Looking at my Google Analytics for this website, I thought it would be interesting to review the top 10 pages that people have found through the Google search engine. So, here I present to you the Best of the “Zen Garden”:

1. Are Filipinos Asian?

Enough people have asked, that this question warrants some further exploration. Indeed, Filipinos are unique in that many people have been confused as to whether we are Pacific Islanders or Asian. Despite our Spanish heritage and influence, The Philippines is indeed a part of Southeast Asia just as Singapore and Thailand and other countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Here I try to explain our true origins, which also links Filipinos to the aborigines of Taiwan.

2. Keith Jarrett Tour Dates!

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, then I’m sure you’re aware that I am a devout Keith Jarrett fan. But, to my surprise I’ve been getting a lot of hits to this page from other Keith Jarrett fans looking for his touring schedule. He’s currently not on tour at the moment, but I feel obligated to keep this page current, since it gets a lot of hits from Google.

3. I Carry Your Heart: by E.E. Cummings

A couple of years ago (as a prelude to Valentine’s Day) I decided to re-interpret E.E. Cummings’ poem “I Carry Your Heart With Me”, not changing the words but re-interpreting the lines. E.E. Cummings has always had a very unique style of presenting words in a poem (called orthography), so I thought, “why not restructure the words who I would normally write one of my poems”. And, I haven’t gotten any complaints from any E.E. Cummings scholars, so thanks for understanding. I first heard of this poem from the movie, “In Her Shoes”, starring Cameron Diaz and Toni Colette.

4. The 10 Wealthiest People in the World

Apparently, people are often wondering who the wealthiest people in the world are! Back in September I wrote a post that listed the 10 wealthiest billionaires at that time. I noticed that in 2008 the top person kept fluctuating between Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, but according to certain sources, in September, the wealthiest person in the world was Carlos Slim Helu, a Telecommunications billionaire from Mexico.

5. Yes, Filipinos Are Asian!

This post was a reply to a blogger who, with a very racist mindset, posted that Filipinos were wannabe “Fake Asians” who latched on to Japanese culture in an effort to identify themselves as Asian. Fact is, people the world over are influenced by Japanese culture. Well, this person’s blog has since disappeared after I linked to him within this post and told him that Filipinos definitely ARE Asian and have always been a part of Southeast Asia. There is so much confusion as to whether Filipinos are Pacific Islander or Asian, I just had to do some research on this. And despite our Spanish heritage as stated above, Filipinos are Southeast Asian.

6. Amy Poehler: Rap For Palin

When I first saw this on SNL that Saturday night, I was laughing so hard. And how surreal was that? To have Alaska Governor Sarah Palin actually on the show, sitting there and groovin’ along to the beat! I quickly found the video on the SNL website (at the time I couldn’t find it on YouTube), and suddenly I started getting a LOT of hits to this one post. I still watch the video now and then. Seeing a very pregnant Amy Poehler rapping about Sarah Palin is just too funny.

7. Quiz: How Liberal or Conservative Are You?

I’m sure that people who are extreme right-wing Conservatives or left-wing Liberals know where they stand and don’t need to take this quiz. But, during the whole Presidential race of 2008, many Republican Conservatives were accusing Senator Barack Obama (now President-elect Barack Obama) of actually being too far to the left… a Communist… a Socialist. I’ve always considered myself more Liberal than Conservative, but at the same time I am a bit conservative in some respects. So, for those who wanted to find out exactly where they stand and want to see some percentages, this is a good Quiz to take.

8. Akiane: Amazing 12 Year Old Art Prodigy

A fellow musical colleague of mine emailed me a link to a story about a young art prodigy named Akiane Kramarik. I was amazed at how gifted this young girl was, and quickly found a YouTube video documenting the girl’s amazing story. The amazing detail and clarity of her work reflects experience well beyond her years. At the age of 10 she was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show and on CNN.

9. A Quote From “The Forbidden Kingdom”

Music is a connection between Earth and Heaven…

I was watching this movie on DVD and the above quote caught my attention. At the time I just thought it was pretty inspiring. But, I didn’t expect to get as many inquiries about this quote via Google. Hmm… interesting.

10. Tina Fey Meets Sarah Palin on SNL!

The presidential election of 2008 proved to be an exciting one, and I’m sure it will go down in history as one of the most notorious as far as “negative campaigning” goes. But, Tina Fey’s uncanny resemblance to Sarah Palin was just too hard for SNL to resist, and TV ratings turned out to be their best in 10 years, as everyone anticipated Tina Fey’s impersonations of the Alaska Governor. The culmination was when the “real” Sarah Palin finally her match in what turned out to be a very funny, yet surreal experience!

. . . .

And this pretty much wraps up the 10 most popular posts here, based on Google search engine results. And special thanks go to Google Analytics for compiling the results. Maybe I’ll do another Top 10 post at the end of the year, in case the list changes…

I continue to receive hits via Google regarding the following enygmatic question… Are Filipinos Asian?

So, in keeping with my mission to further settle this matter once and for all, I thought I would do a follow-up article to a previous post I wrote entitled, Yes, Filipinos Are Asian!

Hopefully, we can convince those naysayers who claim that Filipinos are not Asian, and also persuade those Filipinos who are either unsure, think they are something else like Pacific Islander, or simply want to distance themselves from the Asian classification altogether.

The Official Geographical Definition

Geographically speaking, The Philippines is, in fact, located in Southeast Asia.

Taiwan and Hong Kong are just a few hundred miles to the north and northwest, and even closer still is Malaysia and Indonesia to the south and southwest, respectively.

Map courtesy of Wikipedia.org

So geographically, The Philippines falls within the boundaries of the Asian continent, and so it is correct for Filipinos to be classified as Asian.

Filipinos Are Asian On A Nationalistic Level

The Philippines is a country in Asia with a similar history to Singapore:

• They both have had ties to European colonization.
• They both have been melting pots of varies ethnicities (i.e Malaysian, Chinese, Indian, etc.)
• They both are located in Southeast Asia.

That said, if you are Filipino or Singaporean, then you are referring to yourself on a “nationalistic” level. Though ethnically, you may be Indian, Malaysian, Chinese, or any number of different ethnicities. But nationally you would be considered Filipino or Singaporean.

There is no doubt that Singapore is considered an Asian country, and that Singaporeans are considered Asians. Should there be any doubt then that Filipinos too are Asians?

From Wikipedia.org:

Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry. They include sub-ethnic groups such as Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, Indian Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Korean Americans, Japanese Americans, Cambodian Americans, Laotian Americans and others whose national origin is from the Asian continent.

Genetic Studies Show That Filipinos Are Asian

Some interesting genetic studies have shown that Filipino origins can directly be linked to the Ami tribe of Taiwan, considered the closest genetic relative. Overall, genetic studies have connected Filipinos to Chinese, Korean, and Indonesian ethnic groups, all originating from Asia.

From Wikipedia.org:

Some genetic studies, based upon very small samples of the population, have begun to provide clues to the origins of Filipino people. Much remains to be learned by larger studies of valid statistical significance about the ancestry of the various Austronesian Philippine ethnic groups.

A Stanford University study conducted during 2001 revealed that Y-chromosome Haplogroup O3-M122 (labeled as “Haplogroup L” in this study) predominates among Filipino males. This particular haplogroup is also predominant among Chinese and Korean males. That finding is consistent with the theory that people migrated from China south into the Philippines.

Another haplogroup, Haplogroup O1a-M119 (labeled as “Haplogroup H” in this study), is also found among Filipinos. The rates of Haplogroup O1a are highest among the Taiwanese Aborigines. Overall, the genetic frequencies found among Filipinos points to the Ami tribe of Taiwan as their nearest genetic relative.[7]

A 2002 China Medical University study indicated that certain Filipinos shared a particular gene marker that is also found among Taiwanese aborigines and Indonesians.[8]

A 2003 University of the Philippines study based on 50 participants each from the islands of Luzon and Cebu provided some insight into the various places of origin of early Filipinos. Some rare genetic markers were found which are shared by people from parts of Asia.

Why Filipinos Shouldn’t Be Called Pacific Islanders

First, let’s look at Wikipedia.org’s definition of a true Pacific Islander:

Pacific Islander… is a geographic term used in several places, such as New Zealand and the United States, to describe the inhabitants of any of the three major sub-regions of Oceania… Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia.

Wikipedia goes on to specifically explain that The Philippines is considered a part of Asia, and is NOT considered part of Oceania, and Filipinos aren’t recognized to be Pacific Islanders:

Inhabitants of Russia’s Kuril Islands, Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, and the Taiwanese, Japanese, Philippine, and Indonesian islands, although technically bordering edges of the Pacific Ocean, do not fall under the definition of “Pacific Islanders” because such islands are not actually located within the Pacific or therefore any of the three regions of Oceania (Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia)

Map courtesy of Wikipedia.org

Because of the above definition of “Pacific Islander”, and because The Philippines is excluded (along with other Asian countries such as Taiwan and Japan) from the regions of Oceania, then the above information leads us to conclude that Filipinos simply are not Pacific Islanders.

How Application Forms Caused Part of the Confusion

Many Filipinos in the United States may have filled out college or job applications and had come across the part where you had to check your ethnicity. Many times, “Filipino” was listed separately from Asian, leading people to assume that the two groups are separate.

Why was this? And what was the reasoning behind this? My theory, simply put:

• The Philippines was once a colony of the United States.
• The English language (in addition to the Pilipino langague) is an official language of The Philippines.
• Filipinos have the uniqueness of being under American influence throughout most of the 20th century.
• Filipinos were one of the largest ethnic groups of Asia immigrating into the U.S. during the 20th century.

Is there any wonder that part of the confusion may have originated from The Philippines being a former colony of The United States? And with a need to classify Filipinos apart from other Asian groups, application forms and the like were tailored so that various government, corporate and private organizations could further differentiate certain ethnic groups from one another for statistical purposes.

The Whole APA Fiasco

On the other hand, to add to the confusion, certain authoritative entities had lumped both Asians and Pacific Islanders into one ethnic group for simplicity’s sake… namely APA, or Asia Pacific Americans. Though it may have been innocently done and with good reason, group Asians and Pacific Islanders together into one group has proven detrimental to the identity of Filipinos everywhere.

Here is some information regarding the use of APA, or Asian Pacific American:

Asian-Pacific American is a term that was used in the United States to include both Asian Americans and Americans of Pacific Islander American due to its official use as a race on the United States Census between the years 1990 and 2000. Since 2000 the United States Census Bureau has split these two groups apart because the majority of the people included in the term considered themselves to be two separate groups when questioned by the anthropologists who designed the racial definitions for the 2000 US Census. Now, Asian American and Pacific Islanders are two separate races on the US Census 2000, so the term Asian-Pacific American has decreased in use.

In Summary

I just wanted to conclude with specific definitions from Wikipedia.org that show differences between Asian and Pacific Islander:

The definitions and differences between Asian and Pacific Islanders are also clearly defined:

Asian. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. Thus it includes “Asian Indian,” “Chinese,” “Filipino,” “Korean,” “Japanese,” “Vietnamese,” and “Other Asian.”

Pacific Islander.

A native or inhabitant of any of the Polynesian, Micronesian, or Melanesian islands of Oceania. Some examples of the ethnic groups that would be considered Pacific Islanders are the indigenous peoples of Hawaii, the Marianas, Samoans, Guamanian, Chamoru , Tahitians, Mariana Islander, and Chuukese.

And I hope this finally settles the controversy and answers the questions… people have a right to be proud of their cultural heritage, but it’s important to know exactly what that cultural heritage is, and just as important to convey the truth. Then hopefully, the truth will speak for itself.

Note: Also, please read my companion post , Are Filipinos Asian?, which covers this topic with a bit more depth.
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I know I will be giving this person undeserved hits to his blog, but I just wanted to straighten this person out. Because he accuses Filipinos of being Fake Asians, which is utterly false! Read more