About some of our Asian neighbors

Sometimes, it feels like my country has been invaded by Koreans. In Manila at least, especially in shopping malls and nearby areas, they are everywhere. Can't say I'm happy about it but what can I do? They've discovered the Philippines as the way to learn English without draining their bank accounts. Everything here is cheap, they say. And they raid the supermarket shelves containing dried mangoes (well, those really are hard to resist).

Anyway, I know it isn't fair to generalize. But I will -- in the form of "I wish." I wish Koreans here would mind their manners more. That is my generalization.

At this point I'd like to mention Jinna, a Korean college student whom I tutored for several months. Jinna is pleasant, refined and fun to be with. I helped her with her English (along with Phil. History as well as Psychology classes) for a while, but apart from that we had a good time just talking. We even went to the movies and had lunch a few times. Then several months later, after I had ceased to be her tutor, she got in touch with me to say that her boyfriend, Peter, was in need of a tutor. So Peter became my student. Peter was like a male version of Jinna -- well-mannered and cheery. Too bad he had to go back to Korea only about a month into our tutorials.

So, everytime I'm irritated by Koreans habits which I find annoying, I simply think of Jinna and Peter and remember that people are just different. Oh, did I mention that Korean soap operas are the rage here?? I'm not into them, though. Somehow, listening to Orientals chat in Tagalog gives me the creeps (in a funny way).

Okay, two features here about Korea. The first is from MercatorNet's Family Edge newsletter (Jan. 8 issue). For the other one, I thank Alexa at Birth Story. Her blog is such a rich source of news and other materials!

South Korea wants happy families on TV

Birth control groups in South Korea have a new and challenging job on their hands. After 40 years of talking down the birth rate, the government wants them to talk it up. Last month the Planned Population Federation of Korea held a seminar for writers of TV soaps and dramas, urging them to create more situations that show happy mothers with their children. "We are just asking the writers to be more considerate because some programmes now depict career women as being very egotistical, thinking only of themselves," said the group's Shin Sun-chol.

A recent government study of 50 South Korean dramas shows a television landscape in which single life is portrayed as cool, children as a burden, and love as something that does not always have to lead to marriage and a family. Such shows draw big audiences and are very influential with women in their 20s and 30s.

An October poll for the Health and Welfare Ministry found that 71 per cent of unmarried men considered marriage "necessary" while the same percentage of unmarried women preferred a good job to marriage. More than a third of married women now say that having children is not a priority -- up from 9 per cent in 1998. The birthrate fell in 2005 to a record low of 1.08, setting South Korea up to be the world's most aged society by 2050.

And the TV writers? Ten men and 22 women turned out to the seminar. The women said it was difficult to have a family and a television career. One said it was more exciting to write about families with problems than to write about happy families. The writers balked at writing more kids into prime time scripts -- they would have to give each a line and it would be too much work. ~ Los Angeles Times, December 10

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South Korea High School Students Have Abortions at High Clip

Seoul, South Korea (LifeNews.com) -- New statistics in South Korea show that high school students are having abortions at a high rate as more than one in four female students who are sexually active have had an abortion. That's according to a new survey conducted by the Korea Federation for HIV/AIDS Prevention.

The group questioned 2,898 middle school and high school students in Seoul and found that 26.9 percent of female high school students who had sexual intercourse had abortions.

Full story at LifeNews