Australian-Filipino youth

[Concerned]

Here goes...

Waaaaaay back in the day... I once was part of MUMPS (Macquarie University Meets Philippine Society). It was a "social" club/association meant to gather filipino students from Mac Uni as a unified group... back then I had strong visions about filipino youth living in Australia... challenges, the plight of the Philippines, definitions of roots, the fact that we couldn't cook filo dishes... so it was created & great folk helped out to increase the events & give back to our society... we even sponsored a child from the Philippine's through WorldVision... shame I can't remember her name...

In any case... a time came when every university had a filipino society & then these awesome events like Sportsfest where each uni would field a basketball and/or volleyball team to fight it out for Uni Champion for that year... Those Anzac day gigs were memorable! Truly a great communion of youth gathering towards a useful goal...

There came a time when a banner called AF-UNIty = Australian-Filipino Union of Tertiary Youth was engineered that attempted to unify the many different filipino societies even further towards high aspirations... sadly... this seed did not bear much fruit... but the plant did grow a little...

Now... fast forward a few years & 6 kids later...

Although I am no longer in the "youth" classifications... I am 6 times more concerned about what being Filipino means to the younger generation. Australian born kids with Filipino heritage means what these days?

Thankfully... there are others out there also interested in this topic...

My mate & awesome talent I will anonymously call Eleazar also has high aspirations for the Filipino youth... his vision is grand yet plausible. His drive is epic yet he seeks no reward... He believes a Filipino is:

1) Selfless and generous to fellow filipinos
2) Goal Driven
3) Aspire for excellence and be the best in their chosen field
4) Results Driven
5) Arrive on time (prompt and timeliness)
6) Disciplined, Hard working
7) Interest of the whole exceeds interest of the individual
8) Global leaders!
9) Ethical
10) Respects and honours the Law
11) Masters of their own destiny
12) Free and independent

& our youth is the central focus in teaching them some of these things...

Now... again with this now... ;p

MUMPS no longer exists, at least according to the MacUni website & I doubt... wait... there is a pending application at Sydney Uni for a Philippine website... nice...

Still... funnily enough... I wonder about these noughties (00's)generations growing up & how the Australian-Filipino youth will turn out.

Do you wonder?

Take part in this discussion. It can be purely anonymous... without cost to you other than a few minutes of typing and/or reading...

[daBomz]

Leave everything about the Philippines... in the Philippines...

U in Australia, punk!

[boohbah]

The correct term is "YOU ARE in Australia, punk".

Remember, in Australia we speak and write in English.

[Danonymous1]

To give you a context of where I'm coming from, I am a Filipino-Australian, migrated to Australia in 1988 - only visited the Philippines once in 2002 - moved in 2003 to work in the Philippines -

If you calculate the time I've spent in the two countries, I would have now
spent 16 years in the Phils and 15 years in Australia. Does this then make
me more Filipino than Australian?? aaah.. that is the question.

I too, have been a member of the Filipino societies in Universities and have been in the forefront in ensuring that Filipino's hold on to their heritage.... The question is now.. what is the Filipino culture and heritage of today? is it what we, who migrated years ago perceive it to be?

The answer, having spent three years here is that I've learned the following
things:

*the culture, attitudes and values of what I perceived to be 'Filipino'.. is entirely different from what I know now *that I am more Australian than Filipino

Dont get me wrong, I still am very proud of my Filipino heritage.... and the values that I have held on to.

One of the difficulties of children of Filipino families who grow up in Australia, is their search for their own identity. What is defined as Filipino-Australian? If I was caucasian and spent my whole life in the Philippines... would I have less of a right to call myself a filipino who was born of Filipino parents and yet never set foot in the Philippines?

aaah... interesting question right?

I guess, what Im trying to say as much as our children are missing out on what we call Filipino heritage... we who have spent years in Australia are also losing touch with that heritage. In my time here, I've learnt so much about the Philippines. I have discovered that my perceptions and ideals of what a 'Filipino' is very very different.

So.. there.. thats my piece of thought for you.

[RonaldRodriquez]

Ronald Rodriguez, a School of Oriental and African Studies student, writes:

On a Brighton pier, I met an Englishman who thought I was Japanese. He was taken aback when I told him I was from the Philippines. As he apologized, I reassured him I took no offense. Filipino friends and I were mistaken for Chinese.

Why should I make an issue out of a random instance of mistaken identity, I said. The blood in my veins is 100-percent Filipino, notwithstanding my American first name, Ronald, and my Spanish last name, Rodriguez. Identity, I said, is important to know one’s self before it becomes useful for others to know you.
He said he’d met Filipino men living in the United Kingdom, the Englishman said. Some would not look him in the eye when they said they were Filipinos. Sad but understandable.

Why is it understandable? I asked. After listening to his stories about Presidents Marcos, Estrada and Arroyo, I realized: Here was one of the few British people who knew a lot about the Philippines.

It’s one thing to be ashamed of leaders, I countered, another to be ashamed of one’s own country. Sometimes, a government reflects a people deceived or whose expectations have been failed by leaders they once trusted. At the very least, unworthy leaders reflect the people’s mistake -- one that could be corrected, if people choose to.

When I asked the Englishman how he knew so much about the Philippines, he waved his hand -- and a woman afar responded. As she walked closer, I asked: Were we looking at a Filipina? He replied: “Yes, my wife is Filipina.”

There was only one question in my mind: Is she one of those ashamed of their own country? After a long conversation, I asked the Englishman’s wife: What is the Philippines worth to you? Without batting an eyelash, she replied: “Nothing.”

Had she asked what the Philippines was worth to me, I’d have said: “Everything.” For what is a Filipino who lives and dies without trying to make his people a better nation?

How many Filipinos like her exist today? Very few, maybe. And probably, it’s not difficult to win them back. More difficult is making sure that no more Filipinos become like the Englishman’s wife.

Before I left, the Englishman shook my hand and whispered: “As long as you Filipinos believe in yourselves, there’d no reason why we non-Filipinos should not believe in you.”