Comparing Asian Nationalities | Asian American Poll

COMPARING ASIAN NATIONALITIES
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:21:07 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

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WHAT YOU SAY

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To Jay V
So what if asians play filipinos? I consider you asian. I agree your culture is somewhat ignored by media highlighting only Chinese, Japanese,etc. Every filipino I know has it pretty good in America.
stopcomplainingjay Thursday, May 09, 2002 at 09:00:54 (PDT)

Filipinos are considered an asian culture. The native people of Guam are not filipino, they are Chamarro and are polynesian, like Hawaiians, Somoans, Tongans, Tahitians, Maori, etc.

Everyone should be proud to be whatever ethnicity they were blessed with. I want to answer some of these questions here.

Our family worked out the quantums our bloodline, if you're Hawaiian you'll know why. My siblings and I are about seventy percent Hawaiian, about twenty percent Haka Chinese, a bit of Irish, and a bit of Cherokee.

My wife is Tujia. We talk about the different asian cultures in the world, as well as the subcultures that exist in China. China is made up of many minorities who speak their own dialect, as well as the main dialect. Some minorities don't have a written language. China is similar to the Phillipine Islands. There are many islands in the PI, and a lot of subcultures that speak their own dialect, as well as Tagalog the main. Just like not all filipinos look alike, not all chinese look alike. Just like there is no one filipino that can speak all the dialects found there, there is no one chinese who can speak all the dialects used there. Who is to say what a Chinese should look like anyway? If you speak to people from China they know who is Chinese, most likely from dress, facial features, and definitely speech tones they could tell the other person is Chinese, and where the other is from, or at least what region.

Since I mentioned filipinos already, I'll address the comment made about filipinos getting their props. Jay, where do you live? What kind of filipino are you? I mean are Visayan, Tagalog, Ilocano, or one of the other ethnic filipino groups? It's ignorant for you to say you don't care about what other asians think. All asians have faced similar racism. It's true a lot of asian cultures don't like each other, but regardless they've all been victims of racism. You should be proud to be filipino. But what are you doing to preserve your culture? Do you know your culture? Did you know that there was a study done on the west coast, which includes Hawaii, about the suicide rate in teenage filipinos? It was in the early nineties. They interviewed a lot of teenagers. They found that most had a problem identifying with a culture. Some even felt they had no culture. I don't know how they felt, but I know how I felt as a Hawaiian growing up in america. I hated it. The white lies, the attempted genocide of our culture, and the racism. I hated it then, and I still do now. Luckily for our culture we have some things to hold on to. The Native Americans know my pain. What happened to them, happened to us. But we can't change the past, we can only learn from it. Filipinos should be known for than just abu sayef, Imelda Marcos, and Subic bay. I have a lot of filipino friends, some are like brothers to me. A couple are from Mindinao, most are Ilicano, but some are Tagalog. They know they come from different subcultures in the PI, but still proud to be filipino. Even they know that not all the filipino stereotypes are false. By the way, "Dark Angel" is pinay, also from Hawaii. But she represents for the pinay. Move on parday, and do something for your people.

I don't know much about Malayasia, but I do know that China has influence many cultures throughout asia. More than just the labor, they brought with them knowledge and a higher spirituality to many places. Unfortunately for many people in this world, they took the Chinese compassion for a weakness. If any asian group should sit here and scream about getting do respect and props it should be the chinese. When people think of China now a days, they have a cloudy picture of the red army and communism as we see it today. People neglect the fact that China was always a great country, skilled in arts and sciences, not to mention laced with beautiful scenery. Unfortunately in this world, cultures must adapt or the rest of the world will leave them behind.

It's amazing how social structure in america is a model for the world. In america about thirty percent of the population actually run the country, because the middle and lower classes are too busy fighting each other. People all over the world should take a good look at themselves and what's going on around them. Look at the big picture. Who is the oppressor, and who is the oppressed.

Rodney had some profound words, "Can't we all just get a long?"

I think I cover already, but I'll say it again. Guam has major influences from the spanish and from the filipinos. But the indeginous people of Guam are called Chamarro (obviously the spaniards gave them that name, like the spaniards called native americans indians). Chamarro are polynesians.

Like I said everyone shoud be proud of who they are. You should strive to preserve your culture. Most cultures today have been influenced by another culture, so don't be so quick to hate.

I'm offended by your comments about dirty Indians, and dirty Chinese. Obviously you have self esteem issues. You sound just as ignorant as the white arians and the kkk here in america. You need help both mentally and spiritually.

I'm also offended that some one would question if a cantonese is chinese. Is there something more constructive to talk about.

Parday, I'm not offended that you want recognition for the PI, but did you ever think she might be telling people she is Hawaiian. I'm with you, she has the name and obviously she is not full Hawaiian. Maybe you should send her or her reps a note asking why she doesn't put herself out there more for the PI.

Taiwan has an interesting past, that goes hand in hand with the Japanese invasion of China. You should learn more about the invasion to understand why the red and the white armies stopped fighting and united. Then afterwards, they split, some of the generals fled to Taiwan and established the political system there. There is a lot more to it than that, but that the short version.

Take care, smile, laugh, and enjoy life. We are all part of the human race.
Xie xie...Mahalo...Salamot po... Thursday, May 09, 2002 at 03:20:06 (PDT)

Elisa,

I like the almond cookies they make in Chungshan. It is less sweet than the ones made here in the USA.

Toisan is different from the other Sam-Yup (Cantonese) dialect because of geography. Mountains surround the terrain of Toisan. It is so mountainous that farming is very meager there. That is why many left home to be laborers, gold miners and railway builders in the USA during the late 19th cent. People back then rarely left their villages and that is why you find such diversity among southern Chinese dialects. They had little outside contacts. Another theory has it that the Toisan were the 2nd batch of Cantonese to arrive in Guangdong after the Sam-Yup (Cantonese). There are peculiar features in the Toisan dialect that is still found only among Gan dialect speakers (in Jiangxi province). They probably came from Jiangxi or Hunan via boats on the rivers back in the late Tang or early Song dynasty.

But, Toisan is fairly close enough to standard Cantonese. Even the neighboring Hakkas language are not so hard to understand if you listen diligently. They have all borrowed features from one another.

My father says his ancestor (my great-great grandfather) had come from Guangxi to settle in Toisan. People say that my great-grandfather was a "big and large man." Funny thing is that my father and grandfather are small and tiny. I think height is not all genetics. The environment and nutrition has its big influences as well.

I don't think we can say that there are uniform features among Chinese people as a whole.

There are some Toisanese I know who look like Wang Zhi-zhi, the basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks.

Believe me, I am of Toisan descent and I see the most heterogenous facial features among them.

Height among them is so parallel to Japanese. Both Toisan and Japanese children born in the USA tower over their parents and grandparents. I suspect both groups have hidden genes that make them taller under the right conditions and nutrition. Maybe it is also true for Vietnamese born in the USA and Filipino-Americans as well?

Gary Locke, the governor of Washington state is of Toisan descent. You guys be the judge what type of race he belongs to?
Gregory Wednesday, May 08, 2002 at 22:43:33 (PDT)

Jay Velasco:

"When Ms. America 2001, Angela Perez Baraquio won, it was one of the happiest days of my life...then they only say she is Hawaiian...not even mention she is filipina even though she looks like it and has a filipino name."

She doesn't have a filipino name, her name is Spanish, just like tens of millions of other Filipinos who were given Spanish names and surnames by priests when they were converted to catholicism. Just like your surname "Velasco" is also Spanish despite you being Malay.
Belazzkoh. Wednesday, May 08, 2002 at 21:35:39 (PDT)

Jay,
I hear you. I use to think Tia Carrere, Lou Diamond Philips, Mark Dacascos, and Anthony Ruivivar were ashamed of being Filipino because they would always say that they were Filipino and something else.

However, I've come to realize that it is not easy being a Filipino in Hollywood. How many roles are there for Filipinos in Hollywood? I understand what these actors have to go through. Filipino actors cannot get work in Hollywood, because Hollywood doesn't know what to make of us. That's why you hear Filipinos saying different things concerning their ethnicity. They have a paycheck to earn and they have to fight for the scraps left by everyone else.

Did you realize that Jeannie Kwan, from the show California Dreams, is just a stage name? Her real name is Jeannie Fernando.

Did you know that, Buzz Belmondo, the guy that played the Italian guy named Guido in the early days of Baywatch was Filipino?

The Teedot Wednesday, May 08, 2002 at 20:47:57 (PDT)

Jay Velasco,

I think Flips have it pretty well in USA media. Look at Gene Roddenberry Andromeda and Earth Final Conflict. They have Flips playing major roles, that have nothing to do with race.

One's a spaceship android and the other is a Benedict Arnold of the human race.

I think it is kind of cool they are able to break away from a sterotypical asian role.
AC Dropout Wednesday, May 08, 2002 at 14:20:58 (PDT)

To Jay Velasco,

i can totally understand the kind of crap that you go thru as a Fillipino. ITs totally unfair! although i am Chinese, i feel for you, brother. i hate it when people say you guys are not Asians. You folks are our Asian brothers and sisters! now thats real!
Asians that deny and put down one another are really ignorant! we need to life one another up. nuff said.

Asian guy for all Asians Andys1123@aol.com Wednesday, May 08, 2002 at 14:04:09 (PDT)

Sorry Almari is Arabic. If you study "your history book" you will learn that Arabic speaking people conquered Portugal and Spain and ruled it for 700 years. During their occupation many Arabic words found thier way into both Portuguese and Spanish (Almari being one of them) So whether it was the Portuguese or Arab sailors who brought it to Malaysia, the end point is still the same. Al'mari is Arabic. Also Malaysia converted to Islam well before the Portuguese arrived and in the process of learning about the religion they learned many many ArAbic words and some Malayasians became Alimi Islam (they could recite the Quran from beginning to end).
Turk Wednesday, May 08, 2002 at 12:58:44 (PDT)

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