Methuselah,hello!

Our Aged, Elders, Ancestors

(Excerpts from a Lecture delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Organization of Chinese-Americans)

Methuselah, hello! He lived to be 969 years, the oldest person in the world, the grandfather of Noah, of the Ark’s fame. It’s possible to live this long again. Some optimists claim the science can be achieved to do this by the middle of this century. All we need to do is control the 10 leading causes of death; cardiovascular diseases *at the top then cancer and stroke , AIDS, and non-disease factors like accidents and suicide. After this we need the science to control aging or organ deterioration, and we are getting there. We know that loss of antioxidant enzymes, failure of protein synthesis, and failure of DNA repair mark the cell deterioration process and we are discovering new things everyday that gets us close to influencing these processes. But do we want to live this long? With the current trend in world overpopulation it is staggering to think what problems in resource utilization this will present.

*With improved health care and health-conscious lifestyles, life expectancy has increased dramatically from between 30-35 years in the 17th century to 76-80 today. In the USA we all know that the elderly population is rapidly swelling in numbers with the maturation of the generation of baby boomers. In the year 2030 there will be 70 M older persons, more than twice their number in 1990. Minority population elders represent 25% of this number. Women will continue to outlive men; 7 out of 10 babyboomer women will outlive their husbands. Women can expect to be widows for 15-20 years. This is quite significant because women are the caregivers for children, spouses, and parents.

Searching the internet on the subject of Filipino elders in the US yielded very minimal information. Filipinos are lumped together in the group Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and we know how diverse this group is and how very little we resemble this group. Included with us in this group are Asian Indians, Cambodians, mainland Chinese, Guamanian, Hawaiian, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Samoan, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, and others. You know, we don’t identify with this group and I don’t believe this group considers us Asian enough either and mainstream America doesn’t think of us either as Asians or bonafide Americans . Many of us have Spanish surnames and mistaken for such or Mexicans, but most of us doesn’t speak Spanish. So we are neither here nor there. Just think what that does for our identity. For our young growing up Filipino in America, that can be very confusing and I’d love to be able to have a forum on that subject someday. But who are the Filipino elders?


Currently there are about 500,000 Asian American and Pacific Islander elders in the US representing 6% of that minority population compared to 12% older adults in the general US population. The recent wave of Asian refugee immigration will swell this number to more than 7M in 2050 representing 16% of this minority population. The first wave of Asian Immigration began in the mid-1800’s with the importation of Chinese men to work in the railroads, farms, and mines in CA, Hawaii and other Western States. Then came the Japanese in the late 1800’s after Chinese immigration was stopped by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. As this population increased, they were again subjected to discrimination leading to the Asiatic Exclusion Act of 1924. This paved the way for a dramatic increase of Filipino immigration since the Philippines was made a US territory after the Spanish-American War and Filipinos were exempted from the restriction. The Filipino immigrants were primarily men seeking work in agriculture and the canning factories. With the onset of the Depression anti-Filipino sentiment became widespread because of intense job competition. This led to the passage of the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934 which restricted Filipino Immigration to 50 people per year. Many of the young Filipino men who immigrated earlier remained alone living in hotel rooms and rooming houses in urban centers. They could not marry and have families because of anti-miscegenation laws. Most of these Filipino men were recruited as cheap labor by the agents of the Hawaiian Sugar Planter’s Association. In the 1920’s Filipinos comprised the largest ethnic group working in the Hawaiian fields. Many eventually moved to California after two major strikes in the Hawaiian plantations. In 1930 there were 30,470 Filipinos in California .These men were viewed as outcasts and since the ratio of Filipino men to women was 14:1, many remained unmarried and those who tried to date white women were persecuted leading to anti-Filipino riots in California. In 1930 a judge handed down a ruling classifying Filipinos as members of the Mongolian race which invalidated mixed marriages in California These elder’s education levels and English skills tend to be low and they are predominantly poor. By the mid80’s there were 50,000-60,000 older Filipinos in the US with men outnumbering women 4 to 1.These elderly men were the survivors of the earlier immigration era and experienced much hardship. When the quota was abolished in 1965 there was a second surge of immigration from the Philippines composed largely of young educated professionals. With them also came some elderly, predominantly women, who tended to live with their children’s families in the middle class suburbs.. By the year 2010, this second surge of mostly professional and middle class Filipino immigrants will join the US babyboomers coming of age. Currently this group is dealing with their parents, elders who lived their lives in the Philippines but has now joined their children to live in the US.

The current elderly, our parents’ generation mostly live in extended family units with their mostly employed or professional children and are mainly supported by private funds or their children. If they need care most are receiving unpaid care from family members and they remain at home. A very small percentage live in nursing homes or institutions. Compared to the Anglo elderly who are institutionalized in 23% of cases Asian and Pacific Islander elderly are in institutions in 10% of cases. The difference can be explained by cultural practices and beliefs about the elderly that are deeply rooted in tradition and religious beliefs. The extreme practice is repesented in ancestor worship. There is strong influence also from Confucian philosophy of the importance of order within families and society, so roles, responsibilities ,and status in the family is clearly prescribed. I can see this influence in Filipino practice even if we are also strongly influenced by catholic principles. We are raised to respect and honor our elders ,authority and responsibility are assigned to the oldest. Many of us who came to work in the US sent the bulk of our paycheck to the rest of the family back home. The oldest who was sent to college at great sacrifice by the parents and extended family is expected to help support the younger siblings when he graduates. It is just expected that parents will be taken care of by the children when the time comes. This expectation continues to the extent that immigrant families become assimilated or adapted to the American experience. This can develop into varying degrees of intergenerational conflict depending on the extent that immigrant families have become Americanized and have loosened up on the observance of tradition. The presence of elders among the young born in America can be very enriching and helps the young in incorporating their culture and heritage in their identity and consolidate their image and self-esteem positively.

So how does one try to live long? Factors have been identified and in fact in use in actuarial statistics used by insurance companies. You can assign certain points to each item and come up with an estimate as to how long you can expect to live. So if we live so long how do we live well? Maintaining optimum mental health is the key. Studies have shown that there are recurring factors that foster optimum mental health in the lives of elders. Notwithstanding physical health or financial circumstances so long as the basic necessities are met, some of these factors I have listed below, and take note , nothing is revolutionary and all is just plain common sense. To observe these practices are all within our power and ability. These are:

*Control Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Total Cholesterol, HDL Cholesterol
*Avoid Cigarettes and 2nd hand smoke
*Exercise and Strength-Building
*Sensible diet low in saturated fats, Supplement of Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Folate *Abundance of fish and fruits and vegetable in the diet and regular Breakfast
*Control driving speed ( accidents, # 5 cause of death)
*Manage Stresses
*Stay married or have a significant Other
*Stay Productive
*Maintain a social group where you see a friend regularly at least once/month
*Maintain sense of humor and optimism
*Treat Depression and
*Have the right parents (genetics)

You may just live as long as Methuselah.