Why is it that we seem to take greater offense when it is a foreigner making observations about us or the way we live?
A recent example was the comment of Chinese businessman Jack Ma about our Internet connection here.
We have always known that internet speeds in the Philippines are not quite up to par with other countries’ —despite the fact that we are one of the most active, at times vociferous, users of social media.
For so long we have endured this inconvenience. After all, we did not have a choice. Neither the two big telecommunication providers nor the government seems to grasp the urgency of the matter. We’ve been getting by, anyway. We continue to patronize their products despite the pitiful speed, high cost and lousy service.
But when Ma said the connection here was “no good,” his words made headlines. Have not millions of consumers been saying this all along?
And then there is the predisposition to reject the opinion of the rest of the world—except, perhaps, Russia’s and China’s—about how we conduct our domestic affairs. The pushback ranges from defensive to downright rude. We are an independent nation, our officials cry out, and how dare they meddle into what is happening here.
We completely ignore any constructive value or valid points the observations may have.
The rejection of external opinion has been so venomous that often we have had to take a backward steps and mumble the diplomatic equivalent of the disclaimer “joke lang!”
The same goes for popular culture. Our people and some of our personalities have been depicted as undesirable, stupid or hilarious, and we have always responded on the side of excess—protesting, striking back, demanding an apology, all the while taking ourselves too seriously.
It’s misplaced pride or errant nationalism, perhaps, that makes us automatically pay more attention to what other nations say about us. Reacting thus we lose the opportunity to see that they are outsiders, precisely, with a more detached and objective view of what is happening here.
We ourselves should be our harshest and most effective critics. Unfortunately we keep forgetting that.
