Filipino culture
"Pwede na 'yan!"
Filipinos strive for mediocrity.
That's right. It's the whole "Pwede na 'yan!" attitude that disgusts me. Sure, they appreciate excellence now and then, but they seldom feel any desire to strive for it. Indeed, I often experienced that when I attempted to do my very best, I got ridiculed for it. "Ginagawa mo pang mahirap and buhay mo!", they'd chide.
Unfortunately, I was infected by that disease as well. I could have done much better than I did, had I not been influenced by their mediocrity.
Just look at Filipino entertainment. "Gaya gaya" is the norm. No striving for originality. Little desire to do one's best. TV shows are edited haphazardly, and TV producers have few qualms about featuring poorly directed, poorly choreographed, poorly performed acts. And why not? The people will just swallow it up anyway.
This is one reason why we can never launch our own space shuttle. If we attempted to build one, people would doubtlessly cut corners on all the essential safety elements and performance features. "Why bother?" they'd ask. "Pwede na 'yan!"
A related problem is the excessive conformity within Filipino society. Filipinos are expected to conform to each other -- to follow the crowd, so to speak. In contrast, Westerners welcome, embrace and celebrate individuality and diversity.
So how is this a problem? Well for one thing, it stifles creativity. Instead of venturing out to try new things, Filipinos stick to what everyone else is doing. As a result, the popular media (movies and TV, in particular) fester for lack of creativity and innovation. Technology and industry suffers as well, as few people strive to become true entrepreneurs and innovators.
So the conformity breeds mediocrity, and vice versa. No wonder the people don't get anywhere.
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Virginia O'Hanlon
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