With regards the incident, I find it quite appalling that such practice continues and yet you hear no uproar in the US media about it. Bon Secours mission states that, (it)… remains true to its mission to bring compassionate health care to all people and Good Help to Those in Need ®. Obviously, in this incident, they forgot to extend such compassion and good help to their multilingual employees.

What I also found very disappointing following some Filipino nurses blogging on the matter was that some have maintained the colonial view and favoured the decision by the hospital. They expressed that moving to the US also implied embracing the language at the expense of their own; that keeping Tagalog, as in this particular case, was being rude to others and non-accepting of their new home. I feel quite ashamed that they think and feel that way.

On the other hand, I was quite proud to read those who rightly expressed in their blogs that the US, or any other country for that matter, should be accepting of the multilingual migrants, not just of their skills but their language and cultural practices and challenge them to be a truly inclusive society.

People who often suspect that migrants who speak their L1 in the presence of others who dont understand the language must cease being so self-centred. Individuals should be allowed to maintain their freedom to express certain thoughts, emotions and opinions in the language they know best and are most comfortable in. I speak three Philippine languages: Tagalog, Cebuano and Ilonggo. Different contexts and relationships warrant only one of these three. I would certainly feel that my rights are violated if I am prohibited to use any of them in any particular context simply because I am within earshot of someone who feels uncomfortable of my choice of language.