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In South East Asia (and not only there) life is not always easy for people affected by dwarfism, as they are often still discriminated against, making it hard for them to find a job and lead a normal life.

Some bars and clubs, however, hire them for entertainment purposes: in this case, for instance, to "fight" in short boxing matches. The "fight" is staged, with little or no real competition, and not much chance of injury thanks to the super-thick padding of the gloves they use. After each one of the brief matches, it is customary to tip the two boxers.

It is obviously a bit of a controversial practice: for some people it is a mild form of exploitation, for others it is a way to give dwarves a way to earn a living and be independent.
Personally, I tend to lean towards the latter interpretation and on my last trip to Manila I decided to give one of these clubs a go.

Whichever your opinion is on the topic, I hope that a picture on TE will help giving a bit more visibility to the challenges that the "little people" still too often have to face in their daily lives.