is working abroad worth it?

While most people around me want to work abroad, I detest it. I really don’t see myself working outside my beloved Philippines; just like the feeling of leaving my beloved town, TAGO, in the province of Surigao del Sur to find a decent and good paying job which also offers job security for my future. But is there really such thing as “job security”? The recent world financial crunch clearly illustrates that there is no such.

As long as I can find job in my own country, I would never leave it. There’s no country in the world more beautiful than my Philippines; it’s the people, actually only few people, who painted a grotesque picture of the country I am so enamored.  The Philiipine Map is a vivid manifestation of the beauty it possesses. There is no other map as beautiful as ours.

While people use poverty as their pretext of going abroad, I don’t see it as a valid reason. You me argue that it’s easy for me to say so because I have work. But I was not born in a financially endowed family. I came from a family of farm workers. I came from a family who belongs to the bottom echelon of our social class. I and my family had wrestled poverty and is still continue to grapple with it. With little creativity and a lot of hardwork, we were able to make both ends met.

When I had a petty salary of more or less P4,000.00 a month, I stil have a good life. When I received 5-figure pay per month, it seems nothing has changed. I still don’t have a bigger savings. In fact, I had more savings in the bank when I was earning a few dime than now. It’s actually about simple mathematics operation or management of personal finance. And being contented with what you have or living within your means. I observed that promdis in the provinces are more happier than promdis living in cities. 

One of my first cousins who had gone to work abroad had once said that being OFW is just one step to being financially stable but it should not be a lifetime goal. An OFW contract normally expires in two years, OFW should think ahead what he/she would do after the contract expires, he said. In most instances, they return abroad and the cycle perpetuate until their children had graduated college. There were instances also that OFW were compelled to return because their family were used to more disposable income. My cousin now works in call center and is with his family. You can’t put a price for the quality time you spend with your family, he reasoned.

The following is an excerpt from an article posted in Inquirer.Net on Agust 9, 2009 by Mike Bolos entitled “Was working abroad for 25 years worth it?”. 

His observation on his children:

 My children

When I left for Saudi, my two girls were four and five years old, and later I also had a son. I think I did not fail as much with them, except for the fact that I was not there when they were growing up and when they needed a father most. I thought that since there were many children like them with fathers working away from home, either in Manila or abroad, they were kind of psychologically prepared to miss me.

Even when my children were still young, we traveled together often, around Asia, in the United States, as well as in Europe. I was able to send my two daughters to good schools. They did well academically. One of them completed a BS in Hotel and Restaurant Management. She is now married to a dentist, has two kids, and has put up a drug store. The other daughter completed a BS in Pharmacy and has electronics and Internet business interests.

The problem I encountered with my children was in relating with them when they were growing up. They would be spending money left and right, as if to punish me. One was more responsible in handling financial matters, but our separation may have affected her adversely. For instance, to date she has not gotten married. The other daughter really maximized the credit card I gave her while she was studying abroad.

I think my daughter Michelle can better appreciate now this issue of migration and its social costs. She is now a professional. It is easier to say now that she wished mothers would not need to tell their children they have to work abroad to buy food and to send them to school—it is a lot easier for someone who is not financially poor or suffering. But we do not live in an ideal world. Definitely, they enjoyed the luxuries my work abroad provided them. It is definitely different from those who cannot afford such luxuries.

I know of OFWs who return to the Philippines for good only to be back in Saudi after six months, crying that it was difficult to tighten belts with their children telling them to go back abroad.

What his take on his relationship with his wife:

My relationship with my wife

However, I failed as a husband. My wife and I got married in 1975, while I was still studying. It is possible that at that time my wife already had some feelings of insecurities. These feelings intensified because of our longer separation and lack of communication or miscommunication.

At that time, the main form of communication was letters and it took a month for letters to reach and get reply from Saudi. Telephone calls were expensive, costing $5/minute. (In fact, the best communication channel for a Kapampangan OFW is the “padala” or the “OFW postman” with OFWs and their partners networking sufficiently that every week, at least one OFW is leaving or returning to Saudi.) With promotion that is not common for OFWs and for whom, compared with Westerners, it is tougher to achieve and therefore one’s performance has to be glaringly better, I became very busy with work forgetting to communicate with her.

I was away for two years for my first contract and could take vacation only once a year in my early years with Gamma. After 10 years, I was coming home more frequently, but I think it was too late to repair the damage in our relationship. I think I took my wife for granted, neglected her, and failed to address this problem soon enough.

During our vacations with our children, I think my children were feeling miserable when for every tiny thing my wife and I would argue and fight. I felt we were just wasting money on our vacations.

Later on, our relationship further deteriorated and became so intolerable. It was like for as long as she holds our marriage contract she could not give up and continued messing up my life even if we were actually separated because she has some “right” over me.

Thus, there was no choice but to part ways. In fact, the children helped finalize the separation. They talked to their mother and advised her to move on with her life. Much later, we got our marriage annulled. I think the children took it well. It was better for all of us and we all now enjoy peaceful coexistence.

 

Mr. Bolos’ reflection:

Is it worth working abroad?

Was working abroad worth it? I do not know. At the personal level, I know what I got out of it and what I achieved. I know I tried hard and proved I could do it. I worked hard in my profession and I think I was a financial success. But my marriage and my children suffered. But life is not perfect.

Hence, to me, working abroad doesn’t seem really worth it. If you were to ask me, I think it is still best to work here, close to one’s family. This is the best situation because money is not everything, especially for women. It is tough enough for a family when the father is not there. It is even tougher when it is the mother who is not around to hold the family together.

In terms of our country, ideally, we should find jobs here. There should be no need to go abroad. At the same time, people should be free to make choices, to travel, and to find jobs when there are none here. But the social costs are just too great. The greatest advantage of working abroad then seems to be the financial gains.

OFWs should maximize their stay abroad. They should not waste their time and resources because they can do a lot that can contribute to their early return to the Philippines. They should continue learning and improving themselves so that they do not have to work abroad forever. They should maximize their stay abroad because they are paying such a high price for it. They should preserve and not squander their earnings (e.g. on consumer goods like electronics, cell phones, and signature goods).

They should save and invest their earnings well so that when they return home they would not have to start from zero. Savings no matter how small will eventually amount to something over time if done consistently and invested wisely.

Based on my experience, I enjoin OFWs now to do everything possible to preserve their families at all costs. Knowing what I know now, I would have done things differently to preserve my own. Despite the distance, OFWs should try to be as close to their children as possible so that they will not become delinquent children.

It appears to me that the risk is high and the probability is great that the children may not grow up like those with both parents around them. In which case, is the social cost worth it? Most OFWs would say they had no choice.

 

a zealous eater and spender

I started to track my expenditures from mid-January this year. I just wanted to see what I was doin with my money, how much went to these and those. The result is surprising.

From 2nd half to end of January - I spent  P3,823 while taking home P13,618 earnings. I could say, I had saved much in this month.

In the month of February, I spent P9,783.00 (P7,873.00 on necessities and P1,910.00 on wants) while my take home pay was P13,618.00. Still I had saved a few thousand.

In the month of March, I splurged P11,870.00 (P7,384.00 to live a life away from home and survive in the city and P4,496.00 on everything I just wanted) while I only have P13,618.00 to spend on that month.

Came month of April, I threw P11,249.00 (P5,541.00 for necessities and P5,708.00 for anything I just want to try on). My cash inflow was only P13,618.00. Though, my expenses for daily needs (food, etc.) went down, I had more cash outflow on other things. But not bad anyhow since I still had saved a few thousand.

The picture turned different in May. I spent a total of P15,753.00 (P4,324.00 for necessities and rent while my spending on other things rose to P11,429). I had a cash inflow of only P12,684.00. That’s a neagtive! What I had saved last month went for these expenses.

My financial situation turned even more alarming in June. I only have a dispensible income of P12,919.00 but had spent  P22,581.00 of which P6,076.00 went to rent and other neccessities and P16,505.00 fo other things. Other expenses were quite high but it was worth it. I had a vacation in Bohol. 

July was a different story but still I was spending, P21,094.00, more than what I was earning, P14,068.00. While I spent only P7,140.00 for food and rent and the rest of the expenses balloned to P13,954.00. Forty percent of these money were spent in Cebu while the rest were used to buy my father a new shoes and was given to my mother’s ailing older sister. 

Mathematically speaking, I should have been financially broke. But as it is biblically provided, once you give, you receive a sevenfolds or hundredfolds of blessings. So I am still financially afloat now. Hope that the succeeding months would proffer me more savings since I expect more outflows of cash for my rice farm and, of course, the holiday season from end of October up until January of next year.

The dragon breathes "air of seniority"

Long, long time ago… actually, one day ago, which was yesterday, I had my nostrils breathing with steam; had my blood boiling to a hundred degree Celsius. The following was the corporate gossip conversation between me and my male colleague in our area office. Gossip is an application similar to Yahoo! Messenger but is intended only in the corporate set-up.

Colleague       : “my name” gud am

Colleague       :  ayaw na lang andtoa ang limketkai kay na contact na nako…ty

Me                    : ay oks.. salamat sir “colleague”

My colleague was informing me not to contact Limketkai Mall for he had already talked with the concern person. So, the ever respectful me, thanked him.

Two minutes after, I saw my gossip message window blinking. When I checked it, this colleague had a message, which he intends to give to my other colleague at the area office, but he accidentally sent to me.

Colleague       : Vee…tan-awa ra jud ang gireply ni “my name” sa akong request sa iyaha imbes sorry ang isulti nagpasalamt pa!

He was saying that instead of me feeling sorry for not complying with his request, I had the guts to say “thank you” to him. I could forget this had happened. But by spreading this false accusation to another colleague is uncalled for and being unprofessional. As what President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said in her last SONA, “Don’t say BAD words in public!”

This all started with his request of checking or getting confirmation on the lease contract of one of my clients with Limketkai Mall here in CDO. The lease contract was sent by him through fax late afternoon of Wednesday, last week. He called me mid-morning the following day as to what information I should gather from Limketkai but without telling me if the request is urgent.

That Thursday, I had reviewed an application of Gata Daku MPC, had talked with the General Manager as to what documentary requirements they missed to send. I had paid a visit and interviewed 1^st Valley Bank’s officer for the renewal of their line. I had coordinated with MIKRO Financing for the project visit on the following day and what documents to prepare. In short, it was almost 5PM when I was back at the office. Professionalism will dictate that it is unethical calling a person seeking information first thing before/after lunchtime or at almost 5PM, the end of his office hour, except, of course, if it’s urgent.

Friday, I was on field, 100-kilometers away from the office and from Limketkai Mall. Would you expect me to call Limketkai through my mobile phone when my mobile load allowance is only P30.00? I had load allowance of P30.00 because I’m on travel. In other working days, I don’t.

Came Monday, that was yesterday. I knew that it’s against protocol to call an office, unless urgent, early Monday morning. For marketing people the best time to call is in the afternoon of Monday, if the concern can’t wait. It is still best to call during office hours from Tuesdays to Thursdays. Caring none, I telephoned Limketkai Mall at 9:30AM but the bitch’s head was plastered to another line. Then, came the message of this colleague in our corporate gossip messenger. So, of course, I thanked him for I don’t have to spend more time contacting this bitch’s head.

He misread my statement and even wanted my other colleague to know that I was remiss with my responsibilities. This is unacceptable!

Reading my excuses (read: explanations) above, you’ll probably arrive at a generalization that I was somewhat remiss in my duties. But reading further below, you’ll come to conclude that this writer has nothing to be sorry about, as being implied by my colleague.

My primary obligation is to market the company’s financing products and does account management in my area, among others. The credit investigation and appraisal reports, regarding the accounts I submitted, were done by me before until an office memo came, which clearly spells out my function and relieving me from credit investigation and appraisal works unless requested by my area manager or supervisor. It is also for reason of check and balance. This colleague performs now as our credit investigator.

What he asked me to do is to check on the account of my client with Limketkai Mall, without a request or knowledge of my area manager/supervisor. Usually, my manager will personally inform me of such request. In short, he wants me to do his primary duty.

I don’t usually mind this direct request from a colleague for sake of pakikisama. But he’s beating me below the belt. After all, why should I be sorry for not doing his work? If he was able to get that info by himself, why should asked for my favor?

This is actually a concern for many Filipino seniors – seniors in terms of stay in the company and in terms of age. They think that because they had been in the company for many years, they all have the power to summon newly hired to do their work without considering that newly hired have their own responsibilities too. It’s of no concern if these seniors are the direct supervisors of these newly hired. But it is seldom the case. It is even unethical for senior officers to get the staff of other departments without the consent of their supervisors.

So to my self-serving colleague, should I feel sorry for what had happened? Sorry your VERY BIG FAT ASS!