[Merged]HK columnists calls RP "nation of servants"

[moejun2]

this looks interesting, hope it hasn't been posted already...

http://hk-magazine.com/feature/war-home

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.

Chip Tsao is a best-selling author and columnist. A former reporter for the BBC, his columns have also appeared in Apple Daily, Next Magazine and CUP Magazine, among others.

[Jun aka Pekto]

At least he didn't mention if war broke out between the US and China (assuming the US comes to the aid of the Philippines), the massive debt the US owed China would be gone in a flash.

It sucks for the Filipina maids. But, that's what happens when you take a job of servitude at other countries.

This also shows how **** flows downhill. Asian countries love to rag on other Asian countries who's stature is below them. Unfortunately, the Philippines sits pretty far down the totem pole.

[moejun2]

he sure is insecure and insensitive. of all the topics he could write about, he had to choose this one hehe. he has yet to master the art of satirical prose.

[Negus]

he sure is insecure and insensitive. of all the topics he could write about, he had to choose this one hehe. he has yet to master the art of satirical prose.

yeah, It is supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek article but it was a very sensitive topic among Filipinos. I think he's laughing his ass off right now and certainly gaining publicity in getting his name out there.......

[s_quilicot]

kung super power lang sana ang pinas.

[Camgen6]

kung super power lang sana ang pinas.

Send in the Destroyers.

[Negus]

Asian countries love to rag on other Asian countries who's stature is below them. Unfortunately, the Philippines sits pretty far down the totem pole.

+1 there Jun. Living here in Japan taught me that. The hard way....
I've been defending and clearing their misconceptions about the Philippines since day one.
Sadly, The Pinoy population here is composed mostly of entertainers and unskilled factory workers.

Of course not everyone has this "air of superiority" but I've been careful since when meeting japanese and korean folks. but from my experience, I've never felt looked down on when working with the chinese.

Chinese claim:

[tidus1203]

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang decried as “reprehensible” an article by a Hong Kong columnist who described the Philippines as a “nation of servants” that has no right to assert its claim over the Spratly Islands.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, however, could not immediately say if the government would take action against the Chip Tsao, saying, “We will look into that because we should not be provoked by one columnist.”
“Reprehensible iyang ginawa ng mamamahayag na iyan. Tingnan natin kung ano ang dapat nating gawin diyan [What that writer did was reprehensible. Let’s see what needs to be done],” Remonde told radio station dwIZ.
In his column published on HK Magazine Online last March 27, Tsao protested the Philippines’ assertion of sovereignty on the Spratly Islands, which he said, “belonged to China.”
“As a nation of servants, you don’t flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter,” Tsao said, as he pointed out that 130,000 Filipinas were working on “cheap” wages in Hong Kong as domestic workers.
Tsao said he “summoned” his Filipina maid, Louisa, whom he said has a degree in international politics from the “University of Manila,” and told her that if she wanted a salary adjustment, she should tell her fellow maids that the Spratlys belonged to China.
In October last year, producers of the US television show “Desperate Housewives” and television network ABC apologized for a racial slur against Filipino medical workers in one of its episodes.
Meanwhile, Cebu Representative Antonio Cuenco, chairman of the committee on foreign affairs at the House of Representatives, said on Monday that the Philippines should send a note verbale to Hong Kong to convey its displeasure with the article, notwithstanding its attempt to be satirical.
“We should not let it pass. I will ask Secretary [Alberto] Romulo to send a protest, a note verbale,” Cuenco said in a phone interview.
He added that even if Tsao meant to be satirical, the lawmaker said “it should not be at our expense.”
He also said there was also much about Hong Kong that should be criticized.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/new...servant-remark


At the same time, to be fair, think about it? Ganun na ba kababa tingin ng mga taga Hong Kong sa Pilipinas?

[DonT]

Maybe we can't blame them. Yan ang point of view nila.

Tayo nga di ba..pag nakakita tayo ng Indian National sa Pinas..Bombay or '5-6' comes to mind immediately..but for all we know... Mas progressive na Bansa pa ang India.

[boybi]

Ang mga Pinoy nga naman, sobrang balat sibuyas. Ilang generations na bang kung anu-ano ang tawag ng mga Pinoy sa tao ng ibang bansa? Intsik/tsekwa/intsik-beho, bumbay/5-6, etc.

[A121]

Balat sibuyas nga.

Pinoy rin naman may kasalanan kung bakit sya natatawag ng ganun eh.

[tidus1203]

And a protest for a journalists' comments?? Di naman government official yan eh...

[uls]

di lang naman tayo nation of servants

nation of seamen

nation of nurses

nation of caregivers

nation of unskilled workers

we are known by our exports

[Steve21]

Chip Tsao recently wrote a SATIRICAL article on territorial claims over the Spratly islands. The article can be found here: http://hk-magazine.com/feature/war-home

Here's the excerpt:
"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."

Predictably, there's a LOT of Pinoy blogger and forum outrage over this. But is it misdirected rage?

If Pinoys are outraged over Tsao's satirical article (satire, people, satire!) then they should also be OUTRAGED over a Saudi newspaper article that praised Pinoy saudi OFWs or that San Francisco newspaper article praising Fil-Ams for not being independent and not welfare-dependent. All these pieces base their opinions on GENERALIZATIONS based on SOME empirical data. Isn't it TRUE that the disproportionate mass of Filipinos in HK are "servants" (domestic helpers)? Isn't it TRUE that the Philippine government's budget is spread so thin that it can barely fund it's national defenses? Chip Tsao's impressions are based on fact. Facts and fairness are two different things. Generalizations can be unfair but they are based on GENERALIZED facts. If they weren't they wouldn't be used. Their potency lies in their ability to draw from facts that the audience can agree with.

But why do only "bad" generalizations get condemned? If there is outrage, it should be outrage against ALL generalizations, positive and negative.

Much of the outrage over this article is misplaced. Instead of being angry that a journalist based his satirical observation on the fact that there are over 130,000 filipino domestic helpers in HK, maybe the outrage should focus on WHY there's 130,000 filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong to begin with?

We, Pinoys, can keep playing the VICTIM and "I'm Offended" card all we want but the reality remains--a large portion of our population wants to leave the Philippines because of the sad economy. Why not focus the RAGE on the economic arrangement that keeps us a "nation of servants." It is true, a large portion of the Philippines is composed of maids, drivers, tricycle drivers, bus drivers, and guards. Why is this case? It's all about the ECONOMIC PATH we chose. There's many articles written on this, here's one that ENCAPSULATES it:

Why is the Philippines POOR? http://www.forumcash.com/wordpress/w...lippines-poor/

Bottomline, before you become outraged--THINK FIRST and focus your rage on the REAL tragedy of the Philippines. Assailing some Hong Kong journalist online is worthless. The problem is deeper than that and its easier to fix than you think.

[ab_initio]

^^ his article should have found its way not to the circulation but to the trash bin. calling us a nation of servants is a bit misplaced. the statement has never been supportive of its premise, on the cold war over spratlys. what's the connection? he must not have done his homework. as a writer he should have known the proper writing decorum and some basics in international relations. naming the Philippines as a nation of servants in effect attacks our sovereignty. and that to me is simply outrageous. i should be, to empathize those whose dignity is under attack. and, oh, well...i love the Philippines kahit mahirap siyang mahalin.

if we just keep mum on the issue, we are giving up to them our national pride. sa anumang mabuting paraan kumita tayo, wala siyang pakialam dun.what's wrong with being a household help? bakit di ba niya alam kung bakit sakop sila ng Brit for 100 years? ano ba pinaggagawa ng ninuno niya? kapal ng mukha niya. may opium pa yata ang utak niya.

[kenzie]

"Suntukan na lang" - Rep. Roilo Golez

[chua_riwap]

Cheap Chow.......

[Lucius]

Gusto atang makatikim ng upper cut netong chekwa na to kay Hatton

Si Roilo Golez... WTF? Hahahaha kita ko sa Promenade yan super tanda na, baka mahulog pustiso mo 'tay. Pero thumbs up to the guy for going that far (even if it's just a joke)

[scharnhorst]

Bottomline, before you become outraged--THINK FIRST and focus your rage on the REAL tragedy of the Philippines. Assailing some Hong Kong journalist online is worthless. The problem is deeper than that and its easier to fix than you think.

Bravo. Well said.

natatawa ako sa clamoring pag may nang insulto sa pilipinas/pilipino.

E araw araw e inaapakan tayo at inuulol ng KAPWA PINOY.

WOW philippines talaga

[oliver1013]

OO nga^^ I agree...Kung inaayos ba natin ang sarili natin at pinalalakas ang bansa walang mang aapi...