Mr. Pinoy
When Mr. Pinoy was in the Philippines, he studied Thai. More than ten years ago before he came to Siam, he learned to say, “Sawadee krap!” which means, “Greetings!”, “Chan Rak Khun.” which means, “I Love You.” And he could say the numbers one to ten in Thai. Wow!
I think learning a little Thai language is not enough. And learning a language takes a long time. But starting to learn the Thai language with interest is not easy. This is a challenge. If you can ask a Thai person to translate and say slowly the Thai meaning of, “Who sells chicken’s egg?” Mr. Pinoy tried hard to say this many times, “Krai-khai-guy-kai?” You can hear a Thai person says each syllable and it sounds the same but in different tones. Nowadays, Mr. Pinoy is still unable to say such short Thai tongue-twister correctly.
The first challenge to Mr. Pinoy in coming to Thailand was the language. And the second challenge was the spicy chilli food. If ever Mr. Pinoy kept on complaining the language and the food, he became miserable. How did he overcome these challenges? He overcame these challenges by learning with patient, accepting and adjusting the changes of his life.
The third challenge was working with Thai Teachers. Whatever a teacher says, represents his/her attitude. And a Filipino Teacher knows how to get along with people, fellow teachers and students. If ever Mr. Pinoy kept on complaining, he was a misfit. How did he overcome this challenge? He overcame it by accepting the condition that without work meaning there was no income, looking for work was no easy and the only way to face the situation was to live like Romans do.
Mr. Pinoy is a teacher and one of the Filipino expatriates in Thailand.
Written by: F. David
filcon@yahoo.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ajarn_ph
Mar 5th, 2008 at 12:20 am
There is NO issue on the FLEXIBILITY of a Filipino who works in a foreign country.
We don’t need to COMPLAIN in order to get results. Remember that such strategy is not in our list. We are a growing society in Thailand and certainly “live like Romans do” is indeed a wise principle to live up to but we SUGGEST in order that we give the IMPRESSION that we Filipinos, though flexible, are also competent.
To be very specific, on the issue of SALARY, we do accept what they offer to us but with the reason that WE agreed because teaching is after all a NOBLE teaching profession and NOT because we HAVE NO CHOICE and that we simply SETTLE FOR LEFTOVERS.
It is the IMPRESSION of some Thai schools that NEED to be changed…the impression that we TAKE ALL WHAT IS THROWN AT US OUT OF DESPERATE NEEDS.
Thus the only way to change this impression is definetly NOT to COMPLAIN but to show them that we DESERVE better ( given the hiring and renumeration situation in Thailand) by making ourselves more aware and COMPETENT!
And the only way to make ourselves more AWARE and COMPETENT is to COMMIT ourselves to professional growth and share information so that the Thai community sees our IMPORTANCE and not because the NEED!
Mr. Pinoy is indeed one of the Filipino expats in Thailand and he has two choices: the CHOICE to stay IDLE because he is OK with what he has or the CHOICE to help in uplifting the present situation of not just by HIMSELF but all those who are concerned.
As far as I am concerned, I am a Mr. Pinoy who is OK with the situation that I am into but I chose to help in making other Filipinos’ life in Thailand fair and just not by COMPLAINING to authorities but by SUGGESTING to them better ways in making my contribution in Thailand worth it!
Good day!