ARENILLO, ALYSSA MARIE A.

BSBA- FMGT2A

Bahay Tsinoy Museum: A Trip to Remember

Our professor, Mr. Roengen Atienza, requires our class to visit Bahay Tsinoy
Museum located at Intramuros, Manila for our Final Product. Upon hearing that, I became
excited because I love visiting historical museums and staring at galleries, relics, and
other old things. This trip wasn’t just purely educational but will also serve as an
opportunity for us to unwind and bond with our friends since we’re also tired and stressed
with our school activities.

Last June 21, 2019, my classmates and I decided to go to Bahay Tsinoy. It was
my first time to go to Intramuros and I am quite amazed because there are still old houses
and establishments built there. When we arrived at the museum, the entrance was nice,
somehow it looks like the lobby of a hotel. The entrance fee costs 60 pesos only for every
student. I think the price was reasonable enough since the museum is air-conditioned,
has a refreshing ambiance and it will enrich your knowledge about Chinese heritage. This
museum exhibits the history, culture, life and the contributions of Chinese here in the
Philippines. It presents different collections of old documents, books, historical artifacts
and realistic wax figures that will make you feel you’re in their era. It also displays the
photos of well-known Tsinoy leaders who have a huge impact on a different aspect of
Philippine life like former President Corazon Aquino and Cardinal Jaime Sin.

These photos above show the Chinese Philippines trade relation. The museum
exhibits the trading ships, route map, their cargoes, and the Sultan of Sulu Paduka Batara.
The mode of exchange was barter and called Galleon Trade. According to the information
displayed, The Spaniards relied on the cargo of the Chinese sampans to load into the
galleons in exchange for silver from Mexico. Spices were highly-priced but silk and
porcelain were the most valued. Through the galleons, corn, coffee, camote and tobacco
from Mexico were introduced in the Philippines and China, while iron needles, long traded
by Chinese, became an essential commodity in Europe. I can say that because of trading,
the Filipinos developed their negotiating and business skills and we discovered different
products that are very useful to us until today.

These are the replicas of SANGLEY (pronounced sang-lai). From the Hokkien
term, siong lay 常 來. They were the OCWs (overseas Chinese workers) who chose to
stay and work here in the Philippines so they can earn and provide to their families. There
are food peddlers, merchants, artisans, carpenters and laborers that are presented by
using wax figures. Too bad, I forgot to take a photo of sangley who were selling the most
famous Chinese foods like Mami that is best paired with Siopao and Siomai.
 These are the photos of Dr. Jose Rizal in the museum. He is an Ilustrado (The
enlightened one). It refers to a special class of Filipinos who are educated in Spanish and
exposed to Spanish liberal and European nationalist idealism during the years of Spanish
Colonization. Five of the most prominent Ilustrados in the late 19th century were Marcelo
H. Del Pilar, Mariano Ponce, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Antonio Luna and Jose Rizal. As
you can notice in the second photo, there is a page of a newspaper called La Solidaridad.
As far as I can remember, La Solidaridad is a newspaper of the Propaganda movement
of the civic organization of La Liga Filipina to help in achieving their goals which are uniting
the whole country. The photos above also show the famous novel of Jose Rizal which is
Noli Me Tangere and a replica of him writing a novel with the use of pluma. His family tree
was also displayed here, highlighting his Chinese route. Rizal’s paternal ascendant was
Domingo Lam-co, a full-blooded Chinese and was married to a Chinese half-breed named
Ines de la Rosa.

These are a collection of Chinese ceramics dating from the 10th to 17th centuries.
This part of the museum was called Ching Ban Lee porcelain gallery. These are the
recovered pieces of evidences of the extensive and long history of maritime trade
relations between China and the Philippines. If you’ll just see these collections personally,
it doesn’t look like an antique, actually, it looks really expensive and heavy. Even I didn’t
touch it because it was prohibited, I can conclude that it is made of good material.
 These are me and my friends striking a pose at an instagrammable spot of the
museum. If you like good photos, you can shoot here as well because the displays and
the paintings are so nice. I can say that this trip is one of the educational trips that I
couldn’t forget because aside from it taught me a lot of things about the Chinese-Filipino
relationship. I also like the vibe in here because the museum was cozy, wasn’t that big
and not too overwhelming. You can take your time reading all the information and looking
at the galleries without feeling dizzy. Also, this trip changed my perception of Chinese
people. Before, I have this negative impression about them about being bad and wanting
to be powerful so they can own the Philippines. Little by little, I realized that the Chinese
has a lot of contributions to us starting from their foods, business, traditions, and cultures.
They taught us the famous noodle dish like Mami, Pancit, Lomi and Sotanghon. During
Christmas and New Year’s Eve, they influenced us to wear red because it is said to be a
lucky color while on the family tradition, they influenced us in referring our older siblings
as “achi”, “diche”, and “dikong” and so on. I think we also inherited from them the attitude
of being business-minded and thrifty. I am proud of our country because some Chinese
chose to live here instead of theirs. During the Spanish colonial period, the life here in the
Philippines was hard and yet they chose to make a family here and settle. I suddenly feel
old because of the knowledge I gain from this trip but I am happy because I feel smart
and optimistic after. I realized that, if you wanted to be successful with your life, career,
job or business, the secret is to be determined and courageous no matter what the
struggle you’ll face just like what the Filipino and Chinese people did before. I encourage
everyone to visit Bahay Tsinoy Museum because I think it will change you and inspire you
too like what did happen to me.