Second Generation Filipinos
I am a child of Filipino migrants. My parents are both Filipino, but I was born and raised in the Netherlands. When I was a little girl, I asked my mother: 'Am I Filipino or Dutch?' She said I was both Filipino and Dutch, but now I'm wondering if I'm really also Filipino. Do people who were raised abroad still have a Filipino personality and identity?
This question was the start of my project for my psychology subject 'Filipino Personality' as an exchange student at the University of the Philippines (UP), Diliman. I hope to learn from this project to what extent the Filipino personality and identity remain within children of Filipino migrants who were raised abroad (second generation Filipinos).
One important part of this project is to exchange experiences with other second generation Filipinos like me. And that's where I need your help! I started a forum where all second generation Filipinos are welcome to share their opinions and personal experiences with each other. As a starting point for discussion I formulated some guide questions, but of course feel free to come with new ideas, questions and discussions!
I would appreciate it a lot if you could take the time to take a look at the forum and post one or more messages. I hope you can at least try to answer the question 'Do you consider yourself Filipino or not? Why?' as this is the main question in the forum.
In the end of March 2005, I will write a report based on the reactions on the forum and a review of literature about
the topic. If you're interested to read the findings and conclusions coming out from this project, please make sure
you fill in your email address when posting a message on the forum so I can send you a copy of my report. But
writing a report in the end of March doesn't mean the forum can't exist longer. I hope to get enough response to
keep the forum running for a longer time!
Please forward this website address to other second generation Filipinos so there will be more people to join the forum!
Hope to see your messages on the forum!
Ligaya Butalid