Last Saturday, the Lebanese had the opportunity to see on prime time TV (after the 8 o’clock news) a live interview with a Filipino maid working in Lebanon and elected Miss Philippine Lebanon 2009 in an event held in Lebanon. I only succeeded in shooting with my digital camera the last 5 minutes of the program “Lil Nasher” of New TV, but they are enough to send one important message that I had already blogged about: most Lebanese are far from being evil racist people, and that abuse of migrant workers is not as widespread as it appears.
In the short footage that I took, the female employer of the Miss Philippine Lebanon calls live to the show and says that she has a daughter of the age of her maid out of Lebanon and understands the difficulty of living abroad and that she treats her maid like her daughter. Joy (the nickname of the Filipino maid) was working for 4 years at her employer’s who was happy to send her for the contest.
The TV program finished by hosting Maria, the Filipino who organized the Miss Philippine Lebanon event. She spoke English.
Ok. I have to add here that the employer does succeed to objectify her maid at first by saying “The agent who sent her to work in my house asked me to try her for a month. He said she was sent back [Arabic term used for a defect product] by a previous employer”.
But that was only the unconscious use of discriminatory language and not a sign of racism. The employer also said that she was happy to have a queen at home.
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December 23, 2009
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by MEY Aggregator, gerry kaimo. gerry kaimo said: Currently Browsing: Miss Philippine Lebanon on Lebanon’s New TV http://is.gd/5z05K [...]
January 12, 2010
Filipinos who leave their own country search for greener pastures not for themselves, but most certainly for their loved-ones. We Filipinos are skilled in our own fields, or if needed, in tasks assigned to us. We are not picky job-seekers. We take what we and our families can survive with even if it does fall short of our educational attainment. A fact we all should be reminded of is that the Philippines is a country that has one of the highest percentage of english speakers in the world. We are very particular about Education. that is why we can easily be absorbed by any other country or be trained in any profession for that matter. Filipinos work hard not only with their minds but with their hearts. You need not instruct a Filipino–we have our own initiative and we do use our sixth sense. COMMON SENSE. I am a Filipina working in Yemen. This country is in no comparison less modern than Lebanon. But I take proud in saying that people here, Yemenis are appreciative of hardwork, effort and devotion in one’s chosen field. I have seen countries who deem high of Filipino workers, and Yemen might be the country that tops it. All I can say to LEBNANI Employers who knows their advantage and seize the opportunity to deceive their employees is that: THE MONEY YOU PAY YOUR HELPERS ARE SALARIES FOR THEIR RENDERED SERVICE. THEY OWE YOU WORK BUT THEY DO NOT OWE YOU THEIR LIVES. SO STOP TREATING YOURSELVES AS THE MOST POWERFUL NATIONALITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST BECAUSE YOU ARE ONLY AS BIG AS YOUR UNDERSTANDING CAN BE, ONLY AS HIGH AS YOUR RESPECT FOR OTHERS CAN EXTEND.
January 19, 2010
chere bonne
je t’ecris pour te dire que je t’aime,que j’aime ta jeunesse et que j’admire ton courage et ta resistance.
toi,tu ne me connais pas et tu ne liras jamais cette lettre,par contre moi je te connais,je te vois tous les jours.
je t’adresse cette lettre pas uniqement pour te clamer mon amour,mais surtout parceque je suis obsede par la justice
par les sentiments des condamnes,des proscrits,des solitaires et des sans defenses comme toi.
je sais petite sri lankaise,philippine,ethiopienne,malgache,ou autres filles de misere,que tu as longuement prepare ton voyage
dans mon pays avec beaucoup d’espoir et d’amour pour ce pays accueillant.tu pensais venir dans un pays riche,donc civilise.
un homme civilise ne peut qu’etre bon et juste.tu ne te douter pas qu’ici les lois raciales font qu’etre different est comme une impurete.
tu ne savais pas aussi que t’allais etre victime d’une affreuse machine infernale,qui s’appelle-esclavage.
tu ne savais pas aussi que t’allais travailler dans un milieu hostile,pret a te briser,et de te faire perdre ton ame.
tu ne savais pas que ces etres pour qui tu vas travailler,vont te considerer comme une creature habile,retorse,pleine d’hypocrisie,qui aurait engrange
tous les vices du monde.
tu ne savais pas qu’on allait t’imposer des barrieres morales et religieuses,comme si toi tu n’avais aucune moralite,ni religion.
tu ne savais pas,que ce milieu aboniblement petit bourgeois,pour qui tu vas travailler,est persuade de sa superiorite,et a toujours un alibi
pour justifier l’injustice et garder bonne conscience.
tu ne savais pas que ces gens,ont la haine,cette haine animale pour les faibles.ta faiblesse attise,excite leur bestiale cruaute,masquee par un vernis
social et religieux.
tu ne savais que ces gens ont un grand plaisir a maltraiter des faibles comme toi,parceque ils peuvent impunement insulter,frapper et humilier.
ca libere leur frustration.tout cela s’appelle-sadisme.
“le travail libere” avait inscrit les nazis sur le portail d’auschwitz,tu n’as jamais entendu parler de ce camp,maistu vois le cynisme a toujours existe
et servit les hommes pour asservir ces semblables et justifier sa cruaute et ses chatiments.
toi ma petite bonne heroique,malgre ce milieu sinistre,inhospitalier et si peu humain,tu as trouve le courage et l’habilete de resister et de vivre.
comment faire autrement la misere de ta famille,de tes enfants,de ton village hantent tes pensees,il faut accepter l’inacceptable.
pour finir je voudrais que tu saches,que tous les hommes ne sont pas obligatoirement mauvais,heureusement. beaucoup de mes semblables pensent
a toi et avec amour et compassion et que les conditions de vie qu’on t’impose,doit s’appliquer a nous,et que nous sommes tous egaux.
enfin je termine cette lettre par une phrase d’albert cohen,qui me viens toujours a l’esprit,quand je te vois trimer”oui dieu existe si peu que j’en ai honte
pour lui”
je t’aime:JoAN,dibika,olga,ato,chahnaz,mitch,rosa,et les autres princesses des maisons
May 27, 2010
Super great writing. Honest..
March 10, 2011
FOR SEVEN YEARS OF WORKING IN LEBANON FINALLY THANKS GOD, I WAS ON THAT COUNTRY, I KNOW THAT MOST LEBANESS PEOPLE TREAT PILIPINA AS A SLAVE, INHUMAN,I WITNESS AND EXPERIENCE HOW RUDE AWICKED THEY ARE TO THE PEOPLE WHO WORK IN THERE HOUSE, THEY ALWAYS COULD AS A “SHRMUTA” OR BITCH IN ENGLISH I EXPERIENCE HOW MAN TRAIT AND SHOUT ON US BAD WORDS WHEN WE GO ON SUNDAY CHURCH, I WILL NEVER FORGET THE EXPERIENCE I HAD WHEN I WAS IN LEBANON, YOU WILL AND CANT TELL THAT MOST OF THEM ARE BETTER BUT THEY BEATER INSTEAD, I HATE THE FACT OF THIS PEOPLE HAVING 3 FACES PRETENDING TO BE NICE WHEN THEY WANT SOMETHING, EVEN A WATER, OR PANTY THEY PILIPINA TO BRING FOR THEM WHAT A HILARIOUS ATTITUDE, MY GOODNESS, I WAS RUB BY THE DRIVER WHO WORK WITH ME, ONCE I WAS IN A SHOP IN HAMRA, A PILIPINA WAS BEEN SLAP AND BEATEN BY THE OWNER OF AGENCY COZ THE PILIPINA WAS REGRET TO WORK COZ SHE NOT USE OF THIS KIND OF WORK,I HOPE THAT LEBANESS PEOPLE WOULD BE AWAKE OF THERE PRETENDING AND SUCKS ATTITUDE, I HAD ONE QUESTION:::::: WHY MOST OF THE WOMEN EMPLOYER USUALLY REACT WHEN THEY SAW THERE PILIPINA WEARING NICE DRESS? ARE YOU JEALOUS OG INSECURE? I ASHAME OF YOUR WRONG DOINGS,IF YOU THINK PILIPINA ARE HOUSEMAID,,,, WILL I HAD LEBANESS WHO WORKS WITH ME AS A HOUSEMAID NOT JUST A HOUSEMAID BUT HOUSEMAID AND HOUSEWIFE AT NIGHT OF MY BOSS, WHAT A SUCKS, IM WRITING A BOOKS ABOUT MY EXPERIENCE IN LEBANON,,,, AND TO LET THE WORLD KNOW HOW LEBANESS PEOPLE TRAIT THERE WORKER AT HOME
March 26, 2011
I just wanted to say that I’m Lebanese, I respect the Filipinos’ dedication to their work. I respect their education and their manners. I respect them as individuals and not as objects. I respect them for we are equal. I respect their rights. I respect their hearts and minds. I admit that there’s a large proportion of Lebanese employers who mistreat and abuse them but there are also a fair number of employers who treat them as their own daughters. all the Filipinas i know who are in Live-in situations with my friends and relatives, have renewed their contracts and refuse to change employers; they go visit their parents in the Philippines and come back and renew the contracts with the same employers because they consider themselves as a member of the family. The point is that all my fingers are not similar therefore not “all Lebanese” are abusers.