My 2 Cents worth...

Every once in a while, something happens that makes internet surfing more interesting. It could be about a new product, a movie, an event, an email or in this case a series of blogs and articles that talk about a certain lifestyle writer by the name of Malu Fernandez.

Malu Fernandez gained infamy over the blogosphere in the last few weeks due to an article published in the June 2007 issue of People Asia magazine. In this article, the jetsetting diva, used her "acerbic wit" to talk about her recent adventure - taking an economy class fare in an Emirates flight to Greece.

I would have probably enjoyed the topic, had it not contained such distasteful comments.

She incensed the public with her highly insensitive and derogatory remarks about her fellow Filipinos, targetting the OFWs whom she happened to share the plane with. You can view the full article here -> (Page1, Page2), but I've highlighted a few key points below.

"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 sann ka? Domestic helper ka rin ba?” Translation: “Hey there? Where are you from? Are you a domestic helper as well?” I though 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."

Not content with her original article, Malu posted a follow up article that started well enough (I even agree with some of her rants), but then she ended the article with another jibe that only added fuel to the fire that would soon consume her. “Am I being a diva? Or do you lack common sense?” (Manila Standard Online, July 30, 2007)

"As I type this, I’d like you to know that it’s not about whining, complaining and bitching but just stating the facts. Just recently, I wrote a funny article in my magazine column and my friends thought it was hilarious. It was humorous and quite tongue-in-cheek, or at least I thought so, until the magazine got a few e-mails from people who didn’t get the meaning of my acerbic wit. The bottom line was just that I had offended the reader’s socioeconomic background. If any of these people actually read anything thicker then a magazine they would find it very funny. Most people don’t get the fact that they need bitches like me to shake up their world, otherwise their lives would be boring and mediocre. I obviously write for the a certain target audience and if what I write offends you, just stop reading."

Funny... I regularly read things "thicker than a magazine" but I didn't quite catch the humor in that.

And it wasn't the socioenomic background that's the problem. It's how she belittled the country's unsung heroes with her remarks. What did she expect? That we would take it lying down? For a country that owes so much to its OFWs, she should have realized that attacking them meant declaring war.

Unfortunately, I can't wholly take the side of the people against her because they too have written things that come across as worse than Malu's ill-attempt at humor. Although they believe that she deserves the name-calling, the character-bashing now littering the WWW, I think that some of them are just being mean.

Let's be objective about this...asking for a public apology and even a resignation/disciplinary action is fine by me. But some of the user comments I read on the net makes me shake my head, I feel slightly chagrined that these people calling out the insensitivity of one, stoop to a level lower than hers, jumping into the mob mentality, goaded into making comments that are malicious and nasty just to belong. *sigh*

Well, this story does get a happy ending (or as close to one as can be expected). Malu Fernandez issued a public apology, and has resigned from both People Asia and Manila Standard Today. Hopefully, she has learned her lesson that you don't have to resort to insults to be witty, and to keep her elitist, prejudiced, acerbic wit to herself and her friends. And hopefully, for the next barrage of online blogs taking sides, let's all just stick to the issue, and leave the immature name-calling out of it okay?

Cheers. :)