may 2006 - working copyzbk.qxp - Filipino Star

Page 2 The North American Filipino Star
EDITORIAL
Accountability
and respect for
other cultures
We have been outraged by the
story of the little schoolboy who
“was punished for eating with a fork
and spoon.” Just to think that he
did not want to eat his lunch is
quite heartbreaking and incredible.
It sounded so cruel to isolate the
child for his way of eating.. When
confronted by the mother, the
lunchroom monitor was reported to
have said that he was a clown and
liked to show off. Even if this were
true, was it proper to punish him by
isolation? And to make things
worst, the mother complained to the
principal who seemed to have
agreed with the lunchroom
monitor's way of disciplining the
child. Moreover, the principal's use
of words like "eating like a pig" and
"you should eat the way Canadians
eat" really hurt the most. Not only
was her child punished unjustly but
she also felt gravely insulted. She
continued to seek redress for her
complaint and went to the school
board, only to be disappointed again
when she was told that "she needed
to adjust to Canadian society."
Having gone through the proper
channels to air her complaint and
finding no satisfaction, where else
could she turn but to the media?
But if only the people she expected
to be accountable to her had
reacted in a proper way, this
unpleasant incident could have
been avoided
From what we have gathered
from this experience, we realize how
important it is to have properly
trained people to deal with young
children. But perhaps, this is an
isolated case where the teacher
concerned is not really familiar with
early childhood education
principles? But then the more
senior officials of the school did not
appear to know how to handle the
problem either. We wonder if the
situation would be different if
parents from their own cultural
background had to complain. They
would probably not have the need to
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say "you should eat the way
Canadians eat” nor to hear someone
remark that she has to adjust to
Canadian society. It is unfortunate
to imply that only Canadians know
how to eat properly and that
immigrants must completely forget
their own culture when they arrrive
here. In a democratic country like
Canada, no one has the right to
impose his or her culture upon
others.
Besides practicing common
courtesy, knowledge about cultures
is obviously critical in the case of
our public schools which are
dealing with many immigrants from
different countries. Although
Canada has a very liberal
immigration policy, there is
evidently a need for cultural
competency training among its rank
and file. The story of this little boy
will probably serve as a reminder to
our public schools personnel that
parents have a right to protect their
children's welfare and they are
accountable to them. After all, their
salaries are paid by all taxpayers
and they must recognize that they
should show some respect to their
clientele regardless of their cultural
backgrounds.
Besides the home, the school is
a place where children learn by
example. If Luc’s mother kept silent
about the problem, no one will
probably ever know or care about
the proper way to treat young
children. The consequences of an
uncaring attitude and thoughtless
remarks are indeed serious,
particularly when young children
are involved. For this reason, we
congratulate Ms. Galliardo for her
viigilance.
After all is said and done, it will
be interesting to see what will be the
results of the complaint filed with
the human rights commission and
what steps are undertaken by
government leaders concerned in
order to completely eradicate any
elements of racism that may still
exist in our modern society. We as
private citizens also have a part in
making this society where we live
the kind of society we want by being
involved in the debate. Evidently,
we seemed to have shown solidarity
in this instance. Hopefully, it will
also extend to other issues as well.
Zenaida Ferry Kharroubi
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Esther Stansfield
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Columnists
Zenaida Ferry Kharroubi
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May 2006
Clean up begins after passage of tropical storm
The Philippines began cleaning up
after tropical storm Chanchu claimed
32 lives, left large parts of the country
underwater and forced thousands to
flee their homes on Friday May 12.
By midday Sunday May 14,
Chanchu was 430km out in the South
China Sea, charting a westsouthwesterly
course and packing
winds of up to 140kph, according to the
weather bureau.
Rain and strong winds continued to
lash parts of southern Luzon and the
central Visayas, which bore the brunt of
the storm.
According to the National Disaster
Coordinating Council 32 people died,
eight are missing and 13 were injured.
More than 42,000 people were forced to
evacuate their homes as the storm
triggered landslides and widespread
flooding in the southern Tagalog, Bicol,
Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas
regions. Floodwater submerged parts of
two provinces in the Visayas and several
villages in Leyte’s Sogod town were cut
off after landslides and floods damaged
a bridge and a highway.
In the worst accident a small ferry
capsized just off the central city of
Masbate early Friday and drowned 21
people. Three people are still missing
and 18 survived after the vessel was
swamped by rough seas about a mile
offshore.
A second ferry sank while docked at
a port in Albay province but there were
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no reports of casualties.
Coast guard spokesman Lieutenant
Commander Joseph Coyme said the
passenger ferry Filipinas Princess,
which was reported missing Friday
night with 700 people onboard, had
been found anchored off a cove near
Mindoro island. He said tugboats had
reached the vessel and would help it
back to port. “There are no problems.
The passengers are safe and well,” he
said.
Power, which had been down in
many areas including the capital
Manila, was slowly being restored. In
Manila teams were still clearing fallen
trees and debris from streets and
residential areas.
By Sunday afternoon airline
services out of Manila were back to
normal and most of the ports in the
worst affected areas of the country had
reopened.
After the storm, President Arroyo
ordered Agriculture Secretary Domingo
Panganiban to help farmers whose
farms were damaged by Typhoon Caloy.
The President issued the instruction
after receiving reports of the deaths and
damage to properties, including
farmlands, caused by Caloy late last
week. Mrs. Arroyo encouraged the
people to pull together, aid the victims
and get their communities back on
track.