"Nation of Servants" by Chip Tsao

A lot has been said regarding Chip Tsao's insult to Filipinos in his article in a HongKong Magazine ... But I still felt compelled to write something about it ...

I have worked outside the Philippines for almost 5 years ... I have seen how hard our countrymen have worked ... Oftentimes, Filipinos are preferred over other nationalities ... not because we are cheap-labor but because of the quality of our work ...

Yes, a lot of Filipinos work as domestic helpers ... so what?! it is an honest job ... Of course, it would be better if there are opportunities in our own country so that people won't have to leave ... But since there's not much, there's no choice but to go out of the country and try our luck someplace else ... THAT doesn't give Chip Tsao's the right to insult us ... HK Magazine apologized and said that the article is a satire and can be interpreted in many ways ... Nah, I don't buy it! ... You can write a satire but not at the expense of the Filipinos! ....

I won't stoop down to Chip Tsao's level, though I want to rant and hurl back insults ... I'll just tell you, Chip Tsao - God bless you and may you sleep soundly at night!!!

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Here is the complete article of Chip Tsao in HK Magazine.


The War at Home
By Chip Tsao

The Russians sank a Hong Kong freighter last month, killing the seven Chinese seamen onboard. 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 HK$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 everyone 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.

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*** Addendum ***

2 April 2009 (GMANews.TV) :
After admitting he crossed the line in calling the Philippines a “nation of servants" in his article, HK Magazine columnist Chip Tsao approached Philippine authorities in Hong Kong Wednesday night to personally extend his apologies ... "I’m now aware that I’ve crossed the line and I offer my public apology," Tsao said ...