CULTURAL APPRECIATION. The Chinese-Filipino Friendship Expo aimed to show the Ateneo community Filipino and Chinese-Filipino cultural relations. Photo by Alexandra L. Huang

THE ATENEO Celadon launched its first Chinese-Filipino Friendship Expo on September 3 in order to promote the ties between the two ethnic groups. Celadon is the official Chinese-Filipino organization of the Ateneo.

Project Head Iking Yusingco said that the expo aimed to highlight the friendship between Filipino students of native and of Chinese descent. “We wanted to show that Chinese-Filipinos and Filipinos can be friends and will work together toward a common goal.”

Celadon President Angelli Dykimching said in an email interview, “The aim of the friendship expo is for Ateneans to know, experience and appreciate the Chinese-Filipino culture and see how it is not completely different from the Filipino culture.”

“The event is really just about nurturing the appreciation for cultures,” she added. Chinese-Filipinos are Filipino nationals of Chinese ancestry who were born and raised in the country.

A photo exhibit, photo contest, trivia contest, and talk were held during the week-long event, held from September 3 to 7.

Awareness and appreciation

For some Chinese-Filipino Ateneans, their relationships with their pure Filipino schoolmates can be considered as good.

“Considering that we, the Chinese-Filipino students in Ateneo, were born and raised here in the Philippines, we understand both cultures and that does not give us a hard time in relating ourselves with our Filipino blockmates and friends,” Dykimching said.

Chinese studies junior Celstine Sy said that she would get teased by her friends, but thought that it only came out of their curiosity.

“Being Filipino-Chinese, I always get teased about my accent. I have friends who ask me weird stuff, [like] ‘Do you go to temples everyday?’ or ‘Do you do dragon dance at home?’ So I feel that it’s just because they’re interested to learn more about the culture [that’s why they ask these things],” she said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Sy said that she does not feel any discrimination from her friends.

Despite this, there are still misconceptions that need to be addressed. “Some Ateneans are not aware of the Chinese presence in the campus,” Yusingco said.

He added, “Some people don’t know the difference between Chinese-Filipino and the actual Chinese in China, like they think that they’re one and the same. But then, you know, obviously there’s a big difference, like Chinese-Filipinos are Filipinos and not really Chinese Chinese.”

Dykimching said that this year, Celadon would focus on making Ateneans aware of the Chinese-Filipino culture. “We want the Ateneo community to be immersed in the culture and, together with us, they could appreciate it as much as we do.”

“I think that if Ateneans would learn and appreciate our culture, they could understand more the differences and similarities of both cultures. Relationships can be strengthened if both parties actually know the background of one another,” she said.

Bringing out the bond

Celadon partnered with several organizations for the expo. The organization teamed up with Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran, Inc., which promotes the integration of “Tsinoys” into mainstream Philippine society; the Alliance of Chinese-Filipino Students, the umbrella organization of five Chinese-Filipino organizations from five different universities; and the Rotaract Club of Chinatown Manila, a nonprofit organization for Chinese-Filipino youth aged 18 to 30.

Chinoy TV, a lifestyle magazine show on Net-25, also covered the expo.

Aside from the photo exhibit by the aforementioned organizations, there was also a photo contest. Yusingco said that its theme, “Best of Both Worlds,” was in line with the emphasis on Chinese and Filipino friendship.

Sponsored by the Confucius Institute, an event called “Trivia Wars” was also held in order to determine the Ateneo’s representative to the inter-university contest, “Are You Smarter than Confucius?”

In the expo’s culminating night, Teresita Ang See, founder of Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran, Inc., gave a talk on “Tsinoys: The Ethnic Chinese in Filipino Life.”

Promotion problems

Yusingco said that a really big expo was planned for August 13 to 17. However, the southwest monsoon that month proved to be a problem.

“[But] we thought that the presence alone was really [a] mind-opener for Ateneans,” he said.

Since attendance was a concern, other attractions were put up, like free food and raffle games, Yusingco said. Since the expo was the first event of its kind for Celadon, the organization did not have a prior idea about how the activities would be received by Ateneans.

Yusingco, however, thought that the expo was generally well received. “We actually had a good number of attendees, those who registered, and that’s not even all of the people who passed by.”

He said the same for the culminating night, although the attendees were not as many as expected.

On the other hand, some think that the event’s promotion could have been improved.

“Most of the attendees were Chinese [studies] majors or Celadon people,” said Chinese studies junior Justin Rey. “I think that wasn’t enough. Also, some of the people… were actually required to attend the talk.”

Sy said that the same applied to the talks held by the Chinese Studies Department. “It’s mainly promoted to those taking Chinese FLC [foreign language classes] and electives. But not a lot of Filipino [students] take those so I guess the whole Ateneo community does not know,” she said in a mix of English and Filipino.