Culture Clash

Late, I think on Wednesday nights, one can see rooster fighting on TV in much the Philippines.  That’s generally not the way it is referred to here but I’ll use the more polite name.

Only in the Philippines might apply in this situation.  I’m amazed when they show rooster fighting on TV.  Wow, would the people in the USA go crazy over such a thing even happening, much less, showing it on TV.  In those fights, one chicken almost always dies.  They are not dead at the end of the match but Jessie tells me they always die afterward and many times both do.

This is life in the Philippines.  It would be totally unacceptable in the USA and many other, non-Asian countries. Perhaps in some Asian countries.  I don’t know about Japan or China or several others for that matter.  I know it is totally acceptable, even admired in the Philippines, India and Thailand.  In the USA, it would mean jail time for those at participate in such things.  It goes on, but it is very hidden, very taboo and seen as cruel.

In the Philippines, its a way of life.  Mostly for men.  Filipino love to place wagers on these fights.  It is obviously a major social event.  You see the men not paying a lot of attention to the actual fights.  Instead, its more laughter and drinking of beer.  It looks like they are having a grand time.

I think it is wrong to judge one group of people based on the culture of another people.  I would go to a rooster fighting event but to watch the people, not the fighting.  The fighting is pretty boring and pretty savage too.  There is often blood on both roosters and at the end, one rooster and sometimes both can no longer stand.