Couple things to touch on before I write the post I had planned on writing. First – about that viral video of that Asian Chicagoan getting beat up by seven or so other people. Yes, it was very difficult and disgusting to watch, but the truth is such things happen daily on the southside of Chicago, and some of the assailants were Asian. You can still classify it as discrimination; there are divisions within ethnic communities solely based on country of birth (that is, immigrants vs first generation Asian-Americans), but it's unknown that the victim was targeted solely for that (which would make it closer to a hate crime). Also, violence like this happens daily at schools, but it just happened to be captured and put online for the nation to see. I'm in no way asking for leniency for these perpetrators, but had they not tried to brag online, they probably would've gotten away with their heinous (but painfully common) crime. I'm happy the correct parties have been arrested and the victim will get justice, and I hope this will lead to more anti-bullying measures, but there's a larger issue at stake than what was on YouTube.
Secondly, the internet blackout protesting the SOPA and PIPA bills. I can't say much more than sites like Reddit have written about, but it boils down to this – these bills are vague enough that they can be abused by big corporations to the point where websites will be forced to cover themselves legally instead of innovate new features. Imagination and technology will be stifled in the name of profits for companies with strong political ties. If you're reading this sentence, and thus accustomed to getting entertainment or information from the internet, you owe it to yourself to send a message to your elected officials that you are staunchly opposed to these measures. Fight for the future.
Back to my intended subject – this past week both a close friend of mine and my mom took off for the Philippines to take on medical missions. I know my mom took in the neighborhood of fifteen hundred toothbrushes with her...but no toothpaste! I'm sure there's enough Colgate or baking soda to find there, but I still found it funny that she didn't bring any with her. I guess with all the sugary sweet foods over there, teaching oral hygiene has to be a plus. When I went there last year, I found many of the foods way too sweet for my palate. Good thing there's a ton of salty food for me there too!
I was conversing with Feeny (aka Gephine from BakitWhy) about her friend who is over in the Philippines, also on a medical mission. Feeny's main marketable skill is photography, while mine is website coding. Uh, won't someone send us over to the Philippines on a charitable mission? I work for a global company – couldn't they find some dollars to send me over there on a project? And I'm sure I'll need someone to come along to document my travels.
Of course, I'm not trying to say you (assuming you're a fellow Pilipino American) should totally base your career choices on how you could help the Philippines. Follow what you love to do and what you're good at, etc. But if you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to go back home and help, you should take it! There is some concern that as generations of families are born in the States, they are further removed from their families over in the Philippines. These missions seem like a great way to visit your homeland and give back to a place where your ancestors, culture, and values came from.
Heck, do it because no one's giving me the chance to do it. Come on, won't anyone pay for me to go overseas and teach some countrymen how to code in CSS and Javascript?
