Background
I am a Filipino, but I grew up in Singapore for the most part of my life, having moved here with my entire family when I was only three years old back in 2003. So, my entire childhood and my experience growing up are all in the Singaporean context and not the Filipino context.
Yes. I ate Filipino cuisine at home and I speak Tagalog fluently, but there were still culture shocks when I visit my relatives back in the Philippines from time to time. Here are some of those culture shocks which really make me feel like a foreigner in my own home country where I was born.
Culture Shock #1: Filipino Shopping Malls
This is the SM City North EDSA, the largest shopping mall in the Philippines with a gross floor area of 497,213m². It is also the 10th largest in the world and if you think this is the only one in the list, there are also SM City Megamall (13th), SM Seaside City Cebu (14th) and SM City Mall of Asia (19th).
It seems as though there is an obsession with shopping malls in the Philippines. However, you’d be surprised about why that is so.
No, Filipinos are not avid window shoppers! Filipinos go to these shopping malls to escape the scorching heat! Most Filipino houses are not air-conditioned and so, people seek shelter in these shopping malls and they are well-equipped. Some have indoor playgrounds and some even have chapels in them! It’s a literal mini-city within these big shopping malls!
Culture Shock #2: Prepaid Phone Cards
In the Philippines, prepaid loads are so popular and quintessential that it is literally a verb!
Ate, paki-load ng 100 pesos. - Sis, please load me up with 100 pesos worth of data.
I come from Singapore where contracts solve all your data and connection needs. However, this isn’t the case in the Philippines and to this day, the country mostly relies on these cards; not only tourists but locals too!
Other alternatives are broadbands.
This is especially interesting when you consider that the Philippines is the texting capital of the world; 400 million texts are sent each day, or about 142 billion texts a year!
Culture Shock #3: Public Transport Rules
What rules? There are none!
You can hail a jeepney anywhere and you can alight anywhere. There are no bus stops/taxi stops/alighting and boarding points.
Buses in the Philippines still employ the use of bus conductors who go up and down the bus to collect payments and issue tickets. Again, you can stop these buses anywhere to board or to alight.
This was very different from Singapore where public transport only stops at designated stops and where we use prepaid public transport cards to pay for our rides.
Culture Shock #4: Sari-Sari Stores
Sari-Sari stores are family-runned convenience stores, often located in front of their houses or along the front façade of their homes adjacent to the street.
They sell a wide array of things; from soap and shampoo, to snacks, tidbits, soft drinks, instant noodles, and even those prepaid loads! They are true life savers because it saves the hassle of going to the crowded malls to buy urgently needed supplies.
There’s literally one across of our home in the Philippines and since they’ve been our neighbor for decades, we have a good rapport with them!
Here in Singapore, the closest we have to such stores are called mama shops, but they come no where close to what sari-sari stores sell nor are they as common. Need shampoo badly? Too bad! Go to the shopping mall!
Culture Shock #5: Filipinos & Bags
Filipinos often carry their backpacks over the front of their body?
Why?
To prevent theft! Pickpockets and robbers are prevalent in the country and one way to combat them is to wear your backpack over the front, where you can constantly see it.
Of course, having grown up in Singapore, I always felt this was awkward and weird. Only school clowns wore bags this way in school and even with my sling bag, I found it hard to always keep my sling bag in front; I’m used to having my sling bag slinged backwards!
Culture Shock #6: Filipino Hospitality
The famous slogan of the Philippines is: It’s more fun in the Philippines.
And that is true! The level of hospitality I enjoyed there was mindblowing! The sales assistants were always smiling and they were truly dedicated and passionate in their job! They won’t even hesitate to approach you the moment your presence is felt in a certain isle, offering their recommendation or support.
They treat customers with respect and address customers as Sir or Ma’am. So, 15-year old me who was wondering around the department store was always being approached by sales assistants with big smiles on the face, asking; “Hi Sir! Do you need any help?”, or when I want them to check if they have any other stock, they’d respond with; “Please wait, Sir! I’ll check for you.”
This was so different from Singapore, where the fast-paced lifestyle ultimately means that people are giving one another the cold treatment. Sales assistants look as though you are a burden.
And before I end this with just positive notes, there are negative ones too! For example, Culture Shock #7:
Urinating here is prohibited
These signages are commonplace in the Philippines.
People often urinate wherever they could, be it down a dark unlit alley way or along the sidewalk. Yeah, this was a major culture shock. In fact, you can tell if someone is urinating.
As long as they’re facing a wall on a sidewalk, they’re most probably going at it!
~Phillip Mercado
Footnotes
[2] Filipinos, Morbie and 400 Million Text Messages a Day - Send Load to the Philippines | Morbie Load Philippines
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