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In China today: 120 boys to 100 girls due to the One-Child Policy
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The government of China has decided to continue its population control program of “One-Child Policy” in spite of its many consequences – among them the ratio of 20-30 boys for every girl. This scenario is frightening as the children are now growing up into their teens and young adulthood. The other result is the huge number of elderly getting dependent on the few babies that were born the past twenty five years since the policy was implemented. No matter how the Chinese government encourages the couples to bring to birth their female babies, their culture drives them to strive for a male first born. So the female unborn child is aborted if it is first-born and aborted as well if it is the second-born since the allocated one-child son has been born!
I have just returned from a trip to Taiwan, Hongkong and Macau to give pro-life seminars to the Filipino overseas workers. Most of them are working as domestic helpers in such families that have an only son. And their common complaint – those boys are spoiled brats, so hard to baby-sit for. Materialism is the rule of the day and no longer the much-admired values of Chinese discipline, industriousness and respect for the elderly.
It was truly consoling to see our kababayans trying hard to live a Christian life in such secular atmosphere. The Catholic churches where I spoke after Holy Communion were filled with Filipinos during all the Sunday Masses. I was so proud to see them conducting the Choir, helping as altar servers, Eucharistic Ministers and ushers.
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Most of them were women. My heart ached for them as I knew that each of them longed for their families. Some were hurrying home this summer to attend the graduation of a son or a daughter – the fruit of their hard labor through the years they were separated from them.
Fr. Nilo, the parish priest of St. Christopher Church in Taipei, invited me to speak to his parish leaders on pro-life awareness as well as help set up counseling services. He admitted that seven out of ten confessions were abortion-related since abortion is legal in Taiwan. Still the guilt and depression of the women need to be addressed. As well as assistance to the pregnant so they do not abort. Fr. Nilo was glad that over a hundred attended the seminar and eagerly committed to get involved in pro-life work.
Although it was a last minute arrangement, Ray Arcilla was able to gather the Save-a-Life Net after one Sunday Mass at St. Mary’s Church in Hongkong for my brief sharing. Motivating them to get involved in pro-life was not necessary. The Education-Formation Parish Leadership Program members attend fifteen Sunday teachings that include pro-life values before they have their commissioning. Over 400 are actively conduct pro-life seminars themselves or do side-walk counseling outside the Queen Mary Hospital where the women go for abortion.
A few days before I arrived in HK, a seven-month old premature baby was found dead in a paper bag in the downtown area where the Filipinos pack their balikbayan boxes. That was around ten in the morning. At 2:30, another woman looked inside the unclaimed bag and screamed when she saw the dead baby wrapped in a towel. The umbilical cord was still attached. A note in Tagalog said – “Please help my baby. My employer did not give me maternity leave. My flight is at 11:30 today”. The police brought the bag to the station and investigations were incomplete up to press time. No one could give any information regarding the mother.
Immediate reaction of the people was to condemn such cruelty. But the pro-lifers sighed and expressed pity that the woman did not know she could have been helped had she approached them. The incident motivated them all the more to strengthen their pro-life mission.
In Macau, my audience was mostly members of the Couples for Christ, a few priests and university students. This was organized by Prof. Zen Udani whom I have known ever since he was teaching here at the University of Asia and the Pacific. Again, it was a highly motivated group who expressed much appreciation for the video tapes and training manuals that I shared with them so they could continue with the pro-life work among themselves.
During the Open Forum, the same question would be posed – “Sister, when are you coming back here? We would like you to speak to more groups and to continue giving us training!”. That is certainly strong temptation for me to ask my Superior to mission me to Taiwan, Hongkong or Macau soon and join the Filipino Good Shepherd Sisters who have been serving our countrymen and women in those countries these past years.
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