Chip Tsao and the satirical article in HK magazine website
http://hk-magazine.com/feature/war-home
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.
--------
Sunday, April 5, 2009 AFP.
"We are workers, not slaves"
HONG KONG, April 5, 2009 (AFP) - More than 1,000 Filipinos marched through Hong Kong on Sunday to protest against a local magazine columnist who described the Philippines as a "nation of servants" in a satirical article.
Chanting "No to racism. No to Discrimination" and carrying banners with slogans such as "We are workers, not slaves", the demonstrators marched through the city to challenge the recent article by writer Chip Tsao in HK Magazine.
Tsao had raised hackles by writing that Manila's claims to the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea were ridiculous in the face of Beijing's rival territorial claims.
"As a nation of servants, you don't flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter," he wrote.
The comments angered a large chunk of the more than 120,000 Filipinos who live in the southern Chinese city, mostly as low-paid domestic workers.
The community has become increasingly vocal in recent years through church groups and other organisations, and regularly holds protests against unfair treatment or poor working conditions.
Tsao's column has sparked huge resentment here and in the Philippines, which has banned him from entering, even after he insisted the column was meant as a satire and apologised if it caused any offence.
"We acknowledge the apology of Chip Tsao and we take this action today as the expression of the community that we do not want this thing to happen again," Dolores Balladares, chairwoman of United Filipinos in Hong Kong, told AFP.
"As Filipino migrant workers, we do not tolerate any racism or discrimination attacking the Filipinos."
Balladares said the rally was also in protest at other discrimination in Hong Kong, such as the possible exclusion of migrant workers from an upcoming minimum wage law in the city.
"Every day the domestic workers experience discrimination," she said, adding that the column had been a symbol of discrimination.
The diplomatic dispute over the Spratlys, believed to sit atop vast mineral and oil deposits, was renewed early last month when China sent a patrol vessel to the area.
The move came after the Philippines passed a law laying claim to some of the disputed islands in the Spratlys chain. Beijing has called the law "illegal and invalid".
The chain of atolls and reefs is also claimed in whole or in part by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Source: AsiaOne News