Disgusting!
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Today, I read an article that made my blood boil: an opinion piece by a Chinese “journalist” named Chip Tsao published in HK Magazine. Here’s the article plus my comments in italics.
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The War at Home
By Chip Tsao
The Russians sank a Hong Kong freighter last month, killing the seven Chinese seamen onboard. 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. [Is it just me, or is there really a big flaw in his reasoning? 
]
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 US$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. [Yes, indeed, there is something wrong with his reasoning. Any high school (or even younger student) who knows a bit of logic can see breakdowns of reason in his sentences. Tsk! But I won't discuss his logical fallacies anymore. I'd focus on some of his factual errors. US$3,580 a month for a maid in Hong Kong? He better check his figures. They pay our kababayans much less, just about US$300-350 a month! And no, we are not a nation of servants. We do have degree holders who need to go overseas to find employment, even as domestic helpers, but not everyone in the country and even those who are working overseas are servants. We have lawyers, engineers, and other professionals as well. Besides, what's wrong with being a domestic helper, may I ask? At least, our maids can make logical statements and sound reasoning. Also, are the employers still called masters in this age? I thought the master-servant relationship no longer exists. Isn't it already an employee-employer relationship in the modern world? 
]
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 everyone 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. [Sixteen hours a day? Doesn't the Hong Kong government regulate working hours? That's just inhumane. Such atrocity! I would hang my face in shame if I were him. But this guy is even proud of what he does! 
]
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. [If there is something I get from this article, it’s that this guy has just unwittingly implicated and convicted himself of abuse, racism, human rights violation, tyranny, and intimidation, among others. I hope his maid is alright. I believe our government should do something to rescue Louisa before he could do real damage to her — if he hasn’t already.]
It’s so sad how some people act as though they were god just because they have power and money. It’s even sadder how they trample upon other peoples as though they were dirt. :-( And sadder still how a supposedly educated man could behave like that.
On the other hand, I am also sorry for him. He’s supposed to be a journalist and yet he cannot discuss the issue of Spratlys from an intelligent viewpoint? Spratlys is a legitimate issue. It should be discussed as such. He could have done better if he presented his case by giving proofs that the Spratlys is a Chinese territory, and not by insulting a whole nation and intimidating the Filipino maids.
Lastly, I wonder why such tasteless article got published in a magazine. What were the editors thinking?
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March 31st, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Oh, here’s an update:
March 31st, 2009 at 6:13 pm
What we put to pen requires the utmost responsibility.
March 31st, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Here’s a 21st century version of a wannabe Hitler in Asia. If Mr. Tsao wants to hang Filipinos because of the Spratly Islands for him to assert his uninformed patriotism and allegiance to his “motherland,” then he should also hang the nationals of several other countries also putting claims on that wind-blown but oil rich-group of islands.
But Mr. Tsao is cheap and shallow. He chose to vent his Maoist ideology by belching threatening words to his Filipina maid; a conduct very unbecoming of a so-called Chinese ‘writer.’
What if we also start chasing away all those millions of Chinese nationals who we politely accepted and gave home to despite their “closed culture”?
But that is not an appropriate conduct in this era of globalization; however we should take note if they (the Chinese in the country) were actually faithful when they adapted a Filipino name; is it for becoming a full-fledged Filipino or for facility of doing (illegal) business (for their motherland) and smuggle their Peso profits outside the country?
I wonder if Mr. Tsao is aware how good we treat our Chinese ‘brothers’ living in the Philippines. We let them speak their own language, run businesses, put up their own hospitals, schools, their own place of worship, and with some reservations, marry our women although they never allow their daughters to marry a pure Filipino.
As to the Philippine “Senate-Gunboat” he is referring to, Mr. Tsao needs further reading on the past actions of the Chinese government re: their predating attitude - from the Tibetan borders to hacking company and government computers.
We’ve presented our Spratly case to a world-body and if it is adjudged correct, then it’s just but proper to flex our muscles to preserve our sovereignty, without of course using racist slurs and stereotyping.
On the other hand, I blame too, the Philippine government for looking abroad instead of creating enough local jobs for their citizenry. When will they ever realize that the whole nation is now being taken hostage by this “bagong-bayani” thing; OFWs are getting enslaved and OFW recipients are becoming lazy and over-dependent to their OFW kin that they tend to forget the value of hard work already!
Gising Pinoy, gising!
April 1st, 2009 at 10:47 am
in truth… i don’t like to share my sentiment in this issue because i think this Hong Kong journalist is just want to earn (outrageous) comments for fame & fortune. He’s aware that we gonna defend our nation and our race… voila that’s publicity!
but BT is BT for me so this is it… mabuhay Pilipinas & mabuhay tayong mga PInoy!
1. i feel sorry for his Filipina maid. para nyang sinabi rito, sa mas malalim na aspeto, na HAMPASLUPA ang angkan mo.
2. his old but immature. wala namang pumipigil sa kanya na idepensa ang pagiging makabayan n’ya pero maraming magandang paraan para sabihin ito sa iba… makasarli, palalo at walang paki sa damdaming ng iba… mga indikasyon ng pagiging isip-bata. Kilala n’ya kaya si Yaya & Angelina ng Bubble Gang?
3. he’s a so-so journalist. maganda na sana ang topic nya, simpleng lang ang atake. parang pang-blog lang na not for every one.
4. check ur history please. sino kaya ang sinakop at inalipin ng matagal… na mas masahol sa naranasan ng mga Pinoy… na tinalo pa ng mas maliit na bansa kahit malaki at marami sila… na kailangan maging colony ni ganito at ganyan… maswerte sya nakakain siya ng noodles eh… iba kaya niyang kababayan? magtigil!!!!
April 1st, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Hey Papa! Indeed! Journalist or not…
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I have to say I agree with you, VF!
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I had thought of that, too, Hito. But then, if that was his only agenda, there were the magazine staff who could have not approved it. That’s why I eventually decided to discuss it. Thanks for sharing your views.
Agri din ako sau. 
April 1st, 2009 at 6:39 pm
The issue is not just being labeled a nation of servants which is a logical fallacy in the first place. If it were, I would not have bothered react to it. But the issue is far deeper than that. Other than calling the the Philippines a nation of servants (which is just a secondary issue), there are parts of the essay that I find disturbing, like how he treats and treathens his maid and how he says he and his friend have made their maids shout “China Madam/Sir” when they hear the word Spratly.
For now, I just want to concentrate on the “nation of servants” issue. To analyze it, we have to look at the sociological aspect of communication — the question of who said what to whom, how, when, where, and why. Let’s apply that in this essay.
What was said? That the Philippines is a nation of servants.
At first glance, the statement may not be such a big deal and, to some respect, bears some semblance of truth. Many Filipinos are indeed working overseas as domestic helpers. But then, there is still the logical fallacy: not all Filipinos are domestic helpers; not even if we just look at the OFW statistics.
Who said it? Chip Tsao, a journalist in HK magazine who used to be a reporter for BBC.
If it were just any ordinary guy who made the statement, then perhaps it could just be passed off as an opinion of an uninformed person. But we are talking about someone who is a journalist, and who seems influential; he used to be connected with BBC.
That said, can we just take his statement lightly and say, “Well, it’s just his opinion. Everyone is entitled to his opinion. Besides, it’s true that a high percentage of Filipinos in Hong Kong are maids, so he is simply stating his observation, his perception.”
I don’t think so. Journalists deal with facts, not with perceptions. Because they have a delicate role of forming public opinion, they must, at all cost, make sure that what they print reflect thorough research and/or expertise on the subject matter. Responsible journalists double check their facts, and employ their best judgment in interpreting them. They raise public awareness and appreciation of issues; not muddle the issues.
Chip Tsao’s article shows not only how biased and racist he is; it also shows his ignorance of the Filipinos.
How was it said?
Chip Tsao defenders claim that the article was meant to be a satire and point out that he has been known for his satirical articles.
I have read lots of satirical essays, and Chip Tsao’s “War at Home” doesn’t come close to resembling satire. Writing a satirical essay requires wit and tasteful humor. Chip Tsao’s article reflects neither. The article is simply tasteless and insulting.
Where was it said?
It was said in a magazine published in a country that hosts various nationalities. Considered a cultural melting pot, Hong Kong is one of the last places on earth you’d expect such rubbish to see print.
Why was it said? It was said in his [attempted] discussion of the Philippines’ claim over the Spratly Islands which China and other countries also claim.
For the life of me, I cannot understand why the issue of many Filipino maids in Hong Kong should even be brought out in the discussion of the Philippines’ claim over the Spratly Islands. It just doesn’t make sense.
April 1st, 2009 at 10:03 pm
To VF:
You wrote:
“He chose to vent his Maoist ideology by belching threatening words to his Filipina maid; a conduct very unbecoming of a so-called Chinese ‘writer.’”
The opinion of Chip Tsao doesn’t have anything to do with Maoist ideology. I think even Mao would turn on his grave to haunt him if he knew a fellow Chinese is being downright pompous to others.
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:29 am
People still think this way?
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
How do we work with a nation of people who think this way? I understand the necessity to try, but how do we make a difference?
Only God.
That’s not meant to be a pat answer. I honestly do believe nothing will change until God causes the change. If we believe the scriptures, it will get worse before it gets better. I’m asking for His Kingdom to come and His Will to be done on earth as it is in heaven…
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:33 pm
The guy can’t help being chinese. They need the Philippines ( coded spratleys) for food. they salivte over it. that’s the real score. that explains the millions of Chinese migrants despite china’s wealth? American don’t do that. chip himself im sure came from servant stock, pretending to be brit. o well,enough said, I hope i’m wrong.
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:32 pm
i have to admit - i’m confused here…??
BT - you posted this article on Mar 31??
You have commented on April 1st?
April First is known around much of the English speaking world as April Fools Day - a Day when practical jokes are perpetrated in force!?
Are you seriously reading Chip (who you said was a former BBC journalist and who therefore is well aware of the April 1 date) at his face value in this article??
After the third paragraph i began to suspect Chip is writing this very much ‘tongue-in-cheek’.
i could be wrong but i feel he has sucked you in BIG time
and everyone else so far it seems?
<B
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:52 pm
BB
It still boils down to Maoism, for Mr. Tsao’s piece is that of his peasant origins, far from the great minds of the great Chinese thinkers and philosophers; which of course, was chased by Maoist revolutionaries –the peasants.
Mr. Love: “and everyone else so far it seems?”
It sucks. The ‘satire’ is of bad taste –just like BBC’s “Harry & Paul”! The Hong-Kong mag published the article way before the silly western April Fools Day; and not when we see our compatriots get exploited, raped and humiliated by few arrogant nouveau riche (acquired thru bloody revolutions, poison-laced exports, ill-claimed territories, oil, etcetera, etcetera.) If we don’t react to this, we expect another ‘Flor Contemplation’ in the future.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Why can’t the world understand that the ordinary Filipino is just trying to live a decent life out from what was left to us from centuries of BAD WESTERN EXPLOITATION?
What would the world say if we also start what the rich nations have done to become rich: ethnic cleansing?
Or try to do like the bloody Crusades in Europe, the British against the Irish, the dumping of British convicts to the land of our fellow brown brothers in Australasia, Nazi Germany….?
But no, like Mr. Tsao’s domestic helper Louisa, the general Filipino populace is educated enough to result to imitate the slave traders of America and Europe.
We will have our time. But rest assured, we will not hang the likes of Mr. Tsao.
April 3rd, 2009 at 6:57 am
Hey BB! Thanks for coming over.
————————
Michelle. I have to admit it came as a shock for me as well.
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Omon! Hiya there. Welcome to my page. Me, I’d say he can’t help being HIMSELF. I cant - and won’t generalize about the Chinese.
April 3rd, 2009 at 7:24 am
Hey friendster. I wish it were just an April Fool’s Day prank. But I don’t think so. The article was published March 27th. I just read it five days late.
If it were published April 1, then he could simply claim it was just a prank.
[April Fool's Day is also popular in the country. We were an American colony for more than 30 years.]
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:07 am
According to Tsip Chao, his article was meant to paint an ugly picture of his compatriots for overworking and underpaying their maids; not to offend the Filipinos.
The article still doesn’t sit well with me.
Our maids, many of them degree holders, choose to go abroad to work instead of staying in the country and be unemployed or underemployed and underpaid. They are underpaid abroad, but the money they get is still higher than if they stay in the country. The decision to leave and work as maid alone causes havoc on the psyche. I know, because I have also wrestled with the thought of working overseas just to be financially stable. I’ve experienced being underemployed and underpaid in my own country, and it is depressing. It makes you question your worth. It makes you review all your past decisions, and wonder where you’ve been wrong. It makes you question many things. It gives you a lot of what-ifs.
How about them who are overseas, especially the maids?
Many of them have left behind their very young kids to work abroad and take care of other peoples’ kids. While doing that, at the back of their minds, they wonder whether their own kids are properly cared for, if they have eaten, if they have been bathed, if they are treated well. Add to that the fact that they wonder whether their husbands are being faithful to them, if the money they send is being put to good use and not squandered.
Other than the problems I said I encountered above (re question of self-worth, etc), there are bigger factors they need to fight: homesickness, culture shock, language barrier, and so on.
And, if they encounter problems, help from our government is slow in coming. Sometimes, it does not even come.
How many of our maids have been reported raped? How many have been killed abroad? How many of them work under harsh conditions? How many had to kill their employers to protect themselves from abuse/rape? How many have been executed for committing crimes as self-defense? How many committed suicide because they can no longer stand the abuses they are getting? How many of them cannot come home because their employers have sequestered their passports? We’ve lost count.
And then, those who are braving their harsh conditions abroad, tired and homesick, get to read a “satirical piece” like that?
I have to say the lack of logic in the first three paragraphs could suggest he wasn’t serious. But boy, there are things you cannot make fun of. Satirical or not, the article, at the very least, is insensitive and offensive, especially given the struggles our maids overseas have to confront everyday for a measly fee, and more so if we take into consideration the other ugly things other peoples think of us, especially our women — mail-order-brides and prostitutes.
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:17 am
I’m surprised myself that the article was published in a magazine after going through the editorial process. I’m more surprised with the US$3,580 pay per month that he mentioned! I guess anyone can see that the figure is illogical.
To use the phrase “As a nation of servants,” is an insult to his profession as a journalist of this era. The way he wrote the whole thing is as though that a war is going to happen. The whole article is intimidating.
My country just lost an important rock island to a neighbour through a decision made by ICJ and I’m glad that there wasn’t any such harsh things written by anyone at that time.
April 3rd, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Hi Again Brainy
i Apologise for not being aware of whether or not Filipino’s knew about April Fools Day - i clearly have much to learn about your homeland.
What i do know however, is the English language and human behaviour.
Reading Chip’s ‘tasteless’ column again - i am absolutely convinced you are wrong about his intentions and i must conclude it is because you are so closely and personally concerned about what you see as an intentional slander of your country, your people and potentially, as you have indicated you thought of joining ‘Louisa’ in her role as Domestic Goddess, yourself.
I am sorry you have been so personally insulted by this article. It seems you have a real ‘CHIP’ on your shoulder over this.
As an ‘Aussie’ - who are known throughout the English-speaking world as the most balanced people in the world, because THEY have a chip on BOTH shoulders!
- i can say that from some personal experience.
And no - i have never had to personally endure the kind of bigotry you seem to think Chip is holding personally, in all seriousness, of Filipino’s in general as part of his cultural ‘heritage’, as described in the article he wrote.
Being an English (Migrant) student who attended an Australian school however, i can assure you i have met my fair share of bigots.
i have no doubt that the humour (what’s wrong with Harry and Paul?? i love that show! :-D) has certainly missed it’s mark in the Philippines, but i truly do not imagine a Hong Kong Journalist would believe the majority of his readers would take this article as being a serious reporting - even if it seems he and his editors sadly misjudged the response it has obviously aroused in you and some of your countrymen.
i do think though that it might have achieved the Author’s intentions to raise the plight of your countrywomen’s treatment for broader discussion and consideration.
And truthfully - i do not feel Mr Tsao’s journalist wages (even in Hong Kong) would extend to him having an apartment big enough for him to keep a filipino maid busy for 16 hours a day washing his many many ( like 2) windows and toilets. Louisa most likely does not exist - and that is not because he killed her and dumped her body in Hong Kong harbour to ensure he was not arrested as a traitor to ‘Most Glorious Revolutionary Leadership’ when her many thousands of tax dollars were paid to the Filipino government to build more gunships to defeat the Chinese navy in the ensuing imminent war.
it may well be in dubious taste - but this was a joke i’m afraid.
Trust me on this one.
Did NO-ONE feel in the least bit sorry for the 7 Chinese sailors killed by the Russians??? (First para of article? Has anyone bothered to check out if that was factual?)
The standard of international journalism has dropped markedly under the billionaire Media Magnates who demand fast turn over and controversy to grab an increasingly uninformed but media drowned populace into buying their ‘product’ all in the name of bigger profits (which are rarely passed on to the hack journalists).
I applaud your attempts to retain some journalistic integrity and standards - but please, never lose your sense of humour in the process.
<B
April 4th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Hey friendster! This is now a great example of perspective at work. When you are too close to an issue (you are part of it) it would be very hard for you to see other perspectives. We have lots of issues as a nation and we are, at the moment, very sensitive about the battle of our OFWs, that’s why it would be difficult for us to see the matter from another viewpoint. That’s also why I appreciate your sharing your neutral understanding of the issue (even at the risk of getting lambasted, given that most of us here are in ‘combat’ mode
).
I have two readings of the article, the first of which elicited my comments (in italics) on my post. My second reading is that ‘Louisa’ may just be a symbol and that the ‘harsh lecture’ with her did not actually happen. This second reading elicited comment 14 in the comment section.
It’s still hard for me to read the article as a satire, although I have to say that I am open to the possibility that it was meant to be a satire.
I like to believe what you said that the article has raised our plights to a broader discussion (and I actually hope it is so). But I am also afraid that it has damaged the morale of the Filipinos as a whole. Most of us here were angered by the article, and thus far, I’ve read only two Filipinos who actually think that the article is indeed a satire. A good number were not angered at all not because they are reading the article as a satire, but because they think that we are, indeed a nation of servants. They accept Tsao’s commentary as true. And that is what saddens me. Many of my people have lost their pride in being a Filipino, that when we are told we are this and that, they easily bow their heads thinking and actually believing it’s true. (That’s what 300+ years of Spanish rule and another 30+ years of American rule did to us.)
That is why I said in comment 14 that the article does not sit well with me — I am seeing it from its effects on some of my countrymen. And again, from the horrific experiences of my compatriots abroad. [My sister-in-law who works as a maid (in Singapore, also a Chinese country) actually works approx. 16 hours a day, eats her lunch at 3pm and dinner at 10:30 pm.]
In writing a column piece, especially one that involves other cultures, one needs to be culturally sensitive. That’s where Chip Tsao and his editors failed.
As to humor… I think I still have it. It just malfunctioned.
——————
Indeed, I also considered going abroad, but no, not as a domestic helper. I hate household chores, besides cleaning and taking care of children. My employer won’t be pleased with me. I am not lazy, but there are things I’d rather not do, like cook, wash clothes, and so on. I was thinking of other jobs — office jobs. But then, I also saw the brain drain in my country, so I chose to stay. I really think jobs should be created here, so that our government would stop peddling us as cheap labor.
April 4th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Hey Zunnur! How are you?
My hope with the Spratlys case — whether we get it or not — is that war won’t break out because of it.
We’re not prepared for war. And war makes me sick.
April 4th, 2009 at 11:16 am
I found this link last night. Louisa’s Side A fiction-type editorial by Manila Times.
Any reactions, friends?
April 6th, 2009 at 11:18 am
ay
i have my own take on this
you should read it
sira ulo talaga yan
dapat di na patulan
panira ng araw
April 6th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
BT - Thank you for your understanding and ability to express so clearly your own feelings on this matter while being able to consider mine justly.
I have always considered you as having remarkable intelligence and quality of spirit and i have to say it quite surprised me to see the reaction Chip’s article aroused in you initially. i really was hoping you were ‘fooling’ your readers.
Your stance on doing what you believe to be best for your country and countrymen concerning your type of employment is very honourable and is more like the Brainy One i have come to know these few months.
I’d agree that those who write and edit columns for magazines need to be more culturally sensitive than ever in the days of the Internet and corporate global media enterprises. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the concept though that a relatively small and i imagine, non-front-page article in a magazine from Hong Kong can cause such a furore and response, even in an editorial of a Newspaper, in a far-off country (albeit one who’s inhabitants have been denigrated (which i still believe was not intended to be a ’serious’ one) in the article).
I suspect that the editors did not realise how rapidly or how far this article would reach, beyond their intended readership of Hong Kong residents.
Not that that is any excuse of course
i just see this as yet another way the need to make a fast profit destroys the credibility and standards in the world’s media.
i feel a greater issue than cultural sensitivity in media though is the responsibility it has to report without excess dramatisation and to only report the FACTS (which Chip also seems to fall down a little in - as with the salary he ’satirically’(?)
claimed for DH’s in HK.) 
Here i am thinking specifically of my own country’s media. One example i have just from Saturday is where my main newspaper published a front page picture with a headline that made reference to a court case and the ‘anger’ the victim was reported as feeling over the ‘light’ sentencing of the criminal ( A very popular theme in media here for months now - all being ‘pushed’ HARD by TV and news services like the Paper).
The paper had to publish an apology to the victim as she was NOT angry with the sentence at all - that was purely the reporter and editor conspiring to ‘beat up’ a court case so it ‘Fit’ with th Media’s ideas of what the public should be feeling concerning some ‘notable’ cases from our court and justice system.
The Media has the GREAT responsibility of keeping the public WELL informed and to maintain a balanced sense of community involvement - when it tries to outrage people falsely for profit and raising community anger that is truly ‘Disgusting’.
I’m glad to see your humour is getting back to ‘normal’
<B
April 6th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
‘Louisa’s’ response is a finely balanced editorial
Now - do you think someone in the Philippines may write a satirical article that picks on it’s own resident’s prejudices regarding the Chinese or some other race/country, as Chip did, but perhaps with more sensitivity’?
How does one write satire with sensitivity, exactly?? Surely the whole point is in tearing down stereotypes through ridiculing the beliefs of the people who think that way ‘without thinking’??
You can’t ridicule a belief without expressing and magnifying it? true?
<B
April 6th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
I’d still like to kick (back) Mr. Tsao’s “six” and say sorry afterwards, -nothing brainy, just plain reflex, out from bitter lessons of pretence.
(Let me see how the cool-asses say about that; not because I did not understand his article or anybody’s piece but it’s because it pains me every time I write a plea of bargain not to handcuff a Filipina deportee every time his master gets tired of her.)
You need to see yourself the fear in the eyes of an imprisoned OFW to understand the implications of Mr. Tsao’s ‘funny’ article.
And who will stand by the side of a lowly domestic servant anyway while you can afford a “margarita”?
Nada!
April 8th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Hey Friendster! Thanks for the kind words.
In any discussion, a different perspective is always welcome, and should be seriously considered, especially if it comes from a neutral person. That we see things differently does not warrant that I should tell you outright that you are wrong. Or that my perspective is better, especially because we are talking about something that relies on interpretation.
I don’t always see things from vantage point — a typical human weakness. Knowing that, I have to listen to what others say if I want to see other aspects of the issue. And so I try to, as much as I can.
What I can do, and I believe what I’m trying to do now, is to shed light on why the article got the reaction it got from us Filipinos and why it’s hard for us to read it the way Chip might have intended it to be read. The ‘exaggerations’ that might have been done to show that the article was written tongue-in-cheek actually were the article’s loopholes — simply because for our OFWs, they weren’t exaggerations at all; they form part of their realities. It’s typical for our OFWs, especially the maids, to work 16 hours (although of course not just doing simple chores like cleaning windows and toilets). We have OFWs that had been taken hostage in their host countries and Filipinas being ordered to do their bosses’ bid, no matter how irrational (like Tsip’s order on Louisa to tell her compatriots that the Spratlys were owned by the Chinese). Even the salary seemed just a typo error (at least, that’s how it appeared to me) — if he had put HK dollars and not US dollars, then the figure would have been correct). If he had exaggerated things much more, then perhaps, it would have been easier to see his piece being a satire. Maybe.
I do agree that this is an example of cheap media. Excess dramatization has become a seemingly integral part of media reporting, I’m afraid. And that is the reason why I stopped watching TV. It’s my personal protest to the kind of media reporting that we have. Indeed,
Sadly, profit has become the name of the game.
As to your question about someone in the Philippines writing a satirical article that picks on its own residents’ prejudices regarding the Chinese or some other race/country, I think that although there are some prejudices that exist here, they are generally more against my own people than other race. The Chinese are well-respective here. They have their own businesses, and the Filipino-Chinese community has a big say in government and business. The Filipinos are foreign-loving people. Even our concept of beauty is patterned on the foreign face, specifically Caucasian! You aren’t beautiful if you look Filipina — you have to have a foreign blood in you to be considered beautiful. Ordinary people gush over anything foreign!
Indeed, our prejudices are against our cultural minorities. Against the poor. The uneducated.
April 8th, 2009 at 11:20 am
VF!
I know you have seen a lot about our OFWs suffering abroad, Buddy. And I will always be proud of you for what you do — for making yourself available for OFWs needing help, for being their voice when they can’t speak, for championing their cause.
I think I understand, although in a limited way, how all the things you’ve seen make you feel. They must have flashed in your head when you read the article. But please let us try not to let our emotions take the better of us.
After all, this is just a discussion.
Do remember I wholly support you in your lofty endeavors. Focus on them, Buddyko. And let’s try to focus on how we can uplift the conditions of our OFWs from our end. Any ideas?
April 8th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Oh, I think I found the right way to explain the why of this fiasco:
Let’s say, for the sake of discussion, that the article was indeed a joke. [Calm down, guys!]
Reading the article is just like being joked that your loved one — who was suffering from a terminal disease — has died.
After the initial jolt and emotional anguish, the joker launghingly says it was a joke. Even if relief starts pouring into you, you will still be angry at that person for putting you though that emotional pain, albeit momentarily.
In a way, the Chip article is like an ill-timed (bad) joke… and perhaps even worse because at the end of it, there is no apparent relief for the joke’s recipients, more so because that it is just a joke is questionable.
What do you think?
April 9th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
The point behind a large amout of Humour is to relieve us of Tension (In some cases the tension was a result of the start of the joke/sketch, with the punchline being the ‘release’ - but some humour takes a serious issue (ie the treatment of Foreign workers) and treats it in a more light-hearted fashion to free up the conversations concerning the situation being satirised, and the ensuing release of tension allows some serious thinking and solution ideas come to the fore where none was coming before.
This is the point of satire - to make us think MORE about something we find too upsetting to face normally.
It is not the ONLY way to a solution, it is A way.
I hope we are able to see this?
I think you might have misunderstood what i saw were the ‘exaggerations’ in Chip’s piece… i did not doubt the conditions (except for the US? 900 dollars a week - where do i sign up??
The most i have ever earned is about US $300/wk)
But the exaggeration were in things like the feelings most ‘typical’ Chinese might have had for things like some small lumps of rock, The ‘Grimness’ as he lectured his Filipina maid, the easy acceptance of Russia killing seven of their number and at Japan - China’s Arch-enemy - claiming another lump of rock as their own because the Chinese readers of the article so love Hello Kitty!
I can understand the emotion this article could have ( has!) aroused in the Philippines and it’s inhabitants I don’t agree that we should shoot the messenger though - i truly believe Chip is actually on YOUR ’side’ and did not deserve the initial comments in the post.
I am happy to accept you are able to see now there may be another perspective to the original article that has some validity.
The purpose of this article as i see it was not to bring relief to the OFW’s in Hong Kong, not to offend the Filipinos, but to make the residents of Hong Kong consider with a greater compassion how they may be treating their ’slaves’ so that change for the better may be brought about in His country in this regard.
But that’s just how i see it.
Chip may have his own theory?
<B
April 10th, 2009 at 3:03 am
Disgusting indeed. Have a look on this:
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/151704/HK-report-of-Pinoys-as-Superbug-carriers-hit
Sooner or later, the Pinoys will get their serial numbers tattooed on their foreheads!
like the Jews in Nazi Germany eh?
…then it will all be, but a joke! [ ? ]
Alarmist my six. They are xenophobes.
May 5th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Hi VF, Hi Friendster. Sorry, was away. And even when I still didn’t get on my most recent trip, I couldn’t post a comment on this particular post because, well… my mind was so blank! Hehe…
Friendster, honestly, I can see (now) the exaggerations you have seen which I initially thought were simply a flaw in reasoning (although I have to admit he could not have had that kind of reasoning because of who he is… I am sure he did not become a BBC correspondent for nothing).
And, I also need to add, that I can now see other indications of a “joke,” that is, at the last part of the article where he talked about the stern lecture and how he was mistreating his maid. If he actually did it or he was actually into it then he would not have written about it; he would have kept it a secret (because people in this age would definitely lambast him).
That’s why I shifted the focus of my comments on why it was not taken well… (no longer on whether it was really satire or not). And, I was saying, our harsh realities plus the fact that other nationals actually say those things about us not as a joke make it hard for us to read that article as a satire.
I hope you’re right that the article would open up the minds of his countrymen. Sana (hopefully)… Although I have to admit that I still think it had caused more damage in the Filipino psyche. As it is, many of our citizenry actually believe that he was just stating the truth (that we are a nation of servants, etc) and so there is no reason why we should not like that statement, when that is what we are. Sad…
—————–
Hey VF! How are you? That’s sad news. Tsk Tsk. But then, isn’t it always said that there are countries where carrying a Filipino passport automatically puts you on the watchlist?
May 6th, 2009 at 5:14 am
….And I’m not going to let the likes of Mr. Tsao feed me to the dogs Buddy.
“He”, who thinks Mr. Tsao is right IN ANY SENSE is making a mockery of the Filipino nation.
Basta! (and that is in Italian)
September 25th, 2009 at 12:12 am
I’d heard horror stories every now and then from some of our church members who had experienced living in Hong Kong and other parts of the world (like the Middle East, Singapore and elsewhere) as maids, nannies, caregivers, domestic helpers, cleaners or foreign overseas workers. Most had worked between 16 to 18 hours daily, six days a week. While others did 7 days without a break; some had been molested. I called them “Slaves”. Somehow, their stories had to be revealed. But how? It could sound like a deplorably pitiful tale of deep distress, grief and misfortune. But somehow, someone did (albeit an affront to most Filipinos worldwide) — in Hong Kong. An HK columnist wrote an article in one HK magazine and referred to the Philippines as a “Nation of Servants”. Enough was enough.
I did some research on their pitiful circumstances and then I wrote a 616-page novel entitled “Slaves, Spooks & The Praying Mantis”.
To gain a proper perspective on each of their agonizing accounts, I sought the help of our church members for their painful narratives. However, some were quite reluctant to talk and some would rather let ‘sleeping dogs lie’. But after several discussions, they’d agreed to share their stories, provided (and I promised) that only first names would appear under ‘Acknowledgements’. I had interviewed 12 ex-slaves and their poignantly courageous tales were interspersed within the plot. It’s a story within a story. I had taken the common denominators of their sad recitals and put them in a narrative way into a novel.
The book is available from reputable online stores and retailers worldwide. Please check the listings at http://www.abrill.com/