2 Answers to 2 Questions: Are some groups of people really manipulative? How do we deal with them?

========= original e-mail slightly edited =========
bro,

do you by any chance know if there's an opening for elementary teachers or lifestyle writers? please let me know..

it's just that i feel so bad. i've requested a two week vacation leave from my office. they said yes but they are holding my salary. i don't think they'll take me back after two weeks. sorry to say this, but koreans s**k! (sorry for the language). they are very manipulative and they break, always break their promises..

anyway, il keep on searching..thanks! so if you want to work for koreans, DON"T even think about it.

take care!

sis

========= Kuya Ronjie's reply =========

sis,

the koreans i've met (outside of the country) are all very nice. this is just opinion but i think many koreans, japanese, chinese, americans, british, etc. people who set up their businesses here are generally like how you have described them. their being far away from their hometowns and having to work, work, work and meet the expectations of their superiors and peers back at home (i.e. they need to "prove" and/or "provide") puts a lot of pressure on them (and perhaps meanwhile they do not need to meet any kind of expectations to us here) and sometimes what happens is they "share" the pressure with the pinoys who work for them here. but i think this happens more here in our country (try working abroad in their country and i believe it is not like that at all). i think this happens because most filipinos allow it. it happens i think because we all need jobs and there are more filipinos than jobs so the competition for jobs is quite fierce. so, many resort to "accepting" these "unacceptable" practices by foreign employers. some people, just to keep their jobs, would accept very low salaries which in turn creates a ripple effect in the employment market. "accept this low salary under these very harsh conditions or don't get a job at all" is what is happening.

actually it's not just these foreigners who resort to such "unacceptable" practices. because pinoy employees "accept" these practices here, even some pinoy employers do the same things also.

to some of them, foreign or pinoy employers alike, they "cannot afford" employees taking a vacation leave; i.e. employees who are to them give high production output compared to their salaries. if they will hire a new person to replace you, those new employees would be paid less but their production output would not yet be so high as that you were providing. or, maybe their business will just come to a halt if you do go on a holiday - but they can't afford to pay you or treat you better even if you really deserved it, just so you won't want to go on a holiday.

i think the right thing for pinoys to do is to stop working for these employers who practice such "unacceptable" practices. i think God does not want us to be miserable in our jobs. if we were in miserable jobs, it is because it is our choice to stay there.

likewise, God does not want employers to do such "unacceptable" employment practices. but we can't do anything about others - what we can just do is when we are in that position, when we are the boss or the employer, we should remember what is good and what is not good, and do only what is good. that is actually even more difficult, without prayer and faith and friends (i.e. a community) who shares the same faith and prays for you.

a friend of a friend became a city youth leader and so he automatically became a councilor of the city. he told himself he will not give in to the corrupt practices that many in the generation before us is considering as if it is normal and acceptable practice. after a year he told my friend that he can't do anything but give in and join the bandwagon of corruption.

i think in that situation, as well as in our situations, the key is faith. in this sense, this also means knowing what is good and what is not, and sticking to doing only the good.

although you may have just tried to resign instead, congratulations to you as you have taken the choice of not tolerating such "unacceptable" employment practices by choosing not to work for that company. it's not because they are koreans or whoever. for example, i've heard of some other non-filipinos (and non-koreans) who employ people for just P50 a day at a time when the minimum wage was P250 a day. why do these employers do that? because the employees accept that wage! it is everywhere, and not just with certain korean employers, and so on.

again, know what is good and what is not good in the eyes of God (i.e. what does God want for you?), and then make your choice. hopefully, you and every other filipino make the right choice. we'll include that in our prayers. :-)

Remember:
1. Are some groups of people really manipulative? No. But some people are, therefore...
2. How do we deal with manipulative people? Make your choice. The right choice is to not accept the unacceptable.

God bless us all!