Filipinaysians

January 2006

There is something I came to realize in the first anniversary of my stay here in Malaysia. It’s that there are three things that Filipinos and Malaysians have in common.

I realized the first thing we had in common while I was crossing the street on my way home. A car drove past by me so fast that it made my head spin. I was an inch away from getting hit by that car. After that, the driver shouted something in Malay which I assumed was, something like “Wanna die?” It was déjà vu for me. I have been in that same scenario in the Philippines for countless times. Except for that driver shouting the Filipino words for “Wanna die?” Of course, I might be at fault as well for not being careful when crossing the street but I still blame the drivers. That’s the first thing we have in common – Drivers. Sure, there are a few exceptions to the rule. But I tell you, put Filipino drivers in Malaysian roads and they will survive. Our drivers are the kings of the road. In fact, they say that if you can drive in the Philippines
along with our Filipino Drivers then you can drive anywhere in the world. I seem to find Malaysian drivers the same way. They speed up when the traffic light turns yellow and speed faster when it turns red.

The second thing I found similar between Filipinos and Malaysians is the love for eating. No, I am not saying we like similar foods because I’m sure we don’t. Our curry is yellow while yours is bright orange. You would probably faint if you try to eat balut while we would devour it with our heart’s content. What I am saying is that we are similar when it comes to our love for eating. We have the same breaks in our government office, am I right? You have breakfast, tea break, lunch, another tea break , which we call Merienda in the Philippines, and dinner. And of course you just have to end with a midnight snack. In Malaysia, you see stalls selling kacangs and ice limau. In the Philippines, we have similar stores which we call Sari-Sari Store or in direct English translation, means Store Selling Everything Under The Sun. In my cubicle here in Scope, I have my own food jars containing assorted nuts that I can nibble in front of my computer. My neighboring officemates have moon cakes, Penang biscuits and all sorts of food on the table. You would actually know when someone came back from the Philippines, our designated food corner is full of goodies and tidbits from back home.

The third thing I find similar between Filipinos and Malaysians is their obsession for soap operas. I actually felt proud to hear that Pangako Sa’yo and Kay Tagal are quite popular here in Malaysia, and that Jericho Rosales was even invited for some show here. Honestly, I haven’t watched any of these two shows for two reasons: one—it’s just too long and two, it’s really unrealistic. But I’ve seen an episode or two since our housemaid was a die-hard fan. I couldn’t ask her to do anything for an hour everyday because of this Pangako Sayo. She was in cahoots with my grandmother who was a Kristine-Jericho love team fan as well. When watching such soap operas, you must be ready to throw away all practicality and even reality as well. Where can you see a housemaid whose hands are so soft and skin so fair that eventually the boss’ son will fall in love with her? Where can you see someone die and come back with the same face but a different character? I thought that could only be in Philippine TV… but no, someone told me it happens in Malaysian soap operas as well. No wonder, Philippine soaps are so popular here. They’re even making a movie now where the actor is Filipino and the female lead is a popular Malaysian model. That’s actually good news for everybody since it’s an affirmation of my general observation that we Filipinos and Malaysians are alike.

These are just three things on top of my head but I’m sure we have more things in common than we really know, or dare to find out. That gives me a feeling of pleasure and comfort as a foreigner. Pleasure, since it would be easier to make friend with people whom you have more in common with than those who you have nothing in common at all. Comfort, since, with this realization, I don’t feel I’m such an outsider anymore. Who knows? We might just end up combining Filipinos and Malaysians and call them as Filipilaysians in the end?