Pinoy Abroad

An interesting book arrived in Vancouver via airmail. It is a relevant book because more and more Filipinos are immigrating to Canada. It is "Pinoy Abroad – Perspectives On Philippine Life In Hong Kong", written by Isabel Taylor Escoda. She’s a well-known English writer in Southeast Asia and for the first time wrote in Taglish. I was never a fan of Taglish because the linguistic mix transformed Tagalog into a street slang spoken by people whose country seemed to have lost its national identity.

But to my surprise, Escoda’s Taglish is different. It is clever, witty, sardonic, insightful, citified and very-Filipino. Escoda’s tongue-in-cheek style can be best described as a provocative rant that’s not angry but serious-funny. She makes "bibinga" of society’s sacred cows and criticized the excesses of Filipino culture. Escoda’s writing has one recurring theme and it is about Filipino migrant workers, an increasing number in Canada. She probed into stories of overseas Filipinas’ struggle and oppression, a situation that’s not happening only in Hong Kong but even in Canada.

Vancouver Sun’s business page recently focused on how Vancouver’s animation studios successfully linked with companies in the Philippines. In particular, Atomic Cartoons who produced the hit Atomic Betty which airs worldwide on the Cartoon Network in the US.

Atomic Cartoons is currently working with over 50 employees at the Philippine Animation Studio (PASI) in Manila. They are now working on a new series called Captain Flamingo. The Can-Fil relationship is driven by a co-production treaty between Canada and the Philippines that allows the cost of financing to be shared.

For a change, we hear the government body in the Philippines is quick to respond. And no corruption deals have been heard yet from the Manila side. Foreign companies are beginning to discover the talented pool of local comic artists with no language problem and at the same time musical. It is a fact that no other Southeast Asian countries can boast of many cultures, traditional Asian, American, Latin and Spanish.

Filipino government officials, business leaders and entrepreneurs should read the book "Everything I needed to know about business… I learned from a Canadian", compiled by Leonard Brody & David Raffa (published by Wiley Press). The book may inspire them to improve the business conditions/practices in the Philippines. It tells the story of 16 of Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs who share the common passion, the courage and sensibility to appreciate risk, a sense for innovation and the ability to lead others in pursuit of common goals.

It is assumed though that the politicians in power are not major blocks in their attempts to be part of the action. Canada has an advantage because Canadians generally have three fundamental characteristics that made them champions in the business sphere.

• It is a nation of listeners and observers.

• Innovation has beet at the core of the Canadian soul.

• Canadians understand the fine art of compromise.

Fortunately, Canada is one of the few liberal democracies in the world that was created without the hand of conflict pushing behind its back. The end result is that The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor ranked Canada as one of the top 10 business nations in the world and fourth in the world in business efficiency and rated Canada as the third most competitive economy on the planet in year 2004.

Reading the chapter entitled "When Time Is The Enemy", I can’t help but think of the Philippines. It mentioned that to be successful in business, one need moral authority. Do we have this in RP? The author wrote "The high need for moral authority is the moderating characteristic that channels the high needs for social influence in a positive direction. The result is leaders who are altruistic, group-focussed and ethical, and behavior that promotes employee trust, respect and commitment to the leader’s vision."

Dahong Pilipino (The Filipino Canadian Business Directory) of British Columbia is the first of its kind in Canada. It is published yearly by Leo Cunanan Jr., with Leo Cunanan Sr. as Editor-In-Chief and its 2005/2006 is truly a bumper issue. To celebrate its 13th edition, the editorial focused on outstanding Filipino Canadian men and women in B.C., with a special tribute to the much-loved former Consul General Zenaida Tacorda-Rabago.