Recalling a Toxic View About Menial Workers During My Elementary to High School Days

I remembered writing about the importance of low-level work (read here). This reminds me of my elementary to high school days. The time came when my grades started to get low because of addiction to video games and television. It was a non-stop battle with my parents because of my grades. It could also be a non-stop battle with the teachers. Again, you know how the Philippine education system has been so outdated (read here) that it's almost similar to what the late Lee Kuan Yew found in China. Lee's findings was that Deng Xiaoping inherited a China with an outdated education system. I could remember how the Filipino textbook (Tagalog actually) tried to talk about the importance of education. One of the lessons taught was about being a carpenter who has to climb up tall places or be an office worker in an air-conditioned office. Yet, being an office worker is no walk in the park either.

I think the way menial work is looked down on is disturbing. When Odette struck--I realized even more I had no idea or the skill to climb up those difficult places. What happens is that these menial workers who are looked down up end up doing the work the "elites" can't do. An engineer sure is a glamorous job or title. However, an engineer's blueprints are useless without construction workers. If nobody mixes cement, if nobody does the carpentry, if nobody does this and that--an engineer is but useless. Engineers may have been laying out the plans for the hotel. However, can a hotel truly survive without waiters, maids, and janitors? Again, the answer is really a big no. I can't imagine having a hotel and you don't have waiters, maids, and janitors. If they weren't there then who will prepare the hotel for guests? If there were no chefs and receptionists then who will cook and make reservations?

This made me think about how people want to study hard to avoid becoming janitors and carpenters. I always felt I was stupid because my grades in high school weren't good. I barely passed fourth year under the K+10 curriculum. I was told though that taking Hotel & Restaurant Management (HRM) isn't the end of the world, that if it was "so easy" then the course should be non-existent. Instead, it was really a problem so many teachers were misinformed that the HRM course required an English Grade Point Average (GPA) of at least 80%. I dreaded getting into HRM back in my fourth-year of high school then I ended up regretting not taking it later in life. Driving around and food-tripping made me wish I took HRM instead of business administration. Now, HRM is part of the School of Business and Economics in the University of San Carlos (USC).

This is a big reality. Would you be proud of your father was a janitor (or any "dirty" job) or a drug dealer to pay for your tuition? Sure, there's big money in drug dealing but like cryptocurrency--it's easy come and easy go. Instead, think of the father who works as a janitor to send his children to school. What never crossed my mind though (until later) was that Lucio Tan Sr. was a janitor while studying for college. Instead, Tan Sr. decided to do his work as a janitor until he graduated from B.S. Chemical Engineering at the Fareastern University. Some of the richest people started out as "low-level" menial workers. Besides, what's wrong with doing menial work? We need to all learn to do some form of menial work because one day--you might need to do it to earn a living!

Filipino Manufacturing's Golden Age ENDED Because of the Filipino First Policy

Here's a picture from the Dose of Disbelief Page on Facebook. Here's something that it wrote: Filipinos once trusted locally made products more than imports. Before World War II, the label "Made in the Philippines" carried prestige, not stigma, reflecting a strong sense of national confidence in domestic production. Local products such as shoes, cigars, textiles, furniture, and food were often preferred over imports. This preference was rooted in the belief that local goods were better adapted to local conditions, tastes, and were often of comparable, if not superior, quality. This period showcases a strong historical era of consumer nationalism and thriving local industries. We need to look into the context of Filipino history If we look at the Philippine history timeline , we must account for 1935-1940, during which the Philippines was under the Commonwealth government. Independence was declared from Spain on June 12, 1898. However, there was a transition period w...

External Validations, like Masters and Doctorate, Mean NOTHING with a LOUSY Education System

I have the tendency to use my MBA as a license to avoid criticism. It's a real problem that some people use their credentials and/or academic achievements to try and win an argument. One incident I wrote about was Rep. Raoul Abellar Manuel flexing his "smarts" by using his cum laude degree to win the argument . It was all about how I would often say, "You're the moron because I have the MBA and you don't." There are times I felt like taking an MBA would make up for my "moral shortcomings" during high school when I was barely passing (and the passing rate was 80% , which is rather high), that I wasn't having honors, and that there was this saying, " Thou grades shalt determine thy future! " That, of course, has led to the reality where cheating is prevalent . I wanted to make a review. I took my MBA in 2011 and graduated in 2014. I always felt that the MBA program was what I needed to become "invincible". It was also at ...

No Hard-to-Earn Economics Degree is Required to Know That a Welfare, Anti-FDI Philippines is Destined to FAIL

GMA News When it comes to constitutional reform, I'm afraid one of the worst sources quoted would come from the Makabayan Bloc. Some people I face who are so against FDI also want to end the OFW program. The solution comes out rather absurd, as the Philippines must have its own state where it's all beg and beg . It would be like: "Free education for all! No to FDI for schools!" "Free lunch in school!" "No to open FDI! The government must fund our local production!" " Increase the salaries, lower the prices of goods! " (which is just plain bad accounting ) That's just a few of the crazy demands that have been given! My favorite question has always been, "Where will you get the funding?" The usual answers can be: " Print more money! " "The government should just make it a law!" "Tax the rich all the more!" which can often be accompanied by, " After all, it's the fault of the rich that p...

Having the BADLY NEEDED Tenacity to Hold My PSEi Related Investments During INEVITABLE Paper Losses

I decided to do a portfolio review, especially because Christmas to New Year is around the corner . I thought about checking my AXA Chinese Tycoon Fund. For the sake of confidentiality , I wouldn't give out the exact loss. I was tempted to sell my AXA Chinese Tycoon Fund (which was at a paper loss , not an actual loss) and go for cryptocurrency . However, after looking at the ghost of Quadriga-CX Crypto Scam made I said, "I need to stick to what Warren Buffett said about the stock market." Buffett's advice doesn't require an MBA or even a PhD in business administration to understand them. Instead, I was looking at these lessons that Buffett such as: If I'm not willing to open to own a stock for 10 minutes, I shouldn't think of owning it for ten years! Definitely no day trading for me! The stock market is a device that transfers money from impatient people to patient people. I have to be more patient as the stock market inevitably corrects itself, unless t...

How Foreign Direct Investments Can Also Help in Local Philippine Agriculture

I must admit that I'm getting tired of all the misrepresentations of foreign direct investment (FDI) on Facebook. Such misrepresentations can come from "think-tanks" such as IBON Foundation, Bayan Muna, and the Philippine Anti-Fascist League. That's why I wrote a couple of posts such as (1) how we need to focus on environmentally-friendly business practices (read here ), (2) that FDIs don't always lead to environmental degradation (read here ), and (3) asking the question if you're willing to support local businesses that destroy the environment (read here ). Besides, economic protectionism isn't a guarantee that environment will be friendly. Both North Korea and Venezuela are known to have very bad environmental practices. Just reading about them can make you dizzy. Protectionism ended up destroying agriculture than protecting it Mao Zedong's "great leap forward" was evidence In contrast to what those "think tanks" want us to belie...

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