I was looking for the inauguration video in YouTube when I stumble upon this cartoon of fake Sarah Palin. The people in the thread are under heated arguments. I decided to pause for a while and recall.
A former professor in Political Dynamics once discussed these issues, and sorry to say, Pinoys who voted for Noynoy should revisit history pages. I will never say anything but I’m begging, please read.
It is painful, but again, this commentary deserves a recall. However, I am saddened because a part of me says; a Pinoy made it. I believe in numbers of his points, but I am saddened that we cannot resolve this alone that we need to have the world as our audience.
At first I want to shout and say, “why didn’t he use our native language so that the risk of putting ourselves in shame is lesser,” but then again, which medium have I used?
Like most of us, I am still in the process of loving my country. I am sorry. I should have been more sensitive. Perhaps, after years of writing here, I will use our native language and taste the sweetness of every words, but for now, forgive me.
Recent Posts
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Spratly Islands: Not just an Ownership Issue
Our college professors told us, “we have the right to Spratly Islands.” Perhaps, Chinese professors are telling the same thing to their students.
I wish I could tell more about this, but we rather put that on the next page. There are facts proving that the island is ours, the history can prove that. Sadly, a talk of territory is way deeper than folklore (as other country’s citizens would put it).
I am here to share to you a post I got from my former professor.
The first time I read it, I was silent. I felt nothing, and from then I learned; there is something wrong with me. I need to care more about my country.
Here is the copy of the post.
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.
I wish I could tell more about this, but we rather put that on the next page. There are facts proving that the island is ours, the history can prove that. Sadly, a talk of territory is way deeper than folklore (as other country’s citizens would put it).
I am here to share to you a post I got from my former professor.
The first time I read it, I was silent. I felt nothing, and from then I learned; there is something wrong with me. I need to care more about my country.
Here is the copy of the post.
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.
Pinoy Indignation: A Birth of Page Against the Self
It is a sudden decision to create a blog dedicated for hate words against Filipinos. I know I am to receive several criticisms but this attempt is to give us a clear preview of how other people look at Pinoys.
Wherever we go, we will encounter fellow Pinoy. We are all over the world and I am afraid, it is not something we should be proud of. It is admirable that, as many Pinoys would pride it, “kahit saan mo ilagay ang Pinoy mabubuhay.” However, a part of me wants to cry. We used to be among the prosperous countries. What happened?
I hope with this blog, we could at least see ourselves and somehow, change our hearts toward going abroad to sweep the floors despite college degree.
We could be angry, we could talk trash against those who are darting us, but, we could also reconsider what we are becoming.
A job overseas is not hope. It is absence of option.
I am Pinoy, and I will always be proud. I will always hope that that day will come that we will regain our dignity.
Wherever we go, we will encounter fellow Pinoy. We are all over the world and I am afraid, it is not something we should be proud of. It is admirable that, as many Pinoys would pride it, “kahit saan mo ilagay ang Pinoy mabubuhay.” However, a part of me wants to cry. We used to be among the prosperous countries. What happened?
I hope with this blog, we could at least see ourselves and somehow, change our hearts toward going abroad to sweep the floors despite college degree.
We could be angry, we could talk trash against those who are darting us, but, we could also reconsider what we are becoming.
A job overseas is not hope. It is absence of option.
I am Pinoy, and I will always be proud. I will always hope that that day will come that we will regain our dignity.