Philippines: The Nation of Servants


I'm sure you've heard about this news and here is my take on it. A Chinese journalist, Chip Tsao (Hmm I like saying this name..maybe its just my chinese descent blood bugging me), is being criticized from Filipinos in the blogosphere and perhaps across the world. For making a racial slur/article against Filipinos in relation to the dispute over the Spratly islands and of our current situation of overseas workers.

Here’s the article "The War At Home":
“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.”


Do you remember the article “Imagine A World Without A Filipino” by Abdullah Al-Maghlooth (www.arabnews.com)

“So if Filipinos decided one day to stop working or go on strike for any reason, who would transport oil, food and heavy equipment across the world? We can only imagine the disaster that would happen.

When speaking about the Philippines, we should not forget Filipino nurses. They are some 23 percent of the world’s total number of nurses. The Philippines is home to over 190 accredited nursing colleges and institutes, from which some 9,000 nurses graduate each year. Many of them work abroad in countries such as the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore.

The Philippines, which you can barely see on the map, is a very effective country thanks to its people. It has the ability to influence the entire world economy.

We should pay respect to Filipino workers, not only by employing them but also by learning from their valuable experiences.
We have to remember that we are very much dependent on the Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if they chose to leave us.”


Filipino Politicians/figures/bloggers have called for a public apology to the author and its editor/publisher. The way I see it, there is some little truth to what the chinese man is saying, but of course he just said it in a very racist manner.

Has the damage been done or did we just realize now that we were "On Denial" for quite a long time? The best way to change the way the world perceives us is to act on it for ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS. This applies to the government as well, if they are not just to busy politiking here and there rather than doing there jobs EXCELLENTLY; or finding/doing innovative action with regards to acquiring sustainable energy, food, water and the like; Instead of making jobs here, they would rather endorse us to go out and let the brain drain continue...how can we progress into a better and brighter tomorrow?

Until we are able to dream correctly, dream selflessly, and train utterly, we will forever remain a funny mystery to the world as a barren land of gold and supreme, silly natural and intellectual resources, which would make us really “A nation of servants”

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What is Filipino Pride?
Mga Kababayan Ko

Philippines: The Nation of Servants Philippines: The Nation of Servants Reviewed by Vernon Joseph Go on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 Rating: 5

10 comments

  1. Sad but true!!!We are nations of servants and a nation of followers..nice 1 IE-student!

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  2. Sad but true!!!We are a nation of SERVANTS and a nation of FOLLOWERS...act before yourself and change that Painful perception..nice 1 IE-student!

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  3. i will repeat what itian said, sad but true, i think the government just rely on the money of our OFWs to pay back our country's debt? just my thought...

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  4. ...those were words of a racist. He is irrelevant and a nonsense for me. But, that's a challenge to us Filipinos especially us, "youngs".

    Would we live up to his idea in our generation?

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  5. "servants" said in a negative way is really annoying. grrr.

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  6. although it hurts a lot when we hear all those comments but we can still look at the good side of it..it was just an awakening message to us because i think and I'm pretty much sure that we are really in a deep sleep..instead of fighting or asking for any public apology...why not show to those people that they are wrong and that we can still stand out on our own..always look at the bigger picture and think that whatever you do is for the good of our country..
    And as an addition that chinese writer was not really thinking that a lot of chinese also are here....so he should not have supposed to boast that they have the hostage because we have ours also..hehehe

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  7. they should also know that they used to be the servants..they were the one who went here to serve..they were the ones who built the roads from Manila to Baguio..they would even marry the Aetas just to be able to stay here..yeah, we have many OFW's but we're not ashamed to admit that..but before they try to insult the Filipinos, they should look back to where they have been before..

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  8. Wonderful post. Never give up on learning!

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  9. Wonderful post. Never give up on learning!

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