As the “-ber” months settle in, Filipinos begin to post memes of Jose Mari Chan, a singer renowned for his Christmas songs that have become the country’s anthem to usher in the holiday season.
People have been sharing memes as early as August and here are some of the funniest ones that have circulated social media so far:
A Facebook page borrowed Green Day’s song title “Wake Me Up When September Ends” and alluded it to Jose Mari Chan dominating radios and mall speakers with his usual holiday hits.
A user shared another meme that featured ABS-CBN television host Winnie Cordero with her face and name photoshopped with the singer’s face and song lyrics.
Another page shared what could be considered a more accurate scenario whenever the “-ber” months would roll in—malls blasting Chan’s “Christmas in Our Hearts” album.
To All The Boys And Girls Selling Lanterns On The Street pic.twitter.com/1VHQqB2wnG
— victor (@victor_donceras) August 19, 2018
A Twitter user shared a parody of a picture from the “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” and replaced one of the character’s face with the singer’s.
The user also replaced the movie title with lyrics from “Christmas in Our Hearts.”
In fact, Jose Mari Chan memes have become so popular that a news outlet has even released a survey asking people about their most favorite Jose Mari Chan Christmas song.
The country’s Christmas anthem crooner
Jose Mari Chan is a Filipino-Chinese singer, songwriter and businessman in the sugar industry. He is known for his bestselling album titled “Christmas in Our Hearts” released in 1990 under Universal Records.
A few weeks after his album debuted in the local market, it attained a “triple platinum” status granted by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry.
In 2006, the same organization awarded it a Double Diamond certification for selling more than 600,000 copies nationwide.
Chan is considered the “Father of Philippine Christmas Music” for his iconic Christmas songs under the album.
Some of its most famous tracks are “Christmas in Our Hearts,” “A Perfect Christmas,” “Do You Hear What I Hear,” “Give Me Your Heart for Christmas” and “Mary’s Boy Child,” among others.
He revealed in an interview how the album came into fruition. “In 1990, Universal Records suggested that I do my first Christmas album. That’s when ‘Christmas in Our Hearts’ was born,” he said.
Alex Almario of CNN Philippines believe that Chan has “given Christmas the face and voice it deserves” through his iconic album.
He wrote, “‘Christmas in Our Hearts’ became the new magic that year. It allowed us to feel like little kids again because the innocence of the song belonged in the here and now.”
“It’s that kind of innocence we yearn for every December, even if we’re not aware of that yearning. It’s there every time we hear his voice in the mad Christmas rush. It’s there every time we joke about hearing his voice for the umpteenth time this month.”
Christmas in the Philippines
In the Philippines, Christmas songs are played in malls and public places as early as September, the start of the “-ber” months. According to sociologist Bro. Clifford Sorita, the practice boils down to our psychological framework.
“The most simple explanation for the Philippines’ long Christmas season is our psychological framework to count down the days to big celebrations.”
“100 days until Christmas starts on September 16th but we, Filipinos, we always like to start celebrating earlier. By knowing exactly how much time we have remaining to complete a task, instead of stressing about it, we will be able to better allocate our time,” he said.
