UPDATE 3/27/2014: Coconuts Manila has posted a reaction to Mr Raul Dancel’s piece (Dear reporter, it’s time to get over your culture shock).
A polarizing story entiled “Back home in Manila, and feeling out place,” published in Singapore by The Straits Times on March 23 and written by its newly appointed Philippine correspondent, has hit a raw nerve among Filipino readers both here and abroad.
“For seven years, Singapore was my home, and it was very good to me. It kept me safe and comfortable, and I knew I could always count on it.” writes Raul Dancel, who previously worked as a sub-editor at Singapore Press Holdings. “I could stand all the inanities and profanities Manila could throw at me because I knew that, in the end, I would be heading back to Singapore.”
Dancel, in his mid-40s, was born, raised and grew up in Manila. He has worked at The Manila Times, The Business Daily and Philippine Daily Inquirer.
He writes in detail about his “mild culture shock,” which he claims has left him dazed, confused and terrifed.
Herewith, a list of his observations as a balikbayan:
– [In Singapore] I knew that when I turned on the tap, water would flow from it — sweet water I could drink.
– [In Singapore] I never had to worry about an hours-long blackout in the middle of a hot, humid, mosquito-infested night.
– [In Singapore] Buses mostly arrived on the dot, and the train schedules were so predictable I could arrange to meet someone right inside the train.
– The other day I told a cashier at a KFC outlet that I’d “take away” my two-piece chicken with rice, and she insisted I meant “take out”. I said “take away” three more times before I gave up when she started looking at me like I didn’t know how to speak English properly. “Take out,” I conceded.
– I still ask for the “toilet” or “loo” whereas people here say “restroom” or “comfort room”.
– Here, a moving escalator is meant to be stood on. People don’t clear the right-hand side to give way to others in a hurry. The escalator moves so you won’t have to — that’s the philosophy here.
– Out on the street, zebra crossings are little more than street art. Pedestrians don’t use them. They cross the road whenever and wherever they like and as if they just woke up with a hangover and are heading for the “comfort room”, half-asleep.
– People are often seen crossing the road right below an overhead bridge, too.
– Motorists who honk at jaywalkers are lucky to get the evil eye. More often, the response is a sharp rebuke: “Go fly!” Or, “Buy the road, jerk!”
As of this writing, the article has received 381 comments on the webstite of Straits Times.
“I don’t see anything wrong with the article. What he’s pointing out is true. But remember, the main point is about being away and coming back home.” writes Mik Vera. “Having the effects of culture-shock and how difficult it is to adapt when you’ve been away for relatively a long time.”
“At the end of the article, the writer expressed that the Philippines is still his home,” writes user justsayin. “It might have just been the writing style that put other people off. he got too deep into the negative side that the two-sentence closing did not compensate.”
“What a pretentious douche-bag! Go back to Singapore! THIS is who the Singapore Strait Times sends to cover the Philippines? A Filipino whose first act is to insult the Philippines,” asks user Denis Achilles L. del Callar.
“This is plain stupid. I lived in Australia for more than 12 years now, and I move around Asia often, including Singapore and Malaysia. I only have the chance to visit the Philippines every 2 or 3 years, yet when I do, I never get any adjustment problems,” says Maximillian Montero.
“You should travel more around the globe because that can certainly help to take-away, err…”take-out” ignorance out of your equation,” writes user EN.
On Monday, the journalist explained to a private group on Facebook that “.
Photo by Calvin Teo/Wikipedia
