This article from the Financial Times and the comments section made me think real hard about emigration. I always knew at the back of my head this is one of the the reasons why I haven’t emigrated while the rest of the middle class Filipinos (well about half) have done so. My sister also said the same that’s why she opted to fly back home instead of staying in Australia.
One of the arguments is émigrés do eat up resources of the natives and some are being priced out of their native land. Such thing is happening in Barcelona (a victim of over-tourism as well) and some parts of UK (London in particular, where rich HK and mainland Chinese have been buying flats for Plan B). My sister said that while racism in Australia is not as bad as when my father was there for his graduate studies, there is still some kind of resentment towards émigrés, especially the Chinese (for various reasons) because of the said reason above. She said she can’t blame them because she would feel the same if she were in their shoes.
In this FT article, the columnist said Netherlands is busting at the seams. Productivity is low due to government incentives, with many Dutch opting to work part-time while no one wanted blue-collar work (service staff in HORECA sector, airport, etc) for the price being offered. Why work 40 hrs when you can do 20? Importing more blue-collar workers is not an option given that migration is a touchy issue in the EU. Brexit comes to mind. The Netherlands has a tight housing market since the Dutch do not build up, which is ironic in a country that is continuously battling the North Sea and always under threat of being engulfed especially now with melting glaciers from Greenland. Just like any port city, Amsterdam is getting denser. Some in the comments section have pointed out that Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo are handling the population density by building up, which cities like Amsterdam and London are not willing to do. Aye, there’s the rub.
The FT writer said that there are farmlands that can be claimed for housing elsewhere in Netherlands but people said why would we give up land that has been feeding us and allowing us to export our produce? They have a point. They said that in order for Singapore to grow and accommodate its population, it has foregone the ability to produce its own food and is importing almost everything it consumes. But then, are the Dutch willing to go in that direction? Of course not.
I then remembered my conversation with a Singapore-based friend about the Singaporean affliction of kiasu, the selfishness due to fear of missing out. It’s annoying as hell and this is exacerbated by racism towards Asians they deemed inferior to them. I told my friend that this kiasu was probably borne out of the fact that they had to fight for the very limited resources that they have. And here we are, Filipinos who also want to have a piece of those very limited resources. They would be/are really, really be pissed off with us, who keep on voting for shit government and now we want to escape our hellhole to burden the natives with our demand for the same limited resources. That’s why they are keeping us out by putting a very high price tag for everything that we foreigners would need. A colleague from HK who migrated to Singapore with her husband (who was being transplanted by his company) said the rental apartments for foreigners are ridiculous. She wouldn’t find apartments below SGD 4,500, her realtor said. Public schools are not for foreigners as well so you need to fork out at least SGD 30k a year per child for private/international school tuition. This colleague–who recently left my company for higher pay and work visa issues because our HR is very narrow-minded–couldn’t do anything but bite the bullet.
The AVP of this company I had lunch with last week said that when Marcos won last year, he and his wife immediately thought about leaving the country and weighed their options regarding migration. Their choice was Canada. But then the wife, who has a private driver for her daily commute to her workplace, wouldn’t be able to have her maids and driver when they move to Canada. They would be doing every menial task that she didn’t have to do here. They have a relatively affluent life here in Manila; they can tour Europe on business class (the wife refuses to travel coach) and buy shit out of the luxury stores in Europe (i.e. shopping for many expensive bags), her husband says. So they are staying put here for now.
This brings me now to my talk with my journo friend, M. Like the typical affluent Filipino whose family is financially and politically connected, he didn’t have to work like mad to afford his lifestyle since he can just receive dividends from family business, etc. His mom flies to Switzerland because she just feels like hiking the Alps, that kind of thing. But M does work to prove to the family he is unlike the rest of them. Anyway, he said there is little incentive for him to migrate because he leads a relatively comfortable life. Why would I fight for the resources in other countries that I can have here, he asked. He has a point.
This is a complex conundrum that is forever tugging at the back of my mind. Am I being selfish for not thinking about the future of my children since I am not offering them the world? Just because I don’t want to struggle since I am comfortable where I am now? I know that my degrees from the best university here do not mean anything abroad; in fact they look down on it because my university is still lagging behind everybody else (my Singapore-based friend said). Would I want to subject kids to the same kind of predicament?
But then, despite the academic limitations, I am still competitive abroad, in my field at least. I couldn’t say the same for my kids when it’s their turn. I don’t know what is right or wrong now.
However, if let’s say I move to the US (because I can for my job), would I be able to afford sending them to college without them having to deal with debilitating student loans? Would they be able to cope with the feeling of displacement? Would I be able to closely watch over them as a single parent? Would I be able to afford housing without working two jobs because my work entails that I need to be in financial/business centers where resources are limited? For me to afford a home as a single mom, I have to locate myself in Hicksville (as my cousin calls rural backwater America), which is worse than being stuck here in the Philippines, methinks.
Maybe, just maybe, this is for the best in the meantime. They can emigrate after they graduate from college by applying for scholarships abroad for graduate studies. We have finite resources but here I can have those resources that I am rightfully entitled to. And I have a voice here that I can use to fight for equality and equity among the people to have access to those resources so we don’t have to develop the kiasu attitude.
Merry Christmas!
I celebrated with the cats. Had been video-calling my kids every now and then so they won’t feel abandoned. But I don’t think they have issues spending Christmas away from me since we are stuck together everyday anyway.
I had wine again to make me fall asleep.
But nope, I still ended up sewing a curtain panel to make me sleepy. I went to bed at almost 3 am. I realized I must finish more curtains because I only have 5 months before I move out. I want to have curtains up in our tiny house when we move in. They say it makes it feel like home immediately.
My kids at least have better food than I do. My sisters ordered lots of dishes for Christmas eve while I am going to have the chicken cordon bleu that my neighbor gave me. The era of slaving away in the kitchen for Christmas dinner and Christmas day festivities is long gone. After my father died, we just celebrated Christmas out of town, the first of which was spent in a beach resort. The pandemic forced my mom and my sisters to spend Christmas at home.
As for me, I had to cook today. I wanted fluffier rice so I cooked it in this claypot.
I must look for a bigger claypot for general cooking because rice is lovelier this way.
