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Kwentong Tambay

September 2, 2006 by mlq3  
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Chances are you’ve come across Nicanor David’s Kwentong Tambay. David, aka Batjay, is the latest in a long line of folksy writers -in his case, writing about Filipino OFW life with earthy wit.

Tambay

He emailed me some time ago, asking if I’d write an introduction for his book. There is no greater honor -or pleasure- for a writer, than to be asked to do so; so I accepted not only with pleasure, but enthusiasm.

He seems strangely concerned that his writing style and some of his subject matter might get his book banned by certain distributors or bookstores. I hope not; he said an introduction penned by me might help. I told him I wasn’t so sure, but anything to help!

His book is extremely moderately priced, at Php 100.00 a copy. If you go to the 27th Manila International Book Fair, you can get a copy.  Look for PSICOM (the publisher), booth 216. And if you can’t make it, start pestering your local book store to carry copies.

And so here’s the introduction I wrote in my execrable Filipino. Hopefully the actual book has an edited version.

(Note: Sylvia Mayuga kindly volunteered to edit me, so her corrections have been inserted).

Si Batjay, mabait pero…

Medyo bastos. Nakakatawa siya. Nakakaaliw. Nakakagulat -at minsan, siyempre naman, nakakahanga. Sa larangan ng panunulat,panulat,  higit na hinahahanap n gating ng ating lipunan ang maituturing tutoo, o matapat, na tinig ng pangkaraniwang tao. Sa mga pahinang ito ay ito’y makikita at mababasa natin ang isang tutoong Juan de la Cruz, na siya’y minsan tamad, minsa’y puno ng mga dalisay na damdamin, at paminsan-minsan din ay dinidemonyo at nagdadaing nagdadadaing.

Masasabi natin n nating wala sigurong sulok ng mundo na hindi sinugod ng Pilipino, mga kakabayan natin na naghahanap at nagtitiis, upang makamit ang  mga oportunidad upang na maging mas maginhawa ang buhay para sa sarili at sa kanilang pamilya. Isa na sa mga nag alsa-balutang mga “kebab” (kababayan) ay si Batjay; isa siyang kasapi ng diyasporang Pinoy, ang mga ika ngang “bagong bayani”.

Kung saan man ang Pinoy, doon din mahahanap ang kasiyahan,ang di-malubog at di-malulunod na pagmamahal sa ligaya, kanta, pagkain at pakikisama na masasabing genuwayn na tatak ng pagka-Pinoy.

Sa papamagitan pamamagitan ng mga kuro-kuro, muni-muni ni Batjay mamasdan natin ang kabihasnang Pilipino; at kasapi nito, ang sari-saring mga kulturang bumubuo ng sibilisasyong Pinoy.

Ang manunulat na may abilidad, ay may kakayahang gawin gawing sariwa ang mga nadaanan natin, sa pamamagitan ng pagkuwento ng mga nadaanan nila. Sa mga pahinang ito, bumalik sa akin ang mga nadaanan ko sa abroad. Nung nag aral ako sa Amerika, kung ano-anong mga katarantaduhang tanong ang tiniis ko.

“Nasaan ang Pilipinas?”
“Ah, malapit kami sa Hapon-“
“Ah! Ibig mong sabihin, malapit sa Canada?”
—At paano mo na naman isasalin sa wikang Inggles ang ngek?

At hindi lang iyon ang mga ngek-ngek na tanong:

“Pilipino ka?”
“Oo.”
“Ganun? Paano kayo umaakyat sa mga bahay niyo sa mga puno?”
“Aba, eh, siyempre sa pamamagitan ng rope ladder, pero yung mga may kaya ay may eskalaytor…”
“Talaga? Ang galling galing naman!”

Gusto kong sabihin sa mga ganung panahon, “magaling, your face!” At ‘yun din ang ginagawa ni Batjay paminsan-minsan.

Pero alam mo naman ang Pinoy –pa ismayl-smayl; tapos todo lait pag kasama ang kapwa Pinoy: “biro mo naman yang mga ‘yan, kung ano-ano ang iniisip tungkol sa atin!” Mabuti pa si Batjay, marunong bumara –at sa paraan kung saan paraang nahuhuli niya ang ating kiliti.

Sigurado akong may sisinta sisita kay Batjay dahil prangka siya siyang mag sulat; hindi niya iniiwasan ang mga bagay na iniiwasan ng iba.
Ngunit sa aking pananaw, kung ganun kakitid ang kanilang kaisipan, malamang hindi sila marunong ngumiti. At ang taong ayaw ngumiti ay malamang malamang ay hindi Pinoy –at tutal, di naman magiging mambabasa ng librong ito.

Ngunit, dahil binabasa mo ito, ano pa ang hinihintay mo? Buy dis book. And make basa. Now, na!

Manuel L. Quezon III
New Manila, Quezon City
July 4, 2006
Ika-60 anibersaryo ng pagbalik ng kalayaan ng Pilipinas

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Comments

25 Comments on "Kwentong Tambay"

  1. Rico on Sat, 2nd Sep 2006 12:29 pm 

    “Pilipino ka?”
    “Oo.”
    “Ganun? Paano kayo umaakyat sa mga bahay niyo sa mga puno?”
    “Aba, eh, siyempre sa pamamagitan ng rope ladder, pero yung mga may kaya ay may eskalaytor…”
    “Talaga? Ang galling naman!”

    Haha! I have no problem looking Chinese, but apparently a lot of Americans think we also have slanted eyes. Someone from my highschool wrote the editor of Archie comics, so he and his gang “visited” Riverdale High in one story. The way they were presented (dressed in the same way, super neat and responsible, oriental eyes) reminded me of an Asian stereotype: the worker-bee student, who gets good grades and is responsible, but has no memorable personality. If only they knew people who’ve gotten poor grades as a student like me! :D

  2. taipan88 on Sat, 2nd Sep 2006 12:51 pm 

    Nice Intro!
    And how! I have always pictured mlq3 as someone bespectacled and in suits, always using proper words….Pede ka rin palang maging jologs!
    ‘Twas nice of you to lend a helping hand to someone you hardly know! NOW I know who to go to when I need one! Ha-ha!…..
    More Power, Sir!

  3. DatuPanot on Sat, 2nd Sep 2006 1:08 pm 

    finally some comic relief and good sense of humor!!

  4. jhay on Sat, 2nd Sep 2006 7:52 pm 

    Makabili nga, sawang-sawa na ako kay Bob Ong

  5. ianmadrid on Sat, 2nd Sep 2006 8:28 pm 

    Nakakataba ng puso ang iyong naisulat na introduksyon. Nakakataba at nakakatawa hihantayin ko ang librong ito na lumubas sa mga pangunahing bilihin ng libro. Para maiba naman.

  6. tbl on Sun, 3rd Sep 2006 12:46 am 

    Kalug din pala itung si kabayan ay. Akalain mung para rin palang ‘yung mga e-mail sa akin ni Poppo. Match nga kayu dun sa pic sa BB ni Kid. Teka nga at maiulit sa BB.

    More power to you, MLQ3!

  7. BatJay, Ang Dating Folk Singer ng Ma Mon Luk on Sun, 3rd Sep 2006 9:51 am 

    dear don manolo,

    maraming maraming salamat at pinagbigyan mo ako. malaking tulong ang ginawa mong introduction sa libro – sa tingin ko, nabigyan ito ng kaunting prestige na hindi ko naman deserved.

    sana, makatulong din ang introduction mo para naman tanggapin ng mga bookstore sa pilipinas ang libro. kung napayagan nila ang “da vinci code”, siguro naman eh papayagan nila ang libro galing sa isang pinoy na author na may kaunting mura paminsan-minsan.

    muli, maraming salamat sa introduction mo at sa special feature mo dito sa iyong blog.

    ingat,
    jay

    PS – ang galing mong magsulat sa pilipino. mas magaling ka pa kaysa sa karamihan ng mga pinoy. gusto kong isipin na your lolo would have been proud.

  8. Sylvia M on Sun, 3rd Sep 2006 11:14 am 

    Yehey, Manolo! Tagalistas, watch out.

  9. eric aka senor enrique on Sun, 3rd Sep 2006 2:04 pm 

    I should have read this entry before I went to the book fair last Friday morning. I would have bought one.

  10. delish on Sun, 3rd Sep 2006 10:46 pm 

    got myself a copy of the book :) at first nga i thought you wrote it, kasi una yung name mo dun sa cover :D

    am so proud of batjay talaga… and i really hope his book will find more bookstores willing to sell it :)

  11. sky on Mon, 4th Sep 2006 10:40 am 

    hindi kaya si batjay ay si bob ong? o si bob ong ay si batjay?

    whatever.

  12. Nicanor David’s Kwentong Tambay Book! » @ Ambot ah! [ technology news and reviews ] on Mon, 4th Sep 2006 11:10 am 

    [...] Manolo wrote the introduction to his book here. [...]

  13. mlq3 on Mon, 4th Sep 2006 3:52 pm 

    batjay, blush, blush!

  14. tina b. on Mon, 4th Sep 2006 5:42 pm 

    di ko naabutan ang book fair. san po kaya pwedeng bumili nito?

  15. adam! on Mon, 4th Sep 2006 9:29 pm 

    ms tina b: well, kung iaapprove ng NBS ‘yang libro, magiging available siya dun. may tendency kasi ang NBS na magban ng books kapag may mga iilang salita doon na ‘di nila gusto, o tumatalakay ng mga bagay na ‘di nila tipo. unless, of course, pinublish ito ng ANVIL. kapag ganun, well, may shelf space sila para dun.

  16. MY BOOK « batjay’s world on Tue, 5th Sep 2006 1:42 pm 

    [...] 01. <a href=”http://jetdavid.pansitan.net/2006_09_01_jetdavid_archive.html#115726735863780867″>Jet’s Life</a> 02. <a href=”http://www.quezon.ph/?p=1015″>Manuel L. Quezon III</a> 03. <a href=”http://www.retzwerx.com/?p=749″>Retzwerx</a> 04. <a href=”http://titorolly.blogspot.com/2006/09/it-is-now-book.html”>Tito Rolly</a> 05. <a href=”http://www.unlawyer.net/?p=558″>The UnLawyer</a> 06. <a href=”http://www.yugatech.com/blog/?p=1154″>Abe’s Yugatech</a> 07. <a href=”http://toni.marikit.net/?p=503″>Toni’s Wifely Steps</a> 08. <a href=”http://delisyusness.blogspot.com/2006/09/bdsm-and-fairs.html”>Mec’s Delisyusness</a> 09. <a href=”http://adobonatinglahat.blogspot.com/2006/09/kwentong-tambay.html”>Radioactive Adobo</a> 10. <a href=”http://gigigoesgaga.typepad.com/blog/2006/09/buy_this_book.html”>Gigi Goes Gaga</a> 11. <a href=”http://about-ruth.com/2006/09/04/kwentong-tambay-the-book”>Ruth’s Transposable Element</a> 12. <a href=”http://cathcath.com/?p=2429″>Cathy’s Now What, Cat?</a> 13. <a href=”http://wasaaak.blogspot.com/2006/09/new-book-out-nicanor-david-jrs.html”>Adam’s Wasaak</a> 14. <a href=”http://jade-n-mom.blogspot.com/2006/09/kwentong-tambay-in-print.html”>JMom’s In Our House</a> [...]

  17. watson on Wed, 6th Sep 2006 4:58 pm 

    I’m one of the lucky few who was able to buy the book at the Book Fair. My wife and I loves it! Sana nga it does get circulated in bookstores. The owe it to the public to provide alternative reading materials na talagang proudly Pinoy!

  18. ..:: The Rebels Without Because ::.. » Kwentong Tambay, the book on Wed, 20th Sep 2006 12:25 am 

    [...] This is the introduction to the book, written by another notable blogger, Manuel L. Quezon III: Si Batjay, mabait pero… [...]

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  21. hoyfkcxbfo on Tue, 19th Jun 2007 8:46 am 

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  22. clarence on Wed, 14th Jan 2009 9:12 am 

    … ang ganda nakaka inlove
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  23. Sulat sa pilipinas on Wed, 18th Feb 2009 10:16 am 

    That was great. I enjoyed reading your post. I want to buy that book when I got my salary. I like the way you write. keep posting

    urieqo

  24. moira on Wed, 25th Feb 2009 7:03 pm 

    astig talaga ang mga manunulat ng Pinas. =] sana’y mabasa ko rin ang librong ‘to. (andito kasi ako sa UK) pero di gaya ng mga Kano, ibang-iba ang ugali ng mga Brits. ganun pa man, sila’y naiiba pa din sa ating lahi, iba makitungo.. iba ang kultura. -moira.16.proud to be pinoy.UK

  25. name on Thu, 30th Jul 2009 12:30 am 

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