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Sunday, April 30, 2006
Lim: Who's the pig?
By Melanie T. Lim
A 7-year old Filipino boy named Luc Cagadoc, whose family moved to Canada in 1999, has been disciplined by a lunch monitor at Ecole Lalande in Roxboro, Quebec for eating habits labeled “disgusting.”
Punished more than ten times this year for mealtime conduct which included “disgusting” eating habits, Luc has recounted to his mother that every time he eats with both a spoon and a fork, instead of only one utensil, he is moved to another table to sit by himself.
Upset over her son’s story, Mrs. Cagadoc went to see the school principal, Normand Bergeron, and explained that Luc was simply eating in normal Filipino fashion. To her dismay, the principal replied, “Madame, you are in Canada.
Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat.” He further added, “If your son eats like a pig he has to go to another table because this is the way we do it and how we’re going to do it every time.”
After repeatedly being punished and told that “eating with a spoon and fork” is disgusting, Luc has lost all appetite to eat dinner at home. Mrs. Cagadoc has filed a formal a complaint with the local school board.
Andy Blatchford’s report in The Chronicle is heartbreaking in so many ways. It is heartbreaking to see a child abused by the school system that is supposed to nurture him and teach him to be kind and compassionate to all children, regardless of their cultures.
It is heartbreaking to see someone in authority cut a child down to size, heap unforgivable humiliation on him and unjustly punish him. And for what—--for respecting his roots? But more than anything else, it is heartbreaking that this should happen in a country like Canada—--a country that purportedly supports the free expression of culture and religion.
Principal Bergeron claims he doesn’t necessarily want students to eat with one hand or with only one instrument. He just wants them to “eat intelligently” at the table. He added that he simply wanted the students to eat correctly with respect for others who are eating with them and that he had never seen somebody eat with a spoon and fork at the same time.
Well, Monsieur Bergeron, may “eat intelligently” but clearly his intelligence does not extend beyond the use of table utensils. Has the man ever stepped beyond Quebec? Has he ever watched television in his life? Is the man blind as a bat?
Hasn’t he noticed that the world is actually composed of people from different countries and cultures—--Quebec included? God forbid the man should find himself in the company of the Chinese or the Japanese. He might get a heart attack thinking he is about to be attacked by all those sticks on the table.
It is not the eating habits of Luc Cagadoc that are disgusting. That a bigot and ignoramus like Monsieur Bergeron can be principal in a school in Canada is what is, in fact, beyond disgusting. Between Luc and Monsieur Bergeron, I think it’s a no-brainer who the pig is. I think even Monsieur Bergeron could figure this one out.
(sunstarcebucolumnist@yahoo.com)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 30, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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