By: Ami Yoshimura
- Give three compelling examples of how cultural issues affect your project.
There are many compelling examples of how Filipino culture can affect our project. I think to consider this though, it is important to note Filipino history and how the country was colonized by the Spanish, which continued for 300 plus years. Therefore, Catholicism became the main religion as a result, and to this day the major religion of practice is primarily Catholic Christian. After this ruling, the Philippines had a short-lived revolution and was ruled by the United States, then Japan, and then was able to gain independence and be recognized as a nation by 1946. This being said, many of the cultural issues that may affect our project will be based upon the history of the colonialization of the Philippines and the attitudes that have developed as a result. The first, which may seem a little bit obvious, is the example of hiya. Hiya can be described as a sense of social propriety, which means Filipinos usually feel the need to conform to society’s standards of what’s normal and what isn’t. This means that in order to make an impact in the Philippines, we have to be able to conform to the societal norms while also finding a way to instill change. In other words, we have to be conservative, but also take risks and implement different solutions within the cultural norms and expectations. Another cultural belief is the “utang na loob”, roughly translated as the debt of gratitude. This means that one is expected to pay people back exactly in the form of whatever gratitude means to them. Often, as an example of this, there is a widely followed idea where the child owes his or her parents for supporting him or her and giving them their needs from their birth up to adulthood. In Filipino culture, people also tend to be more of “high context communicators”. This means that they avoid confrontation. Therefore, Filipinos are too shy or polite to say “No”, and would rather say something considerate and hope that the other person gets it that they meant “No.” This can be a problem because there is no real way of understanding another person and it’s hard to communicate just by reading physical body language.
- Have you experienced or observed any of these social situations at home? Describe a least three such situations.
As a Japanese American, I’ve experienced many of these situations at home, both in the U.S but also mainly in Japan, which has similar cultural beliefs and societal norms. The first example of following societal norms is very applicable to when I was going to public school in Japan, as this was prominent everywhere I went. It was frowned upon to not do everything the same as everyone else, and therefore this discouraged creativity, and also self – expression. The idea of conformity was very present as everyone was expected to learn the same material in the same way, do the same things during school, and even wear the same or similar clothes, with similar backpacks (called randoseru), and wear yellow hats. It was hard to make a significant change or difference, though it was fairly easy to make a small change and difference within the school culture and on yourself, even. The second concept and cultural issue of expecting for the exact amount you were given can be seen in American culture, often pretty clearly sometimes. In the United States, when one goes out to eat, people get separate checks and bills often, and America is one of the only countries in the world that tips waiters. To me, those are examples of “utang na loob”, and the concept of debt of gratitude. In other countries and cultures, usually, people split the whole bill together, and assume the “tip” is included in the bill. The last example is extremely applicable to the Japanese corporate or even everyday setting, as many people are too polite to say no, and often one has to read physical ques to understand what the other person means. For example, there are times when people try to give money to another because of favor, but the other person, who is receiving it says “no”, simply to be polite. Thereafter, the giver of the money says “take it”, and offers the money again, in which the receiver replies “no” again. This continues for a few times until one of them gives in to either take the money back or the receiver receives the money. This happens all the time during family gatherings and in the work environment in Japan.
- Give three examples of cultural practices that can be leveraged to addressed community/market problems.
The first, and perhaps most important example of a cultural practice that can be leveraged to addressed community/market problems is the way Filipinos communicate and work with each other. Because the main two languages are Filipino and English, it will be much easier to address problems because we will be able to communicate more effectively, efficiently, and thoroughly. The second example is that the Filipino culture, like many other ones, is centered around both gratitude and work ethic. This will be great because while working on the project, we can expect, for the most part, everyone, including us to have these values instilled in them, which will not only lead to better results, but a good environment to work in. The third thing that will be of benefit in Filipino culture would be the bond of families in Filipino culture. In the Philippines, the family is extremely important, which will help a huge amount when dealing with small family-operated farms growing coconuts.