Cultural Differences

Assignment

Michael Angelo D. Santos

SOC22-301A
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TAIWAN AND THE PHILIPPINES

For this assignment, I chose to interview my father because he was an OFW in Taiwan for almost
eight years back when I was a child. The cultures of Taiwan are a hybrid blend of various sources,
incorporating elements of traditional Chinese culture, attributable to the historical and ancestry origin of
the majority of its current residents, Japanese culture, traditional Confucianist beliefs, and increasingly
Western values. My father had a few experiences with their culture and he was able to cite some of them.

RELIGION

The first cultural difference is that the streets in Taiwan is

abundant with Buddha statues, incenses and places to worship
whereas in our country, they are visible in only very few areas. This
is because the Philippines is the 4th largest Christian country on
earth, with about 90% of the population being adherents. It is also
one of two predominantly Roman Catholic nations in Asia (the other
being East Timor), and is the third largest Catholic country in the
world. On the other hand, Buddhism is the dominant religion in
China. During its development, it has a profound influence on
traditional Chinese culture and thoughts, and has become one of the
most important religions in China. Another common religion in China
is Confucianism. The teachings of Confucius describe the position of
the individual in society. Confucianism is a system of behaviours and
ethics that stress the obligations of people towards one another
based upon their relationship. Most people in Taiwan have
traditional values based on Confucian ethics; however, pressures
from industrialization are now challenging these values. Still, some
traditional values remain strong, including piety toward parents,
ancestor worship, a strong emphasis on education and work, and the importance of "face." Since
industrialization, women enjoy greater freedom and a higher social status, individual creativity is regarded
as equally important as social conformity and acquiring material goods and recognition is increasingly
important.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Another thing my father noticed is

almost all Taiwanese people look somewhat like
Chinese people. This may be attributed to the
fact that Taiwans population is mostly Han
Chinese who were born on the mainland or have
ancestors that were. They are divided into three
groups based on the dialect of Chinese they
speak: Taiwanese, Hakka, and Mandarin.
Taiwan also has a small population of aborigines
who comprise about 2 percent of the total
population. Filipinos on the other hand come
from the Indo-Malay race. Our ancestors were the Indonesians, who came to the islands in boats and the
Malays who were believed to have come from Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Malay Peninsula more
than 2,000 years ago. Like the Indonesians, they also travelled in boats.
ETIQUETTE

In terms of etiquette, customs and traditions, my father

noticed various differences between our culture and their
culture. In dining the Taiwanese prefer to entertain in public
places rather than in their home, especially when entertaining
foreigners. If you are invited to a Taiwanese home, it will
happen once you have developed a relationship and should be
considered a great honour. In our culture/country, we Filipinos
always treat our guests warmly, whether they are foreigners or
not. Therefore, if there is one thing that foreigners would
usually comment about right after they visit the Philippines, it would probably not be the food or the places
they visited, but the hospitality of the people.

There are more differences between the two cultures that has not been mentioned here because
each culture is unique.