Khara Tapay Jabola-Carolus on Instagram: "Empty Ritz Carlton in West Maui sheltering fire survivors. The hotel has so many pent up reservations that apparently it will be fully occupied with tourists by October 15. There’s a narrative that the October 8 reopening of West Maui to tourists pits Native Hawaiians against the immigrants who work in the hotels. I have not seen much evidence on-the-ground of that. While there is no single reaction for an entire group of people and people don’t want to be broke, what I’ve seen more than anything is Filipino hotel workers burst into tears at the mention of the reopening when asked in Tagalog and Ilokano. We have heard over and over “hindi masaya” which means Filipinos are gloomy about it. They are not happy. They are terribly sad. Just because they need money does not mean they want tourists visiting or to work while grieving and displaced. It is clear that many support the Native Hawaiian call to stop the rush to reopen." | Zootzle
