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Golden Harvest in the Philippines

Golden Harvest in the Philippines

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"A cinematic documentary from Chibi Moku about Wing Chun Kung Fu being introduced to the Philippines. Shot over a period of 2 weeks in Manila and Laguna. Featuring Sifu Steve McGowan and Sifu Robert Greene. Also featuring actor Raymond Bagatsing and the rest of the Golden Harvest team. Wing Chun is a Chinese form of martial arts that has quite unique techniques and foundations.
While wing chun can be found all over the world, including the Philippines, it's a creative rarity of forms when passed through it's different lineages."

Overseas Filipino... Whatdidyousay?

I remember having a very weird and awkward conversation with a fellow Filipina who was based in Manila. She was in Dubai for a few days to accompany her husband, who was tasked to conduct a workshop for Filipino students in the emirate.

She asked me the usual OFW questions - how long have you been living in Dubai, do you get to go home and see your family, is it hard being away from them, what do you do here. We had a few more minutes to kill, so she decided to ask more questions. How is the business environment here? Is there a demand for software services here? I suppose so, small and medium companies are sprouting every day and they get support from the government. And before I could take a sip of my coffee, she said, "I suppose I could set up a business here. I'm in IT. It's going to be easy running an IT business here." I nodded encouragingly, which I deeply regretted when she blurted out, "But I can't do it. I guess I just really, really love the Philippines." At that point, my tongue froze and my milky coffee seemed to turn into her blood. I was too stunned to respond, so I walked away and didn't give myself a chance to respond. And that is why I have a blog...

"But I can't do it. I guess I just really, really love the Philippines." There is something very, very wrong with that statement. I understand that as newlyweds, she and her husband had already achieved remarkable success at such a young age, and that's great. They had stayed home, paid their taxes, supported the retail and real estate industry, and made a decision to live a conventionally Filipino family life. Awesome.

But there are many other Filipinos who have made different choices and sought success in other places, but never failed to show their love and support for our home country. And they help run the Philippine economy. And the government and global financial authorities have always acknowledged that. Last year the World Bank predicted that in 2012, remittances from overseas Filipinos would hit $24 million. And in recent years, this money has not only been utilized to pay rent, but purchase houses and plots of land and condominium units across the country. Remittances are a huge chunk of our economy, that an official from the National Economic and Development Authority told www.rappler.com that the country couldn't do without remittances from kababayans all over the world. Not yet. Suze Orman even warned OFW families not to be too dependent on remittances, and must learn to earn money on their own, and learn how to save it. (I totally agree with her on that, and I think many families are starting to realize that.)

What I'm getting at is, we help the country despite our physical absence. Consciously, willingly, lovingly. I could have put my money somewhere else, but instead chose to invest in the Philippines. I make sure that I spend at least one holiday there ever year, and do most of my shopping there. I use Milcu instead of Dove. I ditch H&M to spend a whole day in Divisoria. And my best friend Fifi and I make sure that we do our bit to help fellow OFWs. Every single day, I do something great for my country.

Because I love my country. And even though I'm not there 340 days a year, I show my love for it in many, many ways. I've recommended it to many foreigners and actually encouraged some of them to pay it a visit. I'm a walking DOT booth. And with my new job, I will be serving the Filipino community in the UAE.

So Mrs. IT, stop thinking that we are different. It's not always black and white. I'm sure that you also have relatives abroad, and I'm sure you see how excited they are every time they come home or even talk about our country. And if you just broaden your understanding of patriotism, especially against the backdrop of globalization that makes it possible for other countries to utilize their resources for our benefit, you just might get it: We both really, really love the Philippines.

5 Twisted Ways I Motivate Myself to Work Out

1. I always, always keep in mind that nobody would ever love me if I got fat. Not even my family, or fat relatives.

2. I work out - sometimes longer than intended - to avoid anything that resembles a household chore. Shhh.

3. I say to myself that if I don't work out today, I would have to resort to extremely unsafe weight loss methods like diet pills or crash diets or bulimia, resulting in my death.

4. I talk to my 15-year-old self and diss her for being chubbier than her peers. It ups my energy during Zumba or RPM.

5. I imagine that all my friends are losing weight except me, and I'm the fattest at our ladies' night drinks.

Statement tees, money, and me

I remember that day in 2005 when Fifi and I exploded with excitement. We were brainstorming a new business idea - fresh, hip, and promisingly lucrative - STATEMENT T-SHIRTS! It made sense. My best friend and I were, hands down, the wittiest 23 year-old single Filipino ladies in our respective barangays. We had a million obnoxious/funny/rhyming/smart alecky things to say to our friends/strangers/each other/ the world that deserved to be immortalized on mass produced t-shirts. Plus, my mom was in the garments industry and knew a bunch of suppliers and designers. So that was the plan. The next logical step, of course, was to set up a boutique and have rocks stars and indie actors endorse our brand, which didn't have a name yet.

We were so confident that our business was going to be a big hit that we set up a "luncheon meeting" with our smart friend Terri, whose business acumen we trusted, and whose morals were so solid that we were positive there was no way she would steal our money-making idea. So we wasted no time when she showed up at SushiYa in Tomas Morato. Before our miso soup was even served, we told Terri all about our plan. The greatest t-shirt company was being conceived and was to be born in a few months, possibly C-section, given our scary level of enthusiasm.

Terri patiently listened to us, her smile assuring us that we were on the right track and that she was so impressed that she might actually contribute financially to get the ball rolling. And then she dropped the bomb. Actually, it was more of a simple question: "Do you guys have a business plan?"

Fudge, fudge, fudge. Fifi and I couldn't speak for a few seconds, but I'm sure she was asking the same questions in her head as  I was: Why do we need one? Why would you take a dump on our dreams? And most importantly, what is a business plan? From that point on, Fifi and I mellowed, and we gradually let our plans fade into the abyss of not knowing how to create a business plan, and start a million-dollar business empire.

So we flew to Dubai after a few months and saved some money. Every time a business idea came to mind, I swept it under my financially illiterate rug and carried on saving more money, that unfortunately just sat in the bank. I was convinced that my zero knowledge of business and finance and everything in between would not take me anywhere beyond a simple bank account. For six years this went on, and it came to a point where I thought I was rich, and didn't have to think of ways to make my money grow or make more by opening a business. I had savings, and that was enough. As simple as ABC. Until a HUGE emergency forced me to empty my savings account and start over. I lost most of it in two days. Fudge, fudge, fudge. Penniless and desperate, I had no choice but to start saving all over again. Cutting corners. Saying no to nights out. Being a complete idiot.

But I had one big asset: I bought a house. I was forced to, due to circumstances that were two painful to recall and write about in detail. Anyway, it was a lovely three-story, three-bedroom abode in a gated community of twenty houses. A quiet and friendly neighborhood. It's a heavy investment, and I am working my butt off to pay for it, but it's proving to be a great one. So I thought, this must appreciate in value faster that other properties. It's in a great location, and we never ever have floods here. And that's how I started to compute for my net worth, and in the process, get inspired to put the money I've been saving - however little, somewhere else. In short, I started to take interest in financial literacy, after years of forcing my brain to go dormant on the topic. It was, as Brad Pitt would say, "inevitable".

So I asked around. I asked people who knew stuff and humbled myself and resigned to the fact that I didn't know everything. I acknowledged that I had no idea how to handle my finances and optimize passive earning. Fast forward to now, I am learning and reading books and looking up useful, up-to-date information on the internet. And I will continue to educate myself and learn about money and how to use it and grow it and make it work to secure my future. Pension? Sure. Mutual funds? Yep. Real estate? Started already. I may not have much in the bank, but with the correct steps and the Philippine peso getting stronger in recent decades, I may have a shot at retiring comfortably and not depending on my grandchildren for anything.

I am on my way to financial freedom and success! Now that's a statement you can definitely print on a shirt.