IF YOU'RE DIFFERENT, YOU'LL KNOW IT

I realized lately that Filipinos have this culture of descriminating other people. Culture, meaning, it's part of life, without any malicious intent.


1. jologs/squatter vs. conyo

We say jologs/squatter when we want to express how unfashionble a person is in terms of clothing and accessories, or when someone does not meet our standards of proper ethics.

...And if we meet someone so well-mannered, well-dressed and who speaks english fluently,... we call them conyo. We label them who has all of the latest gadgets and moolah that we never had in our lives.

2. delingkwente vs. nerd

If you always submit plates on time and get high grades, people see you as a nerd or "hindi to tao". If you're the other way around, you're a delingkwente or pasaway.

3. muslim, bisaya, etc.

We can't label them all as Filipinos.

We often laugh at bisaya architects who says, "Pahiram ng triangol", instead of "triangle". I myself am guilty of that. Once, I went to a renovation project in St. Luke's with Ryan. The foreman told us, "Eto yung wall na i-didimulis", and pointed at the same time towards a wall marked with a big red "x" and the word "dimulis". I can't help it... I faced the side opposite of the foreman to hide my red face almost ready to burst with laughter.

Malls nowadays are also used as a venue for Sunday mass. However, they did not allow a formal mosque to be constructed in Greenhills, while these guys pray in this warehouse / back-of-house area of the mall.

4. Chinese ako... obvious ba?

Sometimes, I wonder why people ask this question..."Chinese ka ba?" Obvious ba and would it matter?!

I first experienced descrimination in college. One of our batchmates seems to be overwhelmed about the size of my eyes... as if he hasn't seen a Chinese in his entire life. He tried to mimick in his eyes how small mine are. (I won't tell you who he is...)

Same thing goes in my former work. People tend to crack this joke that I can't see things clearly with my eyes. I would just answer back, "Wide screen DVD format kasi yan, panoramic view pa."

The last was that lousy dean of @#$ (lecturer in JPT) who keeps on calling me Jang-gyung, or whoever she is. I'm pretty sure the whole class of more than 50 already knows me as Jang-gyung.

5. Papaya soap

There's probably a dozen or more brands of papaya soap available in the market. There's even one with real papaya bits... as if they're selling gelatin. These sell coz a lot of people wants to be whiter. In general, whiter is better. If you're dark, there's a necessity for you to buy one of these soaps to change your natural complexion.

Although people still tend to express it when they find you so maputi, in the same way if you're so maitim.

6. Boy whatever

Boy tangkad, boy payat, boy whatever... people tend to label you for your extreme characteristics that's beyond the norm.


I'm sure there are lots and lots of other examples. Here in the Philippines, if you're different, you'll definitely know it coz people will surely express that you are from another specie.