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| Early Sunday morning, one by one they come. |
"... how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry ?
Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died ?"
- Bob Dylan
MIGRANT FILIPINO WORKERS, they are everywhere world-wide, said to be well loved, well sought by foreign employers, but often abused and misunderstood even by their own countrymen.
Before he can hear people cry ?
Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died ?"
- Bob Dylan
MIGRANT FILIPINO WORKERS, they are everywhere world-wide, said to be well loved, well sought by foreign employers, but often abused and misunderstood even by their own countrymen.
They are viewed by many as well-off, counting their wages in dollar equivalents... Not a few have been ill-treated or killed, or is left with no option but to take one's life and all they get is a sigh of sympathy that is soon forgotten as they join the growing statistics.
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| Even in foreign shores, attire reflects one's faith |
Truly one can only speculate and chose to remain insensitive to what they have to endure in foreign shores unless you see, listen and immerse with them in their Sunday day off.
We tend to ignore them, take them for granted and see them as just ordinary workers like all of us struggling to make a living, however failing to see the difference of being uprooted from one's socio-cultural turf.
They say that the greatest pain is not from torture nor illness but from being isolated from loved ones. Keeping this family link alive is one of the greatest burdens they have to endure.
Home is near through communication technology, Filipino food, friendship of compatriots and faith in God, and they derived strength from the hope of a better life for their family.
They come in droves that Conaught Road, Queen's Road, Pedder St, Des Voeux Road, the subways, the parks are filled by Filipinos that you'd think you are but in Manila. Cantonese is rarely heard on Sundays, just Tagalog and other Philippine dialects, as if the native Chinese were bullied into silence (or the Chinese are all home to care for children and do house chores as their house helps take a break?)
I wonder why Manila has taken so much fuss in the Chinese incursions of the Scarborough Shoal when Filipinos have already invaded and effectively occupied Mainland China and its New Territories.
It would be interesting to research on how Filipinos have influenced the Chinese cultural or social fabric, given the Filipino spirit of persistence.
I was not spared from the temptation to rub on our culture on the Chinese. While shopping a store owner was wide eyed as I gave pointers that a brisk sale can be coached by waving the day's first sales over the merchandise. Incidentally several customers came and bought. Did she believe me? I can only guess and muster an impish smile.
There's so much more about our OFWs but one has to listen with his heart to really understand them; and be moved to emotions as they re-tell sad stories from home, or be amused on how they reach out to the call of home.
We tend to ignore them, take them for granted and see them as just ordinary workers like all of us struggling to make a living, however failing to see the difference of being uprooted from one's socio-cultural turf.
They say that the greatest pain is not from torture nor illness but from being isolated from loved ones. Keeping this family link alive is one of the greatest burdens they have to endure.
Home is near through communication technology, Filipino food, friendship of compatriots and faith in God, and they derived strength from the hope of a better life for their family.
They come in droves that Conaught Road, Queen's Road, Pedder St, Des Voeux Road, the subways, the parks are filled by Filipinos that you'd think you are but in Manila. Cantonese is rarely heard on Sundays, just Tagalog and other Philippine dialects, as if the native Chinese were bullied into silence (or the Chinese are all home to care for children and do house chores as their house helps take a break?)
I wonder why Manila has taken so much fuss in the Chinese incursions of the Scarborough Shoal when Filipinos have already invaded and effectively occupied Mainland China and its New Territories.
It would be interesting to research on how Filipinos have influenced the Chinese cultural or social fabric, given the Filipino spirit of persistence.
I was not spared from the temptation to rub on our culture on the Chinese. While shopping a store owner was wide eyed as I gave pointers that a brisk sale can be coached by waving the day's first sales over the merchandise. Incidentally several customers came and bought. Did she believe me? I can only guess and muster an impish smile.
There's so much more about our OFWs but one has to listen with his heart to really understand them; and be moved to emotions as they re-tell sad stories from home, or be amused on how they reach out to the call of home.
"It is with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery, "The Little Prince".)
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| World-Wide Place and MTR Central, a favorite meeting place of overseas Filipino workers in Hongkong |
I remember my high school reading, "Where's the Patis" by Carmen Guerrero Nakpil which touches on the uniqueness of Filipinos abroad manifested in gastronomic preferences. Even in these contemporary times Filipinos are easy to assimilate foreign trends and culture, but they have not shed off characters uniquely Filipinos and preferences of the palate.
It seems that Filipinos can never be "de-nationalized" when it comes to food, family ties, warmth, traditions and other peculiarities like arm spreading to reserve seats on buses or subway for friends.
On Sundays, sidewalk stalls are filled with all sorts of Filipino junk food, from "Boy Bawang" to chichacorns from Ilocos, pork rind chicharons to Richie snacks. Call it the sari-sari store entrepreneurship of Filipinos. They bring "delicacies" from home to sell to compatriots. But I have yet to see "ukay ukay" (second hand clothing) stalls manned by Filipinos. Or did I saw one?
Even local merchants capitalize on the Filipinos' longing for home. Phone dealers with signs in Pilipino also do well in retailing Philippine two-in-one SIM cards.
The negative and positive aspects that we have home are the same that we experience elsewhere, like the culture of "libak" or talking negatively of another behind his back.
At the McDonald outlet along Des Voeux Road, there were these four ladies apparently belonging to a fundamentalist congregation (firstly judging from their extra lengthy skirts and Bibles tucked in) who while having breakfast opened their Bibles, read verses and prayed holding each other's hand and with the usual closed eyes and matching tears. But in a few minutes they were talking about how bad is a common acquaintance. Not far from what we hear at home.
One thing that separates Filipinos from the rest of humanity is the smile on their lips upon seeing a compatriot, as if relieved in knowing that he or she is not alone, that they pull strings just to help.
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| At mid-day, the HSBC complex is just one of the places where Filipino OFWs converge |
In Macau, a hotel personnel even escorted us across the casino halls, with camera and all (when cameras and phones are a no no inside) just for us to have a shortcut to our ride to another hotel.
We've never seen gamblers before in shocked stares.
Comparing notes on wages and employers' treatment are but the stories one may overhear, including news of a spouse's infidelity as they gather and sit on cardboard made as mats. It is not also too remote that extra marital or legitimate relations may develop in this atmosphere. Call it advanced thinking or over imagination.
We used to think of them as enjoying a sweet life with all the dollar equivalent of their wages. But it is actually not much, and not even worth it unless one is jobless at home or is in dire need to augment family income.
Other than the reality of being a domestic helper, life for an OFW is not a bed of roses, not even a bed made out of hay. They have to be thrifty too. Even remitting home their hard earned money is not easy as they often have to stand in long lines at remittance centers.
If only children, spouses or kins knew of their sacrifices as OFWs maybe they would less squander on allowances and study hard. Money doesn't grow on trees nor are streets in Hongkong paved with gold. It is earned by their blood, sweat and tears.
Lucky are those who have the opportunity to travel on leisure, but luckier still are those who learned from these travels and be sensitive to the plight of others.
How do government agencies look into their welfare? I am just wondering if death or complaint precedes action, or they just rely on papers for solutions? How many have listened with their hearts sans publicity for policy formulation?
"The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind.
The answer is blowin' in the wind."
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If only children, spouses or kins knew of their sacrifices as OFWs maybe they would less squander on allowances and study hard. Money doesn't grow on trees nor are streets in Hongkong paved with gold. It is earned by their blood, sweat and tears.
Lucky are those who have the opportunity to travel on leisure, but luckier still are those who learned from these travels and be sensitive to the plight of others.
How do government agencies look into their welfare? I am just wondering if death or complaint precedes action, or they just rely on papers for solutions? How many have listened with their hearts sans publicity for policy formulation?
"The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind.
The answer is blowin' in the wind."
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