The diaspora of various races across the globe has made each country a host to multiple ethnicities, thus, setting a divide among its people. While diversity is widely embraced in Australia, adversities in community groups, between and among, or even in-group exist, and Filipino-Australians are no exception.
It is indeed human to have contrasting beliefs. The ‘my belief is mine, and your belief is yours’ is far too commonplace pretty much universally. But while it is natural for us to possess our differences, which lead to conflicting ideals or, conversely, cliques, nothing concrete is ever established when groups of people do not agree on one thing. In the worst-case scenario, this level of division prevents objectives from being met or stops or delays projects from getting done. In other cases, it simply creates an environment where no two groups get along. Add to that is when two big personalities or groups clash, and they would always find each other in the worst place, in court.
In our own Filipino community, disunity among leaders is affecting organisations and associations. Community leaders can themselves be pretty partitioned—each vying for different things and pursuing unparalleled goals. We see this all the time, especially when money, power, and positions are involved. But if for a society to be so split at the macro level, what would it imply to those persons under each smaller divide? The members are affected, and projects become questionable.
Where there is division and mistrust, expect all the negative stuff to be in it. Whether it is groups mudslinging one another, people teaming up against other groups, random individuals adding fuel to the flame, etc., everything that is ugly thrives when people are disjointed by their interests and agenda and with no concession to establish and follow one thing. However, is there ever a solution to this problem?
There is, of course, and it comes packaged as a single word—collaboration.
The term collaboration could be defined in many ways. But at its core, the concept is pretty much the same and adheres to the word’s common language meaning—that is, best described as a situation where people, regardless of contradistinction, can work together towards a common goal.
The notion might sound easy enough on paper but it is harder to do even among sentient beings, especially among the heavily divided persons such as Filipinos or Filipino-Australians who do not share a similar idea.
However, the opposite can also be true. Despite a level of polarity at the single level, we have seen how Filipinos can come together in droves to achieve a common goal. Filipino-Australians seem interested in collaborating during calamities or when help is needed back home. The saying that we dig deeper is really true, and we take this at heart. If helping our kababayans back home can be an easier goal, why can’t we do the same for our Filipino organisations here?
Collaboration is still the key to unity. If you want to become a leader, be a servant first. Nothing else.
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