Cheap Chip Tsao

Who the hell is Chip Tsao?

I was once again a couch potato one night at home when I came across a news report on TV about a chinese columnist expressing his angst, anger, hatred, or whatever you call against the Filipino nation. In his article entitled The War at Home, Chip Tsao discussed his rant against the Philippines for claiming Spratly Islands. 

Thanks to Google, I got the chance to read the full article. Here it goes.

* * *

The War at Home by Chip Tsao

The Russians sank a Hong Kong freighter last month, killing the seven Chinese seamen on board. We can live with that—Lenin and Stalin were once the ideological mentors of all Chinese people. The Japanese planted a flag on Diàoyú Island. That’s no big problem—we Hong Kong Chinese love Japanese cartoons, Hello Kitty, and shopping in Shinjuku, let alone our round-the-clock obsession with karaoke.

But hold on—even the Filipinos? Manila has just claimed sovereignty over the scattered rocks in the South China Sea called the Spratly Islands, complete with a blatant threat from its congress to send gunboats to the South China Sea to defend the islands from China if necessary. This is beyond reproach. The reason: there are more than 130,000 Filipina maids working as $3,580-a-month cheap labor in Hong Kong. As a nation of servants, you don’t flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter.

As a patriotic Chinese man, the news has made my blood boil. I summoned Louisa, my domestic assistant who holds a degree in international politics from the University of Manila, hung a map on the wall, and gave her a harsh lecture. I sternly warned her that if she wants her wages increased next year, she had better tell every one of her compatriots in Statue Square on Sunday that the entirety of the Spratly Islands belongs to China.

Grimly, I told her that if war breaks out between the Philippines and China, I would have to end her employment and send her straight home, because I would not risk the crime of treason for sponsoring an enemy of the state by paying her to wash my toilet and clean my windows 16 hours a day. With that money, she would pay taxes to her government, and they would fund a navy to invade our motherland and deeply hurt my feelings.

Oh yes. The government of the Philippines would certainly be wrong if they think we Chinese are prepared to swallow their insult and sit back and lose a Falkland Islands War in the Far East. They may have Barack Obama and the hawkish American military behind them, but we have a hostage in each of our homes in the Mid-Levels or higher. Some of my friends told me they have already declared a state of emergency at home. Their maids have been made to shout “China, Madam/Sir” loudly whenever they hear the word “Spratly.” They say the indoctrination is working as wonderfully as when we used to shout, “Long live Chairman Mao!” at the sight of a portrait of our Great Leader during the Cultural Revolution. I’m not sure if that’s going a bit too far, at least for the time being.

* * *

As I previously asked, who the hell is Chip Tsao?

Thanks once again to Google, I knew that Chip Tsao comes from a family of writers and editors. His father and mother worked in a magazine and newspaper in Hong Kong. He worked as a reported in BBC where he was soon accredited as a writer in UK.

I clearly understand where he is coming from - a point of view of a patriotic writer concerned of his country's welfare, like everyone else is.

However, he need not label other countries, or Philippines to be exact, such names such as, "a nation of servants." This I think is way beyond the border and responsibilities of a journalist.

I, myself, was once a journalist, working as an editor-in-chief of a student publication back in college and I know for a fact that being a writer, you should inculcate the limits and responsibilities of a journalist.

Though he already asked for forgiveness, and as far as I know, the Philippine embassy in Hong Kong already accepted it, it can't be denied that this writing caused a wound in every Filipino's heart. 

We may be a "nation of servants," but we are a nation of dignity and honor, of courage and bravery. 

TO Mr. CHIP TSAO, where has your ethics gone? If you want war, we will give you war.