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Prof. Fred S. Cabuang
The worldwide popularity of 2008 Binibining
Pilipinas-World Janina San Miguel, started with the question by
Vivienne Tan, one of the judges. And in the Internet, video clips of
the Q & A have reached more than a million viewers which make
them more popular than the recent victory of Manny Pacquiao over
Marquez. The scene went like this.
Ms. Tan: The question is, what role did your
family play to you as candidate to Binibining Pilipinas?
Janina San Miguel: Well, my family’s role for
me is so important (pause) b’coz (pause) there was the waa—(pause)
they’re…(pause) they was the one who’s…(pause) very…
hahahaha…(pause) Oh I’m so sorry, ahhmm…(pause) My
family…(pause) My family (pause) Oh my god… I’m… Ok, I’m
so sorry… I… I told you that I’m so confident… Eto, ahhmm,
wait…(laugh) Hahahaha, ahmmm (pause) Sorry, guys because this was
really my first pageant ever b’coz I’m only 17 years old
and…(pause) ahahaha I, I did not expect that I came from, I came
from one of the tough 10. Hmmm, so… but I said that…
(pause) my family is the most important persons in my life. Thank
you.
Three things I observed. One, that was a
family-oriented question asked by judge Tan, a celebrity and
daughter of one of the world’s wealthiest persons. Two, there was
a sizable audience of unsupportive Filipino crowd. And three, Janina,
a young, beautiful teenager, unskilled in public speaking, was
audaciously responding to a question in English that did not seem to
be her own mother tongue. It would have, probably, made a big
difference if she were encouraged to reply in a language familiar to
her, which is a practice in international beauty contests. The
mother tongue is the language that is spoken at home and in the
community of the speaker.
As she tried to grope for words, the hostile
crowd began to laugh at her predicament, even as she explained that
she was only 17 and this was her first pageant experience. Even some
judges, including Ms. Tan, could not help but laughed as well.
To fully understand Janina’s situation, we
have to understand the process of mental reasoning. If a speaker is
asked a question in a second language (example, English), the
speaker has to mentally translate the question into his first
language or mother tongue (example, Tagalog) before he can
comprehend the question. Afterwards, the speaker will mentally
formulate the reply using his mother tongue (reasoning in Tagalog)
and then translate the response into a second language (English) to
answer the question in the same form it was asked. Sometimes, the
true meanings of the words, together with emotions, suffer in the
translation.
The mother tongue plays a very important part in
communicating one’s ideas and feelings. After Janina’s
revelation that her father is a driver and her mother is a laundry
lady, it is possible that she does not have the opportunity to
develop strong English speaking skill. English speaking is
strengthened only by speaking English! The more one speaks, the more
his oral skills improve.
Nowadays, most Filipinos speak adulterated
English. Somehow, “Taglish” has been socially and academically
accepted in our country. Abroad, our own version of mixed Tagalog
and English is called “Eng-log.” Let those who have no sin cast
the first stone, the Bible says. Those who deride her weak public
speaking must look at themselves first. Does Janina really deserve
to be our representative in the forthcoming Miss World pageant
because of her broken English? Of course, why not?
According to beauty pageant experts, the Q &
A portion of a beauty contest is meant to be informal, open-ended
and considered as “referential questions.” These are questions
that extract opinions and information from the candidates. Questions
are designed to elicit content rather than the form of the answer.
Accordingly, there is no correct or wrong answer.
For many, including myself, speaking in public
is not easy. It may look simple from the outside but it is actually
emotionally challenging. To do effective public speaking, time is
needed to prepare for the topic at hand. In the case of San Miguel,
her time to process the question was almost instantaneous. There was
no time to even think of the “best answer.” One thing for sure,
the content of her answer was the best for me!
With an unsupportive crowd and the judges facing
her, it’s amazing that she was able to carry on herself despite
the insulting chuckles. Janina showed neither sign of frustration
nor the slightest feeling of embarrassment on her lovely face. At
that point, she was confident as well as pertinacious before the
judges and the audience. She had the heart of a winner. Though she
answered in broken English, Janina managed to focus on the content
of her answer, that…“my family is the most important persons in
my life.”
Janina was in a competition based mainly, but
not entirely, on physical beauty. She won the “Best in Long
Gown” and “Best in Swimsuit” awards. She must be that good to
merit those awards. Before the evening was over, Janina received the
coveted Binibining Pilipinas-World title.
Her triumph serves as inspiration to other young
Filipinas who used to think that international beauty pageants are
only for those who have the money and those who have the right
connection. She widened door for those who used to dream dreams and
never even gave their dreams a chance.
In August 2008, Janina will represent the
Philippines in the Miss World pageant in Ukraine. It is expected
that the coronation will be the world’s largest live television
event, viewed in more than 200 countries. The Miss World pageant is
the oldest major international contest (since 1951) and the only
major beauty title that the Philippines has not won. Janina San
Miguel might just be the Filipina the world is waiting for. Will she
get the last laugh?
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Prof. Fred S. Cabuang is the founder and
chairman emeritus of the Institute for Linguistic Minority, an NGO
engaged in saving all languages in the Philippines and the PRO-Board
Member of Defenders Of Indigenous Languages of the Archipelago. For
comments e-mail linguisticminority @gmail.com.
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