Racist Remarks of Kaohsiung, Mayor Underrates Filipino Overseas Workers
The mayor of Kaohsiung, Taiwan Han Kuo-yu had made public his racist comments about OFWs working in their country.
The mayor was in a meeting with most of the industrial leaders of the island. He was there to accumulate investments for Kaohsiung.
Also, the city lacks multilingual workers. The government of Taiwan is continuously doing their best to give its citizens services that would enhance their English proficiency. The government of Taiwan primarily eyes the services of workers from the Philippines to help them with their goal of providing English proficiency to Taiwan citizens. Taiwan has budgeted NT $47 million for that program.
The country of Taiwan is exerting great efforts to attract international talent and encouraging them to stay in the country for a long time by offering comfortable living quarters.
It was suggested by the industrial leaders there that the Mayor should outsource manpower for white collar jobs from the Philippines to make up for the lack of medium-skilled and high-skilled manpower in the island.
Update:
Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-Yu Defends himself against Haters
The mayor then side commented that having “Marias” as teachers of the Taiwan population would be a slap in the face of Taiwan people. He also stated that this issue will have to be resolved and overcome internally.
“Maria” is the term used by Taiwan citizens to call Filipino Overseas Workers and most of them are female domestic helpers.
Comments from different people were thrown to the Kaohsiung Mayor for his comments about the OFWs. An example is from a Japanese language teacher who commented that professional qualifications should not be based on the person’s race and skin color.
Business Today reposted a Facebook post from a popular writer that Filipinos have it bad since for a low pay they work for extended hours and sacrifice being separated from their loved ones just so they can provide for them and give them a better life.
OFWs are professionally competitive and skillful. Calling the OFWs as “Marias” means that they should only be doing “Maria” jobs is racist and unfair.
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