We can’t have a “Why It Feels Great To Be A Pinoy” tag game without having the opposite of it. That’s why I’m starting this tag game myself… and personally, I believe this will help Filipinos be more productive (if acted upon) than the previous game.
To truly know ones self is the only way we could improve on it.
So, this tag game shall be called: “BAD PINOY TRAITS I’D WISH TO CHANGE”
There are lots to enumerate but I will only name about 3 of them to give others a chance to ponder the rest.
Let’s start…
– The “One-Upmanship” Mentality
Pinoys love this as much as the “Crab Mentality” we also possess (I’ll get to the “Crab-Mentality” later). It’s the trait most pinoys have that makes ’em want to always be ahead of everyone else regardless of how complex or petty the situation is.
Say for example you’re in the middle of traffic… bumper to bumper… and all of a sudden the lane on your right starts to move forward. You decide to slide in since there is a considerable gap on that lane between the vehicle in front and the vehicle behind. You switch on your signal light to indicate your intention to move to the right lane. As soon as the vehicle at the back notices your right signal light blinking, he zooms straight forward not wanting you to get ahead of him or at the least slide in. What’s with that?! It always happens… and it doesn’t make sense!– The “Crab-Mentality”
Crab mentality describes a way of thinking best described by the phrase “if I can’t have it, neither can you.”
The metaphor refers to a pot of crabs in which one tries to escape over the side, but is relentlessly pulled down by the others in the pot. This term is broadly associated with short-sighted, non-constructive thinking rather than a unified, long-term, constructive mentality.
It is also often used colloquially in reference to individuals or communities attempting to “escape” a so-called “underprivileged life”, but kept from doing so by those others of the same community or nation attempting to ride upon their coat-tails.
For Pinoys, crab mentality is the tendency to “outdo another at the other’s expense” or to “pull down those who strive to be better.”– Ignorance and Willful Ignorance
Pinoys love to ignore rules and regulations. You can see this everywhere. Either falling in line at your nearby fastfood stall or simply just following your everyday traffic light.
It’s the choice to not act or behave in accordance with regard to certain information in order to suit ones own needs.
Willful Ignorance on the otherhand is a bad faith decision to avoid becoming informed about something so as to avoid having to make undesirable decisions that such information might prompt.
Oh! And notice how when other pinoys get away with not following the rules, others immediately follow suit… now THAT’S Pinoy!
I could go on and on… but where is the fun in that if I don’t give you guys the opportunity to think of the others. So go ahead… post your comments below… I’m sure you could come up with really good ones!
TAG TIME! Haha… now I get to tag 10 friends whom I haven’t tagged recently.
You’re TAGGED: Jun, Tingting, Jonas, Jim, Sir Martin, Jepoy, Laarni, Martin, Jay, and Eric
A Day In The Life... 
Bad pinoy traits…. hmmmm…
I know! People and Imitating a foreigner’s way of speaking english when talking to that foreigner.
Hehehehe.. some people when they talk to a foreigner, a few sentences later they’re imitating the way the foreigner speak! HEEHHEHEH! Even the expressions and the “slang”
It’s even funnier. It works both ways. THE WORSE THE ENGLISH OF THE FOREIGNER, THE FILIPINO WILL ALSO IMITATE IT.
Examples: Koreans speaking in broken english.. The Pinoy will also speak in broken english therefore leading to much misunderstanding between the two.
BUT If the pinoy is speaking to a fluent english speaking american/european, etc. A Miraculous transformation occurs! Holy shit!!
Another filipino bad trait: Being NOSY or usyoso.
Pinoys are very very nosy. WE can’t seem to mind our own business. I remember a video taped report we did for my psychology class in DLSU. We did two scenarios.
We were ten students. We went to harisson plaza and we put a five peso coin on the ground then we made a big semicircle around the coin and STARED at it intently.
LOl.. a lot of people stopped to also look at the coin. The point of the experiment was to record their behaviour. 63% started to ask questions
about what was going on even though they had seen that we were all just QUIETLY watching a coin. They stuck around for 10-15 minutes also staring at the coin.
The next scenario, we all looked up at the ceiling this time talking among ourselves saying stuff like (did you see it??? OMG nakita ko na!! asan? asan?)
100% of the people stopped to watch and the video camera even picked up a conversation that went:
OLd woman: (just arrived on the scene) Ano tinitignan nila?
Person who couldn’t figure out what we were doing: May parang mukha na lumalabas sa ceiling.
LOL that was so funny.
Cool Chuck. It’ll be fun answering this tag thingy….check my blog tomorrow. I need to think deep again (again so longgg)…TC.
I have so many things to say about the subject.LOL!
Good one. This should be shared to all Filipinos. I believe that one of the big reasons why we have such a hard time progressing is because of our attitude. Many people just shrug their shoulders and say, “Ganyan na talaga eh,” which shouldn’t be.
MARTIN:
Hahaha! Yeah… that’s really funny! Pinoy nga naman talaga! Iba!
By the way… post your comment and a few more on your site… you were tagged eh! Daya naman kung dito ka lang sa comments magpopost… bwehehehe! 😛
TING:
Sige ha… I’ll check your blog tomorrow! I’m sure marami kang maiisip! Bwehehe! 😀
KAT:
Yeah… “Ganyan na talaga, eh”… parang surrendering to the fact na lang… mediocrity as well. Hay pinoy! Lagi na lang bang ganito? 😐
now, this IS one REALLY GOOD post! sapul na sapul!
at habang ako’y nagbabasa, ako’y kinakabahan… hayun, nauna sa listahan ng mga na-tag! 😛
it’s easy to list down these negative traits, pero ang galing kasi ng pagkasulat mo, we have to come up with something as unique, if not hit the bullseye as well.
sana di ako maubusan ng madamay. 😀
Hey Jun!
Thanks you sa compliment! Really appreciate it! Hahaha… unang una sa na-tag! Actually, unahin din sana kita sa “Why it feels great to be Pinoy” kaso I noticed na na-tag ka na ng iba so wag na lang. Hehehe…
I’m sure you’ll be able to think of really bad pilipino traits that’ll make us go, “Aayyy… oo nga! Ganyan nga talaga ang pinoy!”
Hehehe… Good luck! 😛
Chuck: I hope it won’t always have to be that way. I’m hoping that our generation, as well as those that come after, will bring about the good change that our country so desperately needs. We’re good people, but these bad habits/mentalities/traits are hindering us. And it’s so frustrating that so many have just seem to accept it. Haha. Sorry. Madami lang akong frustrations pag dating sa topic na to ahaha.
Hi Kat…
You know everyone has their own bad traits… it’s inevitable… it’s human nature… what isn’t normal about us filipinos as a people is that we accept without a fight what we know is already wrong… we so easily surrender to what we have most dreadfully become.
That in itself is our greatest fault.
Have hard time to understand Filipinos pride, and then if criticism happens is defined as Filipino bashing.
Too often prayer is mentioned in every circumstances.
Hi Valefelicita…
Pride, though undoubtedly admirable, is more often than not the reason why most Filipinos have a hard time accepting their own failures and shortcomings making it more of a liability. Pride is most certainly an importance in a nation and as a people but only when it is recognized properly.
Some but not all Pinoys are super-critical when it comes to criticism… and yes, I’ve met a few of ’em who translate criticisms into Filipino bashing. A lack of education and understanding of some narrow-minded folks.
Prayer is always mentioned understandably due to our people’s deep catholic faith… ironic that these are the same people who are slowly making the Philippines notorious as a nation with a high corruption rate…
Tsk… Tsk…!
i’ve seen this post several days ago, but i’m still trying to find a way to convey my thoughts in not-so-offensive words….
which is exactly what i want to change about being a pinoy. 😀 we filipinos tend to sugar-coat what we want to say, because we don’t want to hurt other people’s feelings. i want us to be straightforward. say something with conviction, and be assertive.
although, it does work to our advantage at times, especially if you happen to work in HR… hehehe! sample:
pinoy: “there are some things that you can improve on in this project.”
non-pinoy: “you suck!”
:p
Don’t you think that’s kind of a positive trait? To think before we speak and/or act maybe because we know the consequences of doing otherwise? just a thought 🙂
SGP:
Hahaha! Yeah… pinoys sugar-coat everything. Not that it’s always bad… but as we all say, “too much of something… (well, you get the idea)”.
Maybe that’s the reason why we don’t take our mistakes and shortcomings seriously enough… cause we are almost always told of our errors so “nicely”.
We pinoys need to get hit hard… step back for a moment… let the criticism sink in… and take action.
A lot has been talked about this and other bad pinoy traits… and yet, up to now, we are still “talking” about it instead of already taking action.
C’mon, guys… talk is cheap!
In fact, maybe it’s the ONLY cheap thing left here in our country… is that the reason why all we do is talk instead…? Harhar!
hey hey chuck! This june 16 is the toyconvention and they’re feauting transformers.. Here’s the website..
http://toycon.blogspot.com/
Are you going??????? Please come!! It’s transformers galore!! Tell me if you’re going.. I’ll email you my cel number!
Hey Martin!
Will try my best! I’ll email you asap if I’m free on that day… either way, email me your number na rin! I’m pretty sure my kids would like to tag along as well…! 😛
i definitely agree with you sgp, if you’re working particularly with americans, you won’t receive that kind of “mahinahon na comments”
I find that Pinoy way of saying bad comments as “Kaplastikan” though it is necessary to jive with Filipino attitude of being “balat-sibuyas”
I admit that I tend to be like that, this is one bad trait that we really have to change so we could move forward as an improved individual. This trait hinders us to embrace continuous improvement on ourselves and the way we live, because a bit of harsh comments that most of the times hit the full facts of what we are, and are being hardly/critically accepted.
Its time for Filipinos to adapt an open-minded thinking. 😀
hey chuck!!! If you’re reading this saturday night you have to go to toycon TOMORROW nA! LAST DAY NA.. YOU wont regret it! Please visit my blog for pics of the toycon and a commentary.
Oooh. I know one. Colonial Mentality.
It irked me when people sang the Canadian Anthem first and sang the Philippine Anthen in the middle of this Independence Show we had here in Vancouver…
Nakakahiya nga eh, I didn’t muster enough courage to put my right hand over my left chest and sing proudly…. kasi, I wasn’t the only one who just stood there and sang. *smacks self*
Feel na feel pa nga nila kantahin iyong Canadian Anthem, hahaha.
i feel ashamed for that one eina. actually kahit dito sa Philippines, youngsters nowadays seems to forgot how to be a Filipino, most youngsters (esp. those in public schools) don’t even know the exact & correct lyrics of our National Anthem as well as the Panatang Makabayan. This is what I miss during my school years. Another display of colonial mentality is yung continous patronage ng mga Pinoys sa mga imported…mas binibili pa ung low quality na galing ng China kesa sa proudly Philippine made na goodies. Basta kasi narinig na “imported” ang connotation na eh magandang klase. This is Filipino trait has a great part in slowly killing Small & Medium Industries in the Philippines, dagdagan pa sa mga privilege na natatanggap ng pag-import brought about by free trade agreement with APEC countries. 😦
Hey Cryst and Eina!
Ever notice how some pinoys, after a brief stay in the U.S., come back to the Philippines acting like they’ve been there forever, forcing out a very artificial, “trying hard” American accent that is error-filled and grammatically incorrect?!
Nakakainit ng ulo! Aaaarrrggghhh!
actually, i do encounter na, neighbor ko pa, and talagang super grammatically incorrect trying-hard to be an Americanized individual kahit hindi bagay at “English Barok” talaga! To think, it was several years ago na since bumalik siya dito and yet, feeling nasa States pa din. huh!
Hey Cryst!
Hahaha! Ang dami ko ring kilalang ganyan! “Feeling” masyado…! Buti sana kung nasa America pa siya, at least maiintindihan mo kung bakit kailangan mag-trying hard… pero nasa Pinas na eh!
maayong hapon chuck!
i was actually surfing write-ups about our bad habits, and i was kindla shocked to really find one. LOL!
I work with different nationalities especially from around Asia and the more I deal with them, the more i can see and compare our attitudes more so the bad side.
The one habit I’m so ashamed of is our being “maru” or “tuso” esp. with money. There has been so many intances of stealing/dishonesty which my foreigner workmates have encountered here with pinoys. Being a pinoy myself, i really feel so ashamed for what my kababayans have done.
Still i keep on wondering, why most pinoys have to do that whenever chances allow them to. Why can’t we just do things with honesty and integrity?
But then again, here comes this another pinoy bad habit, the “kapit sa patalim” move. Bombarded with so many suppressing econimic reasons, si tusong juan can simply or would try to justify his shameful actions.
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Your blog has been one of my favorites of all time. … Thanks for writing such a great blog. I always enjoyed reading it,
I’ve always wondered why all these negative traits have been taught to all students in the Phil since elementary. I mean, why not tell them about our positive traits instead so they would find it in themselves to live up to those connotations, instead of doing the former which may lead them to concede, moreover rationalize their actions as being part of culture (just like what happened to most of us)… just another thought 🙂