My Virtual Office

There goes another Filipino… October 13, 2008

Posted by mona in : Uncategorized , trackback

Another friend is leaving next month. Oh well, I guess there’s really not much I can do to convince him not to go and leave his wife and his 3-month old son here in the Philippines.

I’ve nothing against Filipinos leaving the country to find what they call “the greener pastures.” To each his own. We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do. I guess it really depends on what profession one is in. Admittedly, nurses abroad have far greater chances abroad than here.

However, sometimes I just don’t get why people so talented waste their God-given gifts to work abroad. Take my friend for instance. He’s a graphic designer here who is so talented web design, computer animation and all the other high-techy stuff like that. And he’s bound for God-knows where to work as some sort of a cut-and-paste artist. Well, I guess, his paycheck sucks here and the offer there to do something that sounds sooo easy and get paid in $$$$$$$$ might have made him decide to go for it. I guess, he’s thought it over and weighed things before he made up his mind. I don’t know. But all I can say is…WHAT A WASTE!

Why can’t some people realize that they CAN cash in on their talents here by engaging in business. Why can’t he just strike while the iron is still hot…while there are people wanting him to do their websites for them? Oh sure, I am sounding way too idealistic for some who are reading this post. My point is fairly simple. If I were in his shoes, I would start thinking farther up ahead.

The two years I’ll be spending there wouldn’t really be much of a learning experience that I could use to improve my craft as I’d be tasked to do just the cut-and-paste stuff. After two years, what sort of personal knowledge and advantage have I earned abroad to make the employers here jump up and down with joy waiting to hire me? And after two years, I’d practically be a nobody…again. Each year there’ll be graduates and more fresh hotshot artists and my name will be lost in the sea of other names. After two years, nobody will hire me here if I asked them to give me what I was getting as a cut-and-paste artist abroad. And I’ll just be going back abroad for another 2 years…for the rest of my life.

Oh well, I hope he’s really thought it over. I just hope he’s just gonna take that chance and make it as some sort of a stepping stone. I hope he doesn’t tire out there until he reaches the same stature he’s enjoying here professionally. I wish him all the luck.