A Business Graduate's Reviewing History Blog

I watched the Bruce Lee Story back when I was in elementary school. I'd probably be 11-12 years old when I saw the movie, starring Jason Scott Lee (no relation to the later actor, Bruce Lee ) as the titular character. Chinese Americans built Chinatown, to which they sought to preserve their community. In Philippine history, there was also the mutual loathing between the ethnic Chinese living in the Philippines   and  the Spanish . Of course, I had that "taught hatred" because of the Sangley Massacre incident that happened during the 1600s. There were two incidents, namely the Sangley Rebellion (1603) and the Sangley Rebellion (1663). The Intramuros Wall was built to regulate Chinese activity. There was a statement that Chinese people and Spanish people normally don't like to go out with each other. I heard that statement only when I realized that Francisco Juan "Paco" G. Larrañaga was actually innocent in regards to the unsolved Chiong Sisters   case. H...

During the time when the controversial former mayor, Alice Guo , was summoned, some people referred to her as Alice Go . Some think that Guo is a variation of Go. However, it's Goh ,  not Guo,  that's the common variation. I researched the Guo surname and found a character different from Go (which is Wu ) in Mandarin . Guo is spelled out as "郭" ( Pinyin : Guō), and the Hokkien variation is  Keh or Que . The surname Go is 吳  (Mandarin Pinyin: Wú), which is a totally different character from Guo. It was easy to call Alice Guo as Alice Go . Also, the surname Guo is more common among Mainland Chinese (where the national language is Mandarin ), while Chinoys are either Hokkien or Cantonese speakers. I've known some people with Cantonese surnames like Chan and Wong . I've known some Chinese Filipinos with the surname Chan (which is Tan in Hokkien), but they never spoke Cantonese.  Alice's Chinese name is apparently written as 郭華萍 ( Guō Hu...

Does one have to be born Filipino to be truly Filipino? That was a question my Filipino teacher asked to provoke the mind, back when I was in the Fourth Year of High School. Chinoys may have their identity crisis. It can be like, "If Chinoys are already Filipinos, why are they forbidden from marrying Filipinos?" The term huan-a can be derogatory . The term huan-a is also used in Malaysia and Indonesia, referring to anyone of Malay-Indo descent. In the Philippines, huan-a refers to Filipinos of Malay-Indo descent.  Back in college, I researched and stumbled on the name Jose Ignacio Paua , a Filipino who was actually born in China . Jose Ignacio was born in Lao-Na in Fujian Province. His real name would've been Lâu Hingpua̍h (劉亨賻) or Liú Hēngfu in Mandarin. It was at that time when I realized that several Filipino heroes, were actually Chinese by blood such as Jose Rizal, Emilio Aguinaldo (though this is debatable since he did questionable stuff), Vicente Lim, Lorenzo Ruiz ...

As it's Buwan ng Wika or Buwan ng Kasaysayan, I'm tempted to dig into some of my high school Filipino lessons. Right now, I have no idea where my former Filipino teachers are teaching. I recall being told that, since I'm a good writer, I should focus on peaceful resolutions rather than following the path of hatred and violence. I watched the Jose Rizal film back when I was in college. I was asked a provocative question: why Rizal never made Simoun (who was actually Crisostomo Ibarra from Noli Me Tangere ) succeed in the violent revolution.  Casa Grande Vintage Filipino Cinema Facebook Page I noticed some people tell me El Filibusterismo was a boring book. However, I felt that something was wrong with the Philippines, and I felt that peaceful means weren't going anywhere. Where was my talent in writing heading? I was already more than desperate to move away from the Philippines. That's why I wanted to take Information Technology, even if I sucked at mathematics. It w...

It's August, meaning it's time for Buwan ng Wika . It's called the  Month of the Language in English. As always, please be reminded that I'm a Chinese Filipino. That means I'll be posting some videos in Tagalog (without subtitles), and I'll apologize in advance. August became the designated month for the celebration of Buwan ng Wika.  I'd like to recall how the Buwan ng Wika programs are being done. I remember being a participant (but never the star of the show) during my high school days. What happens is that Buwan ng Wika almost feels like a repeat performance of the National Heritage Month , which is done during May. Is it because of the schedule where children take their vacation from April to May? Well, there are college students and some of those who need to take summer classes, because they failed a certain subject. Cebu has the "Gabii sa Kabilin" or "Night of the Heritage" during May. However, I tend to overlook that, in favor of ...