The following is a post by Inquirer.net Blogs guest Terri Jayme. Terri is a young Filipina who is currently based in Singapore and works with Ashoka: Innovators for the Public in Asia.
Read more of the article on Inquirer.net Blogs.I left the Philippines eight years ago to pursue college in the US. As is the case with many Filipinos living abroad, being away from the country compelled me to give greater thought to what it meant to be Filipino and to learn more about the culture and history that define us. Being so far away, I felt the call of home and family. I struggled to preserve that connection and sought out little ways to affirm my identity: I am Pinoy.
Aside from the occasional “Got Adobo?” shirt, I’d come home during my first few years away and find very few Filipino products for young people. I had to choose between campy souvenir shirts or the more traditional capiz or bamboo Filipiniana wares. It made me wonder whether the absence of more modern options implied a lack of interest among young Pinoys locally.
