Economically, the Philippines do not fare very well compared to our Asian neighbors but that doesn’t make the Philippines any less and the point of insults. Our government is considered one of the most corrupt. The corruption within our country and the dire poverty is the primary reason why Filipinos who earned college diplomas are choosing to skip our country and suffer in the employ of abusive employers abroad. Many people pointed the blame to our leaders who did nothing to alleviate the financial sufferings of the poor.
But given this scenario, no nation in the world is given the right discriminate the less-economically performing countries. We may not have the money but we definitely have the brain and the brawn. Had it not for our brains, we would not have found ways to uplift our families suffering economic condition. Had it not for our brawn, we would not have endured working in a foreign country just to earn for our families keep.
I must say that Filipinos are indeed good in keeping the house because as we are growing up, we are taught by our very parents the basic rules of cooking, cleaning and doing the household chores. These tasks were added to our responsibility as students. It is true that Filipinos are working as maids, nannies, drivers, and simply as personal household servants. But there are also a number of Filipinos who are working as executives in foreign corporations and they have earned the respect of their colleagues. We Filipinos are also a hard-working bunch.
Regardless of our country of origin, the color of our skin, the nature of our job and educational attainment, all citizens of any country in the world should be treated with equality and respect. I guess what all people should learn is RESPECT. Yes, you can invoke satires, be funny but please do not insult people who kept your house clean, the people who accompanied your children to school and who assisted them with their homework when you were too busy to look into their assignment notebooks. Have the decency to respect the very person cooking for you and serving your meals. These people are decent human beings and they deserve the same respect you give to your fellow Chinese compatriots.
Respect Sir, is learned at home like where cooking and cleaning the house is also learned.
Here is the full text of what Chip Tsao wrote in HK magazine.
The War At Home
March 27th, 2009
The Russians sank a Hong Kong freighter last month, killing the seven Chinese seamen on board. We can live with that—Lenin and Stalin were once the ideological mentors of all Chinese people. The Japanese planted a flag on Diàoyú Island. That’s no big problem—we Hong Kong Chinese love Japanese cartoons, Hello Kitty, and shopping in Shinjuku, let alone our round-the-clock obsession with karaoke.
But hold on—even the Filipinos? Manila has just claimed sovereignty over the scattered rocks in the South China Sea called the Spratly Islands, complete with a blatant threat from its congress to send gunboats to the South China Sea to defend the islands from China if necessary. This is beyond reproach. The reason: there are more than 130,000 Filipina maids working as $3,580-a-month cheap labor in Hong Kong. As a nation of servants, you don’t flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter.
As a patriotic Chinese man, the news has made my blood boil. I summoned Louisa, my domestic assistant who holds a degree in international politics from the University of Manila, hung a map on the wall, and gave her a harsh lecture. I sternly warned her that if she wants her wages increased next year, she had better tell every one of her compatriots in Statue Square on Sunday that the entirety of the Spratly Islands belongs to China.
Grimly, I told her that if war breaks out between the Philippines and China, I would have to end her employment and send her straight home, because I would not risk the crime of treason for sponsoring an enemy of the state by paying her to wash my toilet and clean my windows 16 hours a day. With that money, she would pay taxes to her government, and they would fund a navy to invade our motherland and deeply hurt my feelings.
Oh yes. The government of the Philippines would certainly be wrong if they think we Chinese are prepared to swallow their insult and sit back and lose a Falkland Islands War in the Far East. They may have Barack Obama and the hawkish American military behind them, but we have a hostage in each of our homes in the Mid-Levels or higher. Some of my friends told me they have already declared a state of emergency at home. Their maids have been made to shout “China, Madam/Sir” loudly whenever they hear the word “Spratly.” They say the indoctrination is working as wonderfully as when we used to shout, “Long live Chairman Mao!” at the sight of a portrait of our Great Leader during the Cultural Revolution. I’m not sure if that’s going a bit too far, at least for the time being
No comments:
Post a Comment