According to ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, culture dictates or at least takes a large part in the formation of one’s morals. If his words and writings are to be taken into account, having a culture centered around wisdom contributes to making one a productive part of society and, by extension, improving and strengthening a nation overall. By the same logic, a dysfunctional culture that disdains wisdom creates deeply broken individuals who, through their foolishness, contributes to the deterioration of the community they dwell in.
In the present day, with the way our country seems to be destroying itself through rampant anti-intellectualism, is it perhaps our very culture today that continues to destroy us as a nation? In her latest article, Kate Natividad describes how Tagalog has no place in a presidential debate. Over here in Add’s article, he shows us that Tagalog shouldn’t even be our national language. However, I for one believe that it is not our language per se that is wrong with our country today but our very culture, from the way we live to the way we see the world that waylays our attempts at making progress and destroys any chance we have of making something of ourselves as a people.
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Today, we call the ever-growing anti-intellectual movement of the Philippines as “Jejemon” which perhaps began life with youths who took pleasure in misspelling words, misquoting statements, misunderstanding ideas and generally misusing their lives when texting. Today, Jejemon culture is promoted by the local media what with Vice Ganda putting a different spin to the definition of “philosophy” which is actually quite different from its original meaning. Deeply rooted in materialism and immaturity, Jejemon culture has contributed greatly to the misuse and misunderstanding of many ideas and the loss of wisdom in not just youths but most of society in general.
As I see it, Jejemon culture is simply just an extension or, perhaps more appropriately, child of “Bakya” culture just as President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III is the son of former president Corazon Cojuanco-Aquino. A dysfunctional culture promoted and propagated by the local media aligned with the Aquino family which champions drama over good sense, Bakya culture was adapted by many maids and nannies who knew little about quality programming and thus passed it on to their own hapless children as well as the children they were tasked with looking after. While I have always believed in the freedom to choose one’s preferences, the fact that our media has been infested with dumb and often over-dramatic teleseryes and little else has affected our culture in many subliminal ways which eventually resulted in the creation of Jejemon culture. The mistaken belief that a dumb and greedy housewife can even be called a stateswoman is what ultimately led to the idea that a juvenile, indolent and perhaps mentally disturbed loser could be a good leader.
While our chosen language and butchery thereof through misspellings and the overuse of gay lingo (which I think only mirrors our identity crisis as a people) may be a factor in the gradual but certain destruction of our country, it is our culture that really needs to change if we truly want hope for the Philippines…
I HAVE RETURNED TO LAY WASTE TO OUR ENEMIES!
Amen to you sir.
The question would be how?
People are stubborn.
People are thought to live and think freely. Although this statement is messed up because people act based on how they’re brought up and most people I know grew up watching these teleseryes. Most people I know do not care about how our country will fare in the future. I cannot blame them as they are either focused on their own selves and their own future or just plainly don’t care about our country believing maybe things will be as stable as it was yesterday.
I can understand why people watch the dumb crap the media fed them on the reason that they do not mind because maybe they are stressed(?).
But what I cannot understand is why people would even think such half-assed entertainment is worth even being happy about. There is nothing new in our entertainment that is good. It just keeps getting cheaper.
I based this on hearsay so do not flame me, but more or less this might have truths in it. By hearsay, I meant my classmates who keep talking about it like its important when we are having group work to do.
Anyways, we are kind of pucked up. The policians should learn to favor the middle-class(be it upper or lower) because we are the portion in society that being as sed by the politicians the most but gain so less or even lose as this craphole just gets crappier. These asshats should also stop with all this “compassion”, “rightfulness”, “heart” and all that crap they claim to have because that won’t solve our problems. All it does is appear to the gullible masses who so far appears 90% hopeless.
We, as you say, need a total overhaul in our culture.
We cannot survive as a nation like this.
Pinoys are generally self-centered and seriously lack harmony, quick to judge, to find reasons to hate, to find credit in whatever he sees, to find good in the mess that he/she is withouy finding the bad he has to improve. And most of all we lack SELF-AWARENESS, most of the masses just does not care of continuing self-development because they do not mind their flaws. All people mind of is showing-off and feel either superior or in the level of others. To get what is best for their interest and to maximize their OWN time.
Its sickening. We need to grow up. Yes, WE.
>> However, I for one believe that it is not our language per se that is wrong with our country today but our very culture.
Although the exact syllables that make up the words are neutral in and of themselves, there is a strong connection between Pinoy dysfunction and Tagalog.
Let me give a simple illustration. Let’s say I go to the national library where 99% of all the titles available (covering science, technology, history, fiction etc.) were in English, with only 1% in Tagalog. Then when I scan the Tagalog titles, they are restricted to shallow romance, comedy and the like.
What will happen to those who are confined to only the use of Tagalog? Will the English proficient be culturally / intellectually superior merely because of something as neutral as a language?
Yes, that’s right. Tagalog speakers in our society are confined to the very limited material we have available – mostly in mainstream media/TV (Kris Aquino, Aldub, Vice Ganda…) which hardly has any substance. They can’t read English novels that entail depth of vocabulary and extended mental capacity to appreciate the plot’s complexity.
Our culture is largely defined by what kind of input we take in (GIGO). Bring every squatter to Grimwald’s level of command of English and I can guarantee you, their entire culture and way of thinking will be revolutionized and we will become a Singapore-class state in no time.
The other option is to translate the entire body of knowledge available in English to Tagalog. Then Pinoy culture will ascend beyond the jejemon level it is now in due to the wider material made accessible to the “prisoners”. The Japanese have practically done it. Is this is the direction we want to take to liberate every Pinoy’s mind? Or is it easier to simply master English?
HEY, I take offense to that! My apprentice is a squatter!
However, yes, I have to agree with most of what you said. Indeed, my apprentice gives me hope that, eventually, all squatters can make something of themselves if you ween them off of local media.
Question, Zaxx how are you so wise? I agree with one hundred percent. There are many Asian countries that read, write, and speak their own language that are successful. I as a foreigner that is attending university her hate the fact that while I am taking a Tagalog class that the Filipinos in the class have a problem passing the class. Taglish and English have destroyed this countries capabilities to learn their own language and write, read, study in their own language. Every country should have a national language that is required for subjects learned in school all the way to the university level. Foreign. In America we can learn a different language in junior high school, senior high school, and then it is required in college. This is an country of OFW’s should focus on the same learning style. High school graduates should at least know one foreign language. University graduates should at least know two foreign languages like Chinese and English or Spanish and English or hell many people go work in the middle east how about learning Arabic and English?
I can’t help but notice how Idiocracy is dead on when it comes to the Philippines. Though unlike the movie where the degradation is exposited through a few scenes, we get to see that degradation first-hand.
The only way the country can improve at this point is if someone hijacks the media. Tv and radios especially. Because part of the reason this popular culture persists is because the people are usually stuck with what’s available. Perfect example? All radio stations only play love songs.
Cory Aquino had to dumb the Filipino electorates thru: her daughter, Kris Aquino; teleseryas; Wowoowee Shows; the ‘Wisdom of the Ages”, Boy Abundia; the freak, Vice Ganda; etc…
This gave the Presidential Path to his Mentally Retarded son, Benigno Aquino III. Like attracts like…mentally retarded attracts, mentally retarded , also. And, we have now these results…it is good that , some are awakening!
This “Jejemon” and “Bakya” mentalities are the reasons why the Failippines will never graduate to a First World nation and the Failipinos respected by other countries as people who are above just being a “yes man” servant in the international arena. Unfortunately for us Failipinos, we prefer the comfortable role of competing with and outshining one another, with whatever aristocratic attitude we have acquired through our cheesy “teleserye” programs, while we cower at the sight of foreigners and feign the servitude demeanor of our pre-colonial ancestors to gain favor. In short, we Failipinos are just a bunch of hypocritical and wannabe SOBs who lack the finesse and regality of a world class nation and people.
We get the government we deserve
Pls allow me to share how things work in my country when it comes to the Dutch and English language. And then all I see is that my country is not much different to the Philippines.
– Foreign books are translated into Dutch and then issued/released in bookstores and libraries; those books can also obtained in the original language but availablity in that case maybe low; to get a copy anyway, we have to resort to online websites like http://www.amazon.com or http://www.amazon.co.uk or download them as E-book.
– Foreign TV programs (we do have a lot of those) aired on Dutch TV channels are all subtitled in Dutch.
– in all schools all lessons (except those of French, English, German) are given in Dutch; however there is now a trend to give class/lessons in English but only at university level (age 18+ and older).
– if we would start to introduce English as the primary, first language (instead of Dutch) in school, at work and in our personal, private lives, we instantly create a new class (like upper class; middle class). Those who are low- and uneducated will become – again – the losers. The gap between those who can speak English/French/German and those who dont/cant becomes huge.
– Most Dutch households have (digital) cable TV and can receive as many as 100 TV channels, among them are English TV channels (BBC), German (ARD, ZDF), Belgian (VTR), French (RTBF), Spanish, American (CNN) and miscelleanous others (Discovery, Animal, Netflix, HBO, MTV).
At this moment, each pupil is taught more than one foreign language (starting at elementary). But thats how far it goes. If one is lucky, he/she may work in an international environment and keep up his/her French, english, spanish or german language.
In short, I do think both my country and the Philippines are alike when it comes to the English language. We simply are much better to express ourselves in our own native language (Dutch). Only a few can speak foreign languages. And those are really the happy few.
To add a little more:
– We also – like the Philippines – have dialects but not as many. We only may have 3 or 4. In the Southern province of Limburg they have their own dialect which I cant and dont understand one bit. The ‘national’ language is also called ABN (Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands = General civilized Dutch).
– All Dutch newspapers are printed in Dutch. As far as I know there is no Dutch newspaper that is printed in another language.
– Foreign newspapers and magazines are readily available in kiosks and newsstands/bookshops.
From what I know, the way some Koreans/Japanese see SE Asia generally is that, people from poor Asian countries speak good Englishie! Hehehe
Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.