Is Korean Actress Lee Da Hae Making Fun Of Filipino's English Accent?

I was watching television when I saw in the news that a Korean Actress Lee Da Hae was insulting a Filipino's English accent.  I hurriedly went to Youtube to look for the video and found this one.  We must all know that Southeast Asian countries, English is not our first language we used to speak but in the Philippines, English subject is part of our studies from preparatory school to college until you become a professional.

Filipinos don't need to go to USA or England to study English but we already have it here because based on Philippine history, Americans went to the Philippines and taught us English.   We are lucky enough that we have learned it straight from them.





Then I googled Lee Da Hae and found this website that she already apologized for misunderstanding through Twitter.  Click here.
All I can say that I am thankful that she apologized to all Filipinos and explained her side about the issue.  I could sense the humility and sincerity while reading her tweet.  Unlike Gloria Diaz who we already saw her interview on ABS-CBN but she has never been apologetic and she was even smirking.

Simple Logic: Gloria Diaz on Cebuana Can Hardly Speak English

I think I just have to correct Gloria Diaz on her statement, "Kasi when you think about a Cebuana can hardly speak English and of course Tagalog.  Maybe she should answer in Bisaya."


Bisaya pertains to the people living in Visayas.  That is why I am proud to be a BISDAK (Bisayang Dako).  Cebuano language is widely used in Visayas and Mindanao.  There are lots of Visayan languages: Cebuano, Waray, Hiligaynon, and to name a few.


You can also see that there's redundancy on the process.  Who are these people living in the Visayas?

Cebuano(a) = Ilonggo(a) = Waray = Boholano(a) = BISAYA

I conclude that Bisaya pertains the people living in the Visayas that includes the Cebuanos (Cebu), Ilonggo (Iloilo), Boholanos (Bohol), Waray (Samar and Leyte) and among Visayas region.

If you speak in Tagalog, what comes up to mind of some people is that you are from Manila because it's in the center of Luzon but the fact is either you live in Batangas, Pampanga or Pangasinan.  Tagalog is widely used in Luzon.

If you speak in Cebuano, what comes up to mind is you are from Cebu because it is the Queen City of the South but in fact either you are living in Davao, Siquijor, Bohol, or General Santos.  Cebuano is widely used in Visayas and Mindanao.

The Philippines has different languages and you can check this out in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_Philippines

What if Miss Venus Raj is not a Bicolana but a Cebuana?

Let me take the statement of Gloria Diaz and put some corrections:

"Kasi when you think about a Cebuana can hardly speak English and of course Tagalog.  Maybe she should answer in Cebuano."

Translate this to Tagalog:

"Kasi kung iisipin mo na ang Cebuana nahihirapan sa English at lalo na sa Tagalog, eh sagutin nalang niya sa Cebuano."

Interpretation:

When you think Venus Raj (a Cebuana) has difficulty in speaking English and of course Tagalog maybe she should answer in Cebuano.

This is really acceptable if Venus Raj is a Cebuana and has difficulty in English and Tagalog because she's a Bisaya and only speaks Cebuano.

Let's change Cebuana to Bicolana

"Kasi when you think about a Bicolana can hardly speak English and of course Tagalog.  Maybe she should answer in Bicolano."

Translate this to Tagalog:

"Kasi kung iisipin mo na ang Bicolana nahihirapan sa English at lalo na sa Tagalog, eh sagutin nalang niya sa Bicolano."

Interpretation: 

When you think Venus Raj (a Bicolana) has difficulty in speaking English and of course Tagalog maybe she should answer in Bicolano.

What do you think of Venus Raj? Is she a MAJOR, MAJOR DUMB because she doesn't know how to speak Tagalog?


The reason of some other Filipinos doesn't know how to speak English and Tagalog because of LACK OF EDUCATION.

Gloria Diaz on Cebuana Can Hardly Speak English

We've seen the coronation night of the Miss Universe 2010 and our bet from the Philippines, Miss Venus Raj, belonged to the top 5. She ended as the 4th runner-up of the said pageant.

The question given to her was this, "What is one big mistake that you've made in your life and what did you do to make it right?"

She answered, "Thank you so much, Sir for that wonderful question. You know what, Sir in my 22 years of existence I can say that there is nothing major major, I mean, problem that I have done in my life. Because I am very confident with my family, with the love that they are giving to me. So, thank you so much that I am here, thank you thank you so much!"

A lot of people joked on her "MAJOR, MAJOR" statement especially on social networking sites. Her answer is somewhat right but I guess the judges weren't impressed by her answer.

There was an interview for Ms. Gloria Diaz about her reaction and defended Miss Venus Raj. The Cebuanos caught her saying this, "Kasi when you think about a Cebuana can hardly speak English and of course Tagalog. Maybe she should answer in Bisaya." source: ABS-CBN

A lot of Cebuanos are in rage for that statement. Why that is Cebuanos are always the best examples for being "can hardly speak English"? You know what, this is truly a MAJOR, MAJOR DISCRIMINATION.

My friends reacted on this and these are their comments:

A Cebuano can hardly speak English? Sure? :))) Wud love to laugh my ass off her face. -Nin

that is one MAJOR tactless comment from her!!!! her point is understandable to use our native language more, pagmamahal sa sariling atin...however to make such a tactless comment on national television which implies Cebuanos to be inferior is a MAJOR letdown coming from a fellow Filipino... - Rachellyn

Just reminded me of the movie Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo which Ms. Gloria Diaz was a part of it with her dialogue, "Bakit pinapalaki ninyong Bisaya ang apo ko? Speak to the kid in Tagalog. Parang Pinoy." The scene was taken that her grandchild was speaking Cebuano to her nanny.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel who is also a Visayan remarked, "It offends the sensibilities of the Visayans and other non-Tagalog speaking citizens by making them feel as if they are less Filipino than the Tagalogs."

In defense of Star Cinema, "It's not intentional at saka mataray ang role ni Ms. Gloria Diaz sa movie at taga-probinsiya ang nanny ng bata, so ang tendency ay ma-adopt ng bagets ang salita nu'ng nanny niya na napansin ni Ms. Diaz."

Additionally, "But it doesn't mean na kinokondena namin ang mga taga-Visayas at Mindanao. Hiniling ni Senator Pimentel na i-delete ‘yung lines na ‘yun sa movie na hindi naman pupuwede na kasi palabas na at imposibleng mangyari pa kasi maski na i-delete pa, marami na ang nakapanood."

Lastly, "Hindi lang naman ang SSS (Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo) ang nauna sa ganyang lines tungkol sa dialect, marami ng nauna pa (We're not the first to write those lines about a dialect)." source: tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com


Let me point out the last statement made by Star Cinema and relate it to the question for Miss Venus Raj, you already knew that it was an OBVIOUS MAJOR MAJOR MISTAKE and there were lots of Filipino movies before having the same scene or dialogue with that on Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo about the Cebuano language (Yes, it is a language, not just a dialect), have you made any thoughts of MAKING IT RIGHT? I know the movie was already out but I hope you FILIPINO MOVIE MAKERS will have DISCRETION on not hurting the culture of other Filipinos living in the Philippines.

In the Miss Universe pageant, when I heard the question for Miss Philippines, "What is one big mistake that you've made in your life and what did you do to make it right?", what popped-up to my mind was the hostage taking in Quirino Grandstand because of the quote "Big Mistake to Correct a Big Wrong Decision".

Is this just coincidence?