OFW Journals (OFW Stories on the News) and Some OFW Employment, Career & Business Tips

Filipinos are the nicest people in Dubai

The 7DAYS letters pages have been abuzz with a new hot topic this week - and a positive one no less. All sparked by one man who wanted to share his opinion that Filipinos are the friendliest people in Dubai. His view certainly struck a familiar cord with many other readers, who have flooded the paper with letters of praise for the Filipinos they have come across here in Dubai, with many asking for the secret to their apparent happiness. So 7DAYS hit the streets to get to the bottom of the issue by asking Filipinos themselves, the secret to their smiles.

One of the main reasons behind their friendliness, many told us, is that Filipinos cherish a real a sense of community and family. They are rarely found sitting alone, but rather huddled together happily chatting and smiling. They are warm and approachable. They are family even if they are not related. And Filipinos love to celebrate, even with few resources, and take any opportunity to have reunions and family gatherings. “I passed my driving exam recently and my flat-mates all had a lovely party for me. We will celebrate any occasion, passing an exam, welcoming back someone to town, job promotions - anything,” says Precious - even her name is happy. It's a way of looking at the world, others told us. Filipinos are, in general, proud, respectful people and the ultimate optimists, taught from early on by parents and religion to appreciate whatever they have. “I don't know why we love to smile, I really don't know, it just comes naturally,” says Richard, a 31-year-old waiter. “We are the type of people who appreciate everyone, whatever their nationality. I am here in Dubai and I meet lots of different people and I appreciate them even if their attitude is not as warm as ours. I think people love us because we care always and we always smile,” he adds. Jake, who is 26-years-old, and also works as a waiter in Dubai says he thinks it is just in a Filipinos genes to be hospitable. He describes the happiness of Filipinos as one of their greatest assets.

“We always smile and greet people no-matter what their nationality or culture is. We love to communicate to everyone, not just to us, but we are friendly to everyone. Just to know each other. It is genuine - it is the way we were raised by our parents. Since birt h we are taught to be happy at all times, even though we come from a poor family,” says Jake, who makes less than dhs1,500 a month working as a waiter in Dubai. Carla is a 30-year-old manicurist, who has two children back in the Philippines, who she hasn't seen in two years - not such a happy situation. Carla works six days a week and makes a total of dhs1,400 a month. She sends dhs1,200 back to her family and depends on tips to buy food and telephones cards, but she still speaks to me with a massive smile on her face. “I am a happy person,” she agrees. “But we do have our own problems and that is why we are here to work. It is very heart-wrenching to be apart from our families and especially if you have your own kids,” says Carla. “We are happy people, but sometimes I don't want to smile, because I have many problems. But when we are outside and working like this, we have to be every time smiling. It is part of the service we are giving. We always see to it that our problems get put to the side and are separate from the work.” And this is a recurring theme when talking to Filipinos about their sunny disposition - just because they smile, it doesn't mean that they are happy inside. “Even though we have so many problems and so much to think about, we always smile about it all. We smile to hide our problems if we are happy or not. We always take each problem with a smile,” says King.

That's because the Filipino attitude is very much that ‘life goes on' so it is better off to be happy than sad. It is commonly said in the Philippines that if you aren't happy you'll grow old quickly and get wrinkles. Cynthia is a Filipino public relations executive. She doesn't have the same money worries as some of her compatriots, but she understands her nationalitys' optimism and describes it as a survival mechanism. “In general Filipinos deal with a lot of stuff. They leave their country because there are no opportunities there with a dream that life will be better. But when they arrive elsewhere, they realise that the dream is not so easily achieved. Reality bites, but what can they do - only deal with the situation. Filipinos are positive happy people because they need to be. They need to carry on - they have families to feed back home. They need to be positive or else they won't last here,” says Cynthia. “Filipinos - like other nationalities - have to deal with a lot of racism, but if you let it get to you, it smothers you and it's not healthy. We have to be here to work, we have no choice, so it is better to keep an optimistic and positive outlook or else we would all go crazy,” she adds.

Goodnews Pilipinas
http://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/docs/inspirational_views/current/pinoys_nicest_dubai.html