[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]

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:

[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.

[actor21]

what an a$$hole kung ako maid nya nilason ko na sya..

[chua_riwap]

May nag-react na.........



http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20090329hed4.html
29 Mar 2009

HK shock jockey calls RP ‘nation of servants’

A prominent Hong Kong columnist and broadcaster noted for his writing style using pointed humor and sarcasm called the Philippines a “nation of servants” in his March 27 piece “The war at home” in HK Magazine that sent local women’s groups up in arms anew.

Women’s party-list Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros said she is condemning the article.

“This disgusting, derogatory, and vile remark can only come from dim-witted and mediocre writing,” Hontiveros said. “His article should not have been published in a lifestyle magazine, it should have been thrown immediately into a trash bin,” she added.

This was not the first time that the country or its citizens were referred to as a nation of servants as a result of the Arroyo administration’s policy of promoting the export of labor to keep the economy afloat.

A few years back, the Oxford English Dictionary listed “nanny or maid” among the definitions of the word “Filipina.”

The government also recently protested a popular BBC comedy sketch in which a Filipino maid was ordered to have *** with a neighbor.

Hontiveros’ group also demanded an apology from the broadcaster.

Tsao’s article, published in HK Magazine of the Asia City Publishing Group, ridiculed the country’s claim over the Spratlys Islands.

Tsao said in the column that the country’s claim on Spratlys was reproachable because “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 added he would terminate the employment of his Filipina domestic helper named Louisa to avoid committing an act of treason “by sponsoring an enemy of the State by paying her to wash my toilet and clean my windows”.

Hontiveros demanded that the magazine apologize straight-away.

“The article reflects the kind of attitude that promotes abuses against Filipina domestic workers,” Hontiveros said.

“When you make fun of a particular group, you expose them to abuses. Wittingly or unwittingly, you end up supporting acts of intolerance and abuses,” she said.

“As for Chip Tsao, he should find another profession. He should leave the Spratlys issue to the diplomats and writing to real writers because clearly he has neither competence nor talent in foreign affairs and in writing,” Hontiveros said.

“Filipina domestic workers should hold a one-day strike to tell the likes of Chip Tsao who’s the real master of the HK economy. If all Filipino workers in HK would strike, the HK economy would grind to a halt without us having to invade the territory,” she pointed out.

She said that Filipinos are not asking for political-correctedness, just professional treatment.

“Domestic work is a decent job. It’s not just done by hired Filipina domestic workers, it has also been the function of mothers of all nationality, in HK and China and elsewhere. It should be treated with respect,” she said, adding that by insulting Filipina domestic workers Chip Tsao also insulted his own mother.

It was not the first time, however, that Tsao, which is a pen name of To Kit, invited controversy through his column.

In 2005, Tsao generated outrage from Western expatriates in Hong Kong as a result of his column “Have Hong Kong girls stopped looking for Mr White?” that described western men who stayed in Hong Kong after the 1997 handover from the United Kingdom to China lived in dorms on Lamma Island or stone houses in Sai Kung that people used to “keep pigs in.”

[moejun2]

hmmm, wonder how far these groups are going to go...