Juan Tamad NOT iOS App

28 November 2012

Juan Tamad (or Lazy John) is originally a young man infamous for his indolence. So lazy is he that he’d rather wait for fruits to fall to the ground instead of climbing up to pick them, or letting crabs he’s bought from the market find their way to his home because he’d rather be playing. He first appeared in a 1919 poem called “The Life lived by Juan Tamad, son of Fabio and Sofia, in the Kingdom of Portugal.”

But before this popular folktale became a source of comic entertainment, it had its roots in racial stereotypes. The Philippines was colonized by the Spanish from 1565 to 1898. This laziness was seen and reported by many Spanish reports as an endemic quality of the Filipinos.

The tale of Juan Tamad has become part and parcel of Filipino

folklore and comedy, so deeply seated in the nation’s cultural

unconscious, that older Filipinos barely blink at its mention.

Philippine national hero Jose Rizal, is quick to defend Filipinos in a series of essays published in 1890 called La Indolencia de los Filipinos or The Indolence of the Filipinos, though he admits that such an indolence does exist. Rizal wants to challenge Filipinos to realize what is questionable about their own behavior. However, he also believes that this laziness is due to many other factors, including colonial inferiority, and that Filipinos are not indolent by nature. Only by allowing Filipinos then to be educated, united, and liberated can this problem can be properly addressed.

While these essays were written over a hundred years ago, the stereotype still persists. It has found its way to popular literature, cinema, music, and other forms of expression. Over the years, it is a characteristic that Filipinos have learned to believe about themselves, and worse, accept with little question.

It's an oppressive belief when wielded by an outsider looking

in, but when it is believed by someone from within the

society, it can be devastating and defeatist.

First, it has the power to change popular perspective. It can deliver a strong message subtly and gradually. By choosing light and audience-friendly situations, a casual game app can avoid the preachy pulpit while getting its point across.

Next, it can start young. It can talk to a young audience, both local and abroad, in a language that they can understand. A game app utilizes technology and social media to address this targeted audience.

Finally, it can offer solutions. An app that knows how to challenge its audience, one that understands the need for creative solutions and thinking outside the box, can help develop visual logic skills that will prove beneficial outside the game.

What can a simple

game app do?

Juan Tamad NOT iOS App

Last October 2012, TOOCH, Inc launched a free iOS game app called Juan Tamad NOT, available for iOS devices. Ideal for players aged 5 and up, Juan Tamad NOT aims to challenge the player to improve their visual logic and spatial intelligence by solving a series of puzzles that help turn a little boy from lazy to industrious.

The game works by allowing the player to build a bridge from provided blocks, essentially helping Juan to reach his goal. Three different stories about Juan, each told in limerick form, create storybook moments interspersed between its twenty-four unique puzzles. An additional twenty-four puzzles are available via in-app purchase.

The game also features original Filipino-inspired art and sound created specifically for the app. It draws very strongly from cultural elements, presenting a rich visual tapestry that sets it apart from other puzzle apps in the market.

This is what Juan Tamad NOT

sets out to accomplish.

Filipinos are known to become very vocal and emotional when they are incorrectly portrayed in popular media. Many stereotypes of the lazy Filipino has been perpetuated over the years, and while the outrage is present, there remains very little done to address the situation.

The game understands that this is not an easy task.

But what it constantly proclaims is that laziness is not permanent.

What Juan Tamad NOT seeks is to be a proper representative of the Filipino. It proudly shows a different Filipino everyman to the world: a creative thinker, fun-loving and industrious--not someone who is lazy or leaves it all up to fate. Through its engaging gameplay, it attempts to give the world a better understanding of the Filipino psyche.

Here is a game app that attempts to correct a

biased understanding of the Filipino culture.

The nation’s economy has been at a high in the past few months.

The second strongest performing economy in Asia... -- Deutsche Bank AG

The Philippine stock market is the 2nd best performing market in the world.... -- Deutsche Bank AG

The Philippine stock market has had 31 record breaking closing for the year 2012.

The Philippines could become the 16th largest economy in the world by the year 2050. -- 2012 Wealth Report HSBC

The Filipino has the potential

to work hard and succeed.

This is why we want to do away with the ‘lazy’ stereotype

that has plagued us all these years.

Most of all

we want Filipinos to believe

that we can do it.

That we are a nation of achievers...

featured on Rappler.com

featured on BestAppsForKids.com

featured on TV5’s Reaksyon

featured on FirstPost

featured on GameSpotAsia.com

featured on AppClimb.com

Tweet from DOT Sec. Ramon Jimenez

No. 1 Educational Free iPad App – 2 days after launch

No. 2 OverAll Top Free iPad App – 4 days after launch

“What’s New-What’s Hot – iPad Educational App – 4 days after launch

“What’s New-What’s Hot – iPad Puzzle App – 4 days after launch

The game talks to two audiences. The first are those who may not be familiar with the Juan Tamad folktale, whether they’re from a global audience or a younger local one who has not yet been exposed to the story. To them, the game becomes an introduction. As the game prods them towards the importance of diligence and effort, then their first glimpse of the character is immediately a positive one.

The second audience are those who already have a negative connotation in mind when they hear Juan Tamad. What the game does is to immediately subvert the story’s stereotypes, as it gives players a way to spur the character into action.

The challenges are plenty.

But technology allows us to approach these from many ways.

Juan Tamad NOT has built its online presence on both Facebook and Twitter. Aside from news and updates on the app itself, these avenues allow the developers to facilitate discussion and encourage followers towards a more industrious outlook.

While Juan Tamad NOT's instructions are in English, the folktales included before each of the three game chapters are translated into English and Filipino. This enables a wider range of users to understand the positive values that the game wishes to impart.

Its initial download figures have been very positive. Downloads were not only registered from the Philippines and surrounding regions, but even as far as Senegal. This proves that a game has the potential to reach a wider audience than one can imagine.

A local story can have

a global audience.

Thank you very much…