Øn b31n9 a Jeje

The Jejemons have finally reached national popularity. Thanks to the overacting Filipinos who fed news programs and TV shows. The Department of Education added more spice when it jumped into the bandwagon, showed despise over this seemingly pandemic language “breakdown” and declared an “all-out war” against Jejemons—as if they have nothing more serious problems to think about. To the DepEd, what you should look into are the TEXTBOOK scandals (among other issues) that your office has been involved, and not the way Filipinos TEXT.

As much as I can, I tried avoiding discussions about Jejemons in threads and e-mails, since I don’t see this as anything important to discuss. However, I think it is high time that I share my opinion since I have observed that most of my students in Foundations have already identified themselves as Jejebusters (anti-Jejemon group). In this entry, I shall try to enumerate my views regarding this “language phenomenon” as much and as briefly as I can. (Disclaimer I am neither a language expert nor a linguist, I am merely a Language student.)

1. Creating language

Jejenese isn’t anything new. Every now and then, humans create and re-create language for different purposes. Why? Because humans are rationale beings, and because language is dynamic. In 2005, Sophie Nichol, a PhD student at Deakin University published an article at the Australian Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society. She explored the linguistic creativity of gamers in online communities. These particular groups labelled their language as “leet speak” or “1337 5p34k” a language that incorporates language and digits. Primarily, the purpose of these groups is to create a sort of “exclusivity” i.e. if you can’t understand this language, then it means you’re not part of this community.

The same purpose is evident among Jejemons. However, I find it funny because people who don’t understand them (and don’t want to understand them) hated them, although there are really reasons to hate. I think the only problem among Jejemons is their lack of sociolinguistic competence, i.e. their ability to use appropriate language in particular situations. They have embraced the language too much that they use it outside their speech community.

2. Language Sub-Cultures

I found it amusing when my high school and college classmates remembered the same “language creation” that emerged in the 90s (yeah…it shows my age). If I remember it well, certain groupies started to use the “GA” language (it wasn’t labelled as GA, I just named it as such for discussion purposes) so that other people, especially our teachers won’t understand them. My classmates, mostly females, mastered adding “GA” in every syllable that they would utter. Thus, “NAKITA MO BA SI PEDRO? YUNG SYOTA NI MARIA?” becomes “NAGAKIGITAGA MOGO BAGA SIGI PEGEDROGO? YUGUNG SYOGOTAGA NIGI MAGARYAGA?” They even practiced and reached that level of fluency from which they would utter sentence very quickly.

The same process happens now. Every generation would “invent” something that would eventually become a fad. The “GA” language died eventually, so will the Jejemon, which brings me to my 3rd point.

3. Jejebusting

I was tagged on a Facebook photo which shows a Jejebusting tool—something that looks like an insecticide. I laughed when I saw it, not because of the intended message, but because of the futility of the cause. Years of scientific research has proven how insects evolved and eventually became immune with insecticides. We might have killed some, but never the entire species. The same goes with Jejebusting. It’s just an exercise in futility. The best tool for Jejebusting—if there is any—would probably be indifference. Language is a tool for communication. If someone texts you using Jejenese and you ignore it, they would eventually shift from Jejenese to “normal” mode (if they really intend to transact and interact). At the end of the day, the Jejemons are the ones that should be alarmed and not us, because their sort of language would never become codified and formalized—unless, of course, if their number grows on a massive scale that they would outnumber the “normal” group.

4. Brain-based language research

If there’s anything that the “normal” group should worry, it should be our difficulty in decoding Jejenese. In 2008, Perea et. al. stated that “In sum, despite the fact that digits and letters may have different cortical mechanisms when they are presented together with other digits or letters (Polk et al., 2002), the cognitive system regularizes the shape of the leet digits (and letter-like symbols) embedded in words with very little cost.” This should worry us because if we find it difficult to decode Jejenese, or if we are too slow in decoding, then there might be something wrong in our cortical mechanisms, which may affect the way we think and understand.


Language is complex and to attribute the continuously declining English proficiency of Filipino students, in this sense grammar and spelling, to Jejenese would be too hasty, if not fallacious.

At a certain point in every rationale human being’s life, he/she becomes part of a certain language group. We may not want ourselves to be tagged as a Jejemon, but we were, we are. It just has a different name.

REPLEKSYON

Eunice (4 y.o.): Kuya Matt! Kuya Matt! Pakinggan mo [sabay turo sa dibdib] tumitibok noh? Kay Ate Leiah din tumitibok e. Sa’yo?

Matt: [thin smile] Hmmm…sige nga… pakinggan mo nga…

Eunice: Tumitibok din! Ang galing!

***

Bawat araw tumatanda tayo. Pero hindi araw-araw ay may pinagkakatandaan tayo. Nainggit ako sa pagka-inosente ni Eunice. Takbo lang sila ng takbo, laro lang ng laro. Hindi siya nababahala sa kung ano’ng meron sa paligid; ni hindi niya alintana ang eleksyon at ang kaakibat nitong kaguluhan.

Bawat araw ay bagong buhay. Pero madalas, tayo mismo ang kumikitil sa ating mga sarili dahil pinipilit nating isipin na mahirap ang buhay, na malungkot ang buhay, na maraming problema sa buhay. Sa lahat ng nabanggit, natatabunan ng mga pang-uri ang pangalan na s’yang dapat na maging sentro ng usapan. Mahirap, malungkot, maraming problema. Pero hindi ba’t yung buhay palang ay dapat ng ipagpasalamat?

Bawat araw ay may bago. Pero madalas ang tinitignan natin at binibigyan ng atensyon ay ang mga bagay na meron na tayo. Mahirap nga naman talagang baguhin ang nakasanayan na.

Bawat araw ay bagong aral. Pero madalas, hindi natin ito iniintindi dahil akala natin alam na natin ang lahat. Madalas iniisip nating kaya na natin, pero ang totoo, hindi pa naman pala. Madalas na nadidisgrasya ang taong maraming alam.

Bawat araw ay may dapat ipagpasalamat. Pero madalas hindi tayo nakukuntento, at ito…ito ang pinagmumulan ng hirap, lungkot, at problema.

Guilty ako sa lahat ng pinagsasabi ko sa itaas, at malamang, ikaw rin. Pero kung matutunan nating bitiwan lahat ng mga suntok sa buwan na pangarap natin, kung yayakapin natin ang katotohanang hindi natin kayang alamin at gawin lahat, at kung simulang tanggapin kung ano tayo at kung ano’ng meron tayo, pihadong magiging masaya ang buhay ng tao.

***

Ngayon, ilagay mo yung kanang kamay mo sa tapat ng dibdib mo at damhin ang tibok ng puso mo…

Tumitibok ba?

Ang galing no?

Election Fallacies

Since the election carnival started its tour, I have been asked by a number of friends, students, co-teachers, and relatives about “my president”. Since then too, I have been silent about the name and the reason beyond the silence. At the time I upload this post, I will see to it that everyone has already cast their ballot so as not to instigate any form of campaigning or propagandizing. Generally, I decided not to discuss anything election-related as much as I can because of the following fallacies:

Fallacy 1: Election = “Change”

I believe in the power of democracy, of having one’s voice heard through his/her vote. However, I beg to disagree on the “power of election” as it is perceived by Filipinos. In my analysis, the beauty of election is limited to “change” which may be merely defined as “transition of power and leadership”. Thus, I find it rather odd to see Filipinos squabbling about elections with the mindset that if so and so wins, their lives will “change”.

Most Filipinos see elections as and and-all-be-all solution. This is the most dangerous election fallacy. Yes, the government and its leaders play a vital role in the “changes” within the society, but I strongly believe that the “change” that we’re looking for is within us. Society changes because its major stakeholders, i.e. individuals, decide to change.

The gods in Olympus feed on human worship, so are the politicians. The moment Filipinos start considering that these politicians are mere fallible and normal human beings as we do, is the moment change will commence. The moment Filipinos start choosing education over trivial things is the moment change will abound.

I come from a poor family, and I’m not saying we’re rich now. But at least now, we eat more than three times a day, unlike before; at least now, we have something to pay for our bills. Did any politician help us get out of poverty? NONE. Ate and I struggled in PUP and PNU to get our degrees, get a job, and contribute to our family.


Fallacy 2: The power of the candidate

Fallacy 2 is strongly related to fallacy 1. Most candidates think that they’re gods, that they can pull the Philippines out of poverty since they were able to pull themselves out of poverty, that they can end poverty by simply ending something. But everyone knows it’s not as simple as that. These candidates should remember that they can’t do everything they want (provided that they also believe in Democracy). Sadly, the world is run by money, and people tend to embrace that ideal, which then fuels these blood sucking insects (to borrow Gore Vidal’s analogy, “poli” = many & “tics” = blood sucking insects).

Fallacy 3: Rich & Poor are equal during elections

This ideology may be true at some point, but never in its entirety. In concept, the rich and the poor are supposed to be equal during elections because everyone is only entitled to a single vote. However, some poor people would tend to sell their votes for a price. Yes, vote-buying and vote-selling is never acceptable. But can you blame them? They who are always burdened on how to make ends meet? For these people, a vote is of lesser importance as compared to food or money. Hence—though not entirely too—it may be fallacious to say that the rich and the poor are equal, because the poor would always have narrower options than the rich.

Fallacy 4: Voting for the “winnable”

Surveys have conditioned the mind of most Filipinos, and the worst result of this is to vote for the “winnable”. One day, while on a jeepney going to PNU, I overheard a passenger saying, “Ok sana si _____ kaso naman walang kapana-panalo. Sayang lang boto ko.” The stupidest election-related argument I have ever heard. A person who votes simply because of being swayed by surveys and popularity should never expect change. Voting is supposed to be a result of careful analysis and assessment. Voting a candidate should be based on personal criteria and not of audience impact.

***

Call me a pessimist, but I just don’t believe that “change” will happen soon, not because we lack good candidates, but because we decided not to change. The “change” that we have decided to have is mere surface value, e.g. how AkoMismo became more of a fad than a movement. How frustrating.

I voted for a person who believes in the same God as I do; someone who, like me, believes that he alone cannot do it. I voted him not because I believe him, but I believe in Him.

Let us all hope and pray for a clean and peaceful election turn out.