The World is Round

Sunday, April 05, 2009

A Rainy Summer

Life is full of ironies. And one proof is that this year's summer is going to be rainy.

PAG-ASA earlier announced that La Nina will be bringing irregularities this summer season. The weather these days is hot and humid in the morning and rainy and wet in the afternoon. A perfect spoiler for beach-goers.

And on many days when I leave the house at 4:30 in the morning for my dragon boat training, I find the streets soaked and the dark sky drizzling. I feel cold as if it is December. But at mid-day the sun is up and scorching hot.

Life is full of ironies. It is like getting a two-piece chicken joy for a meal, and realizing after that what you want is a mang inasal's pecho. Okay, malabo 'tong example. Or it is like booking a flight to Boracay three months earlier and finding out a day after about a new promo that cuts the fare by 50%. Ouch, my pocket hurts.

Life is a perfect irony. We live in a world that never meets your expectations. Some people tend to expect too much, dream too much, and fall miserably.

Life is an irony, it is hard. And this year's summer is going to be rainy.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Slur vs Hong Kong Pinays sparks outrage

China doesn't only export pirated dvds and melamine-contaminated milk. It is also known for junk journalism.

A satire if you make call it that. But the article is still plainly blatant and offensive.

Read on.

The War At Home

March 27th, 2009

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=61084749580&h=y_X_-&u=SjUZL&ref=nf

che 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.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Enter the Dragon: the rebirth of the UP Dragon Boat Team

Nakakapagod, pero ang saya!

Finally, three months of dedicated training has paid off. The UP Dragon Boat Team was reborn into a stronger, more energized team that is out to compete with and out-pace the top teams of Manila's dragon boat community. This weekend's race in Subic only showed that UP is once again the team to watch out for.

Nice one UPDT! Boracay is the next race to conquer!

My muscles are all aching right now, but all I have been through this weekend was definitely worth it.

*Pictures will follow soon.