How to Break the Filipino Stereotypes

In celebration of Filipino American Heritage Month, the Cross Cultural Center sponsored the event "We Look Filipino But Why Are We Different?" which was basically a lecture by Glen Paculba - owner of Star Surfing Company - about the difference between the Filipino community in San Diego and Hawaii.

Very insightful and inspiring :] I thought I'd like to share to you a some advice by Paculba that I will forever keep in my heart (and voice recorder :P).

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1. Be Educated; KNOW YOUR ROOTS

• "When I sent my kids to college, my advice to them was, 'You can pick a major... I'll pay attention to your major. But when you go to college... you need to get the best education you can get. Not what the college is going to give you, but what you can get from college. What an education will give you is a chance to be competitive and informed in this world. And that's it.' What you pick for a major is kind of irrelevant. It's what you learn about history and how you apply it. What you learn about geography, finance, art and how you apply it in meeting somebody that might make your life better. ...What you learn about socially in college. Experience as much as you can in what you pick to the fullest. To the fullest doesn't mean having a high grade point average ...but understanding... learn about history... Once you learn stuff like that and kind of commit it to memory it all falls together in your understanding of the world and how you treat and relate to people. And that's an education. It's not the GPA."

2. Be Worldly

• "We tend to have a narrow horizon in an area where we move through life - I'm talking about Filipinos in general that I know here in San Diego... It's different in Hawaii because of the really mixed culture. Filipinos in National City, Chula Vista, Penasquitos and Mira Mesa... we seem to have this really narrow view of the world and we escape to the "safe" and "comfortable" zip codes. I am the only Filipino business man in 92109 and that to me says a lot. I don't see Filipinos venturing out of those areas that I mentioned to make life. I'm not saying it's bad, it's just... to better enjoy this world, you must be worldly."

3. Be Proud of Your Filipino AMERICAN Identity

• "My family has been in American for 97 years. I am your grandson, I'm your son. When you're here for 97 years... I don't have an accent, I don't speak Tagalog... but I'm still Filipino. And I'm proud of that. My sister's kids... because they're intermarried, they might not look like Filipino but it doesn't mean they don't understand being Filipino."
• "Think about how you want to be as a person and then as a Filipino. I always look at myself as a confident person first. And then a Filipino man. It's not easy, but you're here, you're educated. You have the tools to figure things out. You just need to understand or realize that there are tools to use."

4. Trust, Take risks & Accept Mistakes

• "My second wife was a counselor for elementary to high school students. As young kids in the Philippines, kids weren't allowed sleepovers. That's a biggy! It said a lot to me. We had sleepovers in Hawaii. From not going to sleepovers you're not allowed to this or that. Then we have teenage suicides, then gangs because we look for another family. ... I know that, you know that. But because you're here... you can look beyond that and break the chain. Not stop loving your family and what they do for you... But you can open your children's doors to what I'm talking about. Have them travel, trust them. They're gonna make mistakes but we all make mistakes. I made a lot of mistakes and I'm still here. I think the 3rd and 4th wave of the Filipino culture doesn't allow that and I see it very clearly. You can break it, not very easily, but you can break it. Or change it for your lives and your children's lives to be more enjoyable."
• "Position for luck: Things happen. I'm all about positioning for luck. What I do is I put myself in many many situations - half of them fail, the others ones I'm kind of lucky... but the one or two that are really lucky... really makes my life better and I make progress from there. I go to different places and do things. Do things. Participate in life. Prove them wrong that Filipinos do things besides what the Filipinos normally do. For your enjoyment..."

5. Be Social

• "Meet people - that's how you gain confidence. A key word in socializing is engaging the conversation. Filipinos aren't known for that. If you look at most your friends at strange situations they probably won't engage strangers to make conversation. Engaging is a key strength in being worldly.

6. "Bottom Line... It's All About Self-Confidence."

• " I don't think as a group we are brave..."
• "Because I work in a surf shop and intermingle with a lot of people, I'll tell you what Filipinos mean to the white guy... 'I gotcha. I'm better than you. I know that, you're not a lot better than me.' That's what they're thinking, because we don't prove them otherwise. But I change his mind all the time, because I'm confident and I'm smart. And you can be that person as well... It all starts individually."
• "Having an inferior complex is a choice."
• "Without support and without a plan, it's hard to be confident in this society. And I enjoy life because I am confident. But I made it that way... It's up to you to be confident."
  

Advertising Allen

Note: I had a long blog posted for the weekend but decided to hide it. Enjoy the video that we showed for last week's cultural and public relations presentation!

Fuel My Heart

Lately I've been interviewing a lot of people who are very passionate in what they do. And I have realized a commonality among them all:

They don't give a f**k who's judging. Their love for what they do is more important than the titles that may label them. There are just some things more important than the amount of publicity given, having enough money to live a stable life, treating others unkindly just to get things done, being cordial, graduating as soon as possible, teaching at a prestigious school, listening to destructive criticism and many other things...

When I am discouraged, I will listen to my voice recorder. Every passionate person I encounter will have a place in my mind and especially my heart. I will remember the fuel that drives the wonderful people I have met in my life... and still hope to meet :] Just like them or just like you, I hope to be driven by emotions. I hope passion will blind me from external pressures.

I hope that one day, I will no longer be afraid to do whatever the f**k I want.

Passion.

It's what makes me feel most alive and what seems to make life that much more meaningful <3>

hereandnow

So yesterday at 4pm, SDSU's Cross Cultural Center hosted a Filipino American Heritage Event in celebration for Filipino American Heritage month (October, yay!). Some friends and I enjoyed a small theatrical show at Aztec Center's Casa Real. Overall, hereandnow performed many different cases of Filipino American culture, experiences and struggles.

Even if I didn't understand everything, it was very entertaining and kind of an eye-opener. :]

hereandnow is "a compelling Asian American theatre company that has performed across the nation for the past 17 years. hereandnow uses the collective voices of its diverse cast to reach out to the audience through universal themes of the show: that everyone comes from a unique experience, and that all people have stories to share."

After their performance yesterday, I spoke to the person leading the group, Jason, and out of that conversation I found inspiration and solace :] I first commended him for the performance and the messages they strive to relay out there. Because many of the scenes addressed controversial issues, I asked him, "What criticisms have you gotten, how did you take them and how did you deal with them?"

I swear it took him 15 minutes to answer that question. Haha. So basically, their group has received a lot of criticism, almost to the point where they had to avoid physical fights. I asked him how can he keep going with all the controversy... and he laughed as he replied, "I love the controversy."

He also made an interesting point that some of the criticism he's gotten, the worst coming for their own ethnicity, is how many people told him that the issues they addressed were shown incorrectly. But in his defense he said, "These are my experiences. This is what I went through. This is what I saw. No one can tell you what you experienced and how you interpreted it. That is up to you."

We kept talking - well... he kept talking haha - about the group, all the situations they've been in, and how much fun the journey has been. As our conversation came to a close, I asked him one more question, "What advice would you give to minorities who are trying to stand out and break through the stereotypes... like you guys do?"

Before he asked, he took a step back and asked, "What's your major?" Haha.

And so Jason said something along the lines...

"Ask most of the youth what they want to do and they'll answer, 'EVERYTHING.' But you can't do everything. You just can't physically do everything. You have to make a decision - do something that is most important to you and who you are - and stick to it. You will gain so much more doing a specific thing than many things. I mean, you can do many things, but there won't be one specific thing that you won't be good at. You limit yourself that way and you won't be as happy. A jack of all trades is a master of none."

And from doing what we want, we can break through the stereotypes and show to people that we are more than what everyone expects from us :]

Thank you hereandnow :D

HAPPY SLIP!

Question: You're definitely an influence and inspirational to a lot of people and I was just wondering what advice would you give to people in terms of standing out and being out there like you?

Christine: My heart really goes out to especially Filipino artists because we're so under represented in the media. ...I think everyone has unique gifts. What I really try to tell people when they start a career or sorts in entertainment is like... you know what, find your passion first - what are you really passionate about, your convictions... because that's going to fuel you and keep you going even past the bad feedback.

Use the new media, every part of it because that's the powerful tools that we have at our disposal rather than waiting for other people to give you the opportunity because you will wait for an entire life ... as Filipinos. The chances of getting a huge role just given to you, whether you're at the music business or acting business...

Let's be realistic, we have the tools in our own hands... So, start with your passion first don't worry about what other people say. Make sure that it's fueled by something you're inspired by and then just keep working diligently at that. And people will see the passion. And then you'll begin to grow your audience.

To: Jen Amos :]
Find your passion & pursue it no matter what since God gave you that unique gift!

Love, Christine Gambito

More details later. Thanks to my lovely voice recorder, I got the whole interview down <3 style="text-align: center;">

F**k Arguing

I have problems explaining myself a lot of the times.

On Sun. Sept. 28th, I wrote a blog "Against Our Culture," which spoke about how I wanted to learn how to become a decent debater.

I may be able to explain myself well through writing and blogging. But anyone who's probably listened to me try to explain things without a script will notice that I tend to struggle.

And you know what? I'm fine with that.

I don't want to be a decent debater. I don't want to practice arguing. I don't want to prove my point on the spot. Especially with words.

It just creates so much noise... raises so much pride...so much inaction and so many contradictions.

Words are definitely a big part of society.
Everyone can talk. Everyone can know things.
Everyone can prove themselves through words.
Yay, we have a very witty and intelligent society.

But this is one society that I want to rebel from.

I don't want to know everything. I don't want to always speak eloquently. And even if I do, I don't want to show it off all the time. Every conversation I have with others shouldn't be a debate. It shouldn't be a competition. We should be working together. Not proving who knows better. But piggy backing in each other's ideas. That is growth. That is progression.

None of this, "You're wrong" piece of BS. None of this undermining BS. F**k that. People aren't stupid. By human nature, we can sense if someone's looking down on us. By human nature, we can sense if we have the upper hand. Maybe that's why many of us take advantage of it.

Not many seek to understand, but seek to be right. WTF if up with that?!

Bottom line, I'm done arguing. I'm wrong, there I said it. You win. I hope that makes you feel better about yourself. But always being right will dwindle the friends you have, remember that. I know what's right in my heart. And one thing is to not have to persuade you. F**k arguing. Society relies wayyy too much on words and being right.

F**k that. I'm just gonna shut up and do my sh*t. You can ask questions and I'll give you answers but there's no way you're going to dissuade me or even bring me down.

That's all. Have a decent day.


"Never explain yourself. Your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it."

-Belgicia Howell

Flashback

Note: I still owe everyone a deep blog! Until then, I'll be working on this week's cultural presentation. And if you wanna hint, it'll be a reflection of my cultural presentation that I had at the first AB Samahan meeting. In case anyone missed out or just want to recap, here's the presentation :] Enjoy!

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Why Care About the Filipino Culture?
Cultural Presentation #3
Presentation Date: September 12th, 2008

[*Interacting with the audience]

*Okay. By a raise of hands, who here is an American?
*Now, who here is a Filipino American?
*Who here was born in the Philippines?
*Who where wasn’t born in the Philippines?
*Who here has never been to the Philippines?

Today four million people of Philippine ancestry live here in the US. And believe it our not, most of us reside here in the state of California.

*Where do you live? (Chula Vista anyone?)

Now why is that?
*Why are most of us living here? (Parents)
*Why do our parents want us to live here? (To live better lives)
*Now how many of us can say that our parents are raising us here for the sake of living better lives?

Yes, that is true.

But to what costs?

Today in the Philippines, practically every educated person you talk to will be able to tell you about our Filipino history, politics and essentially our culture. Understandable, they live there so they should know. As expected for any other country.

But what about us?

Did you know that in the last Philippine Elections there was an 81% voter turn-out? As for the most recent US elections there was only a 44% voter turn-out. That’s almost half of the voter turn-out in PI. And the US population is three times greater than PI.

So what does that mean?

If you talk to many of the educated people here in the US, especially people our age, you will find that not many of us know about US history or politics. Did you know that our age group had the lowest voting rate out of all the other age groups in 2004? I’m sure that’s not really a surprise though. 1 out of 4 of us don’t even read the news.

*So let me ask: How many of you honestly prioritize US history and politics in your every day worries? Well now you do right? Because presidential elections are coming up and that's kind of important.

To be honest, I can barely keep up with daily news. What makes it even better, is the fact that I can get away with it. As of many of us. Look how far we’ve gone. We’ve made it this far with not having to worry about anything but our own personal problems. So who cares right?

I guess I’d say the same myself. But together, I believe we can find a way to relate everyday simple ideas to our own culture.

But… if one of the last things we can care about are our US history or politics, how can I expect you all to care about our own? ...I have to ask:

Why the f*ck should we care about our Filipino culture?

Like I said, look how far we’ve gone. Our parents have exchanged our Filipino heritage and identity for the sake of living the American life. And this is the American life. Where we’re given the opportunity to care more about our own problems than our own nation’s!

Most of us are here for what? To meet new people, friends, hopefully meet your future boyfriend or girlfriend… I know you all didn’t dress up nice for nothing. I know most of us didn’t come here for another lecture.

So I have to ask again: Why the f*ck should we care about our Filipino culture? Why should we be here and learn about our ethnicity if all we’re trying to really do is enjoy college to the fullest social extent? Why should we even give a sh*t about a country thousands of miles away with people we'll probably only see a handful of times in our lives?


...I don’t know about you... but I have a lot of family problems. Because I was raised in the American culture, I tend to clash with those brought up in the Filipino culture – specifically, my elders. Our mentalities clash. And a lot of the times it gets so frustrating.

You don’t have to raise your hands, but I ask of you to think about these questions: How many of you don't get along with your parents? How many of you are you majoring in something for your parents or for your family? Why? Why not major in something you want to do?

Anyone have superstitious relatives? Or what about the ones that contradict themselves? You know, the ones that prefer the cheaper price of anything. And yet it’s okay to buy coach bags?

Okay, besides our parents or elders because I’m picking on them too much. What about you personally? How many of you can’t even stand your own ethnicity? And especially the peers that share your ethnicity? I have no doubt that a lot of you are already thinking about a list of things that annoy you about Filipinos.

But how about this. How many of us… don’t even know who we are. Maybe not as individuals, but as Filipinos. Where did we come from? What is our history? Why are we here today? How did we get here? What is our purpose as Filipinos? Filipino Americans. Americanized Filipinos.

There has to be a reason why our generation is given this difficult task of juggling both the Filipino and American culture.

Now, I have no doubt that many of us wish our parents or elders understood us better. I know that if my elders just really listen to what I have to say is in my heart, I’d feel less anxiety and frustration. But how? How can we be better understood?

Well, as someone who has taken an interest in her culture, I'm here to tell you that there is a reason for everything all the elders we are frustrated with do. Let's just say our elders come from a different world with different rules. It's like, you can take the kid out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the kid.

Also, I'm here to ask of us to challenge ourselves by having a curious heart and questioning why we are where we are today. Why do we do every single thing we do? What are our motives?

I’ll tell you now: to find better understanding, not just with the Filipino culture, but with other ethnicities, it’s all about learning our roots and growing new fruits. If we learn to understand our past – our parent’s past especially, I guarantee we will learn to understand our present and in time, see more positivity in our future. Knowledge of our culture is everywhere around us. It should be our base, our foundation. And if we decide to do this together, I guarantee that not only will we understand our elders better, but we will understand ourselves. We will understand ourselves better and ... appreciate everything we have today.

Once again, I’m Jen Amos, an Andres Bonifacio Samahan member, and I hope that we will help each other learn more about ourselves not just as an individual, but... as a Caucasian, a Japanese American, a Vietnamese American, a Chinese American, and African American, a Mexican American, an Asian American, any kinds of ethnicities or... a Filipino American.

Thank you.

Good Guys Exist

Have you seen Happyslip's most recent video?



In response to "Take a Bow" by Rihanna. (@ 1:58 min.)

"How about we take the song and we change the lyrics to reflect a more positive situation. One that you can actually smile about. One that is about guys that are dedicated and devoted and are worth waiting for because they actually exist. Believe it or not."

- Happyslip

I believe you Christine! :] I believe, no, I know those kinna guys exist. And they are so worth the wait...

Found a Founder

Taking my time to my 1200 class at Southwestern College, I stopped walking to see an office I never noticed. The front and back of a SDAFF poster was posted from inside the window, which prevented me from seeing what was inside. But I did notice a name posted in caps top-left of the window:


F. TUYAY


Felix Tuyay? One of the founders of AB Samahan?

I got a little excited and noticed that the bottom of the window had a little card that showed his office hours. I pondered whether I should take a picture of it for future reference and looked at the SDAFF posters at the same time.


"Planning on going to one of those?"

I turned around to see a tall light-skinned Filipino guy. He seemed middle-aged ...considering how he was losing hair above his forehead. "Yeah, I think so. I already have some movies in mind."

"You know some of them are already sold out?"
"What? No way!"

He went on for a few seconds about SDAFF. "Alright," he said as he entered his office. I took a quick glance before the door was about to close to notice how cultural his office looked. Before the door closed I quickly asked, "Um, are you Professor Tuyay?"

He opened the door wide open and took a quick glance at the name I first noticed, "Um, yes I believe so."

"Um... aren't you one of the founders of AB Samahan?"

His face seemed to light up when I asked that question. But he responded in modesty, "Oh no, that's Sal. But I was very involved in Samahan." We spoke about the organization for a bit and I moved my foot cause I realized it was keeping Professor Tuyay from closing the door... I told him that I was the current cultural affairs coordinator thinking he might say something about my position.

He didn't seem to care though, haha. He seemed to care more about high school conference and FCN. And he spoke to me in a casual yet business manner.

Now that I think about it, he was probably rushing the conversation because he might have had another class to teach....

But then he stuck his hand out and asked me for my last name.

My-last-name.

Who ever asks for that first???

Anyway, the whole conversation lasted for about three minutes. He said goodbye and the door closed in front of me. For a second, I stood there in shock. What just happened? Did I just meet one of the founders of SDSU's AB Samahan?

Professor Tuyay teaches a few Asian classes at SWC - one that I may take for kicks next semester (ASIA 115 FILIPINO-AMERICAN CULTURE). Might be useful ;]

If not, there's always interviewing :D

FCN 2008 Teaser Trailer