I went to the house for one reason alone; that is, to shoot a Maxis advertisement. Not realising at first what kind of household I was about to walk into or who I was about to meet. As it turned out, an extremely old man owned the house. He had no children or family, with the exception for a bedridden man upstairs who is his elder brother of 86 years. Also, the elder brother being bedridden does all of his ‘business’ in bed; hence the unbearable smell. The maid who worked for them was a Filipina, making it slightly easier for me to strike up a conversation. However, I had to almost hunt her down in that huge, crumbling house which was no easy task since the old man kept a close and watchful eye on the strangers rushing frantically all about his private living space. Eventually, I found her.
Although I told her that I was a half-Filipina, she did not at all seem interested. But with some subtle persuasion she actually sat down and told me about what living and working in Malaysia for the past 13 years has been like. Despite her obvious circumstances (being the only maid, she cleans up after everyone’s ‘mess’), she surprisingly had no objections or complaints about working for the two elderly men. “It could be worse…” is what she told me when I asked her about her employers. She herself has no children but a mother whom she supports back home in Bikol. From there, we start to talk about Manila, how much she misses it and that she has not gone back in a few years- which was something that we both shared in common.
I also asked her why she was working here and not in the Philippines instead, at least then she also be with her mother. However, I again got an unexpected answer; “It is so much better here. In the Philippines [there are] so many people, not enough money to go around…”
I paused for a while to stomach everything she had just said, and after some reminiscing of what the Philippines is like, I realised that it was not just her but every other Filipina maid that felt the same way. Finding work back home in Manila is tough. Even some of the most highly educated people there can never seem to find a steady job. Which left me with another revelation- despite how much I love the Philippines, all of us here in Malaysia should really count our blessings.
Despite being a complete stranger, I am glad she was ultimately willing to share a bit of her life with me. She really is a stranger, even till now. I do not even know her name.
any-hoo, all of that was actually my assignment. was supposed to interview someone whom i've never met or spoken to and do a piece on them... what i did not add into my assignment however, is that the old man who owned the house was so old to the point that when he walked around the house, he would show HIS anaemic derierre off to everyone.. i don't know what's been up with me and butts lately but i seem to be seeing a lot of ass.
well, i'll talk about the shoot itself in my next entry. there may be some stills so i can actually post them.
in the meantime, i'll leave with this picture that i managed to dig up..
