The time I was in Hong Kong teaching and pulling Playhouse Disney-esque stunts to engage even the most wayward and disruptive of my students (at least half of the class) . Virtually all kids were all dolled up like a dream, everyone had his/her own nintendo ds, mobile phone, and a pinay yaya who was waiting outside yakking with other nannies about their strife and grievances concerning their meager salary, their delinquents sons/daughter back home and Judy Ann Santos, not necessarily in that order.But Hong Kong kids with all their upper crusty accoutrements can never measure up to the zest for life of the third world children. No gadgets can trump the joy of a filipino boy who jus
t received a '2 for P50' shorts from his tatay, or a filipino girl in threadbare clothing that had once been her older sister's getting a new slippers from the week's market bargain.If you want to see the world's sincerest and most genuine smiles, Look at the faces of Filipino children, they may be lacking practically every tooth, but their toothless mirth suggests innocence in its purest form. Their smiles can heal a soul, touch a heart and make you feel ashamed of your useless pursuits. They smile at us, seemingly saying "Look at us, We may not have everything money can buy, but we are having the greatest time living!"
