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with the growing african prescence in China do you think they will replace SEAsians as cheap labor and maids??
I don't see it. Maybe as cheap labor, but probably not maids.
Philippines and Indonesia are a short jump and skip away. They seem willing to work for such low wages as well, for such long hours. Maybe African women might do that, but I'm not sure. But, I'd imagine the paperwork in an African country to get one of out the country would be hell.
Anyways, who knows. I think that all of Southeast Asia would have to have a much higher standard of living, that the supply would go down coming from Asia, before they'd go half way around the world to look for maids in Africa.
Last edited by Tiger Beer; 02-18-2013 at 09:51 AM..
Cantonese seems to be losing ground/dominance as China grows. You hear Mandarin more in HK itself, and the other cities in the PRD region are growing very fast. Even if one planned to work in HK, it might be just as if not more beneficial to learn Mandarin than Cantonese. Wasn't the case years ago, but things have changed a lot.
That's probably for another thread, but I suppose could be tied into the theme since we have HK/SG.
But, I was curious if Hong Kong people might find if strange to have foreigners trying to communicate in Mandarin, when English is just as much a second language to them as Mandarin.
I noticed in the early 90s, filipinas either went to Hong kong as a maid or went to Japan as a mail order bride
back then it was practically the same thing...only difference is being a bride required you give birth to a son
Plus, in Japan and Korea, if you marry a Korean male first born or Japanese male first born, you basically have to care for the entire family. Feed everyone, take care of the son's parents, take care of the kids, take care of the husband. You will be incredibly busy.
Generally speaking, most people simply DO NOT want to marry a 'first son' because of the immense responsibilites/duties put on the woman. I think there is a reason that so many Japanese and Korean males regularly go looking in Southeast Asia for brides.
On a related note, do you think a lot of Singaporeans look down on people from these countries because they are poor? For a developed nation Singaporeans can be surprisingly racist. There was a segment in the documentary where one of the women training the maids advised them against getting into a relationship with an Indian/Bangladeshi labourer because he was ugly, poor and had dark skin. I hope this kind of attitude is an exception rather than the rule. Despite having roots in Singapore and spending time there there are probably a lot of things i don't know. My family members are the more English speaking Singaporeans and they are pretty open-minded, well travelled etc. They're not that wealthy or anything, but comfortably middle class. My mother came from a large and poor family and my grandmother did housecleaning work for richer families back then. Now it seems all the maids/servants are from other countries.
Your family is originally Singaporean and I'm sure you ahve rellies that still live there.. what do they tell you? Curious.
Plus, in Japan and Korea, if you marry a Korean male first born or Japanese male first born, you basically have to care for the entire family. Feed everyone, take care of the son's parents, take care of the kids, take care of the husband. You will be incredibly busy.
Generally speaking, most people simply DO NOT want to marry a 'first son' because of the immense responsibilites/duties put on the woman. I think there is a reason that so many Japanese and Korean males regularly go looking in Southeast Asia for brides.
LOL I actually purchased a book about filipina brides in Japan....and according to the book...the women treat their husband like one of their kids..Im sensing an immaturity factor in modern day Japan from this...I mean this is coming from a country where animes make headline news
LOL I actually purchased a book about filipina brides in Japan....and according to the book...the women treat their husband like one of their kids..Im sensing an immaturity factor in modern day Japan from this...I mean this is coming from a country where animes make headline news
That's true. South Korea as well.
In Japan, the woman actually controls the finances. They give 'allowances' to the husband for spending money.
In Korea, they treat the wife as a 'mother' as well. The wife has food on the table and everything ready for every whim. The husband can 'go out' with his friends drinking and partying and socialing and meeting other women. The wife is basically there to manage the household, and not much else. Actually, same with Japan.
The entire system is setup that way as well. The gov't in Japan gives money to families just so the wife can stay at home. Banks closely at ungodly early hours, with the assumption that the wife is always available to go there during the limited hours they are open.
In Japan, the woman actually controls the finances. They give 'allowances' to the husband for spending money.
In Korea, they treat the wife as a 'mother' as well. The wife has food on the table and everything ready for every whim. The husband can 'go out' with his friends drinking and partying and socialing and meeting other women. The wife is basically there to manage the household, and not much else. Actually, same with Japan.
The entire system is setup that way as well. The gov't in Japan gives money to families just so the wife can stay at home. Banks closely at ungodly early hours, with the assumption that the wife is always available to go there during the limited hours they are open.
Etc.
LOL its the other way with SEA brides....the men give the women allowances...this in turn causes the women to look for a job...while taking care of the kids, parents, husband, and cooking, cleaning
In Japan, the woman actually controls the finances. They give 'allowances' to the husband for spending money.
In Korea, they treat the wife as a 'mother' as well. The wife has food on the table and everything ready for every whim. The husband can 'go out' with his friends drinking and partying and socialing and meeting other women. The wife is basically there to manage the household, and not much else. Actually, same with Japan.
The entire system is setup that way as well. The gov't in Japan gives money to families just so the wife can stay at home. Banks closely at ungodly early hours, with the assumption that the wife is always available to go there during the limited hours they are open.
Etc.
With my wife we took the good things from Japanese culture and the good things from Western culture and it worked to everyone's advantage including our children. She was the bank and when she passed away five years ago she had managed to save an almost ungodly sum of money which, learning from her. I will never need but my grandchildren will have at least a good portion of their education paid for.
I once did contract job for a Japanese firm that paid me quite well. The president of the company was so impressed with, either what I did or that I was simply a foreigner, that he came down and paid me a very good sum over the agreed price. Then he did something very unJapanese, he asked me "What are you going to do with this money?" I said "Give it to my wife." he handed me the envelope and walked away. About two weeks later I got a check in the mail for the same amount with a note that said, in effect, "a person who knows the value of the Japanese woman deserves a bomus."
The Japanese often say that the ideal matrimonial situation for any man is to have a Japanese wife, live in an American house and eat Chinese food. Works for me.
With my wife we took the good things from Japanese culture and the good things from Western culture and it worked to everyone's advantage including our children. She was the bank and when she passed away five years ago she had managed to save an almost ungodly sum of money which, learning from her. I will never need but my grandchildren will have at least a good portion of their education paid for.
I once did contract job for a Japanese firm that paid me quite well. The president of the company was so impressed with, either what I did or that I was simply a foreigner, that he came down and paid me a very good sum over the agreed price. Then he did something very unJapanese, he asked me "What are you going to do with this money?" I said "Give it to my wife." he handed me the envelope and walked away. About two weeks later I got a check in the mail for the same amount with a note that said, in effect, "a person who knows the value of the Japanese woman deserves a bomus."
The Japanese often say that the ideal matrimonial situation for any man is to have a Japanese wife, live in an American house and eat Chinese food. Works for me.
Actually, that is one of the things I love about Japan. The mesh well with my Midwestern sensibilities. Basically, live very modestly, save money, etc. I'm horrible at saving money, but I don't spend it ridiculously though. I spend it on travel, which I love to do.
But, I like that Japanese live in such modest homes, yet there is obviously a lot of wealth here as well. You just don't see it in the homes whatsoever. I also notice that most Japanese people wear the same clothes all the time. They keep those clothes very clean, but they aren't spending it much on clothing either.
That being said, the cost of living is so high here, that it seems we spend a small fortunate just taking a few buses and trains to wherever it if we want to walk around at for awhile.
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