I was sitting in the waiting room of the family court in Toronto working on some puzzles when a duty counselor called my attention. “Are you the court interpreter in Tagalog?
“Yes” I responded, “but not in the actual hearing. I am here for the conference of the lawyers and their clients”.
After a few minutes, an elderly gentleman approached me. His face was familiar but I could not recall where I first met him. He was smiling. “Are you the court interpreter for this case?” I asked mentioning the name of the client. “Yes”, I replied.
I told him I would have taken him for a Chinese. He laughed and pointed to the identification card he was wearing. He wrote on it in bold letters: Tagalog (Filipino) “You are not the first to say that,” he said, “that is why I wrote this.”
“Well, you are not the only one taken for a Chinese, “ I told him. “People speak to me in Chinese when I shop in Chinatown.”
It appears that as I grow older my eyes have acquired a slant. Probably it is also because most of us Filipinos have Chinese ancestries.
This gentleman told me that we had met in several Filipino gatherings. I do not doubt that; that is why I thought his face was familiar. We started chatting and found out that both of us have been in this country for a while. He came in the late sixties, and I, in the early seventies. There were several cases ahead of ours in the same court and so we sat there waiting and reminiscing as two “old-timers.”
“You know,” he remarked, “I came here when my children were very young. Now they can hardly speak in our language.”
His children who are now with their own families are all well placed with good jobs. They were educated in Canada. They were among the first wave of Filipino group immigrants to Canada about two generations ago. Most of them are well settled and true, they can hardly speak their first language. Their children will probably be all English-speaking. I have a niece who was born here in Canada. I tried to speak to her in Tagalog when she was a child. She learned to speak in the language but once she started school, she came home and spoke in English. I responded in the same language and eventually she hardly spoke in Tagalog. In her teenage years she attended heritage language classes in Tagalog but stopped after a year. I learned that attendance in the class dwindled and after a while closed.
Our maintenance of our first language is not as strong as some other ethnocultural groups. Is it because we all speak English even in the Philippines? Unlike in some other cultures, we respond to our younger generations in English even at home while in some other cultures the elders usually speak in their first language that the children have to learn that language too. In some cultures they even provide the books in their religion in their first language that the children take to church when they worship.
This fellow interpreter I had a conversation with was very pleasant and knowledgeable. He talked with a very good sense of humor and without malice He was quite philosophical in some of his views.
We talked of some well-known Filipinos in the community, we mutually have heard of. We talked of successes and failures and the factors that bring them about We exchanged views on how some practices common in the Philippines have also worked out here. For example, being close to those in power, whether you are in the Philippines or in Canada, can assist you in achieving some of your goals. There is probably a little difference here in Canada. No matter how well qualified one is for a position, “whom you know” up there, can help boost you up.
Whereas, it is often said that in the Philippines, one can get up there as long as you have the “Kapit”. I heard of a case when I was still in the Philippines wherein someone was appointed manager of Perokaril (the train system) when his only experience in that line was riding in a train.
We talked about job placements of Filipinos. Many Filipino men who were well educated in the Philippines were underemployed in Canada. Quite a large number went to sell insurance and went self-employed.
Both of us deplored the high incidence of domestic violence in the Filipino community. We both offered our opinions on the possible causes. One of the most common is the situation wherein the women come to this country ahead of the men and have been oriented ahead on the equality of men and women rights Another is the lack of enough information on how the legal system operates. Many Filipinos especially those who have not been in the country very long do not realize that certain offenses which they may consider minor is enough for the law enforcement to have a person charged and jailed. A loud argument, for instance coupled with throwing of some objects, breaking dishes, furniture disarrayed or children crying may be reported by a neighbor, to the police. There may be no physical assault but there is destruction of property. The wife or partner may not want to lay charges, but the police would and the man in the house goes to jail. We often hear men say “Nagtatalo lamang kami, karaniwan iyon sa mag-asawa” No sir, not in Canada.
This gentleman and I agreed that having lived many years in Canada has taught us to be assertive. Be capable of expressing your rights and what you consider reasonable in a respectful way. Do not mistake assertiveness with aggressiveness. They are not the same.
We also touched on the issue of leadership. He mentioned of someone he knows who wanted to run for a government office. “You want to be a candidate,” he said to the fellow. “What have you done for the community?”
He said the man could not name any but promised to do something if he gets elected. He expressed his opinion that he should have proven his capacity to lead before planning for the position. I fully agreed with him.
I looked at my watch. It was 12:30. I have another appointment. WE have been exchanging views for two and a half hours. Our case might be called after the lunch hour. But it had been a fruitful waiting time.
