THE FAN MEETS THE "APPRENTICE"

Flashback to 2004. I am a big fan of the show “The Apprentice” from the time it first aired in 2004. I watched the first season while I was living in Beijing as a student. I had an old television set (read: no remote control) in my dorm room with only two all-English channels--- Star World and CNN (which was most of the time blocked by the Chinese censors).

Ironically, I was hooked watching this US reality TV show in China. I had to leave my Chinese class early to go back to my room and catch the episodes. There was neither Youtube nor Torrent back then where I can watch and download replays of the episode. And so the show became my “Western indulgence.”

Fast forward to 2013. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the world’s “toughest job interview” was airing in the region. “Well finally! “ I thought, after almost a decade of the show’s existence. I think that it is high time that Asians showcase their entrepreneurial spirit and management skills.

Watching the first “Apprentice Asia,” I could not avoid comparing it with the US version. The most important difference I have observed is how Asians are generally less brutal and less standoffish compared to their American counterparts, especially during their fight-for-their-lives “boardroom scenes.”  There is of course that confrontational drama in the Asian version (with some contenders quitting early on in the show) but it’s more tamed and subdued (perhaps reflective of the tactful and polite demeanor of most people in the region). Nonetheless, both shows displayed cut- throat competition and glaring rivalry (even hostility) among the contestants.  

The “Apprentice Asia” named a Filipino as the overall winner. Jonathan Yabut bested other contenders from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, and Singapore. Even before the program ended, I knew that he would emerge as the winner because (objectively speaking) he has the work attitude, business skills, dynamic personality, and competitive spirit. 

Halfway through 2014 I was very much interested to meet Jonathan Yabut after watching him win in my favorite reality show. He was gracious enough to suspend all his suspicions and agreed to personally meet with me (a stranger who sent him an unexpected email). Fortunately, I got a chance to share a meal with him in Kuala Lumpur.

The Apprentice and the Fan: Dinner in Kuala Lumpur

My conversation with Jonathan basically reinforced what I observed and admired about him on TV. It helps too that I met him a year after the show’s airing, which made me fondly recall the reasons behind his deserving triumph. There were so many reasons why he won and I could surmise that his success point to the “Filipino” in him.

Based on Jonathan’s winning performance in the show, what does it reveal about Filipinos?

  

Interpersonal Skills: If there is one thing that Filipinos have an upper hand over their Asian counterparts, it is our “pakikisama” (or the spirit of camaraderie).

Jonathan displayed this as he pointed out and commended each of his teammates with their strengths and skills. In his last task, he motivated them by expressing his gratitude for their contributions even before they started the task. For Jonathan, It was not only about winning the competition, but also about uniting the team to achieve that win.

This people-centered orientation generally reflects good interpersonal skills among Filipinos when doing tasks in groups. In our professional culture, we are less mechanical (in the stricter sense of the word) and more personal (in a more considerate manner). Essentially, we value accomplishments not only because we have completed the process to achieve them, but also because we shared the ups and downs of that process with people.

Passionate spirit: Another important characteristic that Filipinos possess is our passion for the things we value in life. Whether it is achieving success or promoting an advocacy, Filipinos give their “all” no matter what.

Jonathan proved this when he had to raise funds for AirAsia Foundation in his final challenge. His goal is not just to win the competition but also to help out his chosen charity, which energized him all the more to give his best in the auction. His zeal and enthusiasm were evident as he successfully engaged and inspired people to contribute more.

This passionate spirit among Filipinos is what makes us walk that extra mile and stand out in whatever we do. This is evident in how we share our talent for singing with “feelings”, how we help others with compassion, and how we manifest our faith in God with so much fervor and devotion. Applying this kind of passion in various professional endeavors, Filipinos can no doubt succeed if we couple it with drive, hard work and determination.   

The Filipino Dream (and reality): It may be the typical rags-to-riches story that Filipinos can relate to (think Manny Pacquiao, Nora Aunor, and Henry Sy). But this inspiring variation of the “Filipino dream” highlights a different twist, which a lot of young people can easily relate to.

Jonathan shared his humble beginnings and struggles in life during his battery of interviews in the run-up to the finale. The executives were truly impressed with his accomplishments, not only because he has achieved them at a young age, but because he has succeeded IN SPITE of so many difficulties. This is perhaps what made him stand out among his other competitors.  

Yet his narrative appeals to a wider audience not only among the poor and deprived who literally have nothing, but also to the young people who are privileged to have a supportive home and good education. Despite his circumstances, Jonathan went to school through scholarships, participated actively in his university’s debating team, and excelled in business and marketing. His story is both a laudable victory against hardships and a continued endeavor to resist complacency. It is not only about prevailing over poverty but also overcoming the usual roadblocks to success. Essentially, his success is a good reminder to constantly take risks, strive harder, learn more, and pursue excellence to achieve success--- no matter what your status in life.

This is the Filipino dream everyone only hopes for, yet Jonathan has eventually made it a reality for himself. It is the dream that we all share and can relate to--- not only because we want to overcome our inherent poverty but also because we know that, if we put our hearts and minds to succeed, we can beat the odds and make our dreams a reality. 

Of course, this is not to say that only Filipinos have the monopoly of these traits. I believe that other nations have some semblance of these characteristics. But Jonathan’s performance and success in the show elucidates what most Filipinos can easily relate to. And I believe that if we maximize these strengths, we can similarly achieve what Jonathan has accomplished in our own professional endeavors.

Looking Back, Looking Forward   

A year after the “Apprentice Asia,” I thought it was timely to catch up with this Filipino pride. After his win, Jonathan did not just busied himself working for Tony Fernandez in AirAsia, but he also pursued writing a book about his Apprentice journey and speaking to young people in various events---continuously inspiring to dream big and making positive change not only in the Philippines but to other countries in the region.   

Featured in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 14 August 2014

I consider myself privileged to have a personal conversation with Jonathan. I was actually impressed and inspired by his wit and grit that I wrote about my time with him in an article for the Inquirer, purposely to share all the insights I gained from him to the public. I think that success and excellence should not be a one-time event (like winning in a competition), but these should be constantly imbibed and reinforced among us. Jonathan Yabut, like other successful Filipinos, paved the way for us to believe in ourselves--- that we can accomplish something great. It is now up to us to sustain such positive motivation through hard work that will ultimately enable us to realize our goals.

What sustained my interest in watching this “toughest job interview” is that it keeps me on my toes to face head on the various tasks and people I meet in life. Looking back, I learned a lot from watching the show and meeting the “Apprentice.” Looking forward, I hope to be continuously inspired.          

THE PHILIPPINES AND THE US: HOW WE VIEW THEM, HOW WE SEE US

The Philippines’ relations with the US can be generally deemed as the most important and the most complicated bilateral ties. It highlights active interaction between the two countries’ governments, economies, and societies.  Since American colonization of the Philippines, this bilateral relation has seen many bright and dark moments that give color to Filipinos’ perception of the US. 

taken from: http://www.crossed-flag-pins.com/Friendship-Pins/Philippines/Flag-Pins-Philippines-USA.html

          My class on Philippine foreign relations got everyone thinking about how Filipinos view the US. Based on our discussion, Filipinos generally have a clear distinction between the US government and society. Basically, what the Filipinos may think about the current US administration does not necessarily affect how Filipinos view the Americans.

When it comes to state-to-state relations, the Philippines has a very convoluted relationship with the US. This is mainly because of the enduring security alliance and the corresponding issues that go with it.  Though the US government provides security guarantee, it can also compel the Philippines to be directly or indirectly involved in its security issues (e.g. war on Iraq) and its strategic interests in the region (e.g. hosting American military presence in line with its rebalance in Asia). The Philippines may have a love-hate relationship with the US but there is no doubt that despite this, it is the country’s most important bilateral partner.

        When it comes to people-to-people relations, Filipinos have a very entrenched affinity with the Americans. This is mainly because we share a lot of commonalities with them--- our regard for democracy and freedom, our friendliness to other people, and our openness to other cultures. There may be some negative impressions based on personal experiences by some Filipinos but overall, we have a very positive view of them. In fact, most of us think highly of the Americans. We admire them for their independence, individualism, coolness, and creativity.    

         Essentially, we may sometimes object to the decisions of the US government, but we still love American culture and society. We consume their brands, study in their schools, patronize their popular culture, and admire their state-of-the- art technology. Despite the awkwardness, we attempt to have that fluent American English with the twang. And despite the difficulties, we pray to the heavens to be able to migrate to the US in an attempt to live the “American dream.”

 

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and US President Barack Obama, photo from the Associated Press

           Generally, our deep-seated enchantment of everything good about America has led some of us to think so highly of them at the expense of appreciating the good in us. This is especially evident in our entertainment industry when we tend to ape American artists in how we sing, act, and dance---and less attention is given to Filipino artistry and ingenuity. It is no wonder that we have several Filipino versions of American acts--- “Michael Jackson of the Philippines” or the “Elvis Presley of the Philippines”--- to certify an artist’s talent as being “good enough” to be compared to them. It is as if we need to reach an “American standard” to be affirmed of our own talent and artistry.

  It is also no small wonder that we have the penchant to claim and share in the glory of several Filipino Americans’ achievements in the US, even though they consider themselves more as Americans than anything else. This is clearly apparent in how we “idolize” Jessica Sanchez and Jasmine Trias in the American Idol and readily adopting them as our own. And year after year, we anticipate for any Fil-Ams who can break into the Top 20 so that we can fiercely root for them as if they are in an Olympic competition carrying the Philippine flag.  It is as if we need “validation” from American singing competitions to feel good about our talents and to be proud of being Filipino, never mind if they are Americans in the first place. We tend to forget how they usually identify themselves as American citizens who happen to have Filipino blood.

This is not to discount the talents and achievements of a growing number of Fil-Ams in the US, for they deserve the accolades and honor bestowed on them. It is sometimes the swift manner in which our nation claim these Fil-Ams’ successes as achievements for the Philippines that personally bothers me the most. We tend to instantly declare them as one of us even though they sometimes do not recognize us first. Oftentimes, only until they become famous in the Philippines that they publicly declare their affinity and pride to this country, which some of them have not yet personally experienced nor visited.  

Some of the successful Filipino Americans featured in a book by Gail Snyder

I personally have nothing against the Fil-Ams nor am I judging their “Filipino-ness,” in fact I welcome their quest to explore and appreciate their Filipino roots and heritage. But what I find vexing is the apparent adulation most Filipinos give to Fil-Ams that somehow reinforces our colonial mentality.  

           As I discuss this issue in my class, I asked my students one question that got them thinking: “If we think this way about the Americans, then what does it say about us as Filipinos?” 

And my class came to this realization: It speaks about our belief in our smallness to their greatness. It reveals our insecurity. It shows our lack of confidence as a nation.     

These are just some of the personal reflections and observations about our relations with the US and our perceptions about America. On the government level, we reveal this inequality in how we greatly rely on our security alliance and development aid from the US government, and how sometimes our government allows these factors to influence our foreign policy. On the socio-cultural realm, we display our insecurities with our tendency to seek validation from the Americans as if we need their “pat on the back” for us to believe that we are good or at least “good enough” for them.    

In order to slowly transcend from these perceptions, it is important for Filipinos to be confident about ourselves as a nation. Though the Philippines will never be equal to the US in so many ways, our government need not equate our smallness to mean constant deference to the Americans. We only need to think of our country’s strategic value to the US in terms of its regional interests to raise our leverage. Though Filipinos may learn a lot from the Americans’ ingenuity and expertise in various fields, our nation need not feel constantly inferior to them. We only need to constantly learn and improve ourselves and be reminded of the many unique accomplishments of Filipinos acknowledged all over the world to feel proud of ourselves.

Though these observations are still evident, they are slowly changing.  According to World Focus video report presented by Mark Litke and produced by Ara Ayer, the Philippines is home to talented, industrious, resilient, and yes, independent people. Towards its conclusion, the video highlighted Manny Pacquiao, a pure-blooded Filipino from a poor background, who rose to the top and captured the attention and respect of the Americans and the international community. He is certainly an epitome of who we are and what we can become as a nation. He is definitely a symbol of the Filipinos’ humble roots, proud achievements, and growing self confidence.  

And I could not agree more. There is indeed a “Manny Pacquiao” in us that we should unleash. In the future, I hope to see more Filipinos who are self assured and proud of our nation. I also look forward to shaping the minds of more young Filipinos to be more confident and positive about the country--- one class at a time.          

DISCOVERING THE TOUGH REALITIES IN “THE TOUGHEST PLACE…”

            They were two people who make a living as bus drivers. Both of them were supposed to be born as equals. But why does one live in comfort and the other one struggles just to live?

      This is definitely the toughest question confronting anyone who has seen BBC’s documentary “The Toughest Place to be…” It is a series of documentaries that features British workers doing their jobs in some of the toughest conditions in the world. One of these episodes, “The Toughest Place to be a Bus Driver,” showed Josh West, a London bus driver, going to Manila to do his job. He filled in the shoes of Rogelio Castro who taught him how to drive his jeep. While in Manila, Josh stayed with Rogelio and his family and discovered the heart-breaking disparity in their lives.

You can view this BBC documentary at Youtube.com

            Throughout his stay in Manila, Josh lived the hard life of Rogelio.  He faced an array of problems confronting the poor people like Rogelio living in the developing world. Apparently, it was uncomfortable for Josh and embarrassing for Rogelio. Josh’s shocking discoveries were Rogelio’s awful realities.

      The documentary painfully hits even the hardest of hearts as it reveals the gut-wrenching realities of the many facets of poverty in the Philippines. These issues have long plagued our country and confront most of our fellow Filipinos every day:

- massive traffic,

- growing unemployment and  underemployment,

- insufficient housing,

- excessive population among the poor,

- inadequate health services,

- malnutrition and extreme hunger,  

- high illiteracy rate.

          One of the most disturbing scenes in the documentary was the sight of people eating “pagpag,” leftover food from fast-food restaurants scavenged by the poor from garbage. Josh went to a dump site and met with an old lady who owns a carinderia that serves pagpag. She processes the pagpag by boiling it and frying in hot oil, depending on the condition of the food, before she makes a dish out of it. She makes a living out of scavenging and cooking pagpag that feeds impoverished people who do not have enough money to buy “real food.” For Josh, it was the worst he has witnessed in his life.         

           This is certainly a must- see documentary, not only because it is about the Philippines, but because it is about us as Filipinos. This may be easily dismissed as one of those documentaries that make anyone cringe at the ugly sight of our country. But this is an exceptional documentary that tells about our kababayan’s story through the eyes of a foreigner who has personally experienced living in Manila.  

from BBC's documentary on "The Toughest Place to Be.."

             

          For Filipinos, this is neither a pleasant TV show nor an eye-opening documentary. This is because these dreadful realities point to the harrowing poverty that we often see in our midst. We have grown so accustomed to it that we become desensitized by the destitution of our nation, the inefficiency of our system, and the suffering of the people around us. Eventually, we tend to resign ourselves to this awful fact until it becomes “normal.”

            It seems that the idea behind this documentary is to bring the issues of the developing world into the consciousness of the British people and those from the developed nations. It may also seek to generate compassion among BBC audiences living lives of comfort. But from the eyes of the people who are the subjects of this documentary, it is a chilling reminder of the realities that should not be accepted as “normal.” This should prompt us to take these realities as something that we can overcome.

        After all, Rogelio’s life as a jeepney driver is also the same life that millions of Filipinos live. His anguish resonates with most of us who also feel his pain: “I put everything into my work. All my strength goes into it. If I could work 24 hours to lift my family out of poverty, I would. But no matter how hard I try, my life just doesn’t get any better. I’m just stuck here.”     

       Indeed, his story is our story. His struggle is our struggle. His life of poverty (uneducated driver with low income living in poor conditions) is a reflection of our challenges and failures as a nation. But this should not be our eternal doom. His hope in the future (having his own small business and getting his grandchildren to finish college) can be a motivation for us to do our part and help our nation.

         After living Rogelio’s life and driving his jeep, Josh went back to London a changed man. “He shouldn’t have to work so hard for the little things he’s got,” said Josh after he became witness to Rogelio’s life of poverty. But it was heartwarming to hear him say that, after all he has seen in Rogelio’s life, how can he turn his back on him?  

        Back home, Josh organized a number of fund-raising events to raise money for Rogelio’s family. Two years later, he went back to Manila to personally give Rogelio the financial support he needs for his family’s future. In the end, the show can be credited for being mindful in portraying Westerners, not as the savior of the poor, but as ordinary people who reflected empathy and solidarity in the face of global inequality.    

         Clearly, this documentary is not only for the British but it is also for us Filipinos. Though the show portrayed the state of our poverty as shameful and reprehensible, it also showed the everyday battle for survival and the struggle for dignity among our poor. For Filipinos who have seen the documentary, this must prompt us for collective self-reflection and hopefully, move us towards collective action. If a foreigner can be moved to take action to alleviate the suffering of others, then we should all the more take the lead in improving the lives of our own fellow Filipinos.  

       The “Toughest Place to be a Bus Driver” is essentially a conversation between two people who are searching. For Rogelio, his questions are the toughest to search for answers: Why is it that there are rich people? Why is it that there are poor people? Why is life so unfair? But even without any clear explanations, both men found the toughest to find. For Josh, his experiences led him to a special bond between equals despite the appalling disparity: “We started off as strangers, became friends, and ended up as brothers.”