Culture
Among Filipinos, traditional values of pakikisama (smooth social interaction), amor propio (self-esteem), utang na loob (reciprocity) and the extended family are important. The American influence is also strong – shopping at malls and sports are popular. What rugby is to New Zealanders, basketball is to Filipinos.
Manila in Mt Albert
In the mid-1990s Auckland’s Bayanihan Club ran a basketball league every Sunday at the Mt Albert recreation centre. Teams such as ‘Prime Steak Beef’ and ‘Geyserland’ battled it out:
‘Going to these games is like being in Manila …There are people selling Filipino food and delicacies throughout the game; Filipino magazines and newspapers are also available, and Filipino movies are available for hire. A Filipino hairdresser is also around’. 1
Clubs
The first Filipino club was established in Auckland in 1976 with just 20 members. By the 2000s there were also groups in Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch. The name of the Club Barangay Wellington incorporates a Filipino term: barangay (village) is the traditional community group.
Religion
One legacy of over three centuries of Spanish rule is that the Philippines is the only predominantly Christian nation in South-East Asia. In 2001 most migrants were Roman Catholics.
Language
Initially many found the Kiwi accent difficult to comprehend. Today almost all Filipinos speak English and the majority are bilingual. In New Zealand’s Filipino homes it is common to hear ‘Tag-lish’, a mixture of Tagalog (the main Filipino language) and English.
A short-lived newsletter, Filipiniana, appeared in Wellington in the early 1980s. Auckland’s Diario Filipino, first printed in 1999 with a circulation of 200 copies, went online in 2000. By the early 2000s, Auckland Filipino radio show Tinig Pinoy announced community events, played Original Pilipino (Filipino) Music (known as OPM), and featured presenters with colourful names such as Ela ‘the Flame’ and Niño ‘Woofman’ Deomano.
Festivals and cuisine
Filipino restaurants have operated since the early 1980s, when Mrs Bautista’s Blades restaurant offered Wellingtonians paksiw na lechon (pork in liver sauce).
The Filipino festival known as Octoberfest is held each Labour Weekend. In 2001 some 1,000 people gathered in Rotorua. Over 50 teams entered in the Festival of Sports, and a cultural night showcased Filipino dances and songs. The event culminated in the crowning of the Miss Philippines–New Zealand beauty queen, which is considered the traditional way to end the festivity.
Although New Year’s Eve is traditionally observed with a ‘merienda media noche’ (midnight snack), most New Zealand Filipinos celebrate with fireworks. The community also gathers to mark Philippine Independence Day (12 June). With a foot in each culture, by the 2000s many Kiwi Filipinos had dubbed themselves ‘Fiwis’.
Footnotes
- H. Baral, ‘Filipino migrants in Auckland.’ In An ethno-geography of Taiwanese, Japanese and Filipino immigrants in Auckland, edited by Hong-Key Yoon. Occasional paper 28, Department of Geography, University of Auckland, 1995, p. 168. › Back
