Cat got your tongue?

Charlie and I seem to have a slight disagreement when it comes to education. I don't know whether it was drowsiness, or old age, but she said something that didn't make sense, which is surprising because she usually makes sense of things. Did that make sense?

It began when we started talking about education. She said she would reinforce the use of English as a medium of instruction. I said, no, Filipino should be reinstated. She asked what for. Well, look at me, I said. Look at my friends. We hardly know what the Tagalog term is for this or that English term. My friends have a hard time using Filipino prefixes and suffixes. Most of the tme they don't get it right. Still, she said that was because we don't have enough knowledge of English; that was why we had a hard time. That really got my goat. Aren't we supposed to learn Filipino well before learning English? I mean, a thorough knowledge of it should at least be established before going on to another language, so you can have a basis. (And all this time I thought she supported my stand on this. I wrote an editorial about that and she said I was right. Ah, the forgetfulness of parents. But she did support me when our insipid, doddering supervisor refused to have it published, claiming that it contradicted school policy. Of course the editorial is worth nothing now; the statistics are already old, and an editorial has to be timely. But Charlie's a good sort, and there are things about parents that you have to forgive every now and then.) Anyway, back to the marrow: I finally said that since the Philippines is already lagging behind other countries, maybe we should teach children Chinese. Mandarin, that is.

The idea is much more practical than it is improbable. People might say that it would be costly, difficult, that children would not tolerate it. Yet it is actually feasible in the Philippines, due to the number of overseas Chinese living here. It would also be profitable for us and would contribute to the commercial and diplomatic relations between our country and China. It would also increase the IQ of schoolchildren, not only because Chinese is one of the most difficult languages to learn but also because it is also one of the richest and most distinguished. Perhaps in the possible controversy(akin to that of the ZTE scandal?) that would ensue people would stop arguing about sex education and how it should be taught in schools.

The problem that pervades this issue is that it would lead to a blurring of class distinctions. The Chinese would not support this idea. Why is that? Three words: Language is power. The Chinese want to keep an edge over Filipinos ( this is a product of history, the discrimination against the Chinese and their retaliation); they are also jealously protective of their traditions. The fact that the Filipinos are not entirely respectful of an ancient culture is one reason. The Chinese have always been mocked in Philippine entertainment and literature. ( For those among you who would like to refute this, read El Filibusterismo and Noli Me Tangere, or try to remember those Shaolin Kid movies. ) Now, however, they have Filipinos at their mercy after prospering in businesses and other ventures. The reality is, people will not let go of what they feel is rightfully theirs; this tendency will be clearer and stronger in the case of the Chinese; it is their power, their sense of superiority, that they will not be able to relinquish. This exclusivity varies from person to person, but generally, the Chinese look down on Filipinos; some people have even been disowned because they married Filipinos and disregarded purity of blood. As one who has studied some part of Chinese language and culture and mingled with the Filipino-Chinese and Filipinos, this concerns me. I for one have witnessed the supercilious treatment of the Chinese towards Filipinos (and vice versa) and the kindness of Chinsese and Filipinos towards each other. As a person of mixed blood and heritage, I feel the tension of the conflict acutely. There are some things that are unspeakable, and some things are needlessly said, but unless we start saying what needs to be said we cannot hope to ease the bitterness.We are the product of history and society, but we can change what we have been made to become. When one considers all the time that the Chinese and Filipinos have spent together in the span of centuries, it seems that it is hight time that we try to coexist without discrimination and see people as they are before judging them by the mere fact of their race.