitin ang international language dahil nasa trabaho ka.
merry christmas! (^0^)
Thess, amen to that. But don’t get me wrong, I am not a closet Filipino.
“We are a mixture of great races”.. there are so many things to enumerate but I believe being a true Filipino is about our love for the country. Our loyalty to the Philippines. And when I say loyalty that doesn’t mean that people who go to other places is not loyal, well of course not. Being away from our country doesn’t make us less Filipino. Liking foreign singers/bands doesn’t make us less either as well as watching foreign films. Neither of those things make us less Filipino. We all love our country, and I’m sure everyone does. It’s just that at times we may not be able to show it. But why do we have to show it? We can all prove our love for our country not by showing it off to everybody. We can all write! We can all listen to one another. That’s what this is about anyway, right?
Oh another thing, in school I learned that being a Filipino, one has to know how to speak the Spanish language and Spanish was the original language used by Filipinos. So therefore, let’s not confuse ourselves. Tagalogs, Kapampangan, Bikolano, Boholano and other people with “Malay” heritage should never be called Filipinos. We are and forever will be Malay. Right?
K recommends you to read…Dear Santa
K, say man Mama mo? Si Mrs. Leonardo? Palla pa misteryoso ka man! Ma misa misa na. SPonsor ang state sa 16. Sisay daw ang ma gozos. Baad ma-allu-all man sana sa mike. Buda na magrepeke ang bagtingan ta napurisaw si esperanza sa kampanaryo. Salamat sa pagrokway kang site ko. Naheling ko su “twitter” hehehe
Ger, *beep* dai ko tabi midbid si Mrs Leonardo. Buhay pa so Lianko bakery dyan sa saod? Nagilumduman ko ang Misa Misa ang pila kahallaba para magbakal sana ning mainit na tinapay. Kapu-puypuy ugaring minsan mag mata. Naheling-heling ko na baging ung gayun kang Xmas sato ngonyan na taon. Gamisa misa ka man?
Tama ka K. Bako man kita native Tagalog speaker. Kaya ako, llabot ko nga iba ang accent ko. Taga Virac ako. I speak as a true Viracnon or Catandunganon. I respect diversity.
Ger, eu baga - ung rinas sana tabi ang ga bikol lalo na taga sato. Kaso sarong aldaw grabi mi ning tiwa-tiwa ni Soy hamak pang ang samong topic, “Arik-Dik”? Haen ka kaan.
[...] duke on Dear SantaGerry on Speaking or not speaking Tagalog doesn’t make the person more or less of a FilipinoGerry on Speaking or not speaking Tagalog doesn’t make the person more or less of a FilipinoK [...]
K!
Love the Christmas feel on your blog
I know it’s been a while…and I have lots to catch up on reading your previous postings…
Happy Holidays!!!
Consuela recommends you to read…can’t come any sooner…
nung asa thailand din ako, may kaibigan kaming cebuana na pinapagalitan nung boss nyang puti kasi daw bakit daw kung may kausap syang mga pinoy e di sya magtagalog, ang usapan namin ay thai o inglis. sabi nya kasi cebuana sya at di sya sanay masyado magtagalog. tapos dito may nanay din na pinay at kung magkita kami sa kalye, german din salita namin. tanong nung asawa ko bakit daw ganon, sabi ko sa kanya kasi hindi naman sanay magtagalog yung pinay dahil bisaya sya. so ganun lang yon, kung anong salita ka comportable, bakit hindi yon ang gamitin mo.
hahaha nice one K!
Assumptions always get people into trouble. Never assume, how hard could it be!
And there are two extremes, those like the one you wrote about..
and those who, after just two year abroad, hindi na raw marunong magtagalog! naku!
In general, people should just stop being pompous, pretentious and assuming diba?! Onga naman, If a filipino friend and I were speaking Cantonese, walang nagrereklamo, pinays speaking Chinese. eh pag English, bakit ba ang daming assumptions! In France, two Chinese can speak French without being criticized. if they’re not being pompous and pretentious, there’s nothing wrong!
Anyway, Merry Christmas to you again!!!
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