REPORTERS were quite surprised and impressed to hear Karim Abdul speaking in Tagalog on Saturday as he expressed his frustration over the fading campaign of University of Santo Tomas this season.
Abdul was so frustrated by the Tigers' performances that he uttered Filipino words on Saturday after the Tigers suffered another loss to Far Eastern University that dropped their record to 4-5 win-loss.
“Wala tayong pride,” said Abdul. “Malungkot ako, grabe. Kasi hindi ko alam kung ano ‘yung future natin this year. Malungkot ako talaga.”
The Cameroonian big man said he has made an effort to speak the Filipino language since he set foot in the country to study and play for UST.
“I’ve been trying to speak Tagalog ever since I came here,” said Abdul in a light moment with sportswriters late, “I’ve been learning.”
Abdul said he has learned to speak and understand Tagalog words of all kinds, including, yes, curse words, and tries to speak in the local language when with his friends and teammates at UST.
“Hindi lahat pero maybe 70 percent (ang alam kong Tagalog). Lahat ng kaibigan ko, whenever I see a friend or at the dorm with my teammates, I try to speak Tagalog,” said Abdul.
While Abdul has become good at it, he believes he still has a lot of catching up to do with San Beda’s Nigerian cager Ola Adeogun who, he said, speaks the Filipino language better than him.
“Magaling siya,” said Abdul, referring to Adeogun. “Kasi siya lang ang naririnig ko na magaling mag-Tagalog. Dere-derecho siya."
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