"Namamasko po" - Have you ever been bored, visited or irritated a little by those wishing you a Merry Christmas in the pass Christmases? If yes, then perfect because this is my topic for today. I'll be talking about "Why pamamasko culture is a toxic Filipino culture?" and my big message for you today is this: If you want to be happy this Christmas, wag kang mamasko. I know it might be counter intuitive.
I remember this story. I believe this is one of the problems of Filipinos. One time a child approached me and then he greeted me he said "Merry Christmas " my answer to him was also Merry Christmas. And then he repeated saying Merry Christmas again. And I realized that he wants me to give him a money. So I put out 20 pesos on my wallet and I gave it to him. And he said to me "Thank you po sa pamasko, namamasko po talaga ako."
And this got me thinking, maybe the Filipinos are really vague. Where did this Christmas culture come from? Because I believe it's quite toxic. And let me tell you why.
First and foremost, the problem sometimes here is that sometimes the word Merry Christmas when said continuously now Merry Christmas, as if they was equated ask for money, ask for a gift. And I believe, that's quite problematic.
It promotes a culture of mendicancy
Mendicancy comes from the word mendicant meaning begging, begging. We Filipinos because of the Christmas culture we learn to collect. In fact, we use Christmas to collect money.
They still say a lot that because you are rich you have to watch me because I am poor. There is nothing wrong with that but I Believe there's something wrong with that line of thinking. After all, we all have the right to receive and we all have the ability to give.
I have always believed that "there is no rich man who can not receive and there is no poor man who cannot give." We can all give, we all have the right to receive. And because of the Christmas culture, it promotes this culture as if we are always hopeful in asking, instead of us Filipinos relying on my ability to work and stretch, we rely on asking.
Sometimes parents say this at Christmas "children, dress nicely, mapunta tayo sa mga ninong at ninang nyo, mamamasko tayo." That would have been okay, this is the problem, the children immediately think "Ah, when it's Christmas, this is the time to ask for a money.
It's sad that sometimes parents even say "Let's not go there with your godfather, let's not go there with your godmother because it's stingy, we'll be there on the other side." So the children continue to have entitlement. It is only a matter of time before the boomers blame us that millennials today are somewhat self-entitled.
My question there is sino ba nagturo na bata palang kailangan na mamasko? So you see the problem? It pronotes a culture of self-entitlement and that's bad.
It pressures the giver
This is the hardest of all so sad. Many Filipinos, they are even more in debt when it comes to Christmas because they are under pressure, you should give in like this. Instead of adjusting the budget of Filipinos, what happens every Christmas is still borrowing just to be able to give. There is nothing wrong with giving but if that is bad for your finances, you are borrowing, edi in the long run especially when January comes we will both cry. Why? Because we gave more than our capacity.
It promotes materialism
The problem is kapag namamasko ka, it seems like you are always expecting a gift and the problem with that is that Christmas is equated into a gift and that's the problem. Happiness today is not measured by how much gift we receive.
The true spirit of Christmas, is measured by how much happiness, the peace we share with other people. So fine, we have established "This is a Filipino culture."
What should we do? So does that mean that the children do not go to their godparents? Definitely not because this is really a type of socializing and spreading love this Christmas.
Now, let me give you three tips on how you're going to be different this Christmas.
Avoid using the term namamasko po. If you read this article, please do not mention it, change it. Just do Merry Christmas because Christmas should never be equal to Merry Christmas.
Since Christmas is a season of giving, you should give and when you give, give without expectation. Because true giving does not expect something in return. Because if you expect, when you give, you don't really give, as if you are already buying the favor or gift you want you get back. Just give and don't expect anything in return.
Now, I'm not saying that your children will not go to their godparents, I'm just saying that you need to do it differently. Instead of telling your kids
"We will go to your godparents kasi mamamasko tayo," tell your children "We will go to godparents because we will give them a gift because it's Christmas time." Because remember the primary role of godfather and godmother is not actually to become Santa Clause or to become a provide of gifts. The real role of godparents is to guide their children, their God-children to become great Christians and Christ followers.
So when you go to your ninongs and ninangs, go there to give and do not expect anything in return. If you want to be happy, for a long time, forever, give to someone in need because I believe the essence of Christmas is really giving. After all, Jesus is the pinnacle, the hero, the superstar of Christmas.
And what did he do? He disrobed himself of his divinity to give himself to us as a little baby in the manger. So that later on, he can save us on the cross.
Thank you for reading!
