Friday, November 7, 2008

"Modern-day" white man's burden


I saw this ad on one of the bulletin boards of one (Philippine) government office. I immediately asked my sister to take a picture of it. Why? Well, I was half-pissed, half-amazed. Half-amazed? Well, meron pa palang manifestation ng white man's burden nowadays. When, in fact, they are the burden. Yet they managed to boast about saving the rest of the world, when, in reality, they can't save their own.

Half-pissed? Obviously, as a Filipino, I feel like this is 1900s all over again. For me genuine help lies in the willingness not to boast of one's kindness. That it will not matter whether other people see or know that you helped. What matters is that you've gotten your goal across. To help. Without expecting to be repaid, without expecting to be wow-ed over. Without expecting good coverage and media mileage. (Such as this ad.)