I Deliberately Fail It!

Okay, okay. I've been eager to work with this company for a long time.

Dream company? Oh yeah.

They're the leading water treatment company in the world!

So my loving wife, patiently applied me for almost a year till they finally notice, or I guess they noticed it before, since I've been called and interviewed by different people from different location but of the same company. But just that. Calls, interview and nothing happened.

Well, I still move on. I keep on blogging. I keep on updating my stats on FB.

Until last week.

A French woman called me, introduce her name and position.

Human Resource Manager of this water treatment company.

Well, with charm and excellent answers to several questions asked,

I was told that the position is to lead a group of Filipino chemist in the lab.

I said I believe I can do the challenge.

she said she'll refer me to the HR Director.

That night, we prayed, me and my wife, and yes the baby too, fervently .

(she's mumbling words, and all we can barely hear and understand at the end is, 'Amen')

The next day, HR Director called, an American guy who knows quite too well the culture of Filipinos and who worked in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia previously and knows the Saudi way as well.

Then we discuss everything under the sun.

45 minutes of question and answer portion.

I was up on air. Well, this is my dream company.

We planned things smoothly.

The salary, oh the salary, my gulay the salary!

My visa, my family visa. How can we get there without going back to the Philippines?

My housing allowance. Great goodness!

It's double of my allowance now, but we might only get a room there!

I'm renting a flat here in KSA with 3 big rooms, a big living room and two bathrooms!

The car, oh the car. Will it be small, an SUV, GMC, or Yukon?

and it went out...

Well, not everything I like, or I want, but well, I dream to join this company.

So he asked what was my final say.

"Okay, so send me the contract and prepare me and my family's visa"

I wonder how they can do that in two weeks time.

...

then the next day, on its 3rd day, I received another call.

This time from a Technical Manager, that judging from the tone and accent of his voice he is either a pako or an itik. Middle Eastern OFW's knows who I mean.

Anyway, he introduced himself, and his position and asked if it is okay for me to be interviewed over the phone. I consented.

The first three question surprised me, I was totally aghast but managed to answer the question rightly and confidently.

"What is the difference between a turbidity meter and a pH meter?"

I answered him confidently the difference between the two.

"If there is a 1N H2SO4, and I have a 1ml Sulfuric dissolved in a 1.0 liter sample, how many percent of Sulfuric Acid is there in the solution?"

My totally surprised sensibilities felt nervous, and yet being a chemist for a dozen of years, gathered the data and solved in at the back of my head (because that time, I don't know where is my brain, haha)

I answered. He asked me back if I am sure. Yes, I am. And he neither said if I was right or wrong.

I did sensed that he was insecure or a bit inferior, and given the kind of question he was asking me, being a technical manager, and me on the process of being hired as a Technical Lab Superintendent, and currently as the QA Department Manager, the prospect of this 33 year old cute and kind Filipino guy is a bit scary. I hope I am wronged.

"If I have a sample and the pH is 18, what do you think of the sample?"

I answered that the solution must be very basic or alkaline, but that I haven't seen or known any sample to have a pH above 14.

Our discussion moves further. I asked him if there is a solution that the pH goes beyond 14, what could that be. I said I am asking politely because I honestly don't know.

The next several questions are too many, and I tried to answer them as best as I could, but sensing the motive, and the kind of tone in his voice, I deliberately fail to answer the last couple of questions he asked me.

My point?

If he is the kind of manager I will be working, I will be doomed.

I don't want a higher salary in the biggest company if my boss are determined to make me look like a fool, or worse if I am a threat to his position. I want joy in work, happiness, and opportunity for growth and self-respect.

That's why I asked in my Facebook one time, this question

Jebee Kenji Solis Ano ba ang mas okay? Mabait na amo pero maliit ang sweldo, or laging galit, walang alam, madaldal at palamurang amo pero kabang-kabang Riyal ang sahod mo? hehe

January 20 at 3:09pm · Comment · That question in Facebook generated 21 comments.

©2010 THOUGHTSKOTO

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The One Candidate I Support: Susan Ople

Susan’s Story: A Life Dedicated to Helping OFWs


At 47 years old, Susan “Toots” Ople has done more with her life than some people could imagine.

• She served in the Senate in 1987 as a staff of Senator Ernesto Herrera. Her first job was as a researcher before she was promoted to media relations officer, mainly because of her excellent writing and networking skills.

• In 1989, the Citizens’ DrugWatch Foundation was created with Herrera as president and Susan as executive director. The Foundation raised funds for the establishment of rehab facilities in Manila and other parts of the country. It also created awareness about the insidious effects of a drug known in the streets as “shabu”. Her work in the Citizens’ DrugWatch led her to author her first book entitled, “Hugs, Not Drugs.”

• In 1992, her father, Blas F. Ople of Hagonoy, Bulacan was elected Senator.

• From 1992 until 1998, Susan worked diligently beside and for her father, helping him write his speeches, organizing his press conferences, and pursuing his projects that even then included helping overseas Filipino workers.

• From 1998 to 1999, Ople’s youngest daughter was accepted and studied at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University, Cambridge, Boston in Massachusetts. She wrote for the school’s magazine, was tapped to write case studies by her professors, cross-enrolled in a creative writing course at Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) and spearheaded a petition to prod the school to level the playing field for international students. Susan Ople graduated with a master’s degree in Public Administration and was awarded the Josephine Vernon Award for Excellence in Communications.

• Upon her return from the United States, her father once again sought her help and designated her as chief-of-staff.

• Susan became a familiar face to media, as her father’s chief writer and media liaison officer. Soon enough, she too found herself writing a column for the now defunct Philippine Post. Thereafter, she was asked to write for Manila Chronicle and Manila Times.

• All in all, Susan spent 16 years in the Senate.

• When her father was designated Foreign Affairs Secretary, he brought Susan with him again as chief of staff. It was during her stint at the DFA that Susan became deeply involved in human trafficking and OFW cases. She was also publisher of the now-defunct “Diplomatic Post” which featured the work of career foreign service officers around the world.

• Her father died with his proverbial boots on, while onboard a plane from Tokyo, Japan to Bahrain to prepare for the President’s state visit. Susan was waiting for him in Bahrain. He died mid-air, with the plane making an emergency landing in Taiwan. By then it was too late. He came home a hero, and was buried as such leaving behind an unparalleled legacy as a statesman, father of overseas employment, and father of the Philippine labor code.

• In 2004, Susan Ople was designated by the President as Undersecretary of Labor and Employment.

• It was during her time that the DoLE established a partnership with Microsoft for a computer literacy program for OFWs called, “Tulay”. Since 2004 until today, more than 14,000 Tulay scholars have crossed the digital divide as computer literate OFWs and workers. The oldest Tulay graduate is Buhay Tan, an 80-year old mother of five OFWs. She now uses Skype, Facebook, and e-mail to communicate with her children and grandchildren.

• Last year, thanks to a grant bestowed by Microsoft, Susan through the Blas F. Ople Center, was able to put up 10 new Tulay facilities in Koronadal City, Tacloban City, Tuguegarao City, Baguio City, San Fernando in Pampanga, Calamba City, Intramuros in Manila, Butuan City, Davao City and as well as in Bataan while adding 10 new computers to the Tulay Center in Hong Kong and putting up a new Tulay facility in Taipei.

• Cognizant of her writing skills, the President requested her transfer from DoLE to the Office of Communications Director where Susan headed the presidential speechwriting group. When the OCD was abolished, Susan was taken in by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita as his Undersecretary. She respectfully tendered her resignation to ES Ermita on January 2006 because she was not in favor of a hasty Charter change, the kind that the administration was pushing.

• After her lengthy stint in government, Susan decided to continue her advocacy work in helping OFWs through the non-government organization that she founded in 2004, after her father’s death, known as the Blas F. Ople Policy Center. She thought of offering short courses such as "Foreign Affairs on Saturdays", "On Writing Well" and "History for Grown-ups" to enable adult learners to expand their competencies while enjoying themselves.

• She also worked as consultant and chief of staff to Senator Mar Roxas. She resigned in 2008 to focus full-time on the Tulay Program and the work of the Ople Center.

• In between all of these, Susan has written two books, numerous columns and articles, served as a bridge between the DFA/OP and families of hostage victims, Robert Tarongoy who was kidnapped in Iraq, and Angelito Nayan, who was held hostage in Afghanistan. She also served as a consultant to the International Labor Organization on women workers’ training on gender issues and labor rights.
• Susan was instrumental in the rescue of 17 women trafficked to Syria, 137 bus drivers illegally deployed to Dubai, and countless other victims exploited in Malaysia and the Middle East. With the help of the Ople Center, the bus drivers were able to file complaints against their recruitment agencies which led to the cancellation of 7 licenses and the suspension of five others. The Ople Center also spearheaded the filing of the very first human trafficking case against a Singaporean based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia who has victimized over a hundred Filipino women. The second hearing on this case will be on December 28, 2009. Meanwhile, the Ople Center has stepped up its advocacy against the use of Filipino women as drug mules by international drug rings. She has been able to help a Filipino woman recruited by a Nigerian syndicate to Lima, Peru by providing her with temporary shelter and assistance. As of today, the members of the syndicate have been arrested by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Administration (PDEA), with the help of the Filipino victim and the Ople Center.

• Aside from inheriting her father’s love for the OFWs and labor, Susan also took over her father’s column in Panorama Magazine and Tempo. She is also the host of a weekly radio program called, “Global Pinoy”, on DWIZ 880 AM, every Saturday, from 5.30 to 6.30 pm.

• Susan believes her biggest accomplishment to date is that of raising 24-year old Susanne Laurie Ople Osorio also known as Estelle. Estelle is a high school English teacher at Reedley International School in Pasig City and is a well-known debater and adjudicator.

• Clearly, the Ople legacy lives on, in his daughter, Toots.

That's me sharing OFW stories to Susan "Toots' Ople, running for Senator as guest candidate of the Nacionalista Party. I am asking all my friends, fellow bloggers, and OFW's around the world to support this wonderful, kind, and intelligent mother, and OFW advocate.

©2010 THOUGHTSKOTO

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Thoughtskoto: 2009 PEBA

I apologize for my long absence in the blog world. I visited a few blogs, and commented a handful post or none at all in your site. Vacation and PEBA took most of time the last two months.

Anyway, I am back to Saudi, and am back to blogging as well. Happy days are here again! hehe

Well, anong impression ko about PEBA or the 2009 Pinoy Expats/OFW blog Awards held at the Philamlife Theater in UN Avenue, Malate Manila last 27th of December 2009.

* I am happy, so much grateful sa mga sponsors, and volunteers who worked behind the scenes para sa great success ng event.

* I am specially grateful sa mga members ng KABLOGS all over the world who supported PEBA by joining, and by sharing their talents and voices. Thank you guys and gals! Power hugs, kiss, beso-beso, burger!hehe

* I am surprised with the winners, surprised because there are blogs that I thought would land to the top 10 pero hindi, there are blogs na gustong-gusto ko manalo pero di nanalo, there are blogs na magaganda pala and when they landed to the top 10 or received a citations, saka ko lang naisip na ' oo nga pala, ang ganda nga naman talaga'.

* Is so sorry, and until now, feeling regretful sa PEBA na hindi nacarry livestream, and hindi naipawatch online. Ito ang greatest setback for me during the event. I want you to know I have done my best, even Miss Noemi, even Tonyo Cruz, even a lot of people and guys there during the event, but it's just that the wireless USB's kahit anong network cannot carry it live. I promise, this years awarding will be set to a venue with internet connection enough for us to carry it online to thousands of OFW's and OFW bloggers. I even mentioned it in my opening remarks how sorry I am to all OFW bloggers waiting to watched the event online.

*Is grateful sa mga nagdonate sa PEBA Scholars. Maliit man na bagay, malaki mang halaga, I was able to collect nearly P15,000 pesos para sa adopt-a-child program scholar ng PEBA. Hope we will have more this year.

* Hindi man lang ako nakakuha ng PEBA-Tshirt. Kung nakakuha kayo, pakipost naman ng itsura or pakita naman sakin. hehe.

* Raw estimation ng mga 200 katao ang nandun, plus the around 100 performers and volunteers na nasa backstage.

*Everybody seems to be happy with the event, never mind the lapses in the team and the program, I told Jigs and Pete, that what matters to me is that people will leave the event with a good impression about OFW's and PEBA, and would want to come and join the fun again next year. I can honestly say that we did our very best and that for first timers like us, we have learned many lessons and hope to be better this year.

Thank you sa lahat ng mga judges, sa lahat ng mga volunteers, at sa mga kasamahan ko sa PEBA, at higit sa lahat, to all the nominees and finalist.

See you again in July 2010 for the PEBA Opening!

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Everybody Happy!

We have given the following during the event. I know there are around 200-300 people during the event.

We have given several New Year's food basket, grocery items, and even fireworks display set.

We also give out Nokia phones, Hotel Accomodations, Tshirts and other freebies.

I've lost count of the number of items, but we prepared dinner enough for performers and FINALIST, and VIP's during that night. See some happy faces including the security guards!

hehe

rf r r

Electric Fans, Microwave Oven, Toaster, Grinder, Blender, Flat Iron, and fruit baskets, just some of the raffle prices that night.

Hope to get more sponsors next time, and so we can give more to those who will attend the event.

When I arrive in Saudi this week, I'll blog about my thoughts regarding PEBA 2009.

Maraming salamat sa mga sumusuporta!

©2009 THOUGHTSKOTO

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