What it means to be a poor Filipino Essay Example for Free

What it means to be a poor Filipino Essay In every country of the world, the poor people are never absent. They occupy the lowest strata of social stratification. Due to differences in geographical location, economic standing, technological advancement and other social factors, the poor in every country however does not look or live the same way. In the Philippines, a country in the South East Asia, it is easy to identify   the poor people through   the places where they live, the kind of houses they occupy,  Ã‚   the food they eat, the job they are engaged in, their physical appearance, and how and where they spend their free time. In Philippine urban cities, the poorest of the poor are found in congested slum areas. In Manila, its capital, the biggest slum is in Tondo. Here, all sorts of people take residence; the ex-convicts, robbers, drug addicts and prostitutes  Ã‚   mixed with decent poor people.   Some of the poor people in the slums came from other provinces looking for a job in Manila. They spoke different dialects but they understand each other when they use their national language, Tagalog. As one enters the slums, children playing in the narrow alleys usually greet him. He may also found himself in places littered with garbage. What is repulsive at times is that some undisciplined children disposed of their waste on the streets. As one looks around, he will observe that the houses   Ã‚  are closely built   Ã‚  Ã‚  together. Inside these cramped spaces lived a family or two. Most of the owners of the house used one of the rooms for renting. In fact, the slums are the best place for a cheap rent in Manila. What makes life hard in Tondo is that the water are rationed, residents had to wait for a schedule usually late at night to early morning for the water in the faucet to flow. Nights in the slums are noisy due to karaoke bars (bars for singing). Men (and sometimes women) drinking along the alleys contributed to the noise. Nights are also the time for some people to throw their garbage in a nearby river. In the daytime, a mini-market stand sells vegetable, fish, meat, eggs and other food. Often, the vegetables, fish and meat are no longer fresh. The other slums in other cities were much better in Manila although they also have their own sanitary problems to solve. Those who were not able to live in the slums lived under the city bridges or near the train railways. When the train passed by, their houses shook. Many people died as they were run over by a passing train. The poor who did not live in urban cities are much luckier.   In the provinces, not only is it safe, they have a small space of their own, away from the crowds and noise. The houses in the slums are either made of wood or     cement.   The design of the house is very simple, just a door, a room and few windows. They are often very small for there is not enough space. In fact, others do not have rooms at all.   They eat, sleep and entertain in only one place. The dilapidated houses may have streamer cloth, sackcloth or cardboard as covers for the walls. Thankfully, there is no winter in the Philippines or else people living inside will freeze with cold.   In addition, some houses may not have access to windows especially if they were squeezed between other houses so that they have to turn on the light and electric fan most of the time. Inside these houses are a few furnitures: a table, a stool, maybe a sofa, a wooden bed and a cabinet.   The usual appliances are TV, electric fan (for it is hot there especially in the summer), some pots and pans and a burner stove. The poor in the provinces fared much better for even though their houses may be small or they had no electricity, the houses   are usually constructed far apart and equipped with windows and stairs.   The roofs of their houses may be made of nipa, a kind of palm tree that grows in swamps (Peplow, 1991). The Filipinos eat three times a day with rice and a dish that goes with it. The poor however, can only afford to eat twice or once a day. Along with rice, they eat with dried salted fish sold plenty in the market. The other viand is what they call â€Å"bago-ong†, small salted fishes that were left to ferment in a few days inside closed containers. The bago-ong is much cheaper than the dried salted fish( Shead, 2006). For a foreigner, the former may look like fishes left to rot. Other poor popular dishes are vegetables. Cabbage, string beans, cucumber, carrots, and other green and leafy vegetables native in the Philippines can be easily bought in Filipino markets.   The snack of the poor, on the other hand, is usually banana cue sold in nearby food stalls.   They also love to eat fish balls sold by vendors on the street. Fish balls are mostly made of flour mixed with a little fish meat. They are then cooked in a pan full of oil. In cooking, the balls should float in the oil. A matching sauce is served with the fish balls. The poor in the provinces are mostly farmers. On the other hand, the poor in the urban areas engaged in various low-income jobs like working as a laborer, waiter or store attendant. Some work in numerous beauty parlors to cut or trim hairs, paint nails, or do body massage. The poorest of them collects empty bottles, metals, etc from the garbage, and sell their find in the junkshop. In the government, the poor work as Metro Aides (people who sweep the streets) or as garbage collectors. The others work in various offices as clerks, computer encoders and call center agents. Many of these poor people now have parents working as skilled workers all over the world. In a way, their way of living had improved. Many children of the poor now study as caregivers, nursing aides or nurses in the hope that someday they will be able to work in other countries. Those who do not have any relatives abroad to support their studies financed their studies as working students. The interest for medical courses is prompted by the fact that Filipino medical professionals are now in demand all over the world. They endured the loneliness of being away from home as long as they are able to support their families financially. There are some sad stories, however, for some married couples who went away or were left behind find other partners so that there are many broken families in the Philippines right now. It is easy to distinguish the poor in terms of their physical appearance. They usually dressed simply. The teenagers wear jeans and T-shirts. Older women sometimes wear a blouse and a skirt, but most of the time they also wear jeans and shirts. When they have errands or have to go to the city, they usually wear a fake  Ã‚   jewelry.   In spite of their simplicity, they often looked and smell clean for the Filipinos love to take a bath, sometimes twice a day. The only exceptions of course are the beggars and street children in the streets. They really do dress the part; unclean tattered clothes, unkempt hair and they looked as if they had no taken a bath in months! One thing noticeable about the poor Filipinos, especially the teenagers, is that most of them have cell phones. They love to text their friends.   But they have to be careful because there are many snatchers in the street. Only the rich can afford new models, though. Filipino men love to play basketball. In the slum areas, they may not have formal basketball courts but they hang a ring anywhere; in walls of houses, buildings or posts, just to play the game. The space is limited so they contended themselves with only one ring. Sometimes this can cause contention with the neighbors, for a bouncing ball may hit the windows or furniture inside the houses.   Some neighbors also complained of noise. The teenagers on the other hand love to hang out just anywhere, in the plaza or sometimes ,if they have the money, in   internet cafes. The Filipinos love to socialize, even if they have little money, they still find a way to connect to their friends through rented computers. Meanwhile, older men entertain themselves not in fancy restaurants but in karaoke bars. The Filipinos love to sing and there are many karaoke bars to choose from. On Sundays, they love to go to cockpits to watch or bet on cockfights. The government discouraged the poor from taking part in cockfight betting because most of their meager incomes were lost this way (Peplow, 1991). The greatest setback in being a poor Filipino is the little access to medical care. They just cannot afford to pay hospital bills. The medicines were also costly. Some of them just died in their respective homes even though their illnesses were curable. Many of the poor suffered from tuberculosis. This is curable but since it took six months of medication, it became a burden to the poor. For most, without medicine, they just grew worse and eventually died.   The government is now making an effort to lower down the cost of medicines (Peplow, 1991). Being a poor Filipino is not easy for he is deprived of the many comforts of life. Most poor Filipinos live in uncomfortable dwelling houses or places. They do not eat nutritious foods nor own many material things and had to satisfy themselves with cheap entertainments. References: Peplow, Evelyn. (1991). Introduction to the Philippines. Hong Kong: The Guidebook Company Limited. Shead, Michael P. (2006) â€Å"Filipinos poor; Happy†. Living the Philippines Incorporated. Retrieved February 12, 2008 from http://www.livinginthephilippines.com/art_why_filipinos_are_happy2.html