“They religiously send money at the end of the month. They also want to send their children to school, and acquire a house and other things that they can call their own,” Erik P. Asi, an electrical engineer at Nardeen Lighting in Riyadh, told Arab News.
However, Asi said, these were their long-term plans. Their short-term plan was to buy a TV set and other electronic products, in addition to cell phones and laptops.
“For many OFWs, buying a stereo or a TV set and a DVD player is foremost in the mind as soon as they have a bit of extra money after making a remittance to their loved ones at the end of the month. Others who can afford these go for the latest home theater,” he said.
Asked if he has bought one, he said in a voice trailing off into a whisper, “My wife Jannette and I have bought one and we and the kids are enjoying it.” His wife is a teacher at the Saudi Arabian International School (SAIS).
Maynard M. Pesig, electronics and communications engineer at Light Technologies, added: “Many save for these because quite a huge amount of money is involved. Once they have bought it, they send it either via door-to-door in a 'balikbayan box' or take them home with them when they go on vacation,” said Pesig who hails from Calapan, Mindoro Oriental.
He added that many OFWs, especially those who are homesick, keep a stereo set with them to hear their favorite songs to combat their homesickness at night or during their day off when they feel lonely.
“When I came to the Kingdom for the first time, I bought a TV set and a DVD player to watch films, then a stereo set to listen to music not only to lessen my longing for home but also to sooth frayed nerves after a long day's work. Then I sent these to my wife, Sunny May Ambrad in Quezon City in the Philippines,” he said. The rest, he said, he took home as accompanying baggage.
Knowing their importance to contemporary life, those who could afford it have bought such electronics for their flats in the Kingdom and their houses in the Philippines. “Every house seems incomplete without a stereo set and home theater, among others,” said Edwin V. Bragais, communications engineer at a local bank.
“Who can deny that these have become necessities in modern life?” he said.
These electronics can be found in their flat in the Saudi capital as well as in their house in Cogeo, near Marikina City in the Philippines. When asked who stays in their house in Cogeo, he said: “It's my wife Sed's mother Tuding and aunt.”
He added, however, that they have furnished their house in the Philippines and in the Kingdom within their means.
“Had I been receiving less than what I get at the end of the month from the bank where I work, my wife and I would have probably given priority to more basic needs such as food and education of the kids,” said Bragais, who has been working in the Kingdom for the last six years.
Having seen OFWs' fondness for electronic gadgets, entrepreneurial compatriots have taken the opportunity to cash in. They buy a unit, be it a TV set, stereo set or a home theater, and sell it on for a profit, usually by accepting installments.
From Jubail in the Eastern Province, Edgar B. Paras, 46, said OFWs' fondness for electronic products is no longer limited to those who can comfortably afford them. Paras works as a refinery welder for Alkhobar-based Nesma & Partners.
“Even ordinary Filipino migrant workers who draw modest salaries dream of what we call the amenities of modern life. To realize this dream, they work hard,” said Paras, who comes from Conception, Tarlac, north of Manila, and who has been working in the Kingdom for the last six years.
He said that he had managed to buy electronic products which he carried as accompanying baggage
during his vacations to the Philippines. His family, including wife Nenet and three grown-up children, is now enjoying these. They live in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, south of Manila.
“You have not gone overseas, say, to Saudi Arabia, if you have not bought a stereo component, TV set or home theater,” said Arnold G. Pineda, technical secretary at the Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Corporation (SPIMACO) in Buraidah, Qassim. He added that these symbolize part of what it means to be an OFW.
He said that while he has a stereo set for listening to soothing and relaxing music at night and during his day off and a digital camera which he uses to take pictures of the Filipino community’s activities in Qassim, his family, which includes wife Rowena, and children James Arnold, John Rowe, and Joshua Philip, enjoys the home theater which he had bought in the Kingdom.
“For them to enjoy this while I am away makes me happy, although I miss them. I involve myself in community work to forget the homesickness. I wish that the time will come when I don't have to leave them anymore,” he said.
In Jeddah, Tess M. Baladad, who works as a secretary at the International Medical Center in Al-Ruwais district, said that electronic gadgets, home theaters, or appliances are not a luxury but a necessity.
“They make life easier, convenient and comfortable. It's relaxing to listen to beautiful music because it soothes and dispels fatigue. A home theater makes watching favorite shows enjoyable and exciting, and a camera or digicam captures memorable moments in time forever,” she said.
Benny M. Quimbao, a Filipino community leader, agrees. However, he expressed sadness that quite a few OFWs sell whatever they have acquired for the family when they run out of money while on vacation in the Philippines.
“It's a fact that OFWs have the tendency to splurge while on vacation and when they run out of money before they can come back to their overseas job, the first thing they have in mind is to sell anything they can, from stereo components to TV sets,” he said.
