The Early Malay Doctors: Mahal Kita

Sunday, 26 May 2013

Mahal Kita

I was just reading a book review by Stephanie on H-NET, all in one deep breath! I am shocked and tantalized that marriage between white US-American and Malay is outlawed! Here the "Malay" in question is Filipino, not Malaysian.

Citation: Stephanie Hinnershitz-Hutchinson. Review of Baldoz, Rick, The Third Asiatic Invasion: Empire and Migration in Filipino America, 1898-1946. H-Empire, H-Net Reviews. May, 2013. URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=38974

A question asked was, is the Filipino a Malay, Mongol, Chinese or Japanese? LOL, I have no immediate answer. I am Malay but Filipino to any Filipino except that I don't speak Tagalog except for a few words which the Malay language shares with Tagalog.

Sometimes we all have this culturul identity crisis where we don't know how we fit into the Asiatic or even global picture of humans. In Asia today, you can stare at a beautiful lady and think she is Malay or Filipino or even Polynesian. I will bet you that she is not 100% Malay but of Malay, Indian, Chinese and European genetic admixture. That is how mixed we are today.

So coming back to the Filipino story, is the Filipino also a mix? Yes, definitely, even from its history, we all know the Filipino is not pure anymore but mix breeds. We should be able to find Filipino Chinese, Filipino Black, Filipino US White, Filipino Canadian White, Filipino Spanish White, Filipino Portuguese White, Filipino Mongol, Filipino Malay, Filipino Indian, Filipino Punjabi, Filipino Arab, Filipino Persian, Filipino Bugis, Filipino Sulu, Filipino Japanese, Filipino Korean, Filipino Thai, etc. I think the pot is bigger and the mixes just too many.

The Filipino people are ethnically grouped into 10 social classes or castes: Negrito, Indio, Moros (Filipino Muslims), Sangley, Mestizo de Sangley, Mestizo de Espanol, Tornatras, Filipino/Insulares, Americano and Peninisulares.

"The Moros are Muslims living in the Philippines.

The Español mestizos are persons born in the Philippines of mixed Malay and Spanish ancestry.

The tornatrás are persons born in the Philippines of mixed Malay, Chinese, and Spanish ancestry.

Indio was a general term applied to native Malays, but as a legal classification, it was only applied to Christianized Malays who lived in proximity to the Spanish colonies.

Persons who lived outside of Manila, Cebu, and the major Spanish posts were classified as such: 'Naturales' were Christianized Malays of the lowland and coastal towns.

The un-Christianized Aetas and Malays who lived in the towns were classified as 'salvajes' (savages) or 'infieles' (the unfaithful).

'Remontados' (Spanish for 'situated in the mountains') and 'tulisanes' (bandits) were Malays and Aetas who refused to live in towns and took to the hills, all of whom were considered to live outside the social order as Catholicism was a driving force in everyday life, as well as determining social class in the colony." - Wikipedia.

So what does the Filipino look like? I don't know but what I know is they are simply gorgeous! I still remember Imelda Marcos and Corazon Aquino. I remember Lea Salonga singing and recently Bianca King acting.