Jeepney Journey | Richard Juan | TEDxYouth@SJCS

good afternoon everyone my name is Richard Juan and I'm here today to talk to you guys about a topic that really really matters to me it's a topic about national and cultural identity and more specifically for today what makes a Filipino Filipino yes I know everyone down there I know what you guys are thinking right now why do we have this Korean looking guy speaking an American accent tell me what a Filipino should be like should we have like a brown skin big eyes wearing a basketball jersey to be the one you know tell me what a Filipino should be like in Filipina well I hope at the end of my talk today you will all understand why I'm here speaking to all of you guys about this topic so before we get into today's topic I want to ask you right there were you from yep you Philippines well about you back there on the corner I think that's a blue shirt okay hi oh yeah oh oh you yeah you don't turn around yet you where you from sorry Philippines okay someone back there that corner were you from see everyone says Philippines these are all very very interesting answers because every time someone asked me this question where I am from I kind of panic I can never answer it right away because I would I would always think huh what do they mean but where I am from for example if I was traveling abroad and I'm a Natur someone asked me where I'm from I would say do you mean where I live or do you mean what my ethnicity is and sometimes I think they all they all they really want to know is why do I speak English with an American accent and I'm sure all of you guys here can actually relate to that what do you guys travel abroad or sometimes for example when I for example when I got when I meet a free new friend in Manila and I'll have some questions I okay does he mean where I'm from in terms of living up north or living down south or do they mean where I grew up or we're always born use all these questions are always on my mind west won't ask me where I am from so why do I have all his question I want to bore you guys with all the details yet of my backstory on what happens and why I keep asking these questions so quick quick background about myself I was born in the Philippines by Fujian Chinese parents and I was raised in Hong Kong I moved to Hong Kong when I was a month old well when I say move I don't really say I had a choice my parents Kansas dragged me over to Hong Kong so yeah I was raised in Hong Kong and I moved back to the Philippines um a couple years back do I want to say exactly how many years because I don't tell you guys how old I am but yeah so yeah I moved back to the between studying and UB and lived here ever since so to you guys am ia Filipino I don't really need you guys to answer that but yes legally speaking I am a Filipino this is the Constitution this is our Constitution so under article 4 section 1 those who are citizens of the Philippines of the time of adoption of this constitution and to those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines check that's 2 checks for me and yeah those born before January 17th 1973 of the Philippine mothers who like Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority and those who are naturalized in accordance with law so when I was born like I said earlier my parents are actually born and raised in the Philippines so they are actually already Filipino so that actually makes me if I'm not mistaken just this that makes me a natural-born Filipino right which means I can tank leap run for president - yes Richard for president ok but but but the real thing is socially speaking am I accepted as a Filipino so yeah like I said I'm not here to really discuss with you guys the legality of it I'm not saying hey I want to change the law I want this I want that I'm just trying to talk to you guys about the social perception on how Filipinos should be or I wanna say should be or just giving you a new idea on how you want should be perceived so this ultimately brings us to the topic of the day socially speaking what makes a Filipino Filipino in order to be a Filipino do you need to be born in the Philippines legally speaking do you need you do you need to know how to speak Tagalog or Bisaya or pick up a ballon do you need to have Filipino blood but honestly what is Filipino blood nowadays because if you think about it we're all you know some sort of our access are some are Chinese some are Spanish what is Filipino blood do you need to have brown skin what kind of values do you need to have maka Kazama O'Donnell Oh resiliency but are these actually all exclusively Filipino if the traits and what religion do you guys need to have do you have to be Catholic do you have to be Christian let me give you some examples for example the as goes as goes our the national football team in the Philippines most of these players are actually Hafeez who are born and raised in Europe are they Filipino what about gillis a philippine basketball philippine national basketball team we have someone who's actually naturalized yes legally speaking he is Filipino but as he socially or culturally accepted as a Filipino and what about our beauty queens we have a Raj we have a word Spock we have a gray these are all not traditional Filipino last names and some may even argue that they don't even look Filipino but to you guys are they Filipino let me give you a more complicated example um there's this guy who I met actually who was a Filipino passport holder he is full Filipino by blood whose first language is actually Japanese does not speak a single word of Filipino as he lived in Japan his whole life he does not eat Filipino food he does not do anything traditionally Filipino but is he considered of Filipino another example is what about this friend of that that I met whose parents are from France but he was born in France raised in the Philippines speaks Tagalog than me at least better than me and he eats balut he knows how to make eiki-sama he is Catholic and claims that he's more Filipino and feels more Filipino down he actually is French but just because he's white does that mean his not Filipino anymore and what about this the famous singer Hailee Steinfeld who was one-eighth Filipino by blood 1/8 that means his/her grandfather's father is Filipino do you think she still has Filipino culture in her or in her family is she still a Filipino the question is where do you really draw the line for this I'm not saying they're not Filipino not a I'm not saying that at all I'm just giving a perspective I just want to get to think about it where do you draw the line most of us who have unusual backgrounds have often been met with mixed reactions some of us are embraced as part of the rich cultures of the Philippines others though have met with your skepticism and sometimes even rejection a couple of years ago a news anchor actually from a very very top news channel in the Philippines said this about the Philippine asko's they are not real Filipinos they are just pretending to be brown skinned of course he said this in Filipino but is translated it so it's just there's just some people like this who are who has this very rigid idea of of what Filipino should be like because they're they're used to it but the thing is we're always evolving and we're always changing the Philippine culture is always changing and one more thing that really bothers me personally is that and again you guys don't actually have to agree with me but many Filipinos have this idea that Filipinos have to be Filipinos only by blood many of us Chinese people and I'm sure here from in st. Jude is that we lived here in the Philippines for so many many many many years some of us honestly speak for the peano Morden Chinese Mandarin folk yen or Cantonese and yet I they people don't really accept them fully as Filipino for me for example on social media when I was in PPP when I was doing for annoy or when I was doing all these different TV stuff people I often get hate messages saying Richard why are you here in the Philippines go back to Hong Kong go back to China you're not Filipino when when I got into PvP that I remember my dad was telling me there were some tweets saying Richard white why is Richard in PvP he's not Filipino why is he taking him a spot and and be no big brother the titles has been Oh big brother why is he there but the thing is there are a lot of my friends out there who are also um Chinese but they're always never accepted they have lived your other life they feel Filipino they do so many Filipino stuff and yet they also receive unnecessary hate on the streets for example like I had this friend who made me cuento saying like oh the when he was on the streets they were saying or blinking as a China and Iike welcomed it open Akana because of course with the whole conflict I don't wanna get into the whole politic side of this but it's just it's just sad I mean we're so many Chinese people here or not even just Chinese or maybe even what they call it foreigners or a thumbs are treated that way they've lived here all their life but yet they're excluded by being called Filipino okay but yet sometimes Filipinos who live abroad who grew up abroad who spend their whole life in the US for example they identified themselves as American English British but yet they have one little bit of Filipino blood and all as Filipinos go celebrate their celebrate their Filipino wisdom for the pinyin Filipino nest there they're there they're seen as like Filipinos right away but yet they don't even identified themselves as Filipino anymore they they grow up in America they like the hamburgers they like the the the crazy parties and all those crazy stuff and yet there were there just because they're Filipino but they're filipino right away I'm not again again I just want to say I'm not saying they're not Filipino but I just want to say that non Filipinos should be except not feel let me rephrase this again I'm not saying that these they are not Filipino but I just want to say that the non Filipino blooded Filipinos should be accepted as Filipinos - when you say Filipino French when you say Filipino German Filipino Chinese there's always this connotation right away that you're a mixed-race you're half chinese half Filipino half half Chinese I have half Filipino half German and if you say American Chinese though or you say American polish American Italian you don't automatically associate them as a mixed-race but for me I guess I don't they I just want I just wish that Filipinos in general be more open about this idea of having a Filipino who does not have a Filipino blood you guys following yes yes okay I hope so we have to accept that the world is getting smaller with technology different cultures are getting mixed around all over the world including the Philippines of the increasing amount of Filipinos working abroad and of course the ever-increasing number of foreigners who are actually moving into the Philippines and living in the Philippines the trend will continue did you guys know that in 2010 an estimated 11 percent of the Filipino population that's 12.5 million Filipinos are actually based abroad I can imagine how the numbers actually just grow for the family for the past nine years Filipinos can be found pretty much everywhere in this world next-door in Hong Kong maybe in Shanghai and London and Qatar everywhere Filipinos are just everywhere and all these people are actually part of making this Filipino culture quoting Aaronson Akbar who wrote the article Pinoy diversity in a hyper-connected world for Rattler excluding them from any definition of filipino leaves behind an incomplete picture of people's history for me filipino ism or Filipino culture isn't getting lost it's simply evolving simply growing and this applies to all the cultures in the world being a Filipino is more than a matter of a mindset it's an idea it's a feeling and it's your action and how you feel that makes you a Filipino thank you guys very much and I hope you guys know nothing or too [Applause]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 31,554

Rating: 4.9582028 out of 5

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Global Issues, Choice, Culture, Self, Social Interaction, Society

Id: x6i7AjSGl1I

Length: 12min 50sec (770 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 18 2019