PhilFAQS

One of my Filipino bogging acquaintances, Yuga posted this recently, and also spends a lot of time writing about and running sites built around differentiating Filipino blogs and web sites from all others.  Is this a good thing or a bad thing? 

Here’s a view from a Westerner (American) married to a Filipina and moving full-time to the Philippines.

My opinion is, the Philippine technical community spends way, way too much time on these “what’s Filipino’ questions.

I’m well aware that the Philippines is a small country that has certainly not been given the respect it deserves from larger countries … especially my own USA who rides roughshod over people and it amazingly ignorant of the rest of the world.

This is a fault and a flaw in my native country’s outlook and behavior. I recognize it, but can only be responsible for my own attitudes. Don’t compound this common flaw by adopting it for yourselves.

The Net is a marvel because it is well along in the process of transcending borders. I don’t care and indeed don’t need to know where a web site is … I need to get the information or service I need. That’s one of the reasons I think the original ICAN Country Code scheme is dumb. There should not be .ph’s or .com.au’s, etc. cluttering the address bar or coloring people’s perception. If, say, an ugly American has the perception that things Filipino are second-class, you will never change his values … most people carry their prejudices to their grave. So why bother arguing, complaining, fighting the unending battle to make him change his mind? Wasted effort.

Excel at what you do and let that be your badge of honor. In regard to Abe’s “conversation starter” examples … What if one of the Filipinos in question has a family history of three thousand years in China and he is the first generation born in the Philippines, of a Filipina mom and a Chinese dad? Are we now going to then argue if his talents are Filipino or Chinese, or if because he’s working in France, on French-owned computers using French-owned infrastructure his work suddenly becomes French? And if the company opens a satellite office in Brussels and transfers him there, will our Chinese-Filipino-French application developer suddenly become Belgian?

I know I’m rambling guys and gals, but really, think about it. National pride has it’s place, but don’t let it dominate your thoughts and feelings when there’s work to be done.

Related posts:

1. Just What Is A Third World Nation Anyway?
2. Outsourcing Blogs in the Philippines
3. Self Sufficiency Filipino Style
4. Don’t Blame It All On Filipino Inefficiency

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