YES, WE are past the invasion stage. We are now into the Korean Occupation of our city, if not of the country.
The first sign of the Korean presence hereabouts – to my mind – was the Korea House at the Mimosa Estate, then a virtual hacienda of the Castilian Señor Don Jose Antonio Gonzales.
It was there that started my still-continuing fancy for kimchi and bulgogi. It was there too that I renewed a connection with some 60’s sports idolatry, the co-owner of the place being a teammate in the Korean national basketball team of the legendary Shin Dong-pha, the sweet-shooting scoring machine of that era.
Then came the first wave of invaders – the horde of Korean golfers – during the incumbency of Attorney Doctor Emmanuel Y. Angeles, PhD, at the Clark Development Corp. The Mimosa Golf and Country Club became so occupied by Korean players that it came to be dubbed as “Kimosa.” That’s after the name Kim so prevalent among Koreans — father and son Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, the more prominent ones… okay, Kim Chiu too, dummy.
That was a portent of things to come.
Today Koreans are everywhere: deep into every sphere of community life here. There are Korean hotels and Korean grocery stores, Korean videoke bars – Korean GROs too? – and Korean restaurants, Korean schools and Korean churches. There is even a city-mandated Korea Town that stretches from the former Friendship Gate of Clark to the Friendship Bridge, with its own suburbs in the various subdivisions along, and even beyond, that route.
Lest I be misunderstood, I have nothing against Koreans, or any other nationality for that matter. Mine has always been a live and let live outlook.
But I have everything against inequality among the races. I have everything against the imposition of foreign biases, of some racial superiority upon the local community. Of one being maltreated in his own country.
Hence I stand strongly against this Koreanization of the city. What do I mean? Look at all those Korean characters in enclaves of Koreans. Do the ordinary Juan and Juana de la Cruz understand a word there?
These Koreans came here to do business, to live with us. We welcome them. The least they could do is make sure that they are in full understanding with their host communities. No, I do not insist that they learned the local language. Yes, I demand that their signages be translated into English and Pilipino. At the very least we would know they are not saying bad things about us.
Come to think of it, isn’t there a law on this translation bit?
Talking about the law, isn’t there some violation in the picture? The Philippine flag flying lower than the Korean flag on Philippine soil? Okay, the tricolor was at half-mast in honor of our beloved departed Tita Cory. But some propriety should have been exercised there by removing the Korean flag from its pole for the duration of the wake and burial of the former president, if only to avoid any misconceptions, if only to dispel any malicious insinuations.
I don’t know what our Flag Law says about this. But to me the picture smacks of a slap on Philippine sovereignty.
We have not surrendered that yet to the Koreans, or have we?
The first sign of the Korean presence hereabouts – to my mind – was the Korea House at the Mimosa Estate, then a virtual hacienda of the Castilian Señor Don Jose Antonio Gonzales.
It was there that started my still-continuing fancy for kimchi and bulgogi. It was there too that I renewed a connection with some 60’s sports idolatry, the co-owner of the place being a teammate in the Korean national basketball team of the legendary Shin Dong-pha, the sweet-shooting scoring machine of that era.
Then came the first wave of invaders – the horde of Korean golfers – during the incumbency of Attorney Doctor Emmanuel Y. Angeles, PhD, at the Clark Development Corp. The Mimosa Golf and Country Club became so occupied by Korean players that it came to be dubbed as “Kimosa.” That’s after the name Kim so prevalent among Koreans — father and son Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, the more prominent ones… okay, Kim Chiu too, dummy.
That was a portent of things to come.
Today Koreans are everywhere: deep into every sphere of community life here. There are Korean hotels and Korean grocery stores, Korean videoke bars – Korean GROs too? – and Korean restaurants, Korean schools and Korean churches. There is even a city-mandated Korea Town that stretches from the former Friendship Gate of Clark to the Friendship Bridge, with its own suburbs in the various subdivisions along, and even beyond, that route.
Lest I be misunderstood, I have nothing against Koreans, or any other nationality for that matter. Mine has always been a live and let live outlook.
But I have everything against inequality among the races. I have everything against the imposition of foreign biases, of some racial superiority upon the local community. Of one being maltreated in his own country.
Hence I stand strongly against this Koreanization of the city. What do I mean? Look at all those Korean characters in enclaves of Koreans. Do the ordinary Juan and Juana de la Cruz understand a word there?
These Koreans came here to do business, to live with us. We welcome them. The least they could do is make sure that they are in full understanding with their host communities. No, I do not insist that they learned the local language. Yes, I demand that their signages be translated into English and Pilipino. At the very least we would know they are not saying bad things about us.
Come to think of it, isn’t there a law on this translation bit?
Talking about the law, isn’t there some violation in the picture? The Philippine flag flying lower than the Korean flag on Philippine soil? Okay, the tricolor was at half-mast in honor of our beloved departed Tita Cory. But some propriety should have been exercised there by removing the Korean flag from its pole for the duration of the wake and burial of the former president, if only to avoid any misconceptions, if only to dispel any malicious insinuations.
I don’t know what our Flag Law says about this. But to me the picture smacks of a slap on Philippine sovereignty.
We have not surrendered that yet to the Koreans, or have we?
