A lot of people wonder what it’s like being a Chinese Filipino, born in and loyal to the Philippines, but whose culture and lifestyle seem to resemble both that of the Philippines and China.

Many marvel at how Chinese Filipinos have tended to become wildly successful whether in terms of business or in nontraditional fields, like in the academe or in writing. They note how Chinese Filipinos speak in Tagalog, then suddenly add a word or two in Chinese, all in the same sentence, and understand each other completely. (May howe ka na ba?)

I am Chinese Filipino, and I’m proud of it. I was born on Feb. 11, 1999, so that makes my Chinese zodiac animal the Tiger, and I’m extremely proud of it. (Actually, I almost didn’t make it as a Tiger. Chinese New Year back in 1999 was just a few days after my birthday. Had I been born a few days after Feb. 11, I would have been a Rabbit, which is so not me. No offense, Rabbits.)

Tigers are graceful and success-driven. In zoos, they are one of the main attractions perhaps because of their rarity. They somehow inspire an environment of wonder and might, even if they’re just laying down in their enclosures. Let one out, and you can’t tell what will happen. It will either be your dream cute pet or your worst nightmare. I’m a proud Tiger baby, indeed!

As a Chinese Filipino, I must say that our community is extremely diverse. The community in Metro Manila is so diverse already. Some live in Valle Verde and some in Binondo (believe me, they have quite different lifestyles). Some don’t go to Chinese Filipino schools and some do. Some don’t speak Chinese at all and some make knowing Chinese a requirement for future lovers, and the list goes on and on. And that’s just in Metro Manila.

Drive for success

But the one thing common among all Chinese Filipinos, whether Tiger or not, is the drive for success. Whether it’s in terms of being successful doctors, businessmen, teachers or parents, Chinese Filipinos, like tigers, are driven to excel in their own circumstances. This can make life extremely tough, with expectations often very high.

As a Chinese Filipino, I find myself caught between that world—my traditional Chinese, success-driven Tiger world—and my more fun-loving, equally hardworking, religious Catholic Filipino world. And those two worlds are further complicated by the modern world of Netflix, Uniqlo and Shopee. Everything is changing by the second. Happy Chinese New Year and cheers to more life uncertainties!

So now, what does a 22-year-old Chinoy Tiger baby like me have to do?

Somehow, perhaps because of years and years of drilling, I find myself conforming to this Tiger legacy because of the drive for success that my parents, particularly my mom, instilled in me.

For years, she would painstakingly drill us on our school lessons, photocopying our textbooks and cutting out the images so that she could glue them to worksheets, which I would then answer. She was born in the year of the Snake, an animal she ironically hates so much.

Like many other Chinese Filipino kids out there, I think my parents wanted me to become something like a businessman or perhaps an architect, something “successful.” But here I am, pursuing a master’s degree in Catholic theology in the middle of a pandemic. I also write, a very “nonsuccessful” thing to traditional eyes.

And yet, I find myself incredibly driven to do both of them very well. (Last fall, I aced my graduate theology classes.) Could this be the Chinoy Tiger legacy—the success-driven legacy—working in me, but just in what I want to pursue? Could I be embodying the Chinoy Tiger legacy, just in a different, nontraditional way?

Thankfully, my parents have, in the end, been very supportive of us, their children. So with some Tiger luck (positive vibes), I hope to move forward, press on, march to the rhythm of life and let the world hear the loud Tiger roar from within!

This piece was written in honor of Chinese New Year on Feb. 1, Year of the Water Tiger, and inspired by the book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” by Amy Chua.

The author is pursuing his master’s degree in Catholic Studies at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.