Initially appeared on doktorko.com 1/2/2005.
Being relatively new to the US and still not having acquired a taste for the brash culture and bland diet, my long-term goal at the present is to return to the Philippines within the next 6-7 years (i.e. as long as my J1 Visa permits). Whenever i make this declaration, i can almost HEAR the older-timers (that is, those who have been here longer - not necessarily my elders) rolling their eyes. "Bakit pa?" they ask in disbelief. "Ano bang meron 'dun?" Then they proceed to the litany of why the US is better than the RP: everything is so convenient, the standard of living is higher, the air is cleaner, blah-blah-blah. Of course, these points always give me pause; on the surface, they appear to be correct. But upon deeper examination, the arguments are fairly easy to deconstruct. Consider:
1. Convenience. Here in the US, almost any thing can be bought at any place at any time. What you can't find at your local Walmart, Target, or Costco, you can certainly buy online. Convenient - to a point. However, back home, what could be more convenient than giving the helper or driver a list then coming home to find your pantry neatly stocked? Sounds coņo, definitely, but i think the convenience of having someone to do something for you (don't complain - this creates jobs, after all) beats the convenience of buying something YOURSELF any day.
2. Standard of living. True, people here seem to have more things. That, however, is the proverbial tip of the iceberg. As i soon found to my dismay, the reason why people here have so many nice and shiny things is that they are all in DEBT. They take out loans with exorbitant rates for big houses and cool cars; they revolve huge sums of debts on their credit cards to buy the cute mini-ipods... and spend the rest of their natural lives paying off the lenders. The standard of living is higher BECAUSE PEOPLE LIVE ABOVE THEIR MEANS. They like living it up despite the cost. I daresay that if they lived within their salary brackets, they would have fewer things - but then that would make them less American (i.e. less bling), and we can't have that. The US itself is deep in debt to the tune of almost a trillion dollars and keeps flushing money down the drain with such noble causes as the occupation of Iraq. One day the debtors will come to collect from the indebted - and everything will rip apart at the seams.
3. Clean air. If only what you couldn't see couldn't kill you - but even though there are fewer smoke belchers here, the overall pollution is higher. And this is a nationwide thing. True, the RP has a lot of smog and such, but that's only in Metro Manila.
I could go on and on with my OWN litany... but i won't. 'Nuff said that there are more things for me at home than here. So what's the point of training abroad? Well... money.
The whole point was to short-circuit the financial low point of going through residency and establishing a medical practice (a process that could take anywhere from 5-10 years). At roughly $38k a year, i make around 2 million pesos every 12 months. This is while working 70-80 hours a week with 30-hour calls. In the meantime, my Filipino counterparts earn minimum wage while being run into the ground with scutwork from consultants who seem to relish bashing their residents' egos at every opportunity. The better deal seems obvious.
The POINT? Well, the way i figure it, i have to make at least $100k before going back home. At that point, i will place the money in a bank (or an investement vehicle), and earn 50k pesos every month IN INTEREST. That's money begetting money while i sit ON MY ASS. If everything goes according to plan, this should happen before i'm 40.
Then WHAT? Well, that's only the beginning.
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