I'm really amazed at my courage to declutter.

I consider myself a survivor of the 3r, as I resigned in late November.

The reason was that I was eating out and on my way home waiting for a car when a police officer (probably a traffic cop) approached me to check my ID. I initially wanted to walk away, but the officer called over an accomplice to stop me. I thought a few thousand would suffice, but it ended up costing me 20,000 to be let go, thankfully I had the money on me.

I couldn't have imagined this happening before. Later, after I went back and talked to my Filipino wife and the translators, it became clear. Now, the Philippine government allocates less than half the stipulated funds each quarter. The higher-ups can't afford to pay the lower levels, so they delegate the power to them. This means they have to earn their own salaries, which translates to exploiting us Chinese. Thus, whether it's security guards or traffic police, as long as they have a bit of power, they dare to extort money from Chinese people.

Additionally, after the building was taken down in October and with low salaries, I pondered and decided that taking this risk was not worth it. So, I resigned, and they even deducted over 20,000 pesos (fees) from my salary, which I found annoying. Now, I realize I was actually the luckiest one.

To add more, when our 3r was taken down, it wasn't a delivery of sunshine. It's different from other prisons where you can't even visit if you're Chinese, as you might end up being detained yourself. Unlike in sunshine where you might be able to spend money to get someone out and even send money for a better life inside. Now, being taken down probably isn't as simple as just entering sunshine.

Today, seeing another big building being taken down, still a neighbor, and hearing people say the next one is 8912, also a neighbor, makes me very reflective. Whether it's alarmist or not, I think with the New Year approaching, the most important thing is to have a safe celebration. Working an extra half month won't make us richer or poorer. Now, Filipinos look at Chinese people like we look at gold on the ground. This description is not an exaggeration at all. Here's wishing everyone a safe New Year.