My flight was around 5am on a
Saturday. Since it was so early and I was traveling alone from Manila, I
decided not to sleep and just proceed to the airport after a late off from
work. I wore jeans, flat shoes and black jacket. I didn’t put on makeup and
having no sleep, I looked so tired.
It was my first time going to
Hong Kong and when I was asked what was my purpose of going there, the
immigration officer scrutinized how I look, looked at me from head to toe then
said, “Hay naku ne, andami daming mga Filipina na napapahamak sa Hong Kong
ngayon, hindi mo ba nakita sa TV?” (*sigh* young lady, there are so many
Filipina that have been in danger in Hong Kong, haven’t you seen
them on TV?). Then, I answered, “oo nga po.” I know I look young but I answered
as smart as I could so that she could determine that I know what I was doing.
Then she asked me to wait and fill in some immigration form. At first, I was
patiently waiting for the late immigration officer that was scheduled to question
me and the rest of the 15 Filipinos who were going to HK and Singapore but when
they started to curse each other saying “son of a b*tch, blah blah” at front of
us, I felt bad of how our officers behave. Well, at first I thought, that it’s
something that I have to accept but the way they talk to fellow Filipinos who
go out of the country may it be for travel or work, I think is unacceptable.
Given that fact that there are
really a lot of Filipinos going outside the country illegally to find their
luck, which we couldn’t avoid (I even have good friends and cousins who did
that and looking at their motives, I think that that determination to get what
you want is really good), I started thinking that maybe that’s why they are so
rude to the fellow Filipinos but looking at the bigger picture, their attitude
is really unacceptable. They’ll say “oist, punta ka don!” “bakit ka pupunta
don?” with the rudest intonation I've ever heard in the whole Philippines.
I waited for an hour, some waited
for 8 hours to be interviewed. Then, when it was my turn, the officer said
“your ID is unacceptable.” I told her that it was my real ID and if he thinks
there’ll be problem with it, I should tell my employer to change the appearance
of the ID. He said that he could think that I just asked someone from Quiapo to
replicate it (Quiapo is a place in Manila where you can replicate all important
papers and IDs) and I replied, “if that’s the case, what’s the need of having
this interview if you can just base your judgement in a person’s ID? Couldn’t
you figure out if the person is lying or not?” Then he reasoned out then let me
go.
When I went back to the cubicle to
finally go (because I was the only passenger that my flight was waiting), the
officer said, “If I were your sister, I won’t let you go to Hong Kong just to
see your boyfriend. Can’t you be a true-blue Filipina? Be ashamed of yourself!”
(I met Taku and HK before he goes to LA for a job assignment. He was from
Japan, I came from Manila).
Well, everyone is entitled of
his/ her opinion but it’s never right to judge and force someone to believe that
your opinion is the right one.
As I arrived alone in HK, I felt
so at home having seen a lot of Filipina. They’ve talked with me from the
airport, to the bus, showed me around, and helped me explore the city while
trying out the trum, MTR and even by walking. I loved the smile and eagerness
of storytelling in their faces upon seeing a fellow Filipino. I felt the
Filipino hospitality and love for kababayan. I think it was one of the things
that made my trip memorable.
When they brought me to the
World-Wide Plaza, everything was so familiar: from banks to grocery stores!
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| where you can find Filipinos in HK during the weekend... |
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| trying not to miss home with these? |
And upon seeing the balikbayan
boxes and upon listening to their stories how they save and try not to spend
their hard-earned money just for their salary to be enough for all the
relatives that depend on them, I felt the hardships that each OFW has been
going through for years.
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| the place when you can send everything back home. |
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| then Filipinos are hoping that what they'll give is enough... |
Then I started asking myself, is the close family ties
still an advantage or is it making Filipinos become dependent to their
relatives who are brave enough to gamble?
I had a glimpse of the hardships our Filipina OFWs are facing from the moment they step out of the country up to the "living alone and missing home" feeling in Hong Kong plus the fact that in every corner that there's a Filipino talking to a family over the phone, she'll say "Isn't it enough?" or "He is having a mistress?" then cry or get angry. hay...
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| what I saw in Hong Kong on a Sunday afternoon- Filipino picnic! |
I wish our kababayans well and happy.
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| these were my beautiful tour guides! I wish to see them again (I hope I remember their names.) |
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