I had a woman say that to me a while ago. I cant recall who it was but it was someone really stupid. She caught me by surprise but I still manged a facial expression that caused her to apologise immediately.
The crab mentality is an awful feature that impacts so many people.There are bigots in all cultures and countries.
They also may be TNT (tago ng tago) or an illegal immigrant so they know to keep a low profile and not get too close to anyone especially other Filipinos.
My wife was also advised by her Filipina friend who has lived in the UK since the 1980s not to get too close to other Filipinos as they have a crab mentality – always snapping at each other and/or gossiping. In fact, my sister in law who hopes to come to the UK as a student/caregiver was told this last week at the company’s the orientation session.
Andy
Surrey, UK
Many South Asians, most notably Indians, are known to lift one among them to a greater height and then that person will lower a ladder so that others can ascend to the same height.
There are many groups of people, that acknowledge that it is more common for them to systematically pull anyone down that is attempting to improve themselves or indeed just get on with their lives.