Toughest Place to be a Bus Driver

[NorthAmericanguy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_Ht_19N8Uw


"Documentary about a London Bus Driver who goes to Manila in the Philippines to experience what it is like to live and work as a Jeepney driver in Manila"





Guys, I have seen a lot of documentaries, but this one hit close to home. I had no idea life was so difficult for people in the Philippines.

[odbo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_Ht_19N8Uw


"Documentary about a London Bus Driver who goes to Manila in the Philippines to experience what it is like to live and work as a Jeepney driver in Manila"





Guys, I have seen a lot of documentaries, but this one hit close to home. I had no idea life was so difficult for people in the Philippines.

Nice thanks! I wanted to watch something uplifting as I'm too lazy to read tonight.
And you think life is difficult in the Phillippines! What about China, India or Russia! A few years back I saw a documentary on the Discovery or History Channel about Norilsk Metal. There's a "closed" city in the Arctic circle part of Russia, where a hundred thousand or so people work mining nickel (needed for laptop batteries, etc). They spend all day a mile underground and only go above ground to sleep. The environment around the city is all dead because of acid rain and cancer rate very high as you'd expect. And the kicker? They decided to keep it a closed city after the collapse of the USSR to keep out crime. Not everyone gets to live the care free life of an Italian. I wish I could track that documentary down. It was the kind of thing you threaten misbehaving kids with.

Maybe it's changed this German clip makes it look half liveable. Not as grim as I remember it


Ladislav if you're reading this I want info on Norilsk! Is it still a closed city with a big gate, and wall encircling it?


I've seen several documentaries about Chinese factory workers, and one about the Bhopal disaster in India. I mean US has some pretty bad "industrial" history especially if you take a look at big oil and Louisiana, (and I'm not talking about the recent BP oil leak), but it does put things into perspective (decadent west vs "3rd world"). I still think being born a Filipino is much better than being born a Chinese farmers son/daughter.

[ladislav]

What they mean by " closed" is that there are travel restrictions on going there and also, it is hard for people to move and live there because of security concern. So, if and when you go there, you will need all kinds of permits, passes, etc. There will probably be a checkpoint on the way there and the cops will be checking documents. Kind of similar to restricted military areas in the US. It does not mean an actual fence with a gate.

[odbo]

Did anyone notice that the guy uses a 120mm fan from a desktop computer as a driver's fan in his jeepne

Here's the clip the driving school used

Apparently the pedestrian didn't die, at least according to "Indestructibles" on National Geographic




Quesiton about Jeepne's... who makes them? I thought they were custom built from WW2 jeeps. How come some have Mercedes-Benz badge and are taller? Are they just old Mercedes school buses which have been shipped in?

[zboy1]

That was a really good show, Jamesbond. Reminds of when I was stationed in England and I found how entertaining the television can be in the U.K. than in America. I miss the intelligence of British programs like that compared to the dumbed-down garbage on American T.V. shows in comparison.

Anyway, Manila looks like an absolute hell-hole; why would anyone want to live there? The Filipinos sure were friendly though. I guess that is one of the biggest upside of poverty---people are not as materialistic and shallow as they are in richer countries. It's too bad the Philippines can't get their act together and industrialize like the rest of Asia...

[ladislav]

Anyway, Manila looks like an absolute hell-hole; why would anyone want to live there?

Because not all of it is a hellhole. It is just that most television programs in the Anglo world only want to show poor foreign people and poor parts of foreign towns in contrast to a prosperous and happy British citizen, in this case a Black Brit who is doing so well. Another piece of subtle propaganda.

And I will take a Manila slum over a Bronx or Brooklyn slum anytime.

A Filipino could afford a house and so many kids on a driver's salary. Can a Brit do that? Keep dreaming.

It's too bad the Philippines can't get their act together and industrialize like the rest of Asia...

It is doing well, actually, but the Brits will never show you this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZve0hQ7 ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2vH-mRe ... re=related

The Brits still want to be colonial overlords but this time more gentle and politically reformed- they send a gentle minority person to help the locals and to show the Brits how well they have it.

[Mr S]

[NorthAmericanguy]

And I will take a Manila slum over a Bronx or Brooklyn slum anytime.

A Filipino could afford a house and so many kids on a driver's salary. Can a Brit do that? Keep dreaming.

I completely agree.

[NorthAmericanguy]

Apparently there are Americans doing just the same, the difference is they do it because they WANT to and not because they have to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSMBVdPMK5I

[NorthAmericanguy]

No only are women are easy to control more so then men, but women do a better job preforming small repeated repetitive task over long periods of time.