Imagine a World Without Filipinos

Muhammad Al-Maghrabi became handicapped and shut down his flower and gifts shop business in Jeddah after his Filipino workers insisted on leaving and returning home. He says: “When they left, I felt as if I had lost my arms. I was so sad that I lost my appetite.”

Al-Maghrabi then flew to Manila to look for two other Filipino workers to replace the ones who had left. Previously, he had tried workers of different nationalities but they did not impress him. “There is no comparison between Filipinos and others,” he says. Whenever I see Filipinos working in the Kingdom, I wonder what our life would be without them.

Saudi Arabia has the largest number of Filipino workers — 1,019,577 — outside the Philippines. In 2006 alone, the Kingdom recruited more than 223,000 workers from the Philippines and their numbers are still increasing. Filipinos not only play an important and effective role in the Kingdom, they also perform different jobs in countries across the world, including working as sailors. They are known for their professionalism and the quality of their work.

Nobody here can think of a life without Filipinos, who make up around 20 percent of the world’s seafarers. There are 1.2 million Filipino sailors.

So if Filipinos decided one day to stop working or go on strike for any reason, who would transport oil, food and heavy equipment across the world? We can only imagine the disaster that would happen.

What makes Filipinos unique is their ability to speak very good English and the technical training they receive in the early stages of their education. There are several specialized training institutes in the Philippines, including those specializing in engineering and road maintenance. This training background makes them highly competent in these vital areas.

When speaking about the Philippines, we should not forget Filipino nurses. They are some 23 percent of the world’s total number of nurses. The Philippines is home to over 190 accredited nursing colleges and institutes, from which some 9,000 nurses graduate each year. Many of them work abroad in countries such as the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore.

Cathy Ann, a 35-year-old Filipino nurse who has been working in the Kingdom for the last five years and before that in Singapore, said she does not feel homesick abroad because “I am surrounded by my compatriots everywhere.” Ann thinks that early training allows Filipinos to excel in nursing and other vocations. She started learning this profession at the age of four as her aunt, a nurse, used to take her to hospital and ask her to watch the work. “She used to kiss me whenever I learned a new thing. At the age of 11, I could do a lot. I began doing things like measuring my grandfather’s blood pressure and giving my mother her insulin injections,” she said.

This type of early education system is lacking in the Kingdom. Many of our children reach the university stage without learning anything except boredom.
The Philippines, which you can barely see on the map, is a very effective country thanks to its people. It has the ability to influence the entire world economy.
We should pay respect to Filipino workers, not only by employing them but also by learning from their valuable experiences.

We should learn and educate our children on how to operate and maintain ships and oil tankers, as well as planning and nursing and how to achieve perfection in our work. This is a must so that we do not become like Muhammad Al-Maghrabi who lost his interest and appetite when Filipino workers left his flower shop.

We have to remember that we are very much dependent on the Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if they chose to leave us.

Written by Abdullah Al-Maghlooth Al-Watan, almaghlooth@alwatan.com.sa
ARABNEWS - JUNE 16, 2008

Abraham's Sacrifice

When Isaac became a young boy, God spoke to Abraham and commanded him to take his son to Mount Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice to God. This was God’s test of Abraham’s faith.

Abraham loved his son very much, but did not hesitate to follow God’s words for he was a man whose faith in God was strong. As Abraham and his son reached the place where the sacrifice was to be performed, Isaac said to his father, “Father, where is the lamb that is to be sacrificed?” Abraham replied, “My son, God will provide the lamb”.

“Though I cherish you, I must now offer you.”

Please watch this video! God bless!

How To Survive Over Imposibilities

"I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams offer too little collateral." -- Walt Disney

Today, Disneyland is one of the biggest tourist attraction on the globe. That fact makes it a little difficult to remember that over 45 year ago, Walt Disney was advised by every amusement park operator in the country that the amusement center he envisioned would fall flat on its face. It's also difficult, after Disneyland's many years of unbridled success, to recall that following the madhouse opening, most media commentators declared the park overpriced, badly managed and a likely candidate for a quick and early demise.

Walt Disney, of course, ignored the bad press the same way he ignored all self-appointed experts. The idea of an amusement park unlike any other had been in the back of his mind for at least 20 years before it was actually born... (disneydreamer.com)

There are insurmountable issues/problems/concerns at home, workplace or elsewhere that puffs out everyday that sometimes more often than not, it kills the excitement in us to expect great things coming our way.

Being a subordinate or a supervisor in a goverment office, as the case may be are both challenging. Nevertheless, both are equipped and tasked to accomplish each role or responsibility. As public servants, the duty to perform the task at hand and the eagerness to serve the people should always prevail. At all times, the goverment shall exist for the people and not the people to serve the goverment.

Pressures regarding the completion of a task always exist. Remarkable reports or sometimes our journals remind us to finish the thing we should do to meet the deadlines. But hey, there will always be people, time, circumstances, events that oppose our plans and strategies. How does a leader handle others who oppose his leadership? When doubts trumpet over our ears telling us that we are doomed to fail, can we still move on?

"Walts empleyees responded to the new challenges, and helped out when troubles arose. For instance, there was difficulty obtaining architects' drawings of turn-of-the-century buildings, so animator-director Ward Kimball contributed rare books of drawing from his own collection.

When technical problems arose to block an effect Disney wanted, he had a serene faith in his staff's abilities to overcome them." (disneydreamer.com)

How do we react when the world is against us? Here are some tips on how to survive the impossibilities:

• THINK BIG. Walt Disney started the creation of a Disneyland on his mind. He may not have seen the finished Disneyland as of now before his death but he was the first who have seen it on his mind. Whatever our impossibilities, let's think big!



• WORK SILENTLY AND WITH PASSION. Let's do the thing and not grumble. If we intend to work for it, we should avoid pointing fingers to others. Accepting a job gives us two options: we either do it - or we quit.



• ACCEPT FAILURES. Failure is an opportunity to do it again intelligently. A child perfects how to walk only after several knee bleeding. Like us, God allows us to fall so that we could rise up again.



• HUMBLE YOURSELF BEFORE GOD AND MEN. Be geared to do good. It's to hard to remain good, but if you choose it, "panindigan mo nalang." Each act of kindness shall be rewarded.

Many are the plans of men. But god knows every issue and task at hand. In fact, he aware of our concerns. Alam Nya ang ginawa nya. Let God be God and let men be men. God has an appointed time with our dreams and visions. We may see them close to impossibilities but it will certainly come!