"Nation of Servants"

It really saddens me when I read articles like this. It is sad and it hurts because somehow there is a shadow of truth on it. But nevertheless, describing our country as a nation of servants to justify their claim of the Spratly Islands is very racist and should not be taken sitting down.

Well at least what we do eases the lives of many of their people.

They however, destroy lives with what they bring to our country.

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Hong Kong columnist attacked for 'racist' article on Spratlys

HONG KONG, March 30, 2009 (AFP) - A Hong Kong columnist came under attack on Monday from angry Philippine politicians and migrant workers after he described their country as "a nation of servants" and condemned Manila's claims to the Spratly Islands.

Chip Tsao said in his column in the latest issue of HK Magazine that the Philippines' recent threat to send gunboats to defend the disputed islands in the South China Sea against Beijing, which also claims sovereignty, was "beyond reproach".

The reason, he wrote, was that more than 130,000 Filipinas were working for as little as 3,580 Hong Kong dollars (459 US) a month as domestic helpers in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China.

"As a nation of servants, you don't flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter."

Tsao also wrote that he had given his own maid a harsh lecture, warning her to tell her people that the whole island chain belonged to China if she wanted a pay rise next year.

The column drew an angry response from Philippine groups and politicians who branded Tsao a racist and demanded an apology from him and the magazine.

"Instead of contributing to intelligent discussions on ways to resolve the Spratlys' dispute, Tsao only succeeded in eliciting hatred and sowing more confusion not only among Filipinos but maybe even among his fellow Chinese who are not aware of the intricacies of the issue," Pia Cayetano, chairwoman of the Philippine Senate's committee on social justice, said in a statement.

Gina Esguerra, secretary general of Migrante International, the country's largest alliance of overseas workers, said the article "smacks of unqualified racial bias that vilifies the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos in Hong Kong and puts them in danger of prosecution and harm."

The group also called on Manila to declare Tsao a "persona non grata" in the Philippines.

Tsao, who is also a television and radio host, told the Mingpao newspaper that he was a little shocked by the response to his column. He said it was just his style of writing and asked his readers to take it easy.

The dispute over the Spratlys, believed to sit atop vast mineral and oil deposits, has been renewed following a near collision between Chinese vessels and a US naval surveillance ship earlier this month.

The chain of atolls and reefs is also claimed in whole or in part by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

here's a copy of the article:

The War At Home

March 27th, 2009

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.

Chip Tsao is a best-selling author and columnist. A former reporter for the BBC, his columns have also appeared in Apple Daily, Next Magazine and CUP Magazine, among others.