It is probably true to say that well educated Filipinos have more of a chance to settle and work in a decent country than we in the west do, they are much sought after especially in the Middle East as we all know. Another big thing Filipinos have going for them is their good knowledge of the English language, without this I do not think they would have done so well outside the Philippines. Education is key just like you stated.
You need to be realistic about the earnings of OFW's many earn a pittance, it is better than what they can make in the Philippines but it is still a pittance and because the cost of living in their host countries is often higher than the Phils and they get put through a double squeeze as they still feel obliged to send something home but they do so at extreme cost to their own standard of living in the host country. We have a couple of family members working in beauty salon's in the middle east, both educated lassies and have great English language skills and both lucky to have gotten there. But Zen has been abroad for years and years and has six kids back home, and they have suffered, Jen almost the same she has four I think but is still quite young, it is heartbreaking for these families, it ruins the relationship between the partners as well and you end up with the guys back home breaking trust and cheating and spending quite a lot of the money that gets sent home. The ten million OFW's are often educated but few get to reap the true benefits of that education at the top end, and the graduate tag is in too many cases treated as little more than a discrimination ticket by the employers in the host countries who end up employing very clever people in menial jobs. Those who get to Europe or the US have a chance, those that get to the middle east get exploited as cheap labour unless they are very smart or very lucky, those that get to rich Asia, like Korea and Japan, well it all depends on their skills, South Korea is not much better than the middle east and Japan is best if you are a talented entertainer, maybe I'm just cynical The kids suffer big time, and in spite of the strengths of the Philippine people this is not a sustainable model for growth.
I HATE the "OFW" racket; it is the biggest of all the scams pulled on ordinary decent Filipino men and women by their deeply corrupt elite. It was started by Marcos when he realised that his crony capitalism had wrecked the economy and he saw that rich pickings could be made in it whilst it ensured that those most likely to make trouble were out of the way. It has destroyed families for two generations- and most OFWs end up no better off than they were when they started. It is a monstrous evil; a cancer on Philippines society. I could go on - but the worst of it is that this frog has been boiled so skilfully that most Filipinos think that it is the natural order of things. It is there only because the domestic economy is so corrupted that it cannot employ people at home.
My wifes bro in law is an OFW. He has been away for several years, 4 or 5 at least, returning home twice in that time for just a few weeks. I dont actually know what he earns, but it supports him, his wife and son who goes to a good school, but they have had a nice house built in the province. So it is working, but one hell of a sacrifice in the process.
And why is it that, if he were Taiwanese, or Korean, or Malay, or even Thai, he could do as well and spend every evening with his family?
That's true, but I was specifically thinking more of some of the wonderful singers and musicians the Philippines produces, they often have freedom of movement and earnings that are genuinely better than many OFW's.
Yeah it can work for some, but there are an awful lot at the bottom of the heap scraping by, Zen has been abroad for over 15 years and still does not own a home in the Philippines, her three older boys have all spent time in jail, one of them was shot, mistakenly, and got a measly 25,000 php compensation, but her daughters have turned out to be great lassies.
From my experience with the wife and everyone of her family members, being OFWs has been a complete success story for the whole family as a whole and made them more close knit and has secured their futures financially. If someone is highly educated and wants to work at McDonalds for the rest of their life then its their own stupid fault, only last night my wife was telling one of her daughters who is now living in the US not to take any job that is not connected to her educational background, and they always listen to Mama as you know
Zen is educated but she's not working in anything related to her qualifications, as I said earlier if an OFW is lucky enough to get to Europe or the US then clearly they have greater options, not least because the west does not require a degree for you to work at McDo. KFC and McDo and the likes are stepping stones, if you have the right level of confidence you can use them as such, most of us here in the west have done that at some time in our lives, I worked variously in a department store, a cloth finishing factory, as a petrol pump attendant and in a garden centre, I picked up useful skills in each one, I've also been a professional photographer and a software wizard, I'm still a software wizard Many of my friends and family in the Philippines are incredibly shy reserved people who respect the chain of command 'po', it is not easy for them to be assertive and easily successful in this life, that's why it is refreshing to see a lad like knightstrike on here looking to be that assertive and confident!
I agree with what you are saying about knightstrike, one of my long standing gripes about Filipinos is that they do not assert themselves to get further in life, whether knightstrike would be as assertive and confident in the UK workplace is a different story all together, very easy to write anything here, its not face to face. As an ex boss of mine used to say "words come cheap." A statement that is very true. The fast food chains will always be an welcomed stepping stone for graduates, suits both parties for a limited amount of time, its the ones that get stuck there I feel sorry for, not really an eye catcher on the old CV.
Aposhark and Aromulus were right about 3, 4 and 5, a little risqué in terms of questions on here but I can understand I will however try to answer them slightly tongue in cheek 3... Glasgow, it will also help with 5... however Glasgow airport was ram raided some years ago by some mental foreign locals, not to worry though as the locals are mental already 4... that does not happen, they want you to believe it happens but it doesn't, and certainly not in Glasgow 5... She's fae Glesgae (Glasgow) ah bet yea awe the beer in Scotland And in reality if that really was you in that other picture in the earlier thread then yea wid have a bloody gid chance wi hir, but yid huv to learn hoo tae speak like this You are young, Scotland is full of lovely redhead's, can I introduce you to my niece she's in China working just now but I think she has a Chinese boyfriend
I just thought it might be nice to reverse the usual direction of introduction And like the lassie in knightstike's opening post she's mostly a fake in this shot The lassie he posted has normal dark eyebrows but she does have freckles which is sign of a true ginger or blonde, my niece is a bit the same she has quite red/brown eyebrows, but she has enhanced the red That pic was from my nephew's wedding last year, I was the photographer and commissioned to do a casual documentary style shoot. I got some good ones though And you can see my nephew is fairly carrot as well
