  I got this link from Paul Pajo. Basically, Malu writes a very bad experience of flying with OFWs in one of her trips to Greece. Before airing out my OFW thoughts, I would like to point out interesting stuff: - People who are secure in their socio-economic status need not look down on other people who may seem to be less eloquent. I have met people who are wealthy and influential, yet their humility is outstanding.
- Some people really think they are somebody even if they're just a nobody.
- Looks can be deceiving. While a person's worth is not measured by his bank account, the person you are looking down on might just have a bigger one than yours. Some people just don't like showing off. That includes the "smelly" OFWs you might be riding with in an economy flight you have saved for.
- If one is uncomfortable being in the same economy flight with OFWs, this means she has to save more money to get a business class. =) Or perhaps, get a loan from an OFW in the middle east who gets a tax-free salary.
My OFW thoughts: - OFW life is no joke. It requires a great sacrifice. I am thankful that I am working overseas as a single guy where things are less complicated. People who actually fly off to work are sacrificing for their families back home. So please, don't write it as if it's just a joke because it's not.
- Some people are unaware that the OFWs they look down on are responsible for the country's macroeconomic survival. Income from overseas sustains the country despite the socio-political instability. So before one throws an OFW joke, think again. These people may just be the reason why the company they work for or the business that they have has not closed yet. There's an economic explanation but this histrionic socialite might not understand. Probably, a lot of air in the head.
- I have been in a number of countries. I also go to the gym whether I'm in Manila or overseas where a lot of sweaty people are. Interestingly, the number of times that I have smelled something really really bad did not come from a Filipino body. I know a number Filipinos in UAE and I couldn't recall anyone of them having body odor. So this article is interestingly funny. Hmmm. I wonder if she's really a Filipino traveller. Well, I can be wrong. I have never been to Dubai. But then again, I have met smellier people. The people she was referring to can actually afford flight tickets. How much would a bottle of Rexona cost? I'm sure these people know what a deodorant is.
Oh well, attached is the actual article. There's another article in the Manila Standard.  | read both article.i feel insulted for you guys. by the way, she writes like an absolute bimbo. hardly a couple of paragraphs go by without her mentioning shopping..the clothes she's wearing "my gold, open-toed sandals" ??!! .. cosmetics.. vain!!
she can give me her filipino citizenship and take on an american one or whatever. i'll gladly take it. hahaha!! =) |
 | i'm not going to read it, because i don't want to make my blood boil so early in the morning. i will not condescend to read this bigotted woman. :-) enough said. |
 | oh well... I actually feel more sorry for her for reasons I am unable to articulate in an encouraging way. =) |
 | What a fruit of the Holy Spirit! This is an example of getting angry with grace. Agree with you, Lowell. One can write all about the perfumes in the world, but not to the expense of her fellow Filipinos. I just wonder, ano kayang amoy nya pag wala syang perfume or even a cheap deodorant? (You see, I still need grace in the area of anger management hehehe) |
 | She doesn't seem proud to be Filipino. And may not be aware of the great contribution of OFWs to our country's economy. The OFWs she was with on the plane are skilled workers which is why they were recruited in other countries. These guys were not born rich and have found their way to earn much more than the average Filipino. They send money to their families and relatives back home to live a better life. Yes i agree with the rest, why not just buy a business class ticket next time or maybe just migrate to another country if you dislike Filipinos. Just hope you have the skills or points to qualify. |
| actually, naisip ko, eh bakit kung sosyal siya, nasa economy section siya? :-) |
Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner. Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner. | whizkidd17 wrote on Aug 17, '07, edited on Aug 17, '07 i apologize for deleting some of the comments posted. i know her remarks on OFWs are really annoying. would appreciate if our remarks would stick to the issue more than plain attacks on the person no matter how tempting it may be (ie, attacks on looks and use of profane words).
i do understand how some of you felt. i honestly posted a comment that touched on her size in one or two forums. then, i realized that we shouldn't be as shallow as her writings.
easy lang. hinga nang malalim. hinga nang malalim. |
 | it's been a while since i last read a blog.i usually just scan them but this got me really interested. more than enraged, i was saddened by her article. my dear papa used to be an ofw pero hinde naman siya mahilig sa axe at charlie ehhehe.and who knows, baka pati ako maging ofw na rin.it's true that OFWs contribute a whole lot to our economy. and for someone like malu to belittle people like them,it shouldn't have been tolerated by her publishers. i really hope they do something about this. i'm sure this has already caught malacanang's attention by now. on the other hand, this has also got me thinking abt those times na may mga nilait ako. na pa repent tuloy ako.. heheheheh |
 | i hope she changes her mind otherwise she better fly off to iraq..... |
 | economy class ain't small... only super fat people like her can say that...if she really has the money she could've been in first class.. I now people who ride in first class and they are not as snotty as her! ewww there are richer people than she is!! She's a bitch who is trying to make a name for herself! NO way will that ever happen! she might as well try lipo suction muna every week hahahah!!! fatso! |
 | She is a hypocrite 'fat-ass' who thought that by discriminating her fellow citizens will gain her popularity. Her infamous article shows that this writer needs attention and wanted to be known in her field of work but it also proves what she is made of or maybe it is in her upbringing that made her what she is today.
I wonder if she really is from a well-off family or from those of rags to riches family of politicians who fed on corruptions and other wrong-doings. If she is, she doesn't look rich to me.
I plead to my fellow OFWs not to hate her, instead pity this kind of person not only because of her looks but also whom I believe is mentally disturb or ill.
If she thinks this comment is a joke, she better consult a phychiatrist. If not, she would now think twice before writing any humorous article again, hahaha. |
Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner.  | I'm just wandering, how come the article had been published in the first place, am i right thathe t content should have been checked and edited by the editor? I'm an avid reader of Manila Std way back then when i was in Phil, coz now i one of the OFW's mentioned. Although it was a personal opinion of the columnist, the editor must have double checked and imagined how will the reader may react about it. I'm using branded perfumes but i still buy the always reliable AXE cologne especially MIRAGE in filipino stores and theres nothing wrong with the smell, it smells better than the branded! |
Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner. Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner.  | rst123 wrote on Aug 24, '07, edited on Aug 24, '07 While me and my friends are discussing how Malu was able to wrote such article about us (OFW's), we came up in a unanimous conclusion that what forced her to write is the fact that, she boarded the plane twice and sat down in an economy class but no one ever recognized her as a columnist. Iniisip siguro nya, "di nila ako kilala, bakit walang bumabati sakin, di ba nila alam na nagsusulat ako sa Manila Standard at People Asia Magazine. Teka, baka walang nagbabasa ng column ko?". For us, that is the real reason why she wrote the descriminating article. KSP ika nga. |
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just read her apology which sounded really sincere. it's enough that she has realized the damage she's done. now it's time to forgive :)
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Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner.  | Hey Bro, if you Google "Malu Fernandez" it is your blog that pops up here. Congratulations!
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| I like your "OFW Thoughts" Points 1 and 2.
For #1, I know how it goes bro.
For #2, there is People Power in the pockets of the OFWs. Many a times the government decided to put a noose around the OFWs, and when we threatened to boycot the remittance through government channels (banks), all the time the leaders retracted or restrained themselves from implementing their plans. They know that in remittance alone our government is earning heaps in the exchange rates.
You do the math: If OFWs remitt US$ 12B / year, and the government earns even just 1 US Cent for every Dollar, that translates to PhP 5.4 B in the kaban ng bayan. That's about 41% of the Philippine government's budget for Agrarian Reform for 2008! (If I read it right before, the government is even earning something like 5 Cents for every Dollar remitted.)
There's indeed a purpose why God has allowed us to become a migrant nation. All praises to Him!
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| whizkidd17 wrote on Aug 25, '07, edited on Aug 25, '07 To the rest of OFWs and non-OFWs reading this blog entry: Malu Fernandez has given her apology. She has resigned from Manila Standard and People Asia. http://www.geocities.com/fernandez_malu/While I completely agree that her statements are totally not right, she has already reaped what she has sown. She has made a mistake and has been suffering the consequences of it. Our wish has been granted. It is now time to forgive. I will still keep this blog entry active to remind the blogworld about the lives our fellowmen live overseas, to inform them that an OFW life is no joke, to highlight that we as a workforce do a lot for our country's economy. Nothing more, nothing less. I would really appreciate if you refrain from putting hate entries in this site. As a legitimate OFW, I have forgiven Malu. The same forgiveness I have received for the countless mistakes I have made in my own life, I extend to her. |
 | tnt27php wrote on Aug 25, '07, edited on Aug 25, '07 Her article would definitely raise anyone's blood pressure.
I think the reason behind why she was compelled to resign was the death threats that according to Malu Fernandez she received from various people. Her mistakes cost her reputation.
It is proven that the internet or specifically the blogworld is a tool powerful enough to affect a person. Perhaps we could use this tool to do something more positive and constructive since it shows that we have time to write. Like what Karlo Panahon suggested in his blog entry about writing to our congressmen concerning a national issue about a pinay allegedly raped by an Arab.
Its time to put the issue about Malu Fernandez behind us. I accept her apology
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 | Long live all OFW's. How about a forum to stop corruption and bad politics. |
 | Di ba sabi nya, there are 3 kinds of people- the haves, the have nots and the wannabes. I think she's wrong because to me, there are 4-- added to the 3 is the kind which combines the have nots and the wannabes, as exemplified by her. Yes, for all her airs and pretenses, she has nothing and she's a wannabe. That's why she had to the take economy class. If she were really rich as she wanted to project herself, she would have bought at least business class tickets and would not make a fuss about it. Ang mahirap sa kanya, ang dami pa nyang palusot eh buking na nga. Tawag sa amin ng ganyan, "sosyal na gatak a buol". At hindi lang yan, parang sinasabi pa nya, "look, I'm rich and fabulous and you're a smelly OFW". The really rich ones usually have noblesse oblige. |
| I second Timothy's shout out. :) |
 | she resigned already Statement from Malu Fernandez on the OFW Controversy
I am humbled by the vehement and heated response provoked by my article entitled 'From Boracay to Greece!' which came out in the June 2007 issue of People Asia. To say that this article was not meant to malign, hurt or express prejudice against the OFWs now sounds hollow after reading through all the blogs from Filipinos all over the world. I am deeply apologetic for my insensitivity and the offensive manner in which this article was written, I hear you all and I am properly rebuked. It was truly not my intention to malign hurt or express prejudice against OFWs.
As the recent recipient and target of death threats, hate blogs, and deeply personal insults, I now truly understand the insidiousness of discrimination and prejudice disguised as humor. Our society is bound together by human chains of kindness and decency. I have failed to observe this and I am now reaping the consequences of my actions. It is my fervent hope that the lessons that Ive learned are not lost on all those who through anonymous blogs, engaged in bigotry, discrimination, and hatred ( against overweight individuals , for example )
I take full responsibility for my actions and my friends and family have nothing to do with this. To date I have submitted my resignation letters to both the Manila Standard and People Asia, on that note may this matter be laid to rest. |
 | i really hope she is sincere in her apology. i just want to convey that some of the bloggers comments about her obesity is not wholly a sign of bigotry, discrimination and hatred for people with weight problems but a reaction and observation to instill some self awareness on her part. very demeaning kasi ang sinulat nya...she has to feel what she has inflicted on others. she shouldn't make herself the victim by making other people feel for her because her weight has been the most obvious thing the readers will pick on. by the way, i am an OFW who is overweight. tsk... |
Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner.  | “Responses to an OFW-Basher”
By Jerick T Aguilar
After shamelessly writing about her summer trip to Boracay and Greece in the June 2007 issue of People Asia magazine, this columnist was found guilty of character assassination of our overseas Filipino domestic helpers regardless of the fact that they have never wronged her, except – in her opinion – for being on the same economy flight that everyone is entitled to. As a writer and traveler myself, please find below my notes on some of the things she wrote. I may also be guilty of character assassination but at least mine is not baseless and I think of this more as defending our fellow “kababayans” working abroad.
“But I was too ashamed to ditch my friends and forego the huge amount I already paid for my share of the villa.” – Outright pretentious! People rent and share villas in Boracay to save on expensive hotel charges per night so writing that she paid a “huge amount” is plainly preposterous!
“Meanwhile, when all of this was going on, I was on the cell phone …” – Proper English writing uses the conjunction “while” when it is followed by the progressive (this case in the past) and interrupted by the simple tense – so “while all of this was going on, I was …” – I thought a columnist for a magazine (and newspaper) would have a knowledge of English much better than a domestic helper’s!
“Ron is my travel buddy … so between his schedule and mine, the logistics are a nightmare.” – “Logistics” is a non-countable noun and, hence, is always followed by a singular verb – so “… logistics is a nightmare.” Ditto!
“Emirates had won best economy class and some award.” – “Award”, on the other hand, is a countable noun (i.e. it has singular and plural forms) and the modifier “some” means more than one – so “… some awards.” – My, oh my! Our housemaid even knows better English than her!
“I forgot that the hub was in Dubai and the majority of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) were stationed there.” – Duh?!? Majority of OFWs are in Saudi Arabia, unless she doesn’t know what the word “majority” means. And another duh! To be “stationed” means to stay in one place – it’s obvious that our OFWs don’t just stay there, she was with them while traveling back to the Philippines.
“Meanwhile, I wanted to slash my wrist at the thought of being trapped in a plane with all of them.” – Okay, a plane is a form of public transportation so the preposition “on” instead of “in” is used (e.g. on a bus, on a train, etc.) so “… trapped on a plane …” Yeah, she should’ve slashed her wrist in order to prevent writing more grammatical mistakes! (I hope her readers do not know that she is Filipino! Nakakahiya kung ganoon! – Sorry but the English translation does not suffice!)
“… I would never risk losing if my luggage ended up in the middle of the Sahara desert.” – Her plane took off from Dubai then landed in Athens where the flight plan is northeast of the Sahara desert, unless there was a stopover in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Now is she really a traveler or was it just her first time to travel?…
“… the seats were so small I had bruises …” – Okay, didn’t she mention that Emirates had won best economy class? So I wonder if the seats were so small or she was simply so big?
“Domestic helper ka rin ba?” – She wrote this question as if she overheard it while dozing off. I bet she was actually asked this question. I mean, I would whether or not I were a domestic helper given her fashion sense in the pictures (not at all to demean the clothing style of our domestic helpers but one cannot really differentiate hers from theirs).
“… the weather report on CNN … was wrong because it was still winter.” – Hold on, summer in the Philippines from April to June is already spring in Europe. And even if the European winter in March extended till April, Greece is in the Mediterranean so it would’ve already been warm by then. So was it really a cold winter while she was there or she just wanted to impress her readers by mentioning the word “throw” as a noun and not as the usual verb (and by wearing it to look less fat in the picture)?
“I adamantly wanted to go to Santorini … but due to time constraints, we were unable to go.” – Talk about being pretentious again! She intentionally forgot to mention “money” as another constraint! Didn’t she just write that she had to fly economy?
“I guess God was watching out for us.” – And now she thinks God was after writing that God had sent her to her own private hell being on a plane with “those domestics”. One of the rules of journalism is to be consistent (aside from having perfect English, of course!) so I guess she is the exception.
“This time I had already resigned myself to being trapped like a sardine in a sardine can …” – Another cardinal rule of journalism is to avoid redundancy so a “fish” in a sardine can sounds much better. I don’t think she’s a traveler, I don’t think she’s a journalist either… What is she then? An abomination?
“… with all these OFWs smelling of AXE and Charlie cologne while my Jo Malone evaporated into thin air.” – Interesting how she made reference to Jo Malone in which a perfume wardrobe costs more than $1,000 yet she had to take the economy flight to Athens and back…
“But for a couple of weeks, I had the great escape …” – What was that again? A “couple of weeks” when she wrote beforehand of her “time constraints”? Greece is not China so a visit to Santorini from Athens can be squeezed even within a week of staying there. And before that, she wrote “Pick a country!” as if she can go anywhere she wants to. But she ended up saving on her plane ticket only to be “trapped” with OFWs and “smelling like air freshener”. She is the height of pretension indeed!
Three things to my “supposed” fellow writer and traveler – first off, if you have to write something in English, do not forget the simple rules of grammar so you do not cause intellectual harm to the people reading your article. Secondly, if you do not have money to pay for a business class fare, then don’t complain if you are surrounded by OFWs who can only afford an economy flight. As a final note, I suggest you thank these OFWs instead of demeaning them! If it weren’t for the billions of foreign currency remittances that our country regularly receives from them, the instability and depreciation of the peso-dollar exchange rate would’ve prohibited you from traveling to Greece in the first place (and buying that Jo Malone, assuming you already did)!
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 | Iha naman, Ingat ka na lang sa pagbili mo someday ng deodorants and perfumes pag nawalan ka ng trabaho. mamahalin ang gusto mo, sana may magbigay man lang saiyo ng supply so that you will not smell like us, 'wag kang magpakasosyal na pinay. 'yan napopular ka tuloy sa maling paraan!!! Malu Fernandez, this note for you. just to let you know!!! Are you advertising "certain products"? Don't put down your buyers............. |
 | ive read siguro mga 4 times na(i mean the her article) i also read her response to this blood boiling article she wrote.. honestly im a type of person who look at things at the bright side.. picture things differently.. but in this case or with what she did, wala talaga akong makitang maganda sa sinabi nya.. as in wala.. siguro the only thing lang na nagawa ng article nya is pag-isahin ulit ang mga OFW sa mundo! tara sabay sabay natin syang litsunin.. ay wag pala! baka malason tayo ng masamang ugali nya.. sorry OFW tatay ko e.. |
 | check this out: www.whymalu.com |
 | Hmmm... mabango naman ang mga Pinoy ah. Lalo na sa bansang Dubai. Ang mga Pinoy na ata ang pinakamabango at malinis na tao sa Dubai. |
 | sabi nga nila un daw taong insecure, defense mechanism nila ang mang insulto ng kapwa. 6 yrs na po ako d2 sa UAE AT 250 kaming Pinoy sa isang shopping mall, never pa ako naka rinig n mabaho ang mga FILIPINO, pinaka malinis at mahusay mag trabho kaya khit saan part ng mundo meron pinoy.. hindi nya naiintindihan ang hirap ng isang ofw kaya kung magbitiw sya ng pang kutya e gnun n lng. Nag tataka lng ako na nailalahad pa sa newspaper o magazine aNG inhibisyon ng isang taong tulad nya. yan n b ang IN sa journalism sa pinas ngaun?? tama lang na nag resign sya. astaghfurullah!! patawarin ka sa masakit mong salita sa kapwa mo pinoy. HABANG BAWAT ISA SA AMIN D2 SA DUBAI/ UAE AY PROUD SA AMING LAHI, NAKAKADIRI PARA SAU ANG MAPATABI SA AMIN. nakaka awa lng itong si malu fernandez, idinadaan nya sa kaartehan ung kakulangan nya ng katinuan.. mag apologize ka man ng milyon beses..DAMAGED HAS BEEN DONE. WAG LANG KITA MAKA SABAY SA EROPLANO..IKIKISKIS KITA SA KILIKI KO. |
Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner. Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner. | |
What a fruit of the Holy Spirit! This is an example of getting angry with grace. Agree with you, Lowell. One can write all about the perfumes in the world, but not to the expense of her fellow Filipinos. I just wonder, ano kayang amoy nya pag wala syang perfume or even a cheap deodorant? (You see, I still need grace in the area of anger management hehehe) 
