“mUzta nA pOw u. jEjEm0n aQ, kAy0w?”
We witnessed history unfolds as P-Noy (President Noynoy Aquino ) finally responded to the nation's call for change during his inaugural address. But none of the yellow confettis and sweet promises will eradicate the controversial existence and ubiquitous influence of the so-called Jejemonism, a rising subculture with its own mind-twisting language which almost rob P-Noy's popularity through the mass media. As defined by Urban Dictionary, Jejemons are those who have managed to subvert the English/Tagalog language to the point of incomprehensibility and online lynch squads; take the italicized statement above as an example. And like other non-conformists, jejemons' rise to fame has been receiving criticisms from language purists called jejebusters (jejemon haters) almost consistently. Most of us hate them because we view a jejemon as a potential threat to our already dilapidated educational system. Moreover, social networking sites like Facebook has become a breeding ground as well for groups who bluntly condemns jejemons like “!f yUh t!yP3 Lyk3 DihS Don’t talk to me!” ( a Facebook group with a staggering 824,267 fans). On the other hand, if we really want to understand both sides of the story, this jejemon phenomenon really deserves a spotlight for an impartial analysis. Criticisms are no good to reveal what's behind the weird combinations of numbers and letters unique of the jejemons. On my own vantage point, jejemonism is an issue worthy of contemplation because believe it or not, jejemons bring with them a number of valuable lessons and eye-opening realities, not just nuisances to our society.
Although the jejemon vocabulary is a bit off, I have observed that they demonstrate both respect and creativity. As you can notice, unlike any other distorted languages (e.g. Gay lingo), the word "po", as in "mUzta Na pOw?"(kamusta na po?) or "Okie lNg f0e"(ok lang po) , was retained in their vocabulary, a sign of respect that is a trademark of the Filipino and jejemon culture as well. In addition to that, building a diverse vocabulary by including numerical characters and some rarely used alphabets (q,z,x) is a strong indication of their creativity. And by saying that, it also strengthens the fact that jejemons are not silly people promoting pure stupidity. Apparently, they should know first the right spelling of words before they can change it to their own language, which takes creativity and good level of education.
Jejemons are also living examples of people who are living within the bounds of democracy. Freedom of expression is what they uphold, showing people that they can be whatever they want as long as it doesn't hurt the majority of the population. It's better to do that than use democracy to destroy democracy itself like what the rebels of the South do. And with freedom comes the power to change, which is particularly appropriate to language, a medium for subgroups like jejemons to express themselves and is always subject to change to cater their distinct needs. Change is the only constant thing in this world; tolerance and respect for each other is the key towards peace, not resistance and harsh prejudice.
Jejemons also have their own ways of expressing themselves aside from their creative vocabulary. Their fashion statement, albeit awkward or inappropriate most of the time, consists of colorful clothes, eye-catching accessories, and the all-famous jejecap. Although it hurts the eyes of every fashion expert, we can never doubt the fact that these group of people knows how to stand out, be different, and bring an impact to our society. P-Noy, together with his iconic parents, also has brought the same intensity of influence to the Filipino people by bringing the symbolic "yellow ribbon" and "eyeglasses" to a higher level of importance, which eventually found their ways to T-shirts, mugs, accessories, car stickers and everything under the sun, much to the satisfaction of stores selling these merchandise. However, like the jejemons who manifest their principles both in words and actions, patriotism should go beyond wearing T-shirts imprinted with the Philippine map. We are all responsible to prove to the whole world that it's never too late to make a big change. Let’s move forward propelled by sheer nationalism and determination to achieve progress. And that big move should start now.
According to Dean Rolando Tolentino of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication says the rise of the jejemons is a symptom of the partitioning of society into sub-classes. For linguist Alex Maximo,the phenomenon is linked to hegemony: who has power, who doesn’t, and how the conflicts that arise from the concomitant societal stresses are expressed. These findings just indicate that the growing number of jejemons, which mostly came from lower socio-economic status, is a way for them to express their feelings, establish a unique identity, and demonstrate how the clash between them, the "jologs" and the "sosyal" (middle- to upper-class jejebusters) becomes a complete representation of how wide the gap is between the two social classes in the Philippines; a reality that the current president should take into consideration.
There are positive aspects of jejemonism that I admire but it doesn't necessarily mean that I'm a true-blue jejemon and that I promote their principles. I personally hate the way they clog the internet and texting world with seemingly nonsense messages but we always have to remember that what's really important is the message behind their distorted language and the hidden lessons that they can impart. This is who they are and robbing them of their freedom to express is tantamount to human rights violation. It would be better if the Department of Education will focus more on developing strategies on how to alleviate the ongoing deterioration of Philippine education due to inadequate facilities and teachers than waste their time eliminating the fast-growing jejemons who continuously evolve with time. We are all entitled to our own opinions but at the end of the day, respect for each other's differences will prevail. This is the real essence of freedom. aNowh? aY0wZ p0w bAh?
