Practising Reflexivity

I keep coming across women/men who ask me where I am from, I tell them that I am from Ateneo de Manila University. Ateneo has campuses all over Philippines, the closest being Davao. When I mention to them that I am attached to the one in Manila. I usually get blank stares which could mean two things:-
(a) That I was privileged enough to buy a ticket and fly to Southern Philippines. Many of them probably never been to Manila which is a 2 hour plane ride from where they live. They are outside the confluence of power, at the periphery.
(b) Philippines is enormous physically and you realize a lot of people may never have traveled outside their region even though they may have traveled all over the world. There are also many harmful stereotypes being perpetuated about a number of things especially of the southern region, poverty and violence. Many people from Manila have no idea how people in Tacurong City for example live. I can see many parallels between Malaysia and the Philippines in that sense. Certain states in Malaysia have benefited from progress due to the federal level investment but others have not.
It really depends where you are born, I am fortunate to have been born in Selangor which is closer to the seat of power and thus my access to opportunities. We have not even started talking about class privilege.

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Unseen Faces, Unheard Voices

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