Jejemon: A cause for concern?

CEBU, Philippines - Meeya Malinao, 16, started substituting the letter “S” with “X” and the letter “J” with “D” in her first year in high school. She says she got the texting style from her friends and started using it because it was fun.

She sent text messages this way throughout her four years at the San Roque Child Development School in Liloan, Cebu until she realized she was getting confused, if not forgetting the correct spelling of words in her English class.

Meeya was part of a phenomenon from among hip hop groups and out-of-school youth in Manila called “jejemon”.

Last May, the Filipinas Institute of Translation (FIT), a group of academics from the University of the Philippines, listed “jejemon” as a finalist for the 2010 word of the year. FIT picked “jejemon,” along with nine new words because of their “strong influence” on the lives of Filipinos during the past two years. FIT thinks that the word “jejemon” should it be chosen word of the year, be introduced to the Filipino vocabulary because of its popularity.

Jejemon started from the fondness of online users to type “hehehe” as “jejeje” derived from the Spanish “jeje” because the letters “h” and “j” are beside each other on the keyboard. Users then add “-mon,” which came from the popular Japanese anime Pokemon. The “-mon” means monster, hence “jeje monsters”.

The online dictionary urbandictionary.com defines jejemon as individuals with low intelligence quotient “who spread around their idiocy on the web” usually around social networking sites such as Friendster, Multiply and Facebook.

Influence of the so-called “jejemon phenomena,” which started about three years ago, has become so strong that it managed to grab substantial amount of attention away from the much-anticipated automated May 2010 elections in the country.

It has even managed to stir an ongoing debate between those who believe that the jejemon craze is but an exercise in the freedom of expression and those who stand firm that the sanctity of a language, in this case, English, must be upheld.

Desiree Balota, a professor in English at St. Theresa’s College in Cebu City, thinks if “jejenish,” the language of the jejemon, persists, it has the potential to affect a person’s proficiency of a language, especially English and could affect the Filipino’s global competitiveness.

“I don’t like jejemon because its potential to negatively impact language proficiency is great. As of now, I don’t know any proof yet of what jejemon can exactly do. However, because of its nature as regards spelling words and constructing sentences, it will most likely impact spelling sense the way writing in shortcuts in the king of texting we first knew has,” Balota said.

Case in point is a message posted on the account of one “Thewunderkind” in Tumblr, a growing social networking site among young people: WeLl Akq0E, iM JuZ A CmPlE 6hUrL, a PeRxOn u cN TrUsT.. mAyBe u cN CoL Me kAt-fOr sH0Rt..I LoVe pInK, bLaCk nD GrEeN aS MuCh aS VioLeT. jUz f u lIkE To kNW Me mOrE Jz ADD ME BT DNt eVeN ThInK dAt F U AdD Me I CN TELL U XuMtHiN6 aBoUt me.

Translated into English, the message would read, in verbatim: Well, me, I’m just a simple girl, a person you can trust…maybe you can call me Kat, for short…I love pink, black, green, as much as violet. Just if you like to know me more just add me, but don’t even think that if you add me I can tell you something about me.

FIT said that should it be chosen word of the year, the word jejemon will become part of the Filipino vocabulary.

Craze

No one knows how widespread the so-called “jejemon craze” is in the Philippines, but it has generated tremendous interest. If hits on the YouTube episode of the television show “Kapuso Mo, Jessica Sojo” that featured the jejemons are any indication, the jejemons are on their way to stardom. The episode received 39,749 views.

In the same program, sociologist Bro. Clifford Sorita says the “jejemon phenomena” can be considered a form of refuge. He says those who engage in the fad most likely have the desire to be recognized as unique. Having their own language and ways of communicating might give them the feeling of being distinguished from the rest, he says.

Mark, 13, a self-confessed jejemon says he likes texting and dressing up the jejemon way because it is “astig,” loosely translated as tough or cool.

Meeya herself admits it was fun texting the jejemon way because it felt like she was “in” and accepted. This feeling was curtailed, however, when she read how the “jejemon” is being described. That is, individuals with low IQ.

“Nauwaw man ko’s akong self” (I felt ashamed of myself),” she says.

Now, Meeya strongly supports a recent declaration of the Department of Education for an “all-out war” against jejemon. Educators are concerned about the possible long-term impact of the jejenish. In an interview with gmanews.tv, DepEd Secretary Mona Valisno reasoned there is a deterioration of skills when English words are misspelled like in typing messages through text.

Meeya says the DepEd initiative is significant because the jejemon craze is spreading like wildfire. “Uso gyud sa school” (It’s really a fad in school),” she says.

Beatriz Piramide, Senior Executive for Talent Acquisition of Aegis Peoplesupport in Cebu City, also agrees to the DepEd declaration.

“I would even suggest that they strengthen the use of English kay I noticed poor na kaayo ang quality nato when it comes to speaking in English… sometimes, even pronunciation lang sa different, ma-deferent pa…(I would even suggest that the Department of Education strengthen the use of English because I noticed that we have declined as far as quality in the use of the English language is concerned. Others even pronounce a simple world like ‘different’ as ‘deferent’),” Piramide says.

Cyber Corridor

Piramide fears that jejemon language may infiltrate mainstream communication among the young and could ruin their chances at landing jobs in call centers where career opportunities abound.

The government has dubbed Metro Cebu as partof the country’s “Cyber Corridor.” As of 2009, at least 44 major call centers were operating in the metro. It is fourth in terms of having the most number of call centers in major areas in the Philippines, according to Joel Mari Yu, managing director of Cebu City’s marketing arm, the Cebu Investments Promotions Center, told the Manila Bulletin in 2009.

The call center industry in Cebu City alone contributes about P1.4 billion to the city government’s coffers every year.

Global Services gave Cebu top spot in its 2009 survey on the ‘Top 50 Emerging Global Outsourcing Destinations’ because of its scale and quality of workforce, modern infrastructure, business catalyst, risk profile, cost and quality of life. Industry analyst Tholons also ranked Cebu City number 1 in 2008 in its Top 50 Emerging Global Outsourcing Cities. It ranked the city number 4 in 2007.

Piramide is concerned that should the jejemon “phenomenon” persist, Cebu’s reputation could be threatened in the long run, as far as call centers are concerned.

“I do not get why they have to alter the way they spell and talk when they can talk straight. Especially for me, I’m in recruitment, if these people talk to me the jejemon way, it would really affect the way I rate them,” she says.

Kris Ian Obate, technical support representative of Sykes Enterprises, another major call center based in Cebu, also shares Piramide’s sentiments.

He fears that those who talk and text jejemon carry the practice to work, albeit unconsciously. He says a co-worker experienced a blunder recently. Without going into details, Obate said the co-worker who had caught the jejemon bug received a major reprimand after a supervisor found he misspelled an entry while documenting tickets.

“It would highly affect grammar, pronunciation, and communication skills in general…once maka-use ka sa language, madala man na nimo sa work, (It would highly affect grammar, pronunciation, and communication skills in general…once you start using the language, there is a tendency that you will bring it to work), he says.

Balota highlights Obate’s point, “It’s just like what the law of repetition says both in teaching and in media practice. You know repetition as propaganda device. The more something is repeated, the more it is retained. Just imagine if the jejemon way of writing is what is repeated.”

“I have more challenges in terms of numbers of poor spellers now. So on that point, jejemon is a potential spelling monster,” she adds.

Balota further suggests that jejemon language complicates rather than simplifies, thus, could not be used “universally” because most don’t understand it.

“Our tendency is to opt for the short, simple, and the practical. Jejemon is more expensive and time-consuming…so how can it be propagated as fast as the old way of texting can?” she asks.

Simply passing by

Despite the massive opposition, others say the phenomena will just die a natural death.

Tanya Famador, General Manager of APAC Customer Services, Inc. is not worried because she believes jejemon, like other “threats” to the language in the past, is nothing but a trend.

“We don’t believe it has or will affect (in) the call center industry. For one, we don’t allow folks to speak in the vernacular and jejemon generally uses the local language. While it may be a cause for concern in spelling and grammar, we don’t think it affects the verbal English conversational skills. Just as jeprox or taglish were causes for concern in our more recent past, jejemon, as the other two, is a fad and nothing more, “Famador says.

“The jejemon language is a natural thing what with language being dynamic. Because the users of language are dynamic. It’s not something that we should see as something odd about language users. We are free to express ourselves. However, not all expressions are timeless. Jejemon, I think, is not one that has a long shelf life,” she adds.

Among all this opposition, jejemon found an “ally” with the chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Youth. Legazpi Bishop Joel Baylon says values such as chastity, decency and honesty are more important than a particular use of language.

“Language is merely an expression of experience and what are more important are the values behind the language and the principle that shapes the person’s character,” Baylon was quoted in an interview.

In the program “Kapuso Mo, Jessica Sojo,” writer Pete Lecaba also saysthe formation or creation of new words like those of the jejemons is an indication that the language remains vibrant.

Despite these arguments, however, Meeya says she firmly decided to let go of the jejemon way of texting because she does not want it to influence her knowledge of the English language and potentially deter her chances of landing a good job in the future.

“Maka-affect man gyud kay ma-confuse naman ka (It will really affect because you will really get confused),” she says. (FREEMAN NEWS)