On Being Tsinoy: Common Questions Asked

Anticipating my turn as the "speaker for the day" during our daily morning meetings, I was thinking what I would talk about. True enough, last Thursday my name was drawn out from our speaker bowl. The night before I caught Oprah and it was about Chinese children being adopted by American couples. There was also a feature on the old tradition of foot-binding (you know, when it was considered attractive if women only had 3 inches sized feet). Switching channels, Pinoy Abroad host Rhea Santos was doing a feature on China as well. And then, it was around Monday or Tuesday when I finished Intsik: An Anthology of Chinese Filipino Writing. Thus, I decided to share something related to me being a Chinese Filipino.

In the Philippines, there are pure Chinese and half-Chinese. I am half-Chinese. I am both a Filipino and a Chinese, and over the years, I've come across people who have asked me (and probably many Chi-Fils out there as well) questions that most of the time I find amusing and sometimes annoying.

1. You're Chinese? (Chinese ka?)
It's usually after people hear/learn of my surname that I get this question. Why? Probably because I don't look Chinese enough, meaning I'm not yellow-complexioned and I don't have slanted/chinky eyes (if they should know, Southern Chinese are tan-colored). But there are others who can see right through and are just making sure I am one of them.

2. What percentage are you Chinese and Filipino? (Ilang percent kang Intsik at ilang percent kang Pilipino?)
Truth is, I do not know how to compute it and because of that, I have to share with them what percent Chinese or Filipino my parents are. Since I am not too sure of the correct computation as well, I have to go about telling them about my grandparents too. Eventually, they will do the computation and come up with the answer to their own question. It's one of those questions I'm not too fond of since it is non-bearing. As Alessandra G.L. Gonzales said, "I will never be truly Filipino nor truly Chinese because I am and have to be both. My fused identity has given me more beadth as a human being..... I am Filipino, I am Chinese; beyond the almond eyes and pale skin, I don't dissect which part of me is which."

3. How come you speak good Tagalog? (Bakit ok ka naman mag-Tagalog?)
I guess since most genuine Chinese locals talk in fragmented sentences ("ako trabaho maya") or in a sing-songy intonation, others think/expect us to talk the same manner. The thing is, we are not pure Chinese, we live with the Filipino community and we do stay in the Philippines. Since the lingua franca here is Filipino, we should be the ones to learn, right? Besides, we may have attended Chinese schools before, but we did learn our English and Filipino lessons in the morning and Chinese subjects were taught and learned in the afternoon.

4. Aren't you buddhist? (E di buddhist ka?)
Contrary to what many think, not all of us are buddhist. Some are practicing Catholics (but at the same time believe in Chinese gods) and some are Protestants. We too have been influenced by the Western culture as much as Filipinos are. We were taught to use chopsticks, as well as spoons and forks. We were told to drink Chinese medicines as well as aspirins. We enjoy Chinese food but we also appreciate other cuisines.

5. So you're not allowed to marry a Filipino? (E di bawal ka makapag-asawa ng Pinoy?)
This never fails to be asked. My answer to this usually depends - depends on who is asking because I sometimes use this as an excuse or a reason whenever needed. On my parents' side, I'm not really sure of their stand on this, I do know that it's not a be-all for them. As for kai-siaw or setups, elders are the usual masterminds of these.

6. What's wrong with being called Intsik? (Anong masama kung Intsik tawag?)
Speaking for myself, I am not being sensitive when I get annoyed when people use Instik instead of Chinese or Tsinoy. It sounds negative that it's like when people use this term, they're referring to us as baduy, shrewd, provincial, etc. It's actually like Filipinos being called Indio.

I do have moments when I wish I am just a pure Chinese or a pure Filipino or moments when I regret not having learned Mandarin well in school. And while it's true that even if we are Chinese Filipino, most Filipinos consider us Chinese. On the other hand, since we have Filipino blood, some Chinese look down on us because of that. Then again those aren't enough to dampen my spirit, as it is I am happy that I am of this fused identity.