There are people who writes about satire and comes out funny (hi Ade) and there are people who don't. Take for example this Chip Tsao guy from Hong Kong. His recent article on HK Magazine about the Philippines' claim on Spratly's sparked controversy of being too much of a racist,
"As a nation of servants(Referring to the Philippines), you don’t flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter. "
According to Wikipedia, Chip Tsao as a broadcaster, is famous for his wry sense of humor and sarcasm. His writings abound with metaphors, and his best works are notable for their poetical quality. I remembered having a misunderstanding with Benito Vergara (aka Happy of Bulletproofvest) about my "predictions" for 2007 a few years ago. My post was obviously funny just by reading the first paragraph and he took it seriously. But if you write for a magazine like HK Magazine, you should be clear if your post is serious or just being funny like Daffy Duck. Because if not, you might start World War 3.
I've been reading Chip Tsao's article, "The War at Home", over and over and I haven't seen any indication that it is supposed to be funny. If the article had a "/funny" on its URL, then we should just shrugged it off and laugh, but this isn't the case. The full URL of his article is http://hk-magazine.com/feature/war-home.
Wikipedia also describes the "FEATURES" section of HK Magazine as, "Generally, there are two features in each issue, both covering local issues and sometimes foreign issues. The first one is usually about social, political and cultural events. The second one is usually about events in everyday life." (source)
Now tell me, should we consider this funny or satirical? Definitely not.
My great grandparents left China 120 years or so ago to escape poverty or whatever problems they had there. I am thankful they did that. Because in effect, I was born here. And instead sharing and finding my name together with this lowly piece of whatever named Chip Tsao within the Chinese Bureau of Statistics, my name is listed in the Philippine Census. You're a disgrace to all the Chinese and every citizen of this planet Mr. Tsao. Remember that.
Anyway, for my readers, here's the complete article by Mr. Chip Tsao
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.
The Ople Center has also released an official statement regarding Chip Tsao's (aka To Kit) article,
News Release Blas F. Ople Policy Center March 29, 2009
Ople Center denounces HK journalist for using Filipino maid as “pawn” in Spratly controversy
Former labor undersecretary Susan Ople called on the Philippine Consulate particularly its Office of the Labor Attache to look into the work conditions of “Luisa”, a household worker employed by Hong Kong journalist Chip Tsao after the latter mocked the Philippines as a “nation of servants” in his column written for HK Magazine.
“His very announcement that he gave her Filipino maid a harsh lecture and warned her to tell every one of her compatriots that Spartly Islands belong to China or she’d lose her wages, is already a sign of an unstable, irresponsible and racist employer who resorts to verbal abuse even for perceived bilateral and historic infractions. Luisa deserves a sane and more humane employer while he deserves to clean up his own filth,” Ople said.
The Blas F. Ople Policy Center said the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong should immediately call the attention of the Hong Kong magazine’s publisher and editorial board for Tsao’s provocative and bigoted write-up. “The household is not the place to resolve multiple claims to the Spratly Islands, and Filipino domestic workers should not suffer because of it,” the Center stressed.
It also called on the labor attaché to check on Luisa and on other Filipino maids who may be facing harassments from like-minded employers. “I am sure that Tsao is quite unique in his small-mindedness but the fact that the article was even published calls for vigilance, if not outrage, on the part of our consulate and the Department of Foreign Affairs,” the Center said.
In a column that went online on March 27, Tsao wrote:
“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.” (Source: http://hk-magazine.com/feature/war-home#comment-2773)
Ople also called the attention of the national government to the last paragraph of Tsao’s column:
“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.” (Source: http://hk-magazine.com/feature/war-home#comment-2773)
The Center denounced such actions of Tsao’s friends as a concrete example of racial and political intolerance. “Apparently, Mr. Tsao and his friends think they are the more supreme race, and are now using what should be strictly an employer-employee relationship to drive home this point. We must not allow them to use our workers as pawns and hostages as a consequence of our just and historical claim.”
Satire is a fun thing... if done properly. :~)
P.S.
Mr. Tsao, don't you know that there's a rumor that part of the profit from selling pirated DVDs are being used to fund terrorism? Guess where most of those pirated DVDs come from? Yes. You guess it right. Starts with C and ends in HINA :~)
---
(UPDATE 03/30/2009 3:09PM): Chip Tsao's Article in HK Magazine has been removed!!!
If the article was meant to be a satire, then it is a very bad one.
When he said that he got a map and gave a harsh lecture to his maid, yes, I can say it was maybe a satire since it is pretty obvious that the Spratley is no way near mainland China. Perhaps when he said that Filipina maids work 16 hours a day, perhaps he meant to criticize HK Chinese employers. Perhaps, he meant to make them ponder on how they treat Filipino domestic helpers. Perhaps, he meant to tell us, Filipinos, that we are powerless against the booming China. When he spares the Russians and Japanese, perhaps it was an irony. Just perhaps…
But when he said that the Philippines is a country of servants - we should not mess with our master– that my friend, tells us that you are deluded with arrogance. You are trying to say that we are inferiors and that offends/hurts us so deeply. If that was meant to be satire, then you have a bad taste and you are a bad writer. Your attempt at irony failed miserably. The article is carelessly written and is very offensive to us Filipinos.
Posted by reyna elena on Monday, March 30, 2009 3:36:00 AM GMT+08:00:
To me that was not a satirical piece at all. That was meant to foment anger and hatred against Filipinos and Overseas Filipino Workers in particular. Satire did not come out of his writings, rather, a sick xenophobic and barbaric writings against a race.
I'm furious with his entry. Who is he to teach us what is satire, a joke and humor? Us who have English as an official language and Chinese learning from us?
Who is he to call the Philippines as a nation of servants? Was he aware of the Chinese being shipped in containers just to get out of China? They were out there in the California waters dying. Wasn't he aware that Chinese labor was used to build the American railroad? What does that makes of China? Isn't China a nation of servants too? That makes us on the same boat I would assume.
That fucked up bastard!
Spratlys is bizzilian years away from China and just because they have nuclear bombs, that's how they gobble up islands that's one doorstep away from Palawan. Those rock formation are ours. Some people just "sold" them through Chinese contracts.
Posted by Cheap mo Tsao on Monday, March 30, 2009 12:13:00 PM GMT+08:00:
Don't ever let me see you (Chip Tsao), because once i see you, i'll jerk off into your face and crush your microscopic dick. Go to hell!
@reyna elena - we also have nuclear bomb equivalents... SOLID WASTES! jk :~)
@Silver - LOL
@tantan - agree
@Abbie - :~)
@Cheap mo Tsao - ahhahahaha :~)
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, March 30, 2009 3:56:00 PM GMT+08:00:
what satire is he talking about? after years of repression under communist govt, how can cheap tsao learn about writing satire pieces when they can't even question their own govt? satirical writing takes a modicum of experince to learn, and practice over time. the article is plain and simple racist! this world is drowning in hate because of people like tsao. he should mourn the day he was born because he would leave this world in a very bad shape than the one he found. kumain ka na lang ng noodles (he has an article about relocating in hk for a bowl of wanton noodles).
Posted by Sandra on Monday, March 30, 2009 6:20:00 PM GMT+08:00:
"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."
Mr. Tsao, by calling our area "Far East," you have also just declared and accepted that your own country, too, is a "Nation of Servants" to its "masters," the Anglo-Saxons of the West.
Posted by marivic on Monday, March 30, 2009 7:33:00 PM GMT+08:00:
Why make a big fuss on the article written by Chip Tsao, it’s true. The Philippines is a nation of servants!!! Reality really bites. Why blame him for the insult. We deserve to be insulted anyway. Blame our government for not providing the much needed employment here at home. Blame your colleagues in the Senate, in the House of Representative and in the Executive Branch. Even our own President exerts effort to train our Filipinas, majority of whom are holders of Bachelor’s Degrees only to become professional domestic helpers. Haven’t you realize that, that our country is going to the dogs. We have no right at this point in time to question the personal opinion of the writer, though defamatory, but it’s true. Can we charge him for libel? NO!
Posted by epeng on Monday, March 30, 2009 8:26:00 PM GMT+08:00:
Satire bang matatawag yung pangiinsulto nya sa mga Filipino? It is cleary a racial discrimination. Anu namang paki nya sa issue about the Spratly Island at dinamay pa nya ang lahat ng filipino. Sino ba siya sa inaakala nya...
nakakasuka siya... journalist ba ang tawag dyan? makes me wanna puke*
Posted by Bicolano on Monday, March 30, 2009 11:20:00 PM GMT+08:00:
Perhaps Mr. Tsao you should go back to school. You poor boy. You don't even know what a satire is. Obviously, you graduted but still you are uneducated. This proud nation did not suffer under the Spaniards for 333 years, wept over the women abused by Japanese soldiers, got wounded when the city of Manila was bombed to the ground, and mourned as patriots sacrificed their lives, just so you could insult us with your lame sense of humor.
Don't you talk about yourself being a patriot either. That is because when the day is done and you go home after work you depend on your FILIPINO maid who takes care of your house and tends to your things. It is truly admirable that she could tolerate your arrogant animalistic way of thinking!
Who are you to tell us that your article is a satire??? Apparently, you don't even know what a satire is!!! Let me tell you that there are practically tens of thousands of Filipino writers right now who are better than you in many different ways.
No foreigner has the right to degrade a Filipino!
In every Filipino's eyes lie his proud country's history, culture, and heritage. In your eyes Mr. Tsao, we Filipinos think you don't even represent China.
Posted by marivic loves chip tsao on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 12:25:00 AM GMT+08:00:
ay sus ginoo bobo ka ba marivic nde kami naiinsulto sa pagiging katulong naiinsulto kami kasi pinamukha nya satin na wala tayong kwentang tao dahil lahat tyo katulong lang. me difference di ba. tanga ka kasi.
Posted by kcatwoman on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 11:19:00 AM GMT+08:00:
what a very nice take on that cheap tsao, that racist chink. well anyway, your post is so dead on. it's a goodthing his article has been removed. now they know they should actually check if trash is coming out of their magazine
Posted by =supergulaman= on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 4:39:00 PM GMT+08:00:
The issue raised by Chip Tsao isn't just about disputes in Spratly... I guess there is deeper reason behind this. He took it too personal. So let's make it personal. He started the war, so bring it on. The war isn't about China vs. Philippines but Chip Tsao alone vs. Filipinos. Feel our rage Chip Tsao!
http://www.supergulaman.com
Posted by mark on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 12:00:00 AM GMT+08:00:
Fyi. Philippines' population is about 89M, 10M of which could be servants. But China's population is about 1BILLION and 50M of which are servants. Who now is the nation of servants? I bet there are more Chinese servants. I'm sure you used to be one of them, now you are bitter. You used to be shred and battered by your boss. it evident on how you look. Poor old guy.
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THERE ARE 19 COMMENT(S) ON THIS POST:
I'm gonna repost the comment I posted at reynaelena.com here:
If the article was meant to be a satire, then it is a very bad one.
When he said that he got a map and gave a harsh lecture to his maid, yes, I can say it was maybe a satire since it is pretty obvious that the Spratley is no way near mainland China. Perhaps when he said that Filipina maids work 16 hours a day, perhaps he meant to criticize HK Chinese employers. Perhaps, he meant to make them ponder on how they treat Filipino domestic helpers. Perhaps, he meant to tell us, Filipinos, that we are powerless against the booming China. When he spares the Russians and Japanese, perhaps it was an irony. Just perhaps…
But when he said that the Philippines is a country of servants - we should not mess with our master– that my friend, tells us that you are deluded with arrogance. You are trying to say that we are inferiors and that offends/hurts us so deeply. If that was meant to be satire, then you have a bad taste and you are a bad writer. Your attempt at irony failed miserably. The article is carelessly written and is very offensive to us Filipinos.
To me that was not a satirical piece at all. That was meant to foment anger and hatred against Filipinos and Overseas Filipino Workers in particular. Satire did not come out of his writings, rather, a sick xenophobic and barbaric writings against a race.
I'm furious with his entry. Who is he to teach us what is satire, a joke and humor? Us who have English as an official language and Chinese learning from us?
Who is he to call the Philippines as a nation of servants? Was he aware of the Chinese being shipped in containers just to get out of China? They were out there in the California waters dying. Wasn't he aware that Chinese labor was used to build the American railroad? What does that makes of China? Isn't China a nation of servants too? That makes us on the same boat I would assume.
That fucked up bastard!
Spratlys is bizzilian years away from China and just because they have nuclear bombs, that's how they gobble up islands that's one doorstep away from Palawan. Those rock formation are ours. Some people just "sold" them through Chinese contracts.
Forgive my creative outburst but I have to do satire...
LOL
Or...
Forgive my satire but I have to do my creative outburst...hahahah...
Tsk tsk,,,pathetic point of view. Spratly belongs to us, those Chinese dont even know that it exist.
Great piece or writing! Well said! :)
Don't ever let me see you (Chip Tsao), because once i see you, i'll jerk off into your face and crush your microscopic dick. Go to hell!
@reesie - his article is definitely not satire. BUt if it is, it's done on a very bad taste
@reyna elena - we also have nuclear bomb equivalents... SOLID WASTES! jk :~)
@Silver - LOL
@tantan - agree
@Abbie - :~)
@Cheap mo Tsao - ahhahahaha :~)
what satire is he talking about? after years of repression under communist govt, how can cheap tsao learn about writing satire pieces when they can't even question their own govt? satirical writing takes a modicum of experince to learn, and practice over time. the article is plain and simple racist! this world is drowning in hate because of people like tsao. he should mourn the day he was born because he would leave this world in a very bad shape than the one he found. kumain ka na lang ng noodles (he has an article about relocating in hk for a bowl of wanton noodles).
lol Ive visited the site earlier this noon at it as already removed.. All forum topics and comments were removed as well..
"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."
Mr. Tsao, by calling our area "Far East," you have also just declared and accepted that your own country, too, is a "Nation of Servants" to its "masters," the Anglo-Saxons of the West.
Why make a big fuss on the article written by Chip Tsao, it’s true. The Philippines is a nation of servants!!! Reality really bites. Why blame him for the insult. We deserve to be insulted anyway. Blame our government for not providing the much needed employment here at home. Blame your colleagues in the Senate, in the House of Representative and in the Executive Branch. Even our own President exerts effort to train our Filipinas, majority of whom are holders of Bachelor’s Degrees only to become professional domestic helpers. Haven’t you realize that, that our country is going to the dogs. We have no right at this point in time to question the personal opinion of the writer, though defamatory, but it’s true. Can we charge him for libel? NO!
Satire bang matatawag yung pangiinsulto nya sa mga Filipino? It is cleary a racial discrimination. Anu namang paki nya sa issue about the Spratly Island at dinamay pa nya ang lahat ng filipino. Sino ba siya sa inaakala nya...
nakakasuka siya... journalist ba ang tawag dyan? makes me wanna puke*
Chip Tsao better write an article that would help China somehow at least little identity aside from being well known as imitators.
----------------------------------
To give your personal opinion with Chip Tsao's irresponsible column please visit the URL below:
http://www.uis-online.info
Satire or whatever excuse there may be, fornicate thyself in thy rectal orifice, Chip Tsao. Cao ni ma!
Perhaps Mr. Tsao you should go back to school. You poor boy. You don't even know what a satire is. Obviously, you graduted but still you are uneducated. This proud nation did not suffer under the Spaniards for 333 years, wept over the women abused by Japanese soldiers, got wounded when the city of Manila was bombed to the ground, and mourned as patriots sacrificed their lives, just so you could insult us with your lame sense of humor.
Don't you talk about yourself being a patriot either. That is because when the day is done and you go home after work you depend on your FILIPINO maid who takes care of your house and tends to your things. It is truly admirable that she could tolerate your arrogant animalistic way of thinking!
Who are you to tell us that your article is a satire??? Apparently, you don't even know what a satire is!!! Let me tell you that there are practically tens of thousands of Filipino writers right now who are better than you in many different ways.
No foreigner has the right to degrade a Filipino!
In every Filipino's eyes lie his proud country's history, culture, and heritage. In your eyes Mr. Tsao, we Filipinos think you don't even represent China.
ay sus ginoo bobo ka ba marivic nde kami naiinsulto sa pagiging katulong naiinsulto kami kasi pinamukha nya satin na wala tayong kwentang tao dahil lahat tyo katulong lang. me difference di ba. tanga ka kasi.
what a very nice take on that cheap tsao, that racist chink. well anyway, your post is so dead on. it's a goodthing his article has been removed. now they know they should actually check if trash is coming out of their magazine
The issue raised by Chip Tsao isn't just about disputes in Spratly... I guess there is deeper reason behind this. He took it too personal. So let's make it personal. He started the war, so bring it on. The war isn't about China vs. Philippines but Chip Tsao alone vs. Filipinos. Feel our rage Chip Tsao!
http://www.supergulaman.com
Fyi. Philippines' population is about 89M, 10M of which could be servants.
But China's population is about 1BILLION and 50M of which are servants.
Who now is the nation of servants?
I bet there are more Chinese servants. I'm sure you used to be one of them, now you are bitter. You used to be shred and battered by your boss. it evident on how you look. Poor old guy.
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