Philippines since they were born doesn't feel like they belong here. It's
really sad how people alienate other people basedon their appearance
and difference in culture. But the reverse also happens,where some of
the chinese people here are racist towards the Filipinos.Some are
more progressive, and less traditional, and have acceptedthe diversity,
but some are definitely racist.
Sorry, to give a context, a predominant populationhere in the
Philippines are, of course, the Filipinos and theChinese and taiwanese,
but mostly chinese. And growing up, and going to achinese school, I
had teachers who made me feel like I wasn't chineseenough.
Althought it didn't bother me much, it was enoughto take note of, and
to give me that impression as an adolescent and teen.
I went to a chinese school for secondary educationand elementary, and
kindergarten but I've always known that I never reallyfit the usual
stereotypes, or the cliques at school, so maybe that'swhy it never
really bothered me much, despite knowing that I didn'tfit anywhere
HAHA As a child, I had such an active imagination,and I feel like I lived
in my own world then. So I think that helped.
Tell.
Hmmm, well, no. Just that Asia's brimming with somuch cultural
wealth, and I can't wait to visit each country andtry out their delicious
dishes HAHA
But I think that our nationality | ethnicity, background,etc. are
important in molding us as a person, and therefore,a part of our
identity. I think that's the influence that it hason me, but none of it is a
secret. The only reason I wouldn't bring it up casuallyin a conversation
would be because it wouldn't fit the topic of theconversation. (In a way
that, if we're talking about clothes, I wouldn't suddenlybring up my
ethnicity.)
But yeah, I hold my experiences, culture, beliefs,and values near and
dear to me, but there are some biases that I had tounlearn as I grew
and learned more about the world. After all, thereis no perfect culture/
beliefs/ values. For example, in the Philippines,there is this thing
called "Filipino time" where a person shows up late.It's part of the
culture, but it isn't good, because it doesn't respectthe time of the
people you're meeting with.
As well as the toxic habit here of commenting on people'sweights like
"Uy, tumaba ka" which translates to "Hey, you gotfat" as a greeting.
I mean, it's part of the culture, but I had to unlearnthat, and those
things have to stay in my past as a person who's constantlyseeking to
better herself.
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