Honestly, i really don't.
I have actually wanted to keep myself away from the Malu Fernandez issue since my last post on her noted that she had now resigned from the two publications (Manila Standard Today and People Asia Magazine)
I was actually chatting with Noemi Wednesday afternoon and we agreed that much of the remaining hoopla is a move to help prevent similar instances in the future. Something which i think is a long shot because these are things which will surely happen again. Like I told Noemi, these are the realities of things.
An ABS-CBN Show called Media in Focus will actually have some bloggers on this week and discuss the issue. I heard that Sassy Lawyer will be around in the panel along with some other bloggers.
Apparently, according to a statement issued by People Asia Magazine Publisher Babe Romualdez , as soon as they felt the initial pangs of anger created by Fernandez's article, they had already discussed the possibility of axing her. The big diva , however jumped them to the gun and resigned.
Romuladez statement reads as;
"As publisher of People Asia magazine, I had hoped I would not need to make any further comment about our former contributing columnist Malu Fernandez. Because of the “violent” reactions from people concerning the issue – perhaps it is better for me to put the entire issue into the right context. The column which came out in the June issue of the magazine talked about her experience in Boracay and her trip to Greece in a sardonic manner characteristic of Malu Fernandez.
Reactions (via text and email) were sent in by readers, two of which were selected and consequently printed in the August issue of the magazine, along with a note from the editors saying that while they may not agree with what Malu Fernandez had written, they recognize her right to say it. There is a fine print in the magazine’s staff box stating that the opinions and views expressed by writers are their own and not necessarily endorsed by the editors and the management.
The matter would have been settled with the magazine’s publication of those reactions. But unfortunately, Ms. Fernandez wrote a follow-up regarding the issue as well as her response to those who expressed disagreement with the said column in another publication – making it worse since it was written in an arrogant and condescending manner. Even I, together with some readers, felt that she made a mockery of those who did not share or understand her “acerbic” wit and humor.
Right there and then, it was collectively decided by Stargate president Kevin Belmonte, editor-in-chief Joanne Rae Ramirez and myself that it was time to give Malu Fernandez the axe. But perhaps Ms. Fernandez knew what was coming because she submitted her voluntary resignation and beat us to the punch, so to speak. It was that follow up in another publication which started the conflagration, followed up with a lot of reactions especially when TV Patrol came up with a report on the issue last week.
Ms. Fernandez had expressed contrition and humility, and that it was not her intention to hurt, malign or express prejudice against OFWs all over the world – but it was too late.
One thing we want to make perfectly clear is that the magazine should not be defined by who Malu Fernandez is, or be judged according to what she wrote in that controversial column, because we and the staff of People Asia recognize and hail the contributions and sacrifices that overseas Filipino workers have made – and continue to make – for their families, for their loved ones, for this country. As a matter of fact, the OFWs were the first to become “People of the Year” awardees when the magazine first launched the award in 2004, precisely because we admire and recognize the tenacity, the industry, the talent, the skill and most of all – the contribution of OFWs to the economy.
Not that we are trying to build ourselves up, but we have been one of those who, since day one, have consistently expressed support and recognition for Filipinos working abroad – from the time the late Labor Secretary Blas Ople launched the overseas workers employment program in the late ’70s to help the economy which was then reeling because of the oil crisis.
There are close to 10 million OFWs deployed all over the world – and whether they work as domestic helpers, nurses , engineers, caregivers, doctors or teachers – there is no doubt they are people who deserve to be looked up to, and are certainly worthy of the admiration and support of each and every Filipino."
This statement came from a Romualdez, who, as the last name calls for, is a member of the elite society in the Philippines. She has stated her distaste on the issue.
However, what irks me is that Manila Standard Today still has not yet released their statement and has refused her resignation.
I am totally dumbstruck.
It actually affirms what me and Ares Guiterez from NUJP discussed last week that somebody might be cuddling her and is willing to hold on to her big fat fanny, waiting for this issue to blow over and still have her around.
In fact, in the latest edition of the paper, they have even pointed out that Malu's column will resume on Monday. I guess they really are waiting for this thing to blow over.
Waiting it to blow over is really an understatement. The shit hitting the fan would be more likely to put it.
The call to boycott probably does not bother them.
What is so amazing about this is that for a newspaper, to show how timely and up to date things are, has refused to comment on something made by one of their own. It is really amazing and ironic.
The reactions from people from all over the globe have been going strong. To this day, i have had reactions come from bloggers and readers who speak vehemently of Miss Malu and the acerbic wit she has pushed. It really has become an angry mob, but who is to blame here. Aside from Malu, i think npart of it should be shifted to the people who allowed the commentary to be published. This is why, in this circle of work that i revolve in. we have these things called editors. Editors are supposed to make the call and check for content.
So i am making a call to Manila Standard Today to please, look into the weight of the situation. Is it worth it to keep mum about the whole issue and ride this out or is it just plain cowardice in the offing.
Please do not make me think it is the latter.
40 comments:
This is really sad indeed. As a Filipino who's about to take up a career overseas, I am saddened how some of our compatriots continue to misunderstand the plight of fellow OFW's, intentional or not. I feel that Ms. Fernandez's article have somewhat demoralized me. My excitement has somehow dampened by the thought of how other people will now think of what I am about to do. I hope that everybody can just learn the act of apathy towards situations like these and move on.
Siegfried
swisschismis.blogspot.com
I don't get it.
Why are you billing yourself as a "blogspot humorist"? You're not funny at all - in fact, judging from the content on your blog, you take yourself far too seriously.
That's false advertising, dude.
Siegfried: Do not feel bad about her comments. In fact, if one thing good has come out here is that we have shown that ofw's can unite for one purpose.
ethnomethodologist: a quick look at wikipedia's definition of humorist reads as;
A humorist is a person who writes or performs humorous material. The material written and/or performed by humorists tends to be more subtle and cerebral than the material created by stand-up comedians and comedy writers. The intention is often to provoke wry smiles and amusement rather than outright belly laughs.
I guess you have never heard of woody allen, pj o'rourke or erma bombeck.
however, if you are judging me from this series of posts on malu fernandez alone, then you've gotta be kidding.
now, that, is funny.
yeah! t'was so funny :D
Anton, thank you for this, amidst all the noise, it seems Manila Standard Today may be milking this for all it's worth.
That said, Tingog.com will be celebrating its one year anniversary, (I think they call blogiversary, i'm not sure), but I'll include the OFW bloggers network with a few other announcements that I have planned.
I wish you well always Kabayan. Let's keep on writing!
Ohhhhh, I get it! Stuff like David Sedaris, George Carlin, PG Wodehouse, Sue Townsend! I happen to have most of their books... hmmm... too bad.
I guess you've never heard of something you need to have before you can rank your writing amongst theirs. Namely a sense of humor.
Look. None of these authors ever called themselves "humorists", you know, they let their readers describe them as such, and only when they had an established oeuvre of humorous work. Does BatJay call himself a humorist? No, even though his work is really funny. The really funny people know better to call themselves funny, you see.
Perhaps what's really funny is that you sell yourself on the Web as a "humorist", increasing people's expectations of your work, then utterly disappointing them with banality after banality. Thus, every time you post a new entry at PinoyBlog yet again describing yourself as a "blogspot humorist", readers remember their disappointment at the absolute dearth of chuckles in your work, and wish that bitch-slaps could be transmitted via broadband.
WHACK. "THIS is for calling yourself something you're not." WHACK. "THIS is for thinking you're somehow worthy of licking Woody Allen's feet." WHACK. And so on.
Capisce?
This is a beaten up issue. I wasn't happy with what Malu have said, but she did apologize publicly about her write up.
What more do you ask from her and the people around her? Do you wish to have her shot at Luneta for parting an uncalled joke?
Besides, what's new with this issue? Pinoys are known to f*ck every other pinoy (and some not pinoys) on a regular basis, not only in Pinas but also abroad. What's this commotion all about? Hindi pa ba kayo sanay?
Let's face it, pinoys are uber dramatic and sensitive...peo tingnan mo naman sobra din maka pag salita. I really have the impression na ang general pinoy is both ignorant and innocent rolled into one.
I would laugh off this kind of talks.
F*ck this blog
j0nas1@yahoo.com
"however, if you are judging me from this series of posts on malu fernandez alone, then you've gotta be kidding."
All right, then, on what basis should i judge you? On that oh-so-droll post about your trip to the beach? Titter, titter! Or that ever-so-amusing restaurant review? How amusing! Or your praise of Alan Peter Cayetano? Lotsa wry smiles there!
Sell yourself as a "humorist", and you have an obligation to live up to your self-promotion. (Maybe that's why none of the real humorists ever called themselves such.) Here are some tags that might fit you better: "observational essayist", that's a good one. Or "humor apprentice, level 1", if you can't let go. "Humorist"? Leave that to people who are actually humorous.
two cents from a new reader:
the issue is Ms. Malu Fernandez and not the blogger. i think we must stick to the issue at hand.
peace!
A simple response from the newspaper would've mollified the people. But they choose to remain silent, apart from columnists B. Austero and C. Veneracion.
Maybe they think this will all blow over soon and everyone will forget about it. Kasi nga naman ang Pinoy daw madaling makalimot.
But this media unfolds in real-time, available for all and sundry to read 24/7 non-stop...in theory, until kingdom come. Or until US servers are nuked. That is the difference between old media - newspapers and TV spots. The messages they give are fleeting, once delivered they are gone. But our blogs, forums and mailing lists? They deliver the message and the message is there to stay 'til we decide to close shop. Ah well. Sagutin ang hamon ng Manila Standard Today.
Yes, I agree this blogger is not by any means a "humorist". I agree that his writing style doesn't evoke any sense of amusement or smiles from me. He is more of a reporter to me than a funnyman. There is just no significant (personal or otherwise) input in his writing style. Really, you are just a mere reporter to me.
The tag "humorist" maybe apt for wordsmiths - who can play with words and combinations of such in a playful manner, something which I don't think is displayed in this particular bloggers style.
ethnomethodologist: thank you for your fine points.
Despite the negatory remarks, i do appreciate that you have read my previous posts. That i appreciate. And yes, i may not be funny to you, but that is your problem. Not mine.
Anonymous 1: the same would go for you. Some things may not be funny nor humorous in this case for you, but do not supercede what others think as well.
And if you did not read the profile, it does say Journalist. I guess , in this case, reportorial habits are hard to break.
I appreciate the remarks, although, it looks like you want to get into an argument of sorts, having your emotions get the better of you. like close to saying fuck you but you are being polite, well, sometime soon, i may not be.
Lay off
i smell blood. what is the issue in this thread, malu or anton?
i think thats very sore of endoshitensky something for picking on this guy. i have been reading slap happy for quite a while now and he is humorous in his own way.
i saw him speak at Iblog2 last year and he really brought the house down with his talk.
of course, he will talk about his trip to the beach. it's his blog.
wouldn't you do the same thing?
Funny naman siya, ah.
Humorous "in his own way"? That's pretty broad, I mean, you might say the same thing of Malu Fernandez!
The only test for a humorist is to subject his work to the laugh test. It failed mine. (I read the work, I couldn't scrape together enough wit from it to muster even a minimally wry smile.) I'm willing to concede I might be mistaken, though, if you can show me one article in here that fits your definition of "funny".
Let me be clear. I have nothing against Anton per se, I just think he's got a loooooong way to go before anyone (much less himself) can call him a "humorist".
Smart ka naman masyado, sir. Hinay lang po, di si malu ang issue dito.
Eh di Magblog ka rin. Tingnan mo kung me magbabasa sa iyo.
Pag meron, ayos, pag wala, eh di syat up ka na lang.
Baka naman si malu fernandez ka, nagpapanggap ka lang ng ibang pangalan.
okay...so you REAALLY think that this particular blog entry IS funny, as SELF-promoted?
i appreciate that you appreciate my comments. but honestly, i want to give you the middle finger and say, 'give me back the 5 minutes of my precious time." (10 mins now)
your style don't bring anything new to the table. i was expecting a unique, perhaps funny way of reaction to the malu fernandez debate. however, all i find is nothing by a run-of-the-mill-copy and paste-type of entry. where is the creativity, the originality that people can expect from a Senior Communications Executive jurnalist like you?
i have no problems with you. just dont advertise yourself as someone funny and witty when you aren't because you waste other people's time and attention.
j0nas1@yahoo.com
ay, may pikon dito.
middle finger, masama yun di ba, anton.
ako na lang gaganti para sa yo;
"hoy, jonas betlog, tangina mo..?"
hindi isyu si anton dito. Ang pinaguusapan natin ay si malu fernandez. malamang kulang ka lang sa pansin. isa ka sigurong taong walang magawa sa oras mo, at naninigil ka pa ng limang minuto.
kung di mo feel itong blog na ito di wag mong basahin. para kang baklang react ng react, putak ng putak.
ikaw lang nagiging katawa-tawa dito.
etong sa yo, SHATI mo.
This whole comment thing on Anton's humorist tagline looks like its getting out of hand.
It's a self titled tag he has used to promote himself. It's his marketing strategy, so what gives. People will have a different set of reactions as expected; some will find him funny, some won't.
If the two gentlemen don't find him funny then i suggest you go bother yourselves with something else to read.No use in coming back to comment again and again. I guess you have made your point, and as Anton politely noted, he did get your message.
Let's give this thing a rest. There are other concerns in the blogosphere than debating over Anton being humorous or not.
remember guys, you always have the right NOT to read anton's blog. if you think he's not what he promotes himself to be, then don't read his blog.
and take note, you are a minority so don't speak for the majority. reading his blog may have been a total waste of time for you but that doesn't mean it is for other readers.
it's as simple as that.
now let's move on to other topics, shall we?
I've been bloghopping to this site since it started a few years ago. I find Anton's writing an intellectual read and yes, because it is his personal blog, we are treated to some writings on his personal life, like that trip to the beach. But this is typical of any other blog.
Lest i remind you that blogs originated as personal weblogs of individuals wanting to share anything they thought was worth sharing.
It is not really an issue of being funny or not. I don't even think he does cut paste things, the only thing i saw him cut and copy was the statement from this post which was needed to show the side of the People Asia publisher.
Maybe you just didn't get it.
wow, sikat ka na anton, pinagaawayan ka na dito o. baka maging next malu ka na.
don't worry, i think you're funny enough to use the humorist brand.
branding lang naman yan.
kumbaga sa toothpaste, pepsodent kasi sila.
Soooo... it doesn't matter if the "humorist" tag is accurate or not, it's only "branding", right? It's only a "marketing strategy" anyway, never mind if the actual writing's as humorous as a hole in the head!
Remind me never to hire you guys as my ad agency.
And ronturon, while we're on the subject of "rights", I also have the right, as the "branding" target audience, to tell Anton that his "marketing strategy" misrepresents him as being somehow "humorous". Like I said in post #1, false advertising.
His continued claim that he is a "humorist" is false as there is nothing inherently humorous about his work.
I don't claim to speak for the majority, nor am I denying anyone's rights to anything. And as I've said, I am willing to admit I am wrong, if anybody can just point me to a funny article in here. Just one.
I'm not saying Anton shouldn't blog, guys, I'm just saying he shouldn't call himself a "humorist".
He should call himself a humorist, as much as you pointed on rights, it's his right. (It is as much the same right you exercise when you choose to name yourself ethnomethodologist.)
Read through the threads boy, there are like ten comments here that say he is funny and good enough to read, as opposed to you and that other anonymous commenter (which i seriously doubt is you too).
Why don't you just give it a rest.
Ano ba kasi ang deifnition mo ng funny,sir.
eto po, baka po funny na ito para sa inyo;
http://antonisat.blogspot.com/2007/08/wowowee-antics.html
kung hindi po, aba'y ewan ko na lang kung anong funny ang gusto mo.
ang kulit nyo rin po kasi , hindi ba...sa totoo lang, kayo na ang funny dito. KSP ka na kasi
P're, kulang ka lang siguro sa vitamin c.
Thank you for the link, second-to-the-last-Anonymous. I rest my case.
Ay sus, tinamaan din. Nakahalata na rin siguro.
Mabuhay si Anton! Mabuhay ang slap happy!
Maybe you didn't understand what I said. I rest my case.
gusto lang siguro i-divert ang topic
For all it's worth, Site Meter must be very happy with the recent exchanges.
:)
Isa lang masasabi ko... Kung ayaw mo sa mga pananaw nya, eh di wag kang magbasa.
Siegfried
swisschismis.blogspot.com
naku po, ako po ang di ninyo naintindihan ...kasi po, i was being sarcastic, which is why i referred you to something na magmamatch sa intellectual capacity niyo.
Sabi ko nga KSP.
Don't rest your case. Rest in peace.
Salamat naman at natapos na ang batuhan...pede na ako lumabas.
But the issue about Malu Fernandez should go on.. unless ethnometadone...(what?) is she herself. Anyways, she should not hide, rather, talk out loud kung ano man ang methodology nya.
no one wins in an argument over the web.
“Responses to an OFW-Basher”
By Jerick T Aguilar
After shamelessly writing about her summer trip to Boracay and Greece in the June 2007 issue of People Asia magazine, this columnist was found guilty of character assassination of our overseas Filipino domestic helpers regardless of the fact that they have never wronged her, except – in her opinion – for being on the same economy flight that everyone is entitled to. As a writer and traveler myself, please find below my notes on some of the things she wrote. I may also be guilty of character assassination but at least mine is not baseless and I think of this more as defending our fellow “kababayans” working abroad.
“But I was too ashamed to ditch my friends and forego the huge amount I already paid for my share of the villa.” – Outright pretentious! People rent and share villas in Boracay to save on expensive hotel charges per night so writing that she paid a “huge amount” is plainly preposterous!
“Meanwhile, when all of this was going on, I was on the cell phone …” – Proper English writing uses the conjunction “while” when it is followed by the progressive (this case in the past) and interrupted by the simple tense – so “while all of this was going on, I was …” – I thought a columnist for a magazine (and newspaper) would have a knowledge of English much better than a domestic helper’s!
“Ron is my travel buddy … so between his schedule and mine, the logistics are a nightmare.” – “Logistics” is a non-countable noun and, hence, is always followed by a singular verb – so “… logistics is a nightmare.” Ditto!
“Emirates had won best economy class and some award.” – “Award”, on the other hand, is a countable noun (i.e. it has singular and plural forms) and the modifier “some” means more than one – so “… some awards.” – My, oh my! Our housemaid even knows better English than her!
“I forgot that the hub was in Dubai and the majority of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) were stationed there.” – Duh?!? Majority of OFWs are in Saudi Arabia, unless she doesn’t know what the word “majority” means. And another duh! To be “stationed” means to stay in one place – it’s obvious that our OFWs don’t just stay there, she was with them while traveling back to the Philippines.
“Meanwhile, I wanted to slash my wrist at the thought of being trapped in a plane with all of them.” – Okay, a plane is a form of public transportation so the preposition “on” instead of “in” is used (e.g. on a bus, on a train, etc.) so “… trapped on a plane …” Yeah, she should’ve slashed her wrist in order to prevent writing more grammatical mistakes! (I hope her readers do not know that she is Filipino! Nakakahiya kung ganoon! – Sorry but the English translation does not suffice!)
“… I would never risk losing if my luggage ended up in the middle of the Sahara desert.” – Her plane took off from Dubai then landed in Athens where the flight plan is northeast of the Sahara desert, unless there was a stopover in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Now is she really a traveler or was it just her first time to travel?…
“… the seats were so small I had bruises …” – Okay, didn’t she mention that Emirates had won best economy class? So I wonder if the seats were so small or she was simply so big?
“Domestic helper ka rin ba?” – She wrote this question as if she overheard it while dozing off. I bet she was actually asked this question. I mean, I would whether or not I were a domestic helper given her fashion sense in the pictures (not at all to demean the clothing style of our domestic helpers but one cannot really differentiate hers from theirs).
“… the weather report on CNN … was wrong because it was still winter.” – Hold on, summer in the Philippines from April to June is already spring in Europe. And even if the European winter in March extended till April, Greece is in the Mediterranean so it would’ve already been warm by then. So was it really a cold winter while she was there or she just wanted to impress her readers by mentioning the word “throw” as a noun and not as the usual verb (and by wearing it to look less fat in the picture)?
“I adamantly wanted to go to Santorini … but due to time constraints, we were unable to go.” – Talk about being pretentious again! She intentionally forgot to mention “money” as another constraint! Didn’t she just write that she had to fly economy?
“I guess God was watching out for us.” – And now she thinks God was after writing that God had sent her to her own private hell being on a plane with “those domestics”. One of the rules of journalism is to be consistent (aside from having perfect English, of course!) so I guess she is the exception.
“This time I had already resigned myself to being trapped like a sardine in a sardine can …” – Another cardinal rule of journalism is to avoid redundancy so a “fish” in a sardine can sounds much better. I don’t think she’s a traveler, I don’t think she’s a journalist either… What is she then? An abomination?
“… with all these OFWs smelling of AXE and Charlie cologne while my Jo Malone evaporated into thin air.” – Interesting how she made reference to Jo Malone in which a perfume wardrobe costs more than $1,000 yet she had to take the economy flight to Athens and back…
“But for a couple of weeks, I had the great escape …” – What was that again? A “couple of weeks” when she wrote beforehand of her “time constraints”? Greece is not China so a visit to Santorini from Athens can be squeezed even within a week of staying there. And before that, she wrote “Pick a country!” as if she can go anywhere she wants to. But she ended up saving on her plane ticket only to be “trapped” with OFWs and “smelling like air freshener”. She is the height of pretension indeed!
Three things to my “supposed” fellow writer and traveler – first off, if you have to write something in English, do not forget the simple rules of grammar so you do not cause intellectual harm to the people reading your article. Secondly, if you do not have money to pay for a business class fare, then don’t complain if you are surrounded by OFWs who can only afford an economy flight. As a final note, I suggest you thank these OFWs instead of demeaning them! If it weren’t for the billions of foreign currency remittances that our country regularly receives from them, the instability and depreciation of the peso-dollar exchange rate would’ve prohibited you from traveling to Greece in the first place (and buying that Jo Malone, assuming you already did)!
hats off to you, jerick, for a well-written response to malu's article. thumbs up!
Emil Jurado to the rescue!
Here's another one from Manila Standard (Agust 31, 2007):-
Educating Migrants
by Emil Jurado
with emphasis:-
"I think Malu was simply writing what she thought and sensed. That’s freedom of the press. And what she wrote was just the truth. Everybody knows that.
***
The Fernandez incident brings to fore the need to educate our workers how to behave, not only at work and in relating with their employers, but also when they get together or take transportation, airplanes included.
Malu was not the only one complaining about the uncouth and rowdy behavior of these “new heroes.” I myself have had sad experiences in the economy class. They are not expected to dress up like “sosyals,” the derogatory term they give to people who dress up or take the business class.
But the least we can expect from them is to behave properly and not to give foreigners an impression that all Filipinos conduct themselves the way they do.
Once in a flight back home from Europe, I heard a flight attendant says “I’ll never take this flight again at the rate these animals are behaving.” I tried to take issue with the attendant but my wife prevented me from doing it.
The flight attendant made that remark because when we landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport—the plane naturally still taxied until it came to a full stop, all passengers were told to sit until the seatbelt sign was turned off.
However, some migrants at once started to get their heavy hand luggage from the bins. In fact, one big bag almost hit my wife. Of course she complained. And the worker remarked: “Masyado ang mga sosyal!”
I wanted to confront the person who uttered that but again my wife prevailed upon me to just be quiet.
In Singapore, Filipinos are no longer allowed to congregate at the well-known Lucky Mall along Orchard Road because of the noise and the litter they make. Filipino domestics seem to be at their loudest when they are together.
In Hong Kong, during Sundays and holidays, I am embarrassed as a Filipino to see them spreading out mats at public places both in Kowloon and Hong Kong sides and eat with their hands. Some of them go on manicuring and pedicuring their compatriots. In fact, they are now banned from congregating at the Landmark Mall because of complaints.
***
My heart bleeds when I see domestics acting the way they do.
In writing all these, I know I am courting condemnation from the “new heroes,” who leave home and family to earn dollars to shore up our economy.
But in the wake of the Fernandez issue, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Department of Foreign Affairs should educate our migrant workers how to conduct themselves in public places.
I have nothing about them smelling bad or dressing with their usual uniform of T-shirt and denims with sneakers, because many foreigners, especially Americans, do the same while traveling.
I think that it is the responsibility of the POEA and the foreign affairs department to educate them on correct conduct before they go abroad to work. I don’t mean to look down on our “new heroes,” but really, how foreigners perceive us Filipinos has gone from bad to worse."
I respect Emil Jurado, I really do, but it seems these people dont care about OFW's sensetivity. Makapagsulat lang ok na "in the guise of press freedom".
Educate what? For who? To satisfy the elite few like Malu F(at).
My advise to Malou F(at), et.al. "Kung wala kayong magagawang maganda para sa mga OFW, magsitahimik nalang kayo!!!
Get it!!
Emil Jurado's quoted column above is quite ridiculous. I do not know which flights he and his wife have been taking where he supposedly encountered OFWs acting like "uncouth animals" and such, but I fly all the time to places like Hong Kong and Singapore, and on budget airlines at that, not on a more expensive economy class section of a flag carrier airline. It is obvious to me that Jurado is making this up, or grossly exagerrating his experience with riding planes with OFWs. My expereince is in stark contrast to what he claims is his experience. I have found OFWs to be very well behaved and compliant during flights, even those who work the so-called menial jobs like domestic helpers. They dress decently and smell decently. This is undestandable, since, in the case of dometic helpers, in order to survive they are well used to measuring up to the demands of say a Singapore or Hong Kong househol, even in terms of cleanliness and orderly behavior.
As to Jurado's expressed contampt by claiming that, "in Singapore, Filipinos are no longer allowed to congregate at the well-known Lucky Mall along Orchard Road because of the noise and the litter they make".
Well, Mr. Jurado, I regularly travel to Singapore and it seems you do not even know what you are talking about! Firstly, the name of the place is Lucky Plaza Mall, not Lucky Mall. Secondly, the OFWs are not banned from congregating thera at all, as in fact any day of the week, you see large numbers of them there. The OFWs are the main consumers of Lucky Plaza Mall and having them around is good for business. Get your facts straight!
Now as to your comment that "(i)n Hong Kong, during Sundays and holidays, I am embarrassed as a Filipino to see them spreading out mats at public places both in Kowloon and Hong Kong sides and eat with their hands. Some of them go on manicuring and pedicuring their compatriots. In fact, they are now banned from congregating at the Landmark Mall because of complaints." Mr. Jurado, I challenge you to show and proof of such a ban. I a currently based in Hong Kong and Filipinos are everywhere at the Landmark Mall during any day of the week. Furthermore, have you ever considered just WHY they are forced to spread out mats in public places to picnic in public places? They do this because for them, even the cost of a movie is hefty, and they send most of what they earn home! If you were a maid working in Hong Kong with a salary of say 3,400 HKD, and a movie costs 60 HKD, and with a family to support back home, I suppose you would think twice before spending on yourself, and will most likely opt to save money by simply having a harmless leisurely picnic in a public place.
The extent you go to to support your co-elitist Malu Fernandez disgusts me. But I guess we cannot expect better from a toad like you.
Jonas should go to hell with Malu Fernandez. Baka relative siya ni Malu lol!!!
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