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Tingi |
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 Jess writes "The underground economy of the Philippines is comprised of Filipinos with “tingi-mentality.”
This is not a surprising assertion.
Millions of unemployed need to earn a living somehow, and the easiest way they can get into to put food on the table, meager though maybe, is through micro-retail or “tingi”. Vendors of any kind, ambulant peddlers, belong to this category. They are not part of the official economy because their activities are unrecorded by the system of national income accounting. These people, unconscious of it or not, possess “tingi-mentality”.
One would wonder then if this “tingi-mentality” is part of Filipino heritage, or is it forced upon by the circumstances.
Nick Joaquin, a Filipino National Artist for Literature, in his essay “Heritage of Smallness” lamented the Filipino predilection to small things, creating a mindset that Filipinos are only capable of small things. Anything big is an aversion.
Only in the Philippines, we have these “takatak” boys, people selling cigarette by the stick.
Only in the Philippines, that we never weaned ourselves of the use of jeep as a means of transport, although we know it is wasteful, uncomfortable and impractical.
Only in the Philippines, we can buy one clove of garlic, a piece of tomato or onion, a pomade bottle of cooking oil, a half cup of vinegar, a scoop of “bagoong” a sachet of shampoo; whereas some other countries are selling these items by the dozens, by the litters or by the cartons.
Nick Joaquin said, “Tingi” is the Filipino version of commerce.
Our heritage of smallness, according to Nick Joaquin, rooted when the first Baranggay of about 30 families with less a hundred people settled ashore in our country. As their number increased, instead of staying put together, they broke themselves up into smaller groups. They feared consolidation and felt secured in isolation.
Nick Joaquin cited some historical insights: Within a small area of Manila Bay, (Tondo, Manila, and Pasay), there settled three different Kingdoms, which remained distinct, never get together and never fused. Joaquin’s theory was, there were three different Barangay that settled or it could be that only one single settlement, then it splitted into three.
The reason, Joaquin offered was because; it seemed Filipinos is afraid of bigness. Filipinos have strong tendency to go back to that small-enclosed society. Once a town gets bigger, it splitted into two towns. The moment one province got populous it broke into three provinces. The excuse was the difficulty in managing or administering so huge an entity. We couldn’t handle so vast an area. We’re only capable of small. We’re intimidated when things get bigger.
Whether or not, Nick Joaquin’s insights have bearing to our “Tingi-mentality”, in today’s context, poverty fatefully impinged on Filipinos to live in smallness.
The idea of “smallness” becomes the prime consideration of consumer-goods manufacturers vis a vis their huge clientele of people in the low income bracket. The homegrown, “tingi-tingi,” selling by the pieces in “repak” (“repak” is a crude packaging system sealing off the goods in the small plastic bag with the heat of the lamp) has been modified to micro-marketing strategies in the form of improved package mini-sizing, using flexible composite, a metallized multilayer sachet.
Micro-marketing, bodes well to the populace who wallows in poverty. It becomes a coping mechanism. People can buy goods immediately as they need them. The sari-sari store, which carried most of the downsized packaged goods, becomes the extended pantry of people living in the neighborhood.
It makes them less deprived or less oppressed, as they can buy goods of their dream, although it is just a taste of what they want.
It also stretches their pesos to the fullest. They can save money as they can buy goods, cheaper in mini sizes.
Micro-marketing also gives the masses access to branded, hygienically packaged goods.
It also addresses the variety of wants in the family. By buying in mini sizes first, they can test the products to the likes of each individual family member.
The “tingi-mentality” of the Filipinos seems to be now having a positive impact. Mini-sizing phenomenon caught fire in India and Indonesia, equally populous nations with a high ratio of low-income earner. Manufacturers of consumer products in both countries shifted to smaller pack sizes to satisfy the growing demand for lower-priced goods in towns and villages.
Poverty for Filipinos is like manna from heaven, always plentiful and available; therefore, always expect “Tingi-Mentality” to work efficiently as a new minted engine would.
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Posted on Wednesday, March 01 @ 11:34:37 CST by don |
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