The Irony the Philippines Starts the Christmas Season in September BUT Many Filipinos Love Last-Minute Christmas Shopping

Uproxx

As Christmas is just around the corner--I feel more stress coming in! It doesn't help when people try to use the late Andy Williams' "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" to try and skip the problem. It's already known that most Filipinos love to start Christmas in September. However, the irony is that Filipinos start Christmas early but do their Christmas shopping late. If they began the Christmas Season early, shouldn't they think about what to do before December strikes?

Two years ago, I wrote a post discussing last-minute Christmas shopping. Many Filipinos tend to do last-minute Christmas shopping. They had all of November (when the Christmas sale usually begins) but why do the Christmas shopping in December? One of the things I blame is the one-day paycheck lifestyle (see here). It can be observed that many Filipinos never learn to prioritize more important things. One can get their stars when they see their paychecks. However, they carelessly spend the money on what doesn't matter over what matters. Instead of thinking about paying bills--they go out on the payday. They'd go out, celebrate lavishly, and then the paycheck is good as gone. That kind of mentality may explain why such people rally for higher salaries while demanding prices of goods be lowered (read here). Such people fail to realize that a salary increase is only feasible when there's a higher demand for labor (read here). Prices of goods can only be lowered when there's a higher supply and lower demand. That can also be triggered by economies of scale. However, I feel such people still mock supply and demand, as if doing that will change the laws of economics!

It's possible that the excitement for Christmas overrides logic. They get so excited for Christmas that they wish it was Christmas every day. Please, Christmas every day is definitely bad economics (read here). If one seeks to have fun all the time--priority is never key. They only think of how to have fun. It's not just when the -ber months strike. It's a year-round condition that imitates the foolishness of General Tomas Mascardo during the Filipino-American War. Mascardo knew better than to leave his post. However, it's said by historians that Mascardo decided to attend a town fiesta in the middle of a war! I wouldn't be surprised if some people died during typhoons because they chose to celebrate anyway, even when a storm is coming. They could've canceled the feast but no, they had to have the feast! I believe that too made COVID-19 hard to combat--because of people who wouldn't follow basic protocols!

Even worse, they often have that old Filipino saying, "If it's bitter, just add sugar (read here)." I was often told that stupid phrase by my childhood nanny. Right now, I can't be sure if she's still alive or not. After all, Filipinos tend to have a sweet tooth. There's the tendency to add sugar to almost everything. However, you can't sugarcoat the bitter truth for too long. They might be thinking about Christmas and its associationg with sugary treats. One of the songs using the tune of Frosty the Snowman" is "Puto at Suman". Puto and suman are two kinds of Filipino treats that's associated with Christmas. They think that any problem can be solved by just adding sugar. However, it's not just on Christmas but a whole-year round foolish behavior. Lots of debt? Lots of homework? Forget about it and just add sugar.

It's a shame that only a few Filipinos ever escape this irony. I can only expect more and more foolishnesss during Christmas. Even worse, people might be expecting their impunity to be understood "because it's Christmas". Sorry to say but Google Christmas day disasters and find out how real they are. Christmas isn't a magical team of the year where nothing goes wrong. The only reason why Christmas season disasters get hyped up is because people expect nothing wrong to happen during Christmas. That's even if there have been far worse disasters that happend outside Christmas.

The Malaysian-Filipino Sweet Tooth Demographic

As a Filipino, I've observed the Filipino diet tends to lean on a sweet tooth. What causes this probable genetic disposition of the Filipino to crave sweets? That trait might be traced to one's ancestors. Newsweek also mentions it might be with the DNA . The Malaysians and the Filipinos have close genetics. The Britannica also cites this about Filipinos: The ethnically diverse people of the Philippines collectively are called Filipinos. The ancestors of the vast majority of the population were of Malay descent and came from the Southeast Asian mainland as well as from what is now Indonesia . Contemporary Filipino society consists of nearly 100 culturally and linguistically distinct ethnic groups. Of these, the largest are the Tagalog of Luzon and the Cebuano of the Visayan Islands, each of which constitutes about one-fifth of the country’s total population. Other prominent groups include the Ilocano of northern Luzon and the Hiligaynon (Ilongo) of the Visayan islands of Panay...

Learning Mandarin Chinese Through Melons

Hanlin Language Center In pursuit of encouraging people ot learn Mandarin Chinese, here's a chart teaching the different types of melons in Chinese. Learning how to speak Chinese with these melons would be a productive exercise. Aside from using what was often called bon toi in the Chinese schools, it might be good to help people memorize these types of sentences, with the translation: Chinese: "天气热，想吃西瓜." (Tiānqì rè, xiǎng chī xīguā.) Translation: "It's hot, I want to eat watermelon." Chinese: "你想喝冬瓜茶吗?" (Nǐ xiǎng hē dōngguā chá ma?) Translation: "Do you want to drink winter melon tea?" Chinese: "我要做南瓜派." (Wǒ yào zuò nánguā pài.) Translation: "I'm going to cook pumpkin pie." Chinese: "用黄瓜去眼袋." (Yòng huángguā qù yǎndài) Translation: "Use cucumber on your eye bags." Chinese: "苦瓜对你的健康有益." (Kǔguā duì nǐ de jiànkāng yǒuyì) Translation: "Bitter gourd is good for your health." Chin...

A Consequence of Adobe's Subscription Model?!

As I look at this video, I don't regret not opening an Adobe account. I used Adobe Photoshop back in college--back when I could borrow someone's CD and install it on my computer. However, paying thousands of PHP monthly is ridiculous for a casual user! Why would I pay thousands of PHP just to produce artwork that I'm not even selling? Back then, I used Photoshop mostly to relax during semestral breaks in college. What happened to the good old days? As I listened to this video, I was disgusted at how Adobe could be a "Get Rich Quick Scheme" against its customers. Instead of selling Adobe Photoshop (or any service) outright (that's until the newer version arrives), they decide to use the subscription model. I could understand if Adobe offers a subscription model for intensive work that requires intensive power. Meanwhile, Adobe could offer a one-time purchase of any of its software for non-professional use. This reminds me why relying on past successes isn...

Keep Calm and Continue Investing in Stocks, Despite the Current Situation This 2025

FQ Mom It's no secret that U.S. President Donald J. Trump's tariffs may backfire . Should I even be surprised at the results that the global stock market are going low? It's something to think about why I didn't get invested in stocks ASAP. It's because I don't have a calm personality. However, I realized that the key in stock market investing is, "Keep calm and invest long term." Nobody should ever think of investing in stocks hoping to get rich quick fast! The FQ Mom provides useful advice that I should do, as I check my equity funds at an almost daily basis: 1. Understand the stock market. It is the avenue where we can all participate in the ownership of the listed companies. This facility that allows us to buy and sell stocks with ease anytime during trading hours also goes with a “price.” We see the stock prices go up and down like crazy every second, something that does not happen in other asset classes. To borrow from Benjamin Graham in h...

The Lesson of "Bad Genius" is More Than Just "Cheating Never Pays Off"

Sometimes, much truth can be told in fiction, right? Talk about how the great Jose Rizal revealed much truth in his fictional novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo . The digital age today would create more entertaining media. I may encourage book reading over movie watching. However, some movies may do more than entertain. They can also address a real issue. It was said that a cheating scandal in China inspired the producers Jira Maligool and Vanridee Pongsittisak to create the film Bad Genius . Right now, there's even a TV series presumably because a movie can't always deliver the message one wants. How does the whole thing go? I was inspired to watch this film because of comments from a Facebook friend's post. The post also talked about how students cheat because the system cares more about grades than learning. As the world becomes more global, exposure to Thai cinema is definitely not surprising. Sure, one can talk about the South Korean wave or the increasin...

Getting Nuts About Standard Chinese, By Learning About the Chinese Names of Nuts

Hanbridge Mandarin In pursuing the need to teach Mandarin Chinese, it's important to deviate from the old-fashioned Chinese language education (read here ). Instead, we need to get people interested in basic vocabulary. This would be a good exercise to learn from basic sentence making and conversations. Here's an example of what's called bon toi back in my day. Let's think of learning Chinese through nuts. Question: 你想要巴西坚果、核桃、杏仁还是腰果? (Nǐ xiǎng yào bāxī jiānguǒ, hétáo, xìngrén háishì yāoguǒ) Translation: Do you want brazil nuts, walnuts, almonds, or cashews? Answer: 我想要杏仁，非常感谢. (Wǒ xiǎng yào xìngrén, fēicháng gǎnxiè.) Translation: I want to have almonds, please, thank you very much. However, there's a mistake in the chart because the coconut isn't a nut. Instead, it's a coconut fruit of the coconut tree, of the coconut palm family. The song was written by Filipino musician Ryan Cayabyab. Now, it's time to enjoy learning Chinese through learning about n...

Using the Credentials Fallacy to Dismiss Anti-Protectionist, Pro-FDI Arguments

GarthBox I guess it's time for another post, isn't it? I'd like to say that I'm no super-expert in my field. I could remember one time I started talking about the need for constitutional reform. What I always choose to speak about first is the need to liberalize the economy, let more FDIs come in, and allow FDIs to own 100% of their businesses . Instead, get shot down by arguments like, "Why let them invest here? Only they will be rich!" Even worse, they'll have the credentials fallacy which can go with these kinds of insults that I can get every now and then: "Shut up! You're not an economist!" "Do you know Sonny Africa of IBON Foundation graduated from the London School of Economics and you didn't?" "Do you have a degree from the University of the Philippines, Ateneo De Manila University, or any of the Greenbelt universities?" "The school you graduated from is not one of the hardest to enter!" "You ...

Why I Support Taiwanese Politician Yeh Yi Jin's Proposal for Taiwan to Drop Zhuyin Entirely (in Favor of Pinyin)

Taiwan News It may be news from 2018 (meaning, five years ago) but as a person who sees the importance of Mandarin in the international market, I still want to react. Not surprisingly, Yeh Yi Jin lost the Tainan mayoral bid because of her controversial statement to abolish Zhuyin from Taiwan altogether . She may have lost the race but I'm still supporting her for this. It's not because I kept failing hard in Zhuyin back in my days. It's because I feel that as time goes on, some things need to be dropped like asking students to submit their reports written via typewriter or asking documents to be faxed when email (and modern standard mail) are more reliable. Like I argued with an investment before, I said, "You can't fax a book. Can I just mail it?" The bank kept arguing it had to be faxed. Unfortunately stubborn boomers, stubborn boomers, everywhere, right? From The Free China Post , this is what's said about Yeh's argument: Yeh argues that using zhuyi...

The STUPIDITY of Insisting that Equity Restrictions in the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines Exist for "National Security"

As the call for economic charter change goes on, I feel the need to educate some people with common sense . I'm reading comments on Facebook that 60-40 (or any similar ownership restrictions) is for the "security of the Philippines" or that certain sectors can't be allowed 100% ownership on the part of the MNC. Once again, do I need to remind people for the nth time that 100% FDI ownership is all about share ownership ? Sadly, many Filipinos misunderstand what 100% FDI means (read here ). What 100% FDI ownership means is that MNCs don't need to look for a Filipino partner, only to be burdened with having to give up 60% (or more) of the net profits after taxes and they only keep 40% (or less). That's why I called such an arrangement as overpriced rent (read here ). Some of these people I ran into on Facebook (of all places) are too beholden to Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. It was last 2018 when Davide Jr. also said that the Philippines may become a "colony ...

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