“LOVE THE PHILIPPINES BY HEART” by Jaeyoun Kim
This was sent to me from my family’s email list and I’ve read it thru and its what I’ve been saying all along, we need to all stand together and love our country and help each other out. Will only then the Corruption stop, sure we go to Church, but then what? We are all around the globe, if each of us, just love our country, our neighbor…we can change it! If you read thru this from another person eyes and tells you what is missing, let’s all open our eyes and start changing it!! 🙂 Thanks Aunt Mary for sharing this and Thank you Jaeyoun Kim for letting us know what is lacking.
SUBJECT: KOREAN ESSAY WORTH READING
Please pass it to all Filipinos you know. The message goes:
As you know, we have plenty of Koreans currently studying in the Philippines to take advantage of our cheaper tuition fees and learn English at the same time.
This is an essay written by a Korean student i want to share with you. (Never mind the grammar; it’s the CONTENT that counts) Maybe it is time to think about this in the midst of all the confusion at present.
MY SHORT ESSAY ABOUT THE PHILIPPINES
Jaeyoun Kim
Filipinos always complain about the corruption in the Philippines . Do you really think the corruption is the problem of the Philippines ? I do not think so. I strongly believe that the problem is the lack of love for the Philippines .
Let me first talk about my country, Korea . It might help you understand my point..After the Korean War, South Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. Koreans had to start from scratch because entire country was destroyed after the Korean War, and we had no natural resources.
Koreans used to talk about the Philippines , for Filipinos were very rich in Asia . We envy Filipinos. Koreans really wanted to be well off like Filipinos. Many Koreans died of famine. My father & brother also died because of famine. Korean government was very corrupt and is still very corrupt beyond your imagination, but Korea was able to develop dramatically because Koreans really did their best for the common good with their heart burning with patriotism.
Koreans did not work just for themselves but also for their neighborhood and country. Education inspired young men with the spirit of patriotism.
40 years ago, President Park took over the government to reform Korea . He tried to borrow money from other countries, but it was not possible to get a loan and attract a foreign investment because the economic situation of South Korea was so bad. Korea had only three factories. So, President Park sent many mine workers and nurses to Germany so that they could send money to Korea to build a factory. They had to go through horrible experience..
In 1964, President Park visited Germany to borrow money. Hundred of Koreans in Germany came to the airport to welcome him and cried there as they saw the President Park . They asked to him, “President, when can we be well off?” That was the only question everyone asked to him. President Park cried with them and promised them that Korea would be well off if everyone works hard for Korea , and the President of Germany got the strong impression on them and lent money to Korea . So, President Park was able to build many factories in Korea . He always asked Koreans to love their country from their heart.
Many Korean scientists and engineers in the USA came back to Korea to help developing country
because they wanted their country to be well off. Though they received very small salary, they did their best for Korea . They always hoped that their children would live in well off country.
My parents always brought me to the places where poor and physically handicapped people live. They wanted me to understand their life and help them. I also worked for Catholic Church when I was in the army. The only thing I learned from Catholic Church was that we have to love our neighborhood. And, I have loved my neighborhood. Have you cried for the Philippines? I have cried for my country several times. I also cried for the Philippines because of so many poor people. I have been to the New Bilibid prison. What made me sad in the prison were the prisoners who do not have any love for their country. They go to mass and work for Church. They pray
everyday.
However, they do not love the Philippines . I talked to two prisoners at the maximum-security compound, and both of them said that they would leave the Philippines right after they are released from the prison. They said that they would start a new life in other countries and never come back to the Philippines
Many Koreans have a great love for Korea so that we were able to share our wealth with our neighborhood.. The owners of factory and company were distributed their profit to their employees fairly so that employees could buy what they needed and saved money for the
future and their children.
When I was in Korea , I had a very strong faith and wanted to be a priest. However, when I came to the Philippines , I completely lost my faith. I was very confused when I saw many unbelievable
situations in the Philippines . Street kids always make me sad, and I see them everyday. The Philippines is the only Catholic country in Asia , but there are too many poor people here.
People go to church every Sunday to pray, but nothing has been changed.
My parents came to the Philippines last week and saw this situation. They told me that Korea was much poorer than the present Philippines when they were young. They are so sorry that there are so many beggars and street kids. When we went to Pasangjan, I forced my parents to take a boat because it would fun. However, they were not happy after taking a boat. They said that they would not take the boat again because they were sympathized the boatmen, for the boatmen were very poor and had a small frame. Most of people just took a boat and enjoyed it.
But, my parents did not enjoy it because of love for them.
My mother who has been working for Catholic Church since I was very young told me that if we just go to mass without changing ourselves, we are not Catholic indeed. Faith should come with action. She added that I have to love Filipinos and do good things for them because all of us are same and have received a great love from God. I want Filipinos to love their neighborhood and country as much as they love God so that the Philippines will be well off..
I am sure that love is the keyword, which Filipinos should remember. We cannot change the sinful structure at once. It should start from person. Love must start in everybody, in a small scale and have to grow. A lot of things happen if we open up to love. Let’s put away our prejudices and look at our worries with our new eyes.
I discover that every person is worthy to be loved. Trust in love, because it makes changes possible. Love changes you and me. It changes people, contexts and relationships. It changes the world. Please love your neighborhood and country.
Jesus Christ said that whatever we do to others we do to Him. In the Philippines , there is God for people who are abused and abandoned. There is God who is crying for love. If you have a child, teach them how to love the Philippines . Teach them why they have to love their neighborhood and country. You already know that God also will be very happy if you love others.
That’s all I really want to ask you Filipinos.
Iam really moved by this essay. Apparently many of us are indeed, have the lack of love for the country, and lack of will to help alleviate our situation, but instead, are relying on politicians who are only good on promises.
A REACTION TO A KOREAN STUDENT'S ESSAY INSULTING FILIPINOS FOR BEING LESS NATIONALISTIC
We Filipinos don’t get progressive because we lack nationalism?
Before anyone makes such an insult against a particular race, he should first undertake the necessary research and some observations, like the following:
1. He should first read Philippine history books to know that we Filipinos have always fought for our freedom and our native land – from the times of Lapu-lapu, Raha Soliman, Sultan Kudarat, Dagohoy, Sumuroy, Palaris, and dozens of other local heroes, to Rizal, Bonifacio, Aguinaldo, Mabini, and Jacinto; to the World War II generation, when a million Filipinos perished; and recently to the 1986 People Power Revolution.
2. He should observe that Filipino farmers, fishermen, professionals, employees,industrial workers, service personnel, and others work hard here and abroad to earn a decent living for themselves, for their loved ones, and for their country.
3. He should also observe that we Filipinos help one another in our works and festivities, and during personal agonies, man-made disasters, or natural calamities.
4. He should also look at those Filipinos who volunteer in social service and humanitarian endeavors like the Red Cross and rescue efforts; those who extend financial assistance to poor patients in the hospitals, to students from poor families, and to other needy people; those who plant trees and care for nature, the environment, and animals; and those many other unsung heroes among our countrymen.
Patriotism and nationalism may not always be tangible in our everyday lives, but when the imperative call for it comes, Filipinos respond enthusiastically.
A humbling example of that is the national and local elections of May 10, 2010, in which 38 out of the 50.7 million registered Filipino voters (that was a 75% voters’ turnout) trooped to the polling precincts, and most endured the 2- to 6-hour long wait, the extreme heat and humidity, the hunger, and the exhaustion, just to be able to cast our votes. We did all those sacrifices because we want change – a good government and good leaders. Why do we want all those? Because we care for our country – that’s how simple it is.
The Philippines is also a defender of the democracy of the free world. It is one of those countries that dispatched soldiers to the Korean Peninsula in 1950-53 to defend the South Koreans against the suicidal invasion by the fanatical communist North Koreans. One of those sent soldiers was Fidel V. Ramos, who became our nation’s president in 1992-98.
I am saddened by the fact that after we helped Korea defend its freedom and democracy in the past, here now comes an irresponsible Korean sporadically spitting on our faces by calling us less patriotic, which is a severe insult to all of our painstaking and hard-earned efforts towards a better country.
The problem with some people is that because they are already prosperous, they feel that they already have the right to lecture other citizens about nationalism.
And why did that Korean single out the Philippines? Of the more than 230 countries in the world, more than half are poorer than ours. Why doesn’t that Korean go to the more than 100 countries poorer than the Philippines and also lecture the peoples there about this thing called patriotism?
For those who want to know the real reasons why the Philippines is a poor country, the following link may help:
http://emanila.com/philippines/2010/…-poor-co…
thank you for your comments and its great to learn more! I will check that link you posted…
thank you for your comments and its great to learn more! I will check that link you posted…
MORE REACTIONS TO A KOREAN STUDENT’S ESSAY INSULTING FILIPINOS FOR BEING LESS NATIONALISTIC
PATRIOTIC DEEDS ARE ALL NOTHING!
For some people, the patriotic deeds of the Filipinos in the past and in the present are all nothing!
The past is past; it doesn’t count anymore. And so the gallantry, sacrifices, blood, and tears of our ancestors, of our heroes and heroines, of the Filipinos who staged in 1896-98 the revolution against Spanish, of the Filipinos who fought in 1899-1906 the American forces, of the more than one million Filipinos who perished in the fight for freedom against the Japanese invaders in 1941-45, and of the Filipinos who braved armored tanks and warplanes during the peaceful 1986 People Power Revolution — all of these are nothing because they are already the past! They don’t prove anything at all that we Filipinos had done patriotic deeds in the past and that we could still do them again.
The majority of Filipino voters who demonstrated the spirit of burning patriotism in the May 10, 2010, national and local elections — they are all nothing!
The majority of Filipinos today who work hard and strive hard, here or abroad, to earn for themselves and for their loved ones, and to become productive and honorable citizens of our country — they are all nothing!
For some people, the patriotic deeds of the Filipinos in the past and in the present are all nothing! They don’t measure up to anything! They don’t count!
For those people, the one that counts is that Korean student’s essay!
Purihin ang langit! Yepeee!
TRAITORS
Those people who obstinately cling to that racist Korean student’s essay belong to the breed of individuals who love believing what foreigners say against Filipinos.
Instead of defending their very own race, the race of their ancestors, parents, and children, they rather clap the insults of the foreigners…. See More
They are no different from those canines who betrayed their own countrymen to the Japanese during World War II.
If the Japanese invade again our country today, those canines will be the first to their point fingers at, and betray, their countrymen to the invaders.
STUPID BELIEFS
The belief that rich nations are rich because their citizens are patriotic and that poor nations are poor because their citizens lack patriotism is no different from such other stupid beliefs as the following:
1. Handsome or good-looking guys cannot commit rape; only the ugly men can.
2. Rich people don’t steal; only the poor do.
3. White people don’t shoplift; only the blacks do.
Most countries and most citizens of the world are poor. If we would follow that stupid belief on patriotism, it would appear that it is only the wealthy people who are and who know how to be patriotic, while the poor citizens don’t know how to love their respective nations.
My Thoughts On Koreans: Do They Really Love Their Country?
According to the data of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, in 2009, South Korea is the 15th largest economy and 9th biggest exporter out of the 182 surveyed countries in the world. It manufactures and exports electronics, computers, cameras, household appliances, cars, construction equipment, ships, and other high-tech and industrial products, amounting to more than US$350 billion a year.
(My own country, the Philippines, is ranked as the world’s 47th largest economy and 55th biggest exporter with more than US$50 billion export revenues each year.)
From being one of the poorest and the most backward up to the 1950’s, South Koreans are now among the world’s wealthiest peoples.
Koreans believe that they have achieved all of those economic successes because of discipline, perseverance, and most of all, patriotism, their passionate love for the native land. They do love their country.
Really?
Dr. Syngman Rhee was elected as the first president of the Republic of Korea when it was established in 1948. He was reelected thrice, but he suffered unpopularity because of corruption, fraud, and terrorism committed by his political party right under his nose.
The people deplored his third reelection in March 1960 because of widespread electoral fraud. They rioted in the cities, sacked the homes of corrupt government officials, and clashed with the police. The uprising forced Rhee a month later to flee the country and settle in Hawaii with his family and with their loot.
Corruption, terrorism, and fraud tarnished the image of the “Father of Korean Independence” and the country’s very first president.
Rhee’s successor, John M. Chang, began a four-year term in July 1960, but was overthrown ten months later by a military rebellion led by General Park Chung-hee. Park claimed that the military had to intervene to save the country from further corruption. He led the country until he got assassinated in 1979.
Chun Doo Hwan staged a coup in 1980 and became the nation’s 12th president (1981-88). In 1996, he was sentenced to death after having been found guilty of mutiny, treason, and corruption. His successor, Roh Tae Woo, who served from 1988 to 1993, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the similar offenses. They were soon pardoned by Pres. Kim Young-sam.
On May 19, 2000, South Korea’s Prime Minister Park Tae-joon, one of the country’s prominent industrialists, resigned from office after a court ruled that he had evaded taxes by entrusting real estate to a third person. The court ordered him to pay the government US$1.2 million in taxes (AFP, May 20, 2000).
In April-June 2001, the South Korean government arrested 251 banking agency officials and businessmen for corruption and bribery, which cost the country US$1.5 billion. One of those arrested was a former vice defense minister who accepted bribes in return for business favors (AFP, June 30, 2001).
On November 30, 2001, South Korea’s finance minister apologized to the public after a state-run audit agency reported that, based on a six-month investigation of 87 banks and non-banking financial institutions, there were 182 cases of misuse or embezzlement by the recipients of public money amounting to US$5.64 billion. The agency asked prosecutors to investigate 44 individuals for allegedly embezzling public funds (Reuters, December 1, 2001).
The culture of Korean corruption has already made it into the international arena.
In December 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice ordered the South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., the world’s largest maker of memory chips for computers and other gadgets, and its U.S. subsidiary, Samsung Semiconductor Ltd., to pay a US$300 million fine to settle accusations that it secretly conspired with industry rivals to fix prices and cheat customers.
The justice department had earlier also ordered Samsung’s rivals, Hynix (another Korea-based company) and Infineon Technologies AG (of Germany), to pay US$185 million and US$160 million, respectively, for the same offenses (AP, December 16, 2005).
My own country also has the vicious problems of graft and corruption. But I have yet to hear a Philippine-based corporation or any other business firms being slapped with a severe punishment amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars by the government of another country.
In May 2009, Roh Moo-hyun, the country’s 16th president (2003-08), jumped to his death in the mountains of rural Korea. He was the first national leader to undertake suicide because of bribery and corruption charges. The corruption committed must have been so massive and shameful that they only possible way out was self-extermination.
Koreans project to the world that they are prosperous because they do love their country.
They are prosperous, there’s nothing to argue about it. But if they really love their country, why is it that graft and corruption has permeated their culture and society? Why is it that it has always been rampant, be it in the government or private sector?
I am not making any accusations that Koreans don’t love their country. I am not like many Koreans who get intoxicated when they insult the Filipinos by calling us less patriotic.
I am only asking why graft and corruption has always accompanied the vaunted Korean patriotism.
ANG PANG-UUTO NG MGA KOREANO SA MGA PILIPINO
Ang pang-uuto ay isang ugaling pangmamaliit, panghahamak, o pang-uulol sa isang tao ng kapwa niya. Sa ngayon, naging paborito nang utuin ng mga Koreano tayong mga Pilipino. Narito ang ilan sa mga pang-uuto nila.
PANG-UUTO #1
Noong araw daw, noong dekada 1950-60, kinaiinggitan daw ng mga Koreano ang mga Pilipino dahil mayaman daw tayo samantalang mahirap sila. Inggit na inggit daw sila sa atin noon.
Ang totoo, hindi pa naging mayaman ang Pilipinas kahit kailan. Hanggang ngayon, nananatili itong nasa ikatlong daigdig (third world) at may istatus na developing country (bansang papaunlad pa lamang).
Noong dekada 1950-60, karamihan sa mga Pilipino ay mahihirap at dukha dahil nakatira sa mga bahay-kubo, walang kotse, walang telepono, at walang radyo, telebisyon, bentilador, erkon, ref, makinang panlaba, at iba pang kasangkapang pambahay.
Dukha ang mga Pilipino, tapos kinaiinggitan daw ng mga Koreano?
Bakit hindi kinainggitan noon ng mga Koreano ang mga bansa na talagang mayaman na noon pa man, gaya na lamang ng Estados Unidos, Japan, Alemanya, Britanya, Pransiya, Italya, Canada, Olandes, Australia, at iba pa? Ang Japan, kapitbahay na nila, bakit hindi nila kinainggitan noon?
Mayayaman ang mga tao sa mga bansang iyan. Sagana sa pagkain. Nakatira sa magagandang bahay. Mga de-kotse. May telepono. At halos kompleto sa mga kasangkapang pambahay. Sila ang may pinakamataas na antas ng pamumuhay (standard of living) sa buong mundo.
Hindi totoo na kinainggitan tayo noon ng mga Koreano. Sino ba naman kasi ang maiinggit sa isang nakatira sa gigiray-giray na bahay-kubo at salat sa malalamon?
Nang-uuto lang ang mga Koreano. Gusto lang nila tayong asarin at hamakin.
Pang-uuto! Nagpapauto naman ang marami riyan.
PANG-UUTO #2
May isang estudyanteng Koreano na sumulat ng isang sanaysay, kung saan sinabi nitong kulang daw sa pagkamakabayan tayong mga Pilipino. Hindi raw natin mahal ang Pilipinas.
Bakit silang mga Koreano? Mahal ba nila ang bansa nila? Kung mahal nila ang bansa nila, bakit talamak ang korapsyon sa lipunan nila?
Kung mahal nila ang bansa nila, wala sanang korapsyon. Kaso, sa pamahalaan o pribadong sektor man, laganap ang pangungurakot. Kurakot ang mga naging presidente nila, mula kay Dr. Syngman Rhee, ang una nilang pangulo (1948-60) na pinatalsik nila dahil sa korapsyon, hanggang kay Roh Moo-hyun, ang ika-16 na pangulo nila (2003-08) na nagpakamatay noong Mayo 2009 dahil sa isyu ng korapsyon pa rin. Maging sa ibang bansa, may mga korporasyong Koreano na naparurusahan dahil sa pangungurakot at pandaraya.
Bilang karagdagan tungkol sa talamak na korapsyong Koreano, paki-klik ito:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000736890069&v=app_2347471856#!/note.php?note_id=117933141576533
Ang lakas ng sikmura ng estudyanteng Koreanong iyon na pangaralan tayong mga Pilipino tungkol sa nasyonalismo, gayong ang dapat niyang inuna ay ang kanyang mga kababayan. Pinagduduro niya tayong mga Pilipino dahil daw mga mutain tayo, samantalang silang mga Koreano ay mapuputik naman ang mga mukha.
Pang-uuto! Nagpapauto naman ang marami riyan.
PANG-UUTO #3
Mayaman ang Korea; kaya, silang mga Koreano, matitino sila. Mayaman sila e. Hindi nila magagawang magnakaw, mandaya, at higit sa lahat, ang mangurakot. Imposible iyan. Mayaman sila e. At mahal na mahal nila ang bansa nila. Mayaman sila e. Tayo namang mga Pilipino, dahil mahirap tayo, hindi tayo matitino, mga kurakot tayo, at hindi natin mahal ang bansa natin. Mahirap tayo e.
Ayon sa mga tala ng IMF at World Bank, sa 182 na bansa na sinuri nila, mula sa pinakamalaki hanggang sa pinakamaliit na pambansang ekonomiya, pang-47 ang Pilipinas noong 2008 at pang-48 noong 2009. Bilang patunay, paki-klik ito:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nominal%29
Ang isang ibig sabihin ng mga tala na iyan ay maraming bansa ang mas mahirap pa sa Pilipinas. Nangangahulugan din ang mga iyan na karamihan sa mga bansa sa mundong ito ay mahihirap at mga dukha.
Para sa mga Koreano, silang mayayamang bansa lang ang matitino, ang masisipag, ang matatapat, ang mga hindi kurakot, at ang marunong magmahal sa sariling bansa.
Kung susundan natin ang pang-uuto na ito, lalabas na karamihan sa mahigit anim na bilyong tao sa kaisa-isa nating planetang ito ay mga ungas at siraulo!
Pang-uuto! Nagpapauto naman ang marami riyan.
ISYU NG ISIP
Bakit ba maraming tao ang nauuto ng iba? Ang mga uto-uto kasi ay iyong mga tao na hindi nagbabasa, nagmamasid, o nagsasaliksik. O kung nagbabasa, nagmamasid, o nagsasaliksik man sila, hindi naman nila nauunawaan ang kanilang nababasa, napagmamasdan, o nasasaliksik. Dahil ganoon sila, agad-agad silang nagpapaniwala sa mga pang-uuto sa kanila.
Ang buong akala pa nila, ang mga Pilipino na ang pinakamasamang lahi sa buong mundo. At dahil ganoon nga raw, para sa kanila, dapat mahiya lagi tayong mga Pilipino sa ibang lahi sa tuwing may mga nagagawa tayong pagkakamali.
Kung lalawakan lamang nila ang kanilang mga isip, malalaman nila na masahol pa ang ibang bansa. Pagdating na lamang sa paramihan ng mga magnanakaw, mamamatay-tao, bilanggo, krimen, at iba pa, nangunguna na riyan ang Estados Unidos, India, Rusya, Britanya, Alemanya, Pransiya, Japan, at iba pa.
Bilang patunay, paki-klik ang mga ito:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_car_the-crime-car-thefts
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rob-crime-robberies
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_dru_off-crime-drug-offences
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_pri-crime-prisoners
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_tot_cri-crime-total-crimes
Pero para sa mga uto-uto, tayong mga Pilipino na ang pinakamasama. Mga uto-uto e.
– – –
Ako, mahinang estudyante ako noong araw, lalo na sa Ingles, matematika, at agham. Pasang-awa lang ang mga grado ko. Kung hindi pa naawa sa akin ang mga guro ko, baka hindi ako nakatapos ng kahit hay-iskul man lamang. At magpahanggang ngayon, mahina pa rin ako sa numero at kuwentahan, at sumesemplang pa rin ang Ingles ko.
Pero sa kabila ng lahat ng mga kapintasang iyan, mapalad pa rin ako dahil hindi ako uto-uto!
…
I Love Her Essay.
I am Filipino and I have an open mind. I appreciate this Korean’s constructive criticism. It was done in a polite and helpful way. Please dear kababayan, this Korean DOES HAVE good points!
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