What exactly was the crime of Malu Fernandez?
I’ve been hearing this buzz among bloggers lately of how much hated a certain Malu Fernandez is. I really haven’t paid attention until I read that she resigned for fear of threats against her life, purportedly by other bloggers.
So what exactly has she done to create such furor?
Malu Fernandez is/was a writer for Manila Standard and People Asia. In her recent trip to Greece, she encountered a planeful of overseas Filipino workers whose colognes and various antics elicited strong reactions from her. Unfortunately, she penned her thoughts on paper and published them (read here and here). An excerpt -
“However I forgot that the hub was in Dubai and the majority of the OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) were stationed there. The duty-free shop was overrun with Filipino workers selling cell phones and perfume. Meanwhile, I wanted to slash my wrist at the thought of being trapped in a plane with all of them.”
“While I was on the plane (where the seats were so small I had bruises on my legs), my only consolation was the entertainment on the small flat screen in front of me. But it was busted, so I heaved a sigh, popped my sleeping pills and dozed off to the sounds of gum chewing and endless yelling of “HOY! Kumusta ka na? At taga san ka? Domestic helper ka rin ba?” Translation: “Hey there? Where are you from? Are you a domestic helper as well?” I thought I had died and God had sent me to my very own private hell.”“On my way back, I had to bravely take the economy flight once more. This time I had already resigned myself to being trapped like a sardine in a sardine can with all these OFWs smelling of AXE and Charlie cologne while Jo Malone evaporated into thin air.”
This obviously brought bloggers onto her heels. Her retort, “Am I being a diva? Or do you lack common sense?” did not help her case at all.
In the end, Malu Fernandez did apologize and was forced to resign. The reason behind her resignation – death threats.
Now that’s a story for another day.
5 Comments
What was her crime? Nothing!
She was simply true to herself and expressed what she felt on that flight.
She have shown how a pig felt on a 9 hour flight.
Shame on you Malu Fernandez! Ikaw ang lowlife!
Tignan mo itsura mo, sa tingin mo ba bagay yung pabango mo sa iyo? palagay ko ilang minuto lang sa katawan mo yung pabango mo ang asim mo na kaagad!
I hope we can learn to forgive Malu Fernandez. I wrote an entry about her article and I hope you can find time to read it. It’s entitled “One Voice (An OFW’s reaction to Malu Fernandez’s “From Greece to Boracay”)” and I posted it here: http://lestercavestany.com/?p=10
malu fernandez you are a disgrace. you should rot in jail with erap. i hear he’s been sentenced to 40 years in jail this morning. pigs should stick together.
it just goes to prove that you cannot buy class. you may be educated but you are heartless. unforgivable indeed.
I was really astonished reading her article. I thought ethnocentrism is used only by aliens (foreigners) when I found out that she is a true blue Filipina I was really devastated. by the stereotyping comments she had used. I even seriously want to SLASH MY WRIST…a metaphor phrase but a Figurative indeed…. I was an OFW in Dubai and I humbly say i excel in my job and I am paid fairly well. I live in a descent villa in Jumeirah and drive a sophisticated car as my freinds used to say and I had travelled 54 countries for my leisure sake.such a comfortable life…isnt it? and im not bragging, whinning or bitching because this is my real life situation as an OFW in Dubai… Being an OFW is not only about working as a DH. A lot of OFW excel in Dubai and to mention a few they work as Engineers, Doctors, Bankers, Managers, Training Consultants and Marketing Specialist. The problem with Malou she pretends to be well educated eventhough her Cerebrum is too narrow to grasp new ideas for higher mental process and her frontal lobe is highly damage for she does’nt how to show emotions. Now that I’m already here in the states I had never forgetten that once in my life I was an OFW and im very proud to be an OFW.I love my kababayans and I miss them very much wether they are proletariat or bourgeoisie, wearing axe cologne or bouchelone it doesnt matter to me, we are all homo sapien created by God in his own image and likeness though not socioeconomically equal but we are one in the eyes of God … well, i just want to relay a mesage to Malou that she should be more responsible in her words coz WORDS are very powerful that it can make you or break you….Its not a crime to share your opinion but you have to be more prime coz you are liable with your own WORDS used as a journalist.I am really torn out by your article but I had forgiven you coz all of us are humans and we all learn from our mistakes…. : )))))
another website: http://www.whymalu.com