The article is well written and is up to the point. We are still suffering from: colonial mentality, inferiority complex, cannot-do complex, need foreigner’s assistance mentality, no good mentality, etc… We have to borrow the successes of Manny Pacquiao and Arnel Pineda, in order to feel good for ourselves. Much more to grab an identity that is like a phantom. We make ourselves. We have our choices. And, we can improve ourselves, if we want to improve. The trouble is: if we choose to be stagnant, and content only with being OFWs. We have the mentality of the people living around the garbage dumps:”Isang kahig, isang tuka…”

Cool analogy Mad Man

For me the empty can represents someone who has an open mind. Someone open-minded is receptive to new and different ideas or the opinions of others. Whereas a full can represents someone who is close-minded. Someone close-minded is usually intolerant of the beliefs and opinions of others; stubbornly unreceptive to new ideas.

We should never stop learning new things. I learn new things from the commentators here that’s why blogging is very addictive for me

Glad to hear you say that mel

Ilda already cited it: “They say the one who shouts the loudest is the one most insecure.” Great!

I also sometimes use “The emptiest can rattles the most” when summing up Filipinos. When I was a kid, I hurled a huge full can of Del Monte pineapple juice across the room (why I did this I don’t know) and the can only made a slight “thud” when it hit the floor. Then I took another can but this time, empty, and threw it too. It really made a lot of rattling noise while it ricocheted and tumbled around for a minute.

I don’t want to be Captain Obvious here but of course the main message here is: people who have nothing inside tend to be the noisiest .

And here’re some more things worth noting about (my?) FULL/EMPTY CAN THEORY. God, I hope Freud wasn’t the first on this…

1. THE FULL CAN HIT THE FLOOR HARDER THAN THE EMPTY ONE.
I wonder does that mean a person who has the wisdom of DIGNIFIED SILENCE (or SILENT DIGNITY , whatever works) hits other people harder than a noisy braggart?

2. AFTER HITING THE FLOOR, THE FULL CAN JUST ROLLED AND SETTLED QUICKLY WHILE THE EMPTY CAN BOUNCED AND TUMBLED AROUND FOR ALMOST A MINUTE.
Does that mean Intelligent Pinoys (the nonErap-voting kind) will quickly shrug off any harsh comments from the international community while Pacquaio mega-worshippers will display prolonged unrest over Adam Carolla’s scathing but honest remarks?

3. I KICKED THE FULL CAN BUT IT ONLY BUDGED A LITTLE AND IT REALLY HURT MY TOES WHILE THE EMPTY CAN EASILY FLEW ACROSS THE ROOM AFTER KICKING IT, BOUNCING AND TUMBLING AGAIN MAKING MORE NOISE.
Does that mean Intelligent Pinoys (the nonAquino-voting kind) are harder to kick around and the kicker (huh? Is there such a word?) will just get hurt in the process while it’s easier and painless for Carolla to kick Pacquiao mega-worshippers as they get into an infantile tantrum over his scathing but accurate remarks?

… daaang

… i consider myself good at what i do (whatever i’m doing)

… my peers (all shades of colors) seek my thingy…

… it so happens that i sold my doings to the highest bidder…

… kaya heto, like a hi-end japayuki…maybe, flips could afford me in my leter years…

“We have to be good at what we have to do first…….”

Enthusiasting article and candid discussions. I must admit, am “AP-engrossed” nowadays.

Hi Tristan Angeles

Thank you for the compliment and thank you for sharing it.

Great article great stuff! My only comment is that its in english, and that a lot of people who really need
to read this won’t have access to it.:( I’ll link to this so that more people can read it.

PWE = I reject = everyone’s right. If we had no right to reject, there’s no right at all for anything.

I’m pretty sure that if you did not read books yourself, you would not have a wealth of knowledge far greater than the average Juan.

I know a lot of people who don’t read books. They limit their source of information to Philippine dailies and I can fairly say that they are very narrow minded. It is very hard to have a conversation with them.

Reading books gives people a whole range of perspective about themselves and the world around them.
.

Hi Ryan
Thanks for your comment

I’m glad to hear about the success of your organization.

I agree that no matter how small or inconsequential others might think our contribution is, if we can at least touch a person or two, that person or two will in turn, try and convince others in their own capacity about our movement.

We will always have people who will doubt the sincerity of what we do but we are genuinely motivated by our passion to see the day when the majority of Filipinos find success in whatever it is they do not just in boxing or pushing a cart like Efren.

Keep up the good work!

As for getting this across to Filipinos, all I can say is that we each have to do our part to spread the word. We have to create awareness that Filipinos are more than boxers and entertainers and kleptocrats.

I’m the head of a group of local game developers called IGDA Manila, and in a presentation to them almost a year ago I had a slide up of Willie Revillame and I told them “This is the face the Filipino shows to the world. When my cousins from America come here with their white friends, they attend Wowowee like some cultural sideshow. I do NOT want this man to represent me to the world.”. The point I was trying to get across was that we needed to organize in order to show to the world that we weren’t just disparate individuals, that we were an organization that represented a professional game development work force that in the next 10 years can rival the best in the world.

A year later we have monthly meetings attended by roughly 20-30 people. We organized the first Manila Game Jam in January, coinciding with the Global game jam in which we were able to showcase our talents against the rest of the world. It’s not much, but it’s a start. Everytime a student who wants to make games for a living thanks me for giving them this opportunity to meet people in their chosen field I believe I’m doing the right thing.

I don’t wear a yellow shirt with sunglasses on it because I don’t need to. I pour my patriotism and love of country into an organization that I truly believe can create world class talents and bring large game development companies to open studios here thereby creating employment. This is what fuels me to do what is essentially a pro bono job.

So find that passion. Find your niche. No matter how small or inconsequential it seems you can make an impact on your world if you can empower even one person.