Culture, this word may seem easy to understand, but it is hard when we are asked to explain the meaning of it. From the way I see it, culture refers to the beliefs and traditions of a certain group of people who, at the same time, share common interest . Compared to other cultures, Filipino cultures are more unique because it has a mixture of the western traditions (Spanish and American period) and the oriental traditions (Chinese and Japanese period).
Though we maybe unique with our cultures and traditions, we should still think twice whether we should be thankful or not that we have these variety of cultures. True enough that Filipinos just inherited these cultures notwithstanding the negative effects that it can bring to our life. Indeed, we should know by now that these cultures played an important role in the past in helping us to know ourselves better, and, at the same time, created a trademark on how Filipinos like us behave and live in this world.
We should be thankful that we have different and unique cultures that can make other people proud of us. One of the cultures that we have that we should be proud of is our religion. Filipinos like us are regarded as one of the most religious people in the world. Thanks to our ancestors who taught us how to believe in God in all of the things that we do and not to lose hope every time we’re in doubt. During the American era, we learned how to engage in different kinds of sports, which is known as a good form of exercise, because it can make our body stronger and healthier. Aside from that, it was also the Americans who taught us on how to arrive on time or which is better known as the “American Time” in times of important events and traditions yet, we, Filipinos, still follow our very own so called “Filipino Time”. We should also never forget about our Chinese ancestors who taught us how to engage in business for without them we should be having problem right now on how to spend and invest our money wisely. These are just some of the positive cultures we got from our ancestors.
Though majority of our cultures that we got from our ancestors are good for us, there are still a number of cultures that we got from them that we should think twice whether still to follow or not. The “Bahala Na” principle that we learned during the Spanish era is something that we should change as a Filipino. The said principle creates a negative impact towards our personalities because it allows Filipinos to do nothing and just wait what will happen. Instead of trying to solve a certain issues, Filipinos just tend to wait and see, which makes us a lazy and useless person in this society. Another culture we got from our ancestors is being thrifty. Our Chinese ancestors were the ones who taught us to engage ourselves in business, but, at the same time, they were also the ones who taught us on how to be thrifty. This may sound good, but one will not be successful in business if he or she is not willing to spend more money. In today’s generation, money revolves everything. That is why one will not earn much if he or she does not spend much. Just like the theory in finance, the higher you spend in your investments, the higher would be the return. Lastly, we Filipinos tend to believe too much in “pamahiin”, which is said to be affecting already our way of living. We believe in those sayings that older people have been saying without even having enough evidences to prove that all of those things are true. Due to pamahiin, we may have had already lost a lot of opportunities in our life because we tend to avoid this and that due to the sayings of the older people.
Cultures and traditions play an important role in our lifestyle. These things are already considered to be a part of our life. However, we should remember that at the end of the day, it is ourselves who can bring success to our own life. These things should only serve as guidance to us but definitely allow these things to control our life. It is not bad to believe in these things though we should remember that we are the ones who make the path to our success and not these cultures and traditions.
Jackyson B. Sze
11009357
C31 - BSA
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