Is spitting a culture in Asia? I am based in the Philppines & I am shocked & disgusted about the spitting here

Question

I just heard on the news (CNN) that China is going to crack down on public spitters as part of the preparations for the Beijing olympics in 2009

Answer 1

it's really not a culture but it's a habit. But this is not for asians alone.

I am also grossed out when i see people spitting in public. when i have a cough and have a phlegm (yuk) Im so bothered that i dont know where to spit it out because there are few or no trash bins on the streets. guess what i do? LOL

Answer 2

No this is not part of the culture. This is a bad habit some people have, as in any part of the world depending of their level of study, preparation, etc. I have lived in Philippines, Hong Kong and Thailand and I have been in some places and with some persons highly refined that make some Americans look like savages. This fact is directly related (and most of all in Asia regions) to the level of culture and in the place of that country you are. F or example is not the same to be in Power Plant Mall in Makati that in the poor places outskirts Angeles City near to the military bases.
I'm married to a Filipino girl so aseptic and ordered that if she is watching someone spitting take for sure she is going to feel very ashamed and disgusted.

Answer 3

In some parts of Asia i guess it is, or maybe its just this terrible habit people have. I live in Hong Kong...tourists from other parts of China spit everywhere....its gross. I dont know how on earth the people are going to crack down on public spitters as there are just too many out there.

Answer 4

Yes, lets lock away all the spitters. And those people with messy hair need to be put away too. Anyone who didn't shave properly needs to pay a fine and be whipped. How about those disgusting idiots who don't button their shirt? Lets lock them up too. Maybe those who smell bad should also be included in the roundup. We should get all of them together and put them all on a little group of islands in the south pacific away from "refined" people. Oh wait.....maybe you're in the wrong place.....

Answer 5

I dont think its a culture, maybe a habit? 'Cause I have seen even caucasians or blacks spit before. I'm Filipino and in my family it is taught that spitting is unethical. Oh by the way, I just remembered the movie Titanic ..there was a "spitting scene".

Answer 6

In some of our project areas where we have camps, it's a multinational community.

There are Filipinos, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Bangla-Deshis, Palestinians, true Jordanians, Syrians, Thais, Somalis, Sudanese, etc.

Every morning, we would line up the public baths or as more commonly called "comfort rooms" in the Philippines.

Outside these baths would be the lines of wash basins that are constructed of unfinished cement, and attached to the walls of the buildings that are the baths themselves.

And there, my dear sir, you would hear and see such as spitting choruses as you would love to imagine. An orchestra of divine sounds and flying spittle so deliciously being washed down basins and on the holy ground.

There would be the usual, seemingly ritual taking in of deep breathes and cleaning of the throats and the magnificent cleansing sound you'd hear of a hundred or so souls so glad to be alive and feeding the earth of the excess production of their bodies.

When you dare look on the basins, you would see different colors of the spit, bright yellow, some dull, others brownish, some with blood, others totally black as the pit. I tell you,sir,
they turn to such treasures.

Would you like me to describe to you how it looks inside the toilets? I tell you, sir, it's simply paradise in there.

Answer 7

ok, number 1 i dont believe that it is a culture thing.

for havent you seen pro baseball players spit?
havent you seen "cowboys" spit?
havent you seen a white/black/hispanic person spit?
everybody spits.

& number 2, people spit for a variety of reasons.

1. its the lesser evil, especially if you have something nasty to expel
2. it is a learned reaction from years of observation, especially as a young child
3. some people just produce too much saliva either from the food they eat, the fluids they drink, the meds they take, by smoking whatever they smoke & by chewing tobacco or whatever else they chew on
4. & lastly they feel it makes them look so machismo

Answer 8

im filipino and i think spitting is disgusting. But spitting happens everywhere...I live in NY and ppl just spit everywhere..sidewalks, train platforms, etc. but please be careful with ur wording because asian cultures go way back and spitting is OBVIOUSLY not one of it since people do it worldwide people might take it the wrong way and be insulted.

Answer 9

you should go to hongkong. people spit just about anywhere. even inside the taxi, bus. but filipinos don't do that.

Answer 10

Get a life, people spit every where you go, no matter what country your in.