An interesting op-ed piece about how Filipinos have gained success due to being abroad and not at home.
Filipinos are not lacking in talent. We are blessed with it. And in the case of Manny Pacquiao, abundantly so. But if so, if we are blessed with talent, and sometimes (or often) abundantly so, why are we cursed to live like this? Why are we cursed to live in misery, and more and more grindingly so?
We do not, in fact, lack for world-class talents. Pacquiao is not alone in that department. Before Pacquiao, there were Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante, both of whom put us on the world map in billiards. Bata was idolized by a whole generation of billiard players, not least Americans, who picked up their cue completely literally from him. Django as well had an enviable reputation in Germany.
I had not realized Francisco was a huge hit in Germany. Why did he go to Germany?
Now what’s the one thing in common between Pacquiao, Reyes, Bustamante, Salonga, and Licad? The answer, quite simply and quite mournfully, is: They either honed their talents abroad or they had mentors from abroad.
Bustamante is a case in point. When he was still living in Germany, he was at the top of his game. A friend of mine once took a cab in Berlin many years ago and when the cab driver learned she was a Filipino, he enthused, “Oh you are from Django’s country.” When she said she did not know Django, he was aghast. “How can you not know Django?” he protested. “He’s the best pool player in the world!”
That was then. Not long after Django came back and lived here, his game fell apart.
I don't think I agree with that opinion about Bustie!
Does this mean that we need to go abroad or be taken under America’s wings to get ahead in life, if not indeed to unleash our capacity to do great things?
Not at all. Pacquiao’s monumental triumphs, in fact, merely reaffirm an old-age truth we ourselves have glimpsed in the form of the question: Why is it that Filipinos do exceedingly well when they go abroad? Or more to the point, because it holds the key to its answer: Why is it that Filipinos obey the rules, act like model citizens, and work their asses off when they’re abroad?
These are questions we’ve always answered with: Because of the system.
Now I am reminded of the late Edwin Reyes, as this seems to be exactly what he fought so hard for and lost his life because of it. :sorry:
Continuing: There’s nothing innately wrong with the Filipino. There is nothing in his genes that prevents him from accomplishing big things. There is nothing in his physical or mental endowments that obstructs his capacity to do great things.
But there is everything wrong with his system. It’s his system that robs him of his discipline, his direction, his drive. It’s his system that prevents him from envisioning grand things. It’s his system that stops him from accomplishing great things.
That is how Filipinos do great things when they’re abroad. The system allows them to.
In the end, we don’t really need to go abroad to be able to do grand things, we don’t really need American coaches to bag the gold in sports or in life. We need only to do one thing:
Change our system.
Source: http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20090512-204471/Systems [Retrieved 12 May 2009]
Wherever we go, the Filipino fans and players unite. Jose Parica is treated like royalty whenever he runs into some of his fellow countrymen in his travels. :wink:
Americans may be the best in basketball, but there is no question that Filipinos rule in pool. Would they have achieved such heights without going abroad, as the author suggests in the above piece?
Any thoughts on this?
Filipinos are not lacking in talent. We are blessed with it. And in the case of Manny Pacquiao, abundantly so. But if so, if we are blessed with talent, and sometimes (or often) abundantly so, why are we cursed to live like this? Why are we cursed to live in misery, and more and more grindingly so?
We do not, in fact, lack for world-class talents. Pacquiao is not alone in that department. Before Pacquiao, there were Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante, both of whom put us on the world map in billiards. Bata was idolized by a whole generation of billiard players, not least Americans, who picked up their cue completely literally from him. Django as well had an enviable reputation in Germany.
I had not realized Francisco was a huge hit in Germany. Why did he go to Germany?
Now what’s the one thing in common between Pacquiao, Reyes, Bustamante, Salonga, and Licad? The answer, quite simply and quite mournfully, is: They either honed their talents abroad or they had mentors from abroad.
Bustamante is a case in point. When he was still living in Germany, he was at the top of his game. A friend of mine once took a cab in Berlin many years ago and when the cab driver learned she was a Filipino, he enthused, “Oh you are from Django’s country.” When she said she did not know Django, he was aghast. “How can you not know Django?” he protested. “He’s the best pool player in the world!”
That was then. Not long after Django came back and lived here, his game fell apart.
I don't think I agree with that opinion about Bustie!
Does this mean that we need to go abroad or be taken under America’s wings to get ahead in life, if not indeed to unleash our capacity to do great things?
Not at all. Pacquiao’s monumental triumphs, in fact, merely reaffirm an old-age truth we ourselves have glimpsed in the form of the question: Why is it that Filipinos do exceedingly well when they go abroad? Or more to the point, because it holds the key to its answer: Why is it that Filipinos obey the rules, act like model citizens, and work their asses off when they’re abroad?
These are questions we’ve always answered with: Because of the system.
Now I am reminded of the late Edwin Reyes, as this seems to be exactly what he fought so hard for and lost his life because of it. :sorry:
Continuing: There’s nothing innately wrong with the Filipino. There is nothing in his genes that prevents him from accomplishing big things. There is nothing in his physical or mental endowments that obstructs his capacity to do great things.
But there is everything wrong with his system. It’s his system that robs him of his discipline, his direction, his drive. It’s his system that prevents him from envisioning grand things. It’s his system that stops him from accomplishing great things.
That is how Filipinos do great things when they’re abroad. The system allows them to.
In the end, we don’t really need to go abroad to be able to do grand things, we don’t really need American coaches to bag the gold in sports or in life. We need only to do one thing:
Change our system.
Source: http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20090512-204471/Systems [Retrieved 12 May 2009]
Wherever we go, the Filipino fans and players unite. Jose Parica is treated like royalty whenever he runs into some of his fellow countrymen in his travels. :wink:
Americans may be the best in basketball, but there is no question that Filipinos rule in pool. Would they have achieved such heights without going abroad, as the author suggests in the above piece?
Any thoughts on this?
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