Fresh from there, let me summarize what I got ka.
Manila has grown so much with lots of construction going on yet I noticed that it’s similar ka.
General impressions:
- It is so very modernized and the traffic is jammed so the Filipinos have to plan quite well. We were advised to leave our hotel at least 3-4 hours in advance ka. The roads are smaller than ours, though.
- There should be a widening gap from the types of buildings and congested little houses. Life for city and well-to-do people looks like a wonderful one with fancy restaurants and good food all around. On the contrary, my heart sank when I saw very small boys sitting pitifully by the roadside, waiting to beg for money ka. Post-corrupt leadership era has changed the country into a new chapter of life with different issues and challenges to handle capitalism too ka.
- People were kind and really hospitable. I feel we’re losing our warmth and caring the Thai namjai saa laew when comparing with the Filipinos as they gave very impressive services that you kind of felt that it was from their heart lae ka!
- They depend on exporting workers so much that they have special lines for them. Can we compete with our English proficiency and attitude toward ‘lower status’ of jobs???
- Felt so good to be in the ASEAN region as my female Filipino counterpart and I could hold hands in public and wouldn’t be mistaken for being a lesbian couple ka. Our cultures make our relationships easier in different ways from the west ka….though we seem to move toward that situation na ka.
Regional issues:
- China was mentioned very often as quite a few countries seemed to be cautious about its dominance in the region.
- More countries are focusing on youth mobility with funding support from their ministries.
- English proficiency is of high priority, especially in Malaysia. The government plans to increase Fulbright English Teaching Assistants from 50 this year to 75, 100 and 300 in 3 years ka…..what are we doing and is it a serious sustainable effort?
- Japan was hit hard by the Tsunami and New Zealand with an earthquake so now, we’re getting close to having a standard operation procedures while getting more alert to education our people about safety and precautious measures in time of emergency like food and water to last for 3-5 days at least. In Japan, one company produced helmets and it gave out helmets to all the staff for them to walk back home when tsunami hit them so Fulbright Japan has started providing it too ka.
- We could expect delay in getting funding from the State Department for next fiscal year because this is an election year. With Hillary Clinton announcing that she won’t seek the second term even if President Obama is elected, some new policies will be seen…..could be quite similar to our country to see new projects from new leadership lae ka!
- More funding from the US will be geared for Asia and the Pacific with reduced budget for Western Europe.
Cheers.
Porntip
Fri 3/30/2012 11:12 AM
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