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Page 2 of 2
The
Farce
The
farce, or to be more precise a serious loss of humor, is between a
Filipino government and local community unable to appreciate satire
or to distinguish between friend and foe. Hong Kong’s Chip
Tsao, a witty and irreverent writer with a superb command of English,
had written in his aptly named "Politically Incorrect"
column in the weekly HK Magazine an article entitled The War at Home,
a tongue in cheek piece about local Chinese pretensions to
patriotism.
It
included the following:
"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. Why? Because there are more than
130,000 Filipina maids working for HK$3,580 (a month) 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 send her straight home for I would not risk the crime
of treason by harboring an enemy of the state by paying her to wash
my toilet and clean my windows…
"Some
of my friends have already told me that they have declared a state of
emergency at home. Their maids have been made to shout "China,
Madam/Sir" whenever they hear the world "Spratly…"
Someone
with limited knowledge of English could be forgiven for taking this
literally. But to anyone with both a modest command of the language
and a slight knowledge of Hong Kong – and most Filipinos have
both – should have instantly realized that this was a barb aimed at
Hong Kong Chinese claims to patriotism and at their treatment of
Filipina domestic helpers.
But
so defensive have the Philippine government and the local community
become about the nation’s role as supplier of domestic help to
the world that they immediately expressed outrage. Philippine
Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan announced a ban on Tsao
visiting the country and local representatives expressed outrage.
Even the bureaucrats of Hong Kong’s Equal Opportunities
Commission joined the bandwagon of the dumb by saying the language
was derogatory and "inappropriate for racial harmony".
Tsao was forced to issue a groveling apology saying he had been
misunderstood.
Indeed
despite this he continued to be misunderstood by the secretary
general of United Filipinos in Hong Kong, Eman Villanueva, who
insisted in the face of reason that it was not satire.
Of
course any reference to their role as domestic helpers is naturally
as sensitive for the government as for Philippine nationals. But they
do not help their cause when they make a fuss over an article by a
journalist known for poking fun at Chinese pretensions and
assumptions. A former editor of the now defunct Eastern Express, Tsao
has a reputation for supporting the underdog. He is one of the few
local journalists who is willing to address the issues of local
discrimination against brown Asians, most of whom are domestic
helpers or construction workers.
Instead
of Tsao’s joke being on the local Chinese maid-employing middle
class, those now being laughed at in Hong Kong and beyond are the
Filipinos and their government.
In
any case, Hong Kong’s minority population may be set to shrink
a little as a result of a British decision to allow those left
stateless at the time of the 1997 handover to move to Britain.
Believed to number about 1,000, they are mostly of south Asian
origin. They currently hold British National (Overseas) passports
which enable them to travel but not to live in Britain. However, many
may elect to stay in Hong Kong.
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Billionaires in Malaysia of Malay origin ( whatever that means now because of dilution) are entitled to special loans, employment,land,housing and a whole range of benefits that other Indian and Chinese citizens are unable to receive from the government.These privileged individuals are called "Bumiputras" and they are the sons of the earth (translation)-first class citizens.
The Chinese, the largest population with regards to "tax paying", is forced to allocate shares to these bumiputras on the basis of race.the Malays are segregated with special school that are taught by foreign Professors while the other citizens are taught at lesser performing schools and enter under a quota system.
Malaysia refuses to affirm the Treaty on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination because there policy is one of racial discrimination. It is sad that this approach by the Malaysian ruling government divides the population and is only restricted to Malaysia in SE Asia. Doubt very much that this policy will take malaysia anywhere but to ruin!