10 Things Every Filipino Must Learn

I am a proud Filipino but there are some aspects of the Filipino culture that needs to be improved. These improvements are impossible if   everybody thinks there is no need for them, so I start with my contribution by recognizing these in this blogpost.

1. Learn to wait.

No Filipino can wait. We all find ways to be ahead of the others. We are known for this. We simply can not wait as if there is no other chance to do a certain thing. As a result, chaos results, which is reflected in the systems we have either in large-scale government services or in ourselves as well.

2. Learn to think before talking.

Feed a Filipino an attractive title of an article or news, he or she is able to form opinions even without knowing and understanding the story. I call this "Facebook mentality of hastiness." As a result, most non-Filipinos do not take us seriously, because we are more noisy than smart.

3. Learn to respect differences and opinions.

Every Filipino thinks everyone should conform to him or her such that when one opposes him or her, he or she gets irritated and feels the need to get back. Worse, instead of focusing on the core points of disagreement, a Filipino tends to argue on personal aspects, which are totally irrelevant from the main issue.

4. Learn to focus on ideas, rather than on emotions.

We Filipinos always apologize for our actions and words, which are brought by our emotions. We are simply too emotional such that we can not control it. We simply need to express our emotions before making an attempt to thoroughly assess the situation. As a result, conflicts and strained relationships arise unnecessarily.

5. Learn to follow rules.

Give a set of rules for Filipinos in writing and they will definitely ask you to repeat what has been written as instructions. The reason for doing it is that a Filipino is simply asking for roundabouts of the steps to avoid time and so-called "hassles".

6. Learn to keep quiet and be silent.

Ride a bus with a group of Filipinos, you will observe that other nationalities are raising their eyebrows. Why? We are simply noisy to the point of being boisterous. On a positive note, we are noisy because we laugh about problems but on the negative side, in every conversation, you will only hear chitchats about other people and their lives. This is nothing to do with their own.

7. Learn to keep jealousy at minimum.

Jealousy is not just limited within a relationship. It also involves the possessions and abilities of others. I can say we Filipinos have problems of feeling secure of ourselves. Perhaps this is because we are simply uncontented of what we have, regardless of the socioeconomic status we have.

8. Learn to genuinely appreciate and trust.

We Filipinos are very good in criticisms in any setting as if we are always assume the roles of judges, who are never pleased by anyone. We simply can not get rid of the mentality that the best person in the world is ourselves. As a result, we can not trust others. Worse, honestly speaking Filipinos do not even trust themselves even more.

9. Learn not to go around the bush.

Set a goal for a Filipino to achieve and he or she will find other unnecessary requirements hindering the goal. Many "must-haves" and "to-do-lists". However, these things will just delay things and sometimes end to non-attainment of goals.

10. Learn to think and live simply and positively.

We Filipinos are very fatalistic and negativistic. We always think nothing good will last such that everything must be done with urgency. As a result, we consider a lot of factors before pursuing an endeavor, instead of just making a simple decision to a certain thing.

And so I am a Filipino, I am not exempted from these recommendations. I recognize each culture has its own negative side, which are products of interactions within the society. I hope we Filipinos could still change for the better, rather than waiting for change to occur from outside.

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