The meaning of Manny

Manny Pacquiao’s demolition of Ricky Hatton last weekend was an opportunity to see political scientist Benedict Anderson’s concept of the nation as an “imagined community” in action.

It is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion.

On Sunday morning the image of their communion was the man from Gen San being hoisted shoulder high in the Las Vegas ring while Ricky Hatton slowly and painfully reacquainted himself with consciousness.

And how did we all participate in this imagined community? Through text messaging of course! As soon as I heard the result, I texted my Filipino colleagues in Indonesia, but they already knew. Globe and Smart must love the imagined community.

Another feature of Anderson’s vision of nationalism is its essential levelling character: "regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship.” This was one of the only events to be celebrated as fervently in Forbes Park as in Smoky Mountain. To be uninvolved in that left hook was to be unFilipino.

Or as one report put it:

At least 10,000 people watched a free live screening in Pacquiao's dirt-poor home city of General Santos, while in Manila's depressed Tondo area another 2,000 people packed an airless gym to watch the fight. … Across town, a well-heeled crowd of 200 including politicians and celebrities watched at a cafe in Manila's upscale The Fort district.

Alas, squatting in Manny’s corner looking to profit from this glorious moment of deep, horizontal comradeship were the sleaziest members of the Philippine political class. The degree of a politician’s Pacquiaoness almost acts as a barometer of political sleaze, with Lito Atienza somewhere off the scale.

All nations celebrate sporting success, but is seems to me that victory strikes a deeper national chord in some than in others. England’s victory in the 1966 football World Cup, for example, is a far more prominent part of the national consciousness than France’s lifting of the same trophy in 1998. Great though Pacquiao’s victory last Sunday was, this was not a major title fight and I doubt whether Manny would have been feted to quite the same extent in many other countries. (Cebu City Council even plans to erect a statue to commemorate Pacquiao’s victory).

Why is this? For a country like France, secure in its own cultural superiority, sporting victory is enjoyable, but a defeat would not shake most Frenchmen’s conviction that they enjoy a higher quality of life than other less fortunate nations.

For less secure countries like Britain and the Philippines, a KO or a goal is an aspirin offering temporary relief from the contradictions posed by problematic national identities. I have written before abou how Filipinos tend to underestimate their international image and the outpouring of joy at Manny’s flooring of Ricky Hatton contains within it an element of a score being settled, of the little guy’s moment in the sun. England’s victory in 1966 was of the same kind, a final breakout from the post World War II blues.

That brings me to a final characteristic that is common to the insecurity of Brits and Filipinos. Both countries have suffered a collapse of expectations. When my mum was born in 1925, about a quarter of the map of the world was coloured pink, signifying the extent of the British Empire. Her generation saw all of that disappear; by the famous World Cup victory Britain had acquired the nickname “the sick man of Europe.” No wonder some national cheer was in order.

The decline in Philippine expectations has been less spectacular, but no less damaging. In the 1960s, some estimates rank the Philippine economy as second only to that of Japan in Asia, yet the succeeding decades have seen the country slide steadily down the Asian ladder, overtaken first by the Asian tigers, then by China and (hard to take for many Filipinos) India. I remember a friend telling me that when he was a kid his mum would warn him he would end up “like the Indians” if he continued to misbehave—nowadays that would be more an incentive than a threat. In the meantime, the Philippines has become famous only as an exporter of labour; yet the jobs Filipinos perform are often menial, which has contributed to national sense of grievance that I mentioned in my earlier post.

Given such gloomy skies, it is any wonder that Filipinos and Brits make the most of the passing shaft of sunlight sporting success brings? Let’s hope the little patch of sunlight Manny brought the Philippines continues to last, if only to postpone his inevitable entry into political life.

Comments

[I Hate Whiteys]

Pity those insecure countries with no international sporting champions. Yes India and Indonesia, I'm talking to yous.

[keith]

I've responded to you before in this vein, but you do seem to enjoy your little polemical poke in the eye at your own country, a sort of self-loathing very common in long term expatriates.
I really don't think your comparison stands up; are the British insecure? I don't think so, certainly not judging by individual behavior. On the contrary, often. Nor, I think, do we yearn for our lost Empire, as you alluded.Certainly not the younger generation, most of whom, I believe, would wish us to behave less imperially (Iraq, Afghanistan) and get on with our own lives.Me too.As for the Philippines, well I know it well enough and enjoying being an observer;yes, I would agree that there may be an underlying national sense of insecurity, but I think it is generated by frustration brought on by the sorry state of affairs the country finds itself in at the hands of generations of corrupt and incompetent politicians, and there seems, alas, to be no change on the horizon. The mass of the population are cowed by the national malaise visited upon them, largely through no fault of their own, apart from their propensity to vote for charlatans.

Your commentaries are , I find, usually well observed, but are occasionally spoiled by your inability to resist a gratuitous dig at your own.

[Major Tom]

It is clear that like religion, sports or sporting success could be an opium of an ailing society.

[Sidney]

As always your commentaries are spot on.

What amazes me most is that a lot of people got problems to see their own country in a bad light...
I wonder if this is misplaced nationalism or the inability to think rationally.

[torn]

Keith – Thanks for visiting and commenting even though you disagree with my point of view.

On the empire thing, my point wasn’t that we are all yearning to re-establish colonies in distant lands, rather that a whole generation was born in the most powerful country in the world yet had to put up with living in “just another country” as the Sex Pistols put it. I think that is bound to have a damaging effect on concepts of national pride, as it did for Russians when Yeltsin was making them seem ridiculous and as it will for Americans in due course.

As for the “self-loathing” phrase (which I think I introduced in my post on Jade Goody), I don’t think it is quite fair to apply that automatically to Brits who criticize their country, at least not in the sense in which I originally meant it. In fact it seems to me that the phrase most applies to Brits who profess a deep love of “Ingerland” yet express this in a most weird and dysfunctional way – I am thinking for example of a favourite British skinhead badge of honor, the phrase “MADE IN ENGLAND” tattooed across your forehead. Now that’s self loathing.

Just one question: don’t you agree that the 1966 thing is overdone? It seems more important to many Brits than winning the second world war! And if so, why?

Having said all that, I have to concede there is something in what you say. I can be hard on the Brits, as Carla, another visitor, has argued. My problem with the country is not that there is nothing to admire, but that somehow all of Britain’s great contributions to, for example, literature, governance, popular music, and (yes) even football are somehow either ignored or put through some hideous tabloid wringer that cheapens and distorts them beyond recognition.

Sidney -- Nice to hear from you again. That reminded me to look at your wonderful site. Thos photos of Cubao by night are incredible! Here is the link for any interested in seeing Sidney's photos:

http://my_sarisari_store.typepad.com/my_sarisari_store/cubao-nights/

[James]

Manny's ball sweat on Moorer's neck. Ew!

[keith]

Torn, you are always gracious in the face of dissent and actually I agree whole-heartedly with your view that all that is worthy in British culture is demeaned in favour of superficial rubbish that will not stand the test of time. And I hate football.And let us not forget Samuel Johnson's "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel".
I am reading Hamilton-Paterson's "America's Boy" at the moment, which gives much valuable background comment on the culture of the Philippines and the historical explanations for much that bemuses Philippine "watchers".Every day I learn more.I am sure I will continue to enjoy your commentary.

[order fioricet]

Manny Pacquiao is simply awesome, One of the best fighter ever.. Nice article I enjoy reading it..