Nationalism is not color blindness

Both the Philippine government and the Filipino community in Montreal, Canada are up in arms over an incident in which a seven-year-old boy of Filipino ancestry was severely reprimanded by a school caregiver for using a spoon and fork during lunch instead of a fork and a knife.

As all Filipinos know, Filipinos feel more comfortable with a spoon and a fork. But a fork and a knife are not exactly impositions that should be resented. Their use is very easy to learn. In fact, more and more Filipinos are now adept with either utensil combination.

In other words, what utensil combination one uses is really no big deal. In a Chinese or Japanese restaurant, if one does not feel comfortable or does not know how to use a pair of chopsticks, he or she can always ask for a fork or whatever.

Only in really elegant restaurants would the proper use of the correct utensils be a must. But then, we do not believe really elegant restaurants are the usual destinations of seven-year-old boys.

So, then, was the severe reprimand of the seven-year-old boy by the school caregiver warranted? We do not think so. Even if the intentions of the school caregiver were good, we do not feel a reprimand was necessary. Patience is more appropriate in dealing with very young kids.

But then, okay, the boy was reprimanded. Does a reprimand, warranted or not, also really necessitate a social upheaval in the Filipino community in Montreal? And did the Philippine government really have to come fuming into the picture?

Jesus Christ! For all the causes of turmoil or war, the most ridiculous would be a reprimand over the use of a spoon and fork by a seven-year-old boy. Whew! I do not believe the caregiver was justified with the reprimand. But neither is the heated reaction to it.

One thing not good I have noticed about us Filipinos is that we are overly sensitive over foreign-caused irritants. Our sense of nationalism is misplaced, forgetting that in order for us to be respected abroad, we have to gain respectability first at home.

And yet, that has never been the case. Most Filipinos do not care about the sufferings and indignities to which other Filipinos have been subjected so long as these are all within the native environment.

But look what happens when something pricks us abroad. Years ago, a Filipino maid in Singapore was executed in accordance with that country's laws for the murder of her very young ward.

Many Filipinos, their passions stupidly whipped up by a television network which overly dramatized its news coverage so that it came complete with background music, wanted to go to war with Singapore, burning that country's flag, because a Filipino was found guilty of a crime.

We may not like the kind of punishment meted. We may even think our compatriot was innocent of the crime. But an innocent boy was killed in that country. And when the laws of that country started rolling, we just have no right to interfere with its internal affairs.

Most Filipinos just cannot seem to remain objective when it comes to Filipinos caught in a fix in any form of foreign relations. Even in sports, a Filipino who loses abroad is almost invariably reported as having been a victim of a bum decision.

There is nothing wrong with nationalism. Nationalism is a virtue. Every citizen of whatever country should have the fire of nationalism burning in his heart. But first he has to know that nationalism is not merely color blindness.