Jeje + Mon = EVIL?

Jeje + Mon = Evil?
Lj Salceda



Kung may FB account o cellphone ka, malamang nakatanggap ka na ng ganitong babala:
based on research: word jejemon came from 2 Greek words....JEJERIUS-means follower, the doer of the command of someone by writing and MONNIUS- means the believers of Satan who have the capability to empower the mind of people..so JEJEMON means follower of Satan who empower the mind of the people by writing.. spread the news…

Mga kapatid, hinay-hinay lang sa pagba-brand at panghuhusga sa mga tao at bagay.

Hindi dahil ‘di mo maintindihan ay sa dyablo na.
Hindi dahil ‘di mo alam ang pinanggalingan ay sa demonyo na.
Hindi dahil ‘di ka maka-relate ay masama na.
Higit sa lahat hindi dahil sinabi ng iba na kay Satanas ay sa kanya na nga ito.

Totoo may mga bagay na ginagamit ng dyablo, pero ang SALITA- kakayahang magsalita, makabuo, gumamit at mag-interpret nito ay galing sa Diyos. Dahil S'ya ang may lalang sa atin.

Ayaw ko rin sa jejemon, pero I don’t believe that they are of or from the devil. Iisa-isahin ko ang rason bakit ayaw ko sa jejemon:

Una, ni hindi nga natin ma-perfect o ma-improve ang ating gamit sa English o Filipino language, nag-aambisyon pa tayong haluan ito ng ibang salita? Kamusta naman yun?

Pangalawa, kung ano ang madalas mong i-practice, yung ang magiging habit and eventually lifestyle mo na. Paano ka magsusulat ng matino sa klase, sa opisina, sa church kung jejenese ang gamit mo?

Pangatlo, isang salita o lenggwahe na nga lang ang gamit natin pero di pa tayo nagkaka-intindihan at nagbabangayan pa dahil sa misunderstanding o miscommunication o misinterpretation, dadagdagan mo pa?

At panghuli, tumatanda na talaga ako kaya plain and simple wala ng “attraction” sa akin ang ibang lingo. :)

Sa kabila ng mga rason na binigay ko, ni MINSAN di ko sinabing sa DYABLO ang JEJEMON. Bakit? Una, buhay at makapangyarihan ang mga salita. Pwedeng jejemon ang uso ngayon, bukas makalawa iba naman ang pangalan nito. Pangalawa, dahil 'di ko pa napag-aaralan at wala akong basehan para gumawa ng konklusyon. At higit sa lahat ayaw kung manghusga dahil hindi yan ang role ko sa mundong ibabaw.

Kung nakinig ka sa interview namin kay Komisyoner Carmelita Abdurahman ng Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino, ginawa n’yang halimbawa ang salitang “lagay”. Sa salitang Waray ito raw ay genitals ng lalaki. Samantalang sa mga Tagalog, ito ay tumutukoy sa kondisyon o suhol (negatibong gamit o kahulugan). Kaya kung gagamitin mo ito sa isang tao o lugar na Waray ang salita siyempre iba ang intindi nila rito.

Sa pagkaka-alam ko hindi GREEK ang pinanggalingan ng JEJEMON at hindi rin naman mga GRIYEGO ang nagpasimuno nito kundi mga kabataang Pinoy. (Correct me if I’m wrong.) Wikipedia has its own origin and explanation about this phenomena. Totoo, may mga kahalintulad tayong salita sa ibang lenggwahe pero, iba ang gamit at konteksto nila sa mga ito, bakit ito ang gagamitin nating panukat sa ating mga kababayang Jejemon o Bekimon? Bakit mo gagamitin ang “root word” na Greek (jejerius/monnius) sa Filipino context? Siyempre iba ang meaning ng JEJEMON sa kanila kumpara sa atin.

Sa Bicol ang salitang “antak” ay sitaw sa Tagalog, sa Pampanga ay genitals din ito ng babae. (O yan, sex education na tayo!) Pero bakit ‘di natin sinasabi na sa dyablo ito? Dahil may iba-iba tayong gamit sa mga salita at letra depende sa grupo ng tao at sa lugar. O eto, alam mo ba ang kahulugan ng ababa-shi-kata-baba-andi? Di ko rin alam, pero yan ang ilan sa mga salitang naririnig ko pag may nag-i-speaking in tongues na walang translation. Kahit di ko maintindihan, I respect those who speak in tongues at kahit ‘di nila i-explain I won’t call them evil unless sabihin ng Diyos na evil sila. Baka, speaking in-tongues is their way of being intimate with the Lord or expressing their thoughts/emotions to God.

Sa mga close na magkaka-ibigan o magkakakilala, may meaning ang kung minsan ay ordinaryong salita na sila-sila lang ang nakaka-intindi dahil may sarili silang gamit dito. Halimbawa sa magboyfriend/girlfriend, nagtatawagan sila ng gummy bear ('di dahil makunat sila) o tawag ko sa isa kong kaibigan miswah ('di dahil masabaw s'ya.)

Ang salita ay salita lamang hanggat bibigyan mo ito ng kahulugan o meron kang i-a-associate na isang bagay dito. Ang bawat tao at lugar ay may kanya-kanyang kahulugan at gamit sa mga salita. Hindi dahil masama o negatibo ang isang salita sa iyo ganun na rin ito sa iba.

Pag-aralan muna natin ang mga bagay-bagay. ‘Wag basta padalos-dalos sa pagkakalat ng maling impormasyon. Sa halip na magka-unawaan at magka-isa tayo lalo lang tayong nagkakahati-hati at nag-aaway. Sa halip na maka-akay tayo, tayo pa ang nagtutulak sa iba palayo. Sa halip na maging instrumento tayo ng pag-ibig at kapayapaan, husga at panlalait ang nangagaling sa atin. Ano ba naman yan?

Hinay-hinay lang kaibigan. Kung masama, ipaliwanag natin bakit ito masama. Kung mali, baka naman spelling lang ang mali o ang utak lang natin ang 'di maka-gets.

Is Jejemon or Jejenese evil, I don’t think so but being judgemental is. (James 4:11)

What Did You Say?

(pic c/o this site)

What Did You Say?
Lj T. Salceda

Name it and I’ve probably been called by it- pangit (ugly), Agta (comparing me to the native people with darker complexion), Britney Spears with a frog in her throat (describing my singing voice), snake (when someone saw the patches and scales on my legs) and just recently immodest (because I was wearing an off-shoulder t-shirt). The rest will get a PG-13 or PG-18 rating from MTRCB so I wouldn't even include them here.

It’s not new to me. Being called names, criticized, bullied, being the butt of jokes have all been part of my childhood and even my adult life. I used to hide and cry to deal with them, but I’ve learned to laugh them off or sometimes I “join ‘em” since it’s futile to beat them.

It hurts me. Who wouldn’t be? I would be a hypocrite not to admit that. There are times when I still want to lash out or to get back to whoever is saying mean things about me no matter how true they are. I am after all every inch a human. It’s only been lately that I’ve learned to stand up and toughen up. Not violently though. When I say toughen up, I try to explain to people "you might mean well, but the way you said things was painful to me. I wish you’d do it in a nice way next time especially if we’re not close or since you don’t know much about me." Or if I’m close I make “bara” (colloquial: answer back jokingly.)

No excuses, I am as guilty as everyone else. A year ago, while a friend and I were fixing ourselves inside the ladies room in preparation for our hosting job, I told her there’s something different with the way one of the back-up singers look. My friend told me, that’s because she had something done on her face. And I without much thinking blurted out, “Oh that’s why she looks like a gay!” Uh oh... Too late. My intention was not to bash gays (I have the highest respect for them) or to even derogatorily compare her to gays. What I meant was the cosmetic procedure highlighted her masculine features and made her look altered and not in an aesthetically pleasing way. That wasn’t even the worst part. Before I could explain what I said, an old lady came out from one of the cubicles and gave me an “I’ve-heard-what-you-just-said-missy-look.” I didn’t need to put much blush on on my cheeks because I was red all over. So I learned the hard and embarrassing way that night.

As an announcer and a writer words are part of my day and my life. Sans them I couldn’t even think what life would be like. This page will be blank. Airwaves will just be airwaves without radios or TV’s. No magazines, no songs, no SMS, no prayers, no phone calls, no movies and no Pinoy Henyo. We could draw and paint pictures to communicate but that would take a long time. We could dance with just beats and no lyrics but that would be too taxing. We could mime, point with our lips, use facial expressions or even whistle to communicate but would you really do those everyday, your entire life?

Words – the ability to form and use them, the gift of expression, the extension of one’s self – these are all blessings. You don’t need to have my job to know how important and powerful words are. Let’s use them wisely and responsibly.

(I also wrote a short devotional article about handling criticisms in the Recharge book published by ICI and APMM. Available at NBS branches and Christian bookstores.)