It’s Baybayin
July 13, 2009 by Christian · Leave a Comment
Jerweezee (San Diego CA)
Filipino Sun/Alibata/Tribal by Salvation Ink San Diego “The Kuya”
“We have the Filipino sun on the back and on the arm the word Pinoy with Alibata of kids name and Filipino/Hawaiian fusion tribal.”
Ancient Filipino script shouldn’t be called in any other way but Baybayin.
Baybayin was coined alibata by a National Language Institute member Paul Rodriguez Versoza in 1939. The said term was based on a Maguindanao alphabet related to the Arabic alif, ba, ta. There are no supporting evidences though on Versoza’s theory of baybayin and the Arabic language’s relation.
The word baybayin originated from the Tagalog root word baybay which literally means spell. And the shapes of the baybayin characters have a similarity to the ancient Javanese Kavi script. Usage of baybayin is known to have started as early as the 1400s.
The baybayin is a syllabic writing system called abugida and made up of 17 characters which can increase into 45 when the characters are combined with vowel-modifying marks called kudlits.
Baybayin.com offers more information about this ancient script.
Underground Filipino artists in Saudi Arabia
May 12, 2008 by Christian · 4 Comments
Filipino OFW’s (Overseas Foreign Workers or OFI’s – Overseas Foreign Investors as Gloria Arroyo says) are setting up underground tattoo and body piercing spots in Saudi Arabia. It looks like the Filipinos setting up shop are nurses. ArabNews reports:
Young Saudi men and women are increasingly getting their bodies tattooed and pierced, something that is fueling a growth in underground tattooist and body piercers, who are often not only unhygienic but also expensive. Tattooists and body piercers that operate in Jeddah are generally Filipinos, who work from their homes and advertise their services by word-of-mouth.
I’m not sure what the Saudi law is regarding tattoos but I’m assuming the penalty is steep. If any Filipino tattoo artists from the middle east are out there, email me. I would love to interview you.
Here’s a related photo sent in by Roxie from Manila. According to Roxie, the Arabic letting on her lower back is her name. Nice
