Exploring the Stubborn Old Generation Chinoy

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. However, Paco's sister Mimi is married to Miguel Syjuco, a half-Chinese man. 

As a Chinoy myself, I've actually had some upbringing. I didn't even consider myself Filipino for some time. "Filipino? I'm Chinese!" was what I would say, perhaps because of the rule of "Mang kan huan-a po!" or "Don't marry a Filipino woman!" Take note that the term huan-a actually refers to non-Chinese people in Southeast Asia. The term is also used in Malaysia and Indonesia, also Austronesian countries.  For some reason, older Chinoys never wanted to be referred to as Filipino, despite being in the Philippines. Since when did any Filipino constitution actually say that Filipinos must have brown skin or the trait of most Filipinos? It's kind of a back-and-forth thing. Like in the Bruce Lee Story, one could see a back-and-forth racism. The people in Chinatown didn't like Bruce taking in non-Chinese students. The Chinese didn't like the blacks, whites, Filipinos, etc. Well, sad to say, but such idiocy also exists among Chinoys, who may not even consider themselves Filipino. If one must say, "Don't marry a Filipino!" then why aren't they importing wives from China? Tough luck, given a gender imbalance, the chances are Mainland Chinese men may even want to consider marrying Filipino women! 

There are old Chinoys who refuse to give up on certain traditions, no matter how absurd, just because it was practiced. Of course, I'd bring up like, "Why aren't your daughters foot-folded?" I heard my paternal grandfather's mother was also foot-folded. Thankfully, none of her grandchildren were footfolded. Several traditions have been done for the sake of it. One of them was the fixed marriage, called boya in Tagalog and Cebuano. From what I heard, it was typical to get married to a person you had just met, at a very young age. Sometimes, one had to give up on that girlfriend (even if that girlfriend was Chinese) if the parents found a more feasible match, at least to their own view. Sometimes, the matching can happen as early as childhood. That means both the boy and the girl are below puberty when the match is given. Later on, proposed matches slowly replaced fixed marriages. It was like, "If it works, why not. Then not, don't force it." These types of marriages might explain why some infidelities happen when men commit adultery with non-Chinese women their age. Chances are that these mistresses might've been their former college sweethearts who were denied to them. 

If I'm not wrong, older generation Chinoys wanted to live like they were still in China. The Chinese Cultural Revolution happened under Mao Zedong. Mao wanted to erase all traces of Chinese tradition and replace it with his own traditions. Mao was a madman and a monster. The whole event caused Chinese emigration around the world, with Chinese seeking to preserve their culture somewhere else. However, some of them refused to evolve and think that culture is meant to evolve or die. For instance, are Filipinos today, by default, still living in a tribal system like they were before pre-colonial Spain? Is there still the Intramuros Wall between Spanish Filipinos and Chinese Filipinos? Today, you may even see Spanish Filipinos and Chinese Filipinos being best friends or even intermarrying with parental consent. 

However, several older Chinoys have this downright silly notion. It was often said, "I don't care who you marry, as long as you marry a Chinese person!" This, of course, can result in stuff in marrying a Chinese partner who's not good. A Chinoy man who has a decent huan-a girlfriend or a Chinoy woman has a decent huan-a boyfriend. The huan-a boyfriend may actually come from a decent family. However, they're forced to marry Chinese, even if the Chinese isn't good. Statements like, "I don't care if you marry a slut (called chao cha bo in Hokkien) as long di be kan la nang po (marry a Chinese woman)." For the women, they may hear something like, "I don't care if you marry a chao huan (bad boy) as long as di be kan la nang la me (Chinese man)." This would mean leaving that decent huan-a behind for a Chinese who's not good. Of course, regret comes later, but the same pattern of foolishness can persist for generations. It's because of the whole marry for the sake of marrying and marry Chinese for the sake of marrying Chinese. 

If they were truly concerned about preserving Chinese culture, they would need to realize that culture isn't static. Whether we want to admit it or not, culture isn't permanent. The Philippines is a good example. The Philippines, before being named the Philippines, was divided into several communities before Spain unified it. The Philippines adopted certain aspects of foreign culture, like Spanish culture and Chinese culture. China is no longer in the time of imperial rule. The Forbidden City is no longer the semblance of power. China was also occupied by the British. How sure are older generation Chinoys that they're still practicing "pure Chinese tradition"? Several traditions have been dying with the elderly. Today's Chinese women already know their rights. Back then, Chinese women were considered second-class citizens. Today, Chinese women have more of a voice than they used to, although some Chinese men still think otherwise.

Besides, the hypocrisy can also be exposed to an extreme. I've observed several bad habits common among the huan-a population in the Philippines. There's the bad habit of being habitually late, gatecrashing (as well as bringing gatecrashers), tactless comments, not saving up enough money, etc. However, do you think there are Chinoys not affected by such mentality, considering they're already born in the Philippines? As I mentioned earlier, there's this tendency to say that it's better to marry a chao la nang po (bad Chinese woman) than a ho huan-a po (good native Filipino woman). It might enter the double-standard where it's okay to tolerate Chinoys that engage in the bad habits that's predominant in the Philippines. Meanwhile, is it's not okay if huan-as are doing those habits? It may also be that it's better to date (or even marry) a Chinoy who does those things but not a  Pinoy who does those things? 

Culture has never meant ot be static. Right now, in China, some Chinese men are marrying Russian women, or even going to the West to find a wife. It's because some people didn't want to cease their "men are more valued than women", resulting in several aborted females. Whether we want to admit it or not, Xi Jinping its current ruler, isn't ruling as an emperor. Puyi became the last Chinese emperor. The Second World War ended with China from the Empire of Japan. The Empire of Japan died when the Chrysanthemum Throne became nothing but ceremonial. The Philippines' culture evolved over time such as when the Spanish came and the American Commonwealth period came. The Philippines became part of ASEAN. China also has the choice of either evolving or dying too. The Philippines did trade all over again with neighboring countries. 

Even the Chinese language is already evolving. I've read some disparaging comments against Hanyu Pinyin. Some are still insisting on the "purity" of Zhuyin. However, 

As a new generation Chinoy, I always feel that "pureblood Chinese" is a fantasy. It's as much of a fantasy as Adolf Hitler's "master race" plan. I doubt that there's still pure Chinese these days. China was occupied by the British. One may look at some Chinese celebrities and notice they have European features. One may look at how Taiwan is actually composed of the Han Chinese and the Malay-Indo people. That's why I also reject the notion of a "pureblood Filipino" due to the history. In the end, culture evolves, and one of the ways it evolves is through intermarriage. After all, just notice that some non-Chinese Filipinos have East Asian features too. Was it because they were descended from a Chinese trader, a Chinese pirate, or perhaps from a Japanese soldier and a comfort woman? With a long history, who can truly tell they're pureblood, whatever!