Pinoy singer/songwriter to launch Hong Kong album

William Elvin

Hong Kong-based Filipino singer-songwriter William Elvin is showcasing a different dimension of Filipino musicality and creativity in his self-producsed album entitled “Sacred/aProfane/Mundane”, to be launched in Hong Kong on Jul 20, Saturday, at The Aftermath Bar in Central.

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“Sacred/ Profane/Mundane” is a collection of original compositions that highlight the singer’s carefully crafted lyricism, whimsical melodies and intuitive musical arrangements – drawing from various influences such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, David Bowie and Filipino alternative pop/rock bands.

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Described as “brilliant” and “soulful, propulsively melodic” by the Philippine Daily Inquirer and “theatrical but authentic” by ABS-CBN News, William Elvin’s unique sound is exemplified by the album’s promotional singles:  the country-inspired “The Last Lovers on Earth” and the haunting ballad “Ang Sabi Nila”, which are both gaining a growing number of listeners on Spotify and Apple Music.

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William Elvin’s band for the “Sacred/Profane/Mundane” recording sessions is made up of Satur Tiamson and Lloyd Yamid alternating on drums, Rico Cristobal Jr. on bass and Matt Alvarez Mateo on guitars.

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Listen to William Elvin’s music and get more updates and information by visiting his official homepage at www.williamelvin.com.

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Labatt Jolly dela Torre's heartfelt thanks to migrants rights advocates in HK

MESSAGE AT HONORING CEREMONY

(This message was delivered by Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre at Linklaters in Alexandra House, Central on 25 March 2019, in response to a series of farewell tributes to him by government officials, migrant leaders, human rights lawyers and NGO staff)

Labatt Jolly being introduced by emcee Alan Bell 

Thank you all for coming tonight. I feel quite honored, and grateful. It’s not often that diplomatic officials are honored this way, and I feel special. In fact, before coming up to the rostrum, I had to pinch myself to make sure this is really happening. And it is happening. It’s surreal, and I should tell you this would not be possible at all if Emily Lau had not thought about it, and thank you, too, Allan Bell, for your organizing skills and to both your friendships. Looks like the Filipino community, and the people who care for them, are well represented here tonight. Looking around, I see a good number of people, and that if I will have as many good and decent people at my funeral, I think I’d be a happy man. But not yet. Not yet.

When I reported here for the second time in 2016, the first time being in 1998, I wondered how long it would take me to introduce meaningful changes into the system that was essentially stacked against our workers, changes which could somehow make the lives of our workers a little bit better and a little bit safer. I wondered, how long would it take for somebody in my position to keep pushing for reforms, and eventually consider his tour of duty a success? And I realized, what I was really asking was, how long is a piece of string? Because there is no expiration date on the need for reforms. There is no deadline for social change. It’s a never-ending and sometimes thankless task.

Caring for and fighting for our workers’ rights and welfare here in Hong Kong is never easy, as many of you present in this room tonight can attest. The numbers are simply overpowering, the issues intractable, the adversaries strong. But there is comfort from the fact that many people like yourselves are pushing the boulders blocking the way. Our combined strength will someday make the difference. Therefore, we should never give up. Because along the way, there are little triumphs, little victories and big lessons, which make the fight worth waging. Our small victories against window cleaning, against human trafficking, against rogue agencies and abusive employers—these were worth fighting for, and I can only express my gratitude to the whole community for their helping hands.

There are still plenty of items on the reform agenda: 1. Working hours; 2. Suitable accommodations; 3. Food. Very basic issues which I would have thought we never have to fight for, but we do, and it is sad that we have to. I would have wanted to stay longer to fight a little bit longer. But there are things in this world that are simply not for the wishing.

The matter of the poor health of many ofour workers should not be treated as an isolated issue. It has to be understood in the context of their poor working conditions. Our workers fall ill and some of them die, not primarily through lack of medical attention, but perhaps because of their working conditions. In 2018 alone, we lost 61 Filipinos in Hong Kong, and 75% of those deaths were due to illness. There has to be a way out of this—either through mandatory health check-ups that even the Indonesian Consulate General has seen fit to require, or stronger enforcement of the contractual and statutory working conditions of 350,000 foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong. Our Project Health Wise has uncovered the fact that far too many of our workers are either diabetic or hypertensive, higher than our national average in both respects. But I suppose that would be for the next LabourAttache to fight for, assuming he or she has the stomach and the commitment.  I can tell him though that he’s definitely got his work cut out for him.

I therefore say goodbye to Hong Kong, comfortable with the thought that I have given my best shot, and in the process gained so many friends. I’m sorry I couldn’t mention all your names, but I couldn’t have survived Hong Kong without your help.I could’ve done more. We could’ve done more together, but I ran out of time. Unlike the issues we fight for, my tour of duty in Hong Kong has expired. It has been a pleasure knowing all of you, and thank you all for your help, your friendship, even your criticism. I will always remember all of you, and may you all keep the fires in your hearts burning. Hong Kong would be a great place to live and work: we just need to make sure that it becomes also a great place to live and work for our migrant workers. I know that all of you here are fighters and advocates for our workers’ welfare, and together you can really move things along. Good luck to all of you.

Pabona’s photo exhibit kicks off Women’s Month

Acting Head of Post Germinia V. Aguilar Usudan (5th from left) and Joan Pabona (6th from left) with (from left) Consul Roderico C. Atienza, Tynna Mendoza of Enrich; Consul Kyaw Zay Yar Lin of Myanmar; Consul Grace Teh of Malaysia; Catherine Gurtin of Pathfinders; Dr Ju-chen Chan of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Olivia Cheng of HK 01 Company Limited; Alma Quinto; Dr Julie Ham of the University of Hong Kong; and Carmen Lam, Gellin Byatt and Medina Speers of Pathfinders, at the exhibit opening. (Consulate photo). 

By Vir B. Lumicao

Joan Pabona, a domestic worker who has shot to fame as a finalist in last year’s National Geographic Youth Photo Competition in Hong Kong, will be hanging up her cleaning gloves soon to focus on her passion, photography.

Joan Pabona

Pabona’s solo show, “Babae, Ipagbunyi: Empathy in a Click,” which opened on Mar 10, kicked off the Consulate’s celebration of the International Women’s Month as part of its Gender and Development program for Filipina domestic workers.

The talented 36-year-old woman from Sudipen, La Union, says she aims to transition into “a new and better person” when her work contract ends in June this year.

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What has made this happen was her success in the National Geographic-Wheelock photo competition last year, and her winning the international photographer award from Gawad America in the same year.

Leading the accolades for Pabona at the opening of her show was Deputy Consul General Germinia Usudan, who traced the artist’s work history, from being a factory worker, cashier, and debt collector, to becoming a domestic worker in Singapore and Hong Kong.

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The change Pabona had undergone moved her friend and sponsor, Dr Ju-chen Chen of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, to urge other Filipina helpers to also follow their dreams.

“This is not a representation of what Joan does only”, Chen said of the exhibit, which her team from the CUHK Department of Anthropology put up in collaboration with the PCG and Wimler Foundation.

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Chen said the photographs that Pabona exhibited are not about domestic workers in Hong Kong, but her view of the city where she lives and works.

She told the Filipina workers who were guests at the launch that with every picture they took of their new idol, “Joan becomes a new and better person” who they can emulate.

“You can also do that to become a better person,” Chen said.



 In September last year, Pabona told Chen she wanted to mount her first photo exhibit and the professor agreed readily. They approached Consul Fatima Quintin of the PCG and Wimler to enlist support and from there the project became a reality.

“I am interested in photography because I want to tell stories that I can only effect and convey in pictures,” Pabona said in her brief speech.

Photography “forces me to pay attention to things most people take for granted. When I take pictures, I look to capturing a moment in an artistic and creative way,” she said.

“When I take a picture, I feel like I am in communion with my subject. For in one split second I can put myself in their shoes.  When I get a good picture, I feel extremely content,” she said.

She told The SUN she started dabbling in photography using a Nikon digital SLR camera in college while enrolled in a computer course. It has since developed into a passion.

In June, when she winds up her six-year stay in Hong Kong as a domestic worker, she plans to go back to Sudipen to rest before going full time into photography.

“May plano na ako pero gusto kong magpahinga muna dahil pagod ako,” she said.

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Bumalik sa Pilipinas at magnegosyo, ang payo ng mag-asawang ex-Hong Kong

Ang pamilya Serrano noong bumisita sa Hong Kong.

Ni George Manalansan

Parang kailan lang nang maging magkasintahan sina Vic at Mel Serrano ng Pampanga. Nabuo ang kanilang pag-ibig sa Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) sa Maynila kung saan sila parehong nag-aral sa kolehiyo, bumuo ng pangarap hanggang maunang mangibang bansa si Vic.

Nagtrabaho si Vic bilang inhenyero sa loob ng 15 taon sa iba-ibang bansa: Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Hong Kong at Bahrain, samantalang si Mel ay nag domestic helper sa Hong Kong ng limang taon.

Dati na silang magkakilala at ang kani-kanilang pamilya dahil pareho silang galing sa pamilyang magsasaka.

Nagdesisyon silang magpakasal noong 1993, pero nagpatuloy si Vic sa pagtatrabaho sa ibang bansa.

Noong 1995 ay lumipat siya sa Hong Kong at sumali sa pinakamalaking proyekto dito noon, ang Chek Lap Kok airport, na nakumpleto ilang buwan bago ilipat ng Britanya sa China ang pamamahala sa Hong Kong.

Pagkatapos  nito ay sa Bahrain naman siya nagtrabaho, bago tuluyang nagdesisyon nang umuwi sa Pilipinas noong 2006. Nagtrabaho muna si Vic sa isang pinsan na tumulong para makapagtayo siya ng sariling negosyo.

Tantiya ni Vic, hindi sila sinuwerte ni Mel sa pagiging OFW kaya minabuti nilang gamitin ang kaunting ipon mula sa pagtatrabaho sa ibang bansa para magtayo ng maliit na negosyo.

Hindi naman siya nagkamali ng pagpili ng landas na tatahakin dahil ngayon ay malago na ang itinayo nilang negosyo, ang GWP Electrical, Trading and Construction Company, na may opisina sa Paranaque at Pampanga. May mahigit na 100 trabahador sila at may mga proyekto hindi lang sa Karatig-Maynila kundi pati sa iba-ibang probinsiya.

Ang pangalan ng kanilang kumpanya ay tanda ng kanilang matibay na pananalig sa Diyos, dahil ang ibig sabihin ng GWP ay “God Will Provide.”



Sa mga panahong ito ay mayroon na silang dalawang anak: sina Jhon Ewen na 22 taong gulang na ngayon at isa na ring inhenyero katulad ng kanyang ama; at si Jenz Eries, 20 taon, nagtapos ng medical technology sa University of Sto. Tomas at planong kumuha ng medisina sa darating na pasukan.

Marangya man ang kanilang buhay ngayon, hindi pa rin nakakalimutan ng mag-asawa na balikan ang mga panahon na  nagsusumikap silang magtrabaho para magkaroon ng magandang kinabukasan, kasama ang kanilang dalawang anak.



Kamakailan ay dinala nila ang kanilang mga anak sa Hong Kong para ipakita kung paano sila namuhay dito noon, lalo na si Mel.

Ayon kay Vic, ipinakita niya sa mga anak ang mga Pilipinang nagsisiksikan sa gitna ng lamig sa mga nakalatag na karton sa Central, at ipinaliwanag sa kanila na ganoon ang sitwasyon ng nanay nila dati.



Gusto daw nilang makita ng mga anak ang hirap na dinaranas ng mga migranteng Pilipino, para lang maitaguyod ang kanilang mga pamilya sa Pilipinas.

Inilibot nila ang mga anak sa taong ito hindi lamang sa Hong Kong, kundi pati sa New Zealand, Korea at Singapore, bilang gantimpala na rin sa kanilang sarili para sa matagal na panahong nagpakahirap silang magtrabaho para makatikim ng kaunting kasaganaan.



Sa Hong Kong, binalikan ng mag-asawa ang kanilang mga masasayang alaala, at nakipagkita sa ilang dating kaibigan na patuloy pa ring nakikibaka para sa kanilang kinabukasan.

Hinihikayat ni Vic ang mga migrante na huwag patagalin ang panahon na malayo sila sa kanilang pamilya. Mag-ipon para makauwi agad, at pag-aralan kung paano makakapag-umpisa ng kanilang sariling negosyo sa Pilipinas. Handa daw siyang maging gabay nila kung kakailanganin.

Ibinigay niyang halimbawa ang isang pamangkin na dating sumasahod ng katumbas ng Php200,000 sa Saudi bilang inhenyero, pero pinili pa ring bumalik na sa Pilipinas para magnegosyo.

Payo ni Vic, gayahin ang ganitong diskarte dahil may pag-asa ding kumita din ng malaki sa negosyo. Huwag daw patatali sa pagiging suwelduhan lang.

Laking pasasalamat daw niya na nagdesisyon siyang umuwi na at hanapin ang kapalaran sa Pilipinas. Hindi lang niya nabantayan ang paglaki ng kanyang mga anak, naranasan din niyang kumita ng ayon sa kanyang pinaghirapan.

Nabago ng Card-MRI ang kanilang mga buhay

Rose Madelyn Marquez

Ni George Manalansan

Makailang ulit na pagpapatunay sa serbisyong naibibigay ng Card MRI at ng sangay nito na Card Hong Kong Foundation ang nangibabaw sa seremonya ng pagtatapos na isinagawa sa Bayanihan Centre sa Kennedy Town noong Nob 18.

Kabilang sa mga nagbigay ng testimonya mula sa Pilipinas ay si Rose Madelyn Marquez, Card-MRI Gawad Maunlad National Awardee.

Ikinuwento niya na mula sa inutang niya na Php2,000 mula sa Card MRI ay nag-umpisa siyang magtinda ng mga kakanin, at nang lumago ang kanyang munting negosyo ay naisipan niyang pumasok sa agrikultura. Nang umabot sa Php50,000 ang maari niyang mautang ay bumili na siya ng traktora, hanggang lumawak nang lumawak ang kanyang sinasaka. Ngayon ay may 93 ektarya na ang lupain, bahay at mga sasakyan, pero balak pa rin daw niyang mangutang ng ng hanggang Php8.5million sa Card para patuloy pang palaguin ang kanyang negosyo.

Ang payo ni Marquez, huwag nang hintayin pa na makaipon ng malaki, ang importante ay magsimula na sa balak na negosyo. “Mangutang kayo sa Card,” wika niya.

Irene Fadullo

Medyo taliwas naman ang payo ni Irene Fadullo, na pinarangalan bilang Card SME Bank Gawad Maunlad Awardee.

“Kami ay nangungutang nang may paglalagyan, hindi yung tipong mangungutang ka para lang ipampasarap sa buhay, sadyang sa negosyo namin inilaan. Sa Card po sila ang talagang dahilan kung saan kami ngayon,” sabi ni Fadullo. “Nagsimula lang kami sa isang oven ngayon ay mahigit 20 na ang gamit naming sa bakery. Maraming salamat sa Card.”

Ang mga nagtapos naman sa financial literacy program ng Card HK Foundation ay ubod din ang pasasalamat sa pagsasanay nilang tinamo, katulad ni Evelyn Tambalos ng Batch 48.

“The chance of learning financial literacy changed my perception in life regarding finances, especially how to spend it wisely. I have goals in my life now, I focus on it and I am firm about it,” sabi niya.

Sa katunayan daw, pagkatapos ng seminar ay nakapag-umpisa sila kaagad ng kanyang asawa ng kanilang sariling food cart business. Ang una nilang binenta ay piniritong manok na tinawag niyang “chicken joy” at nang lumaon ay dinagdagan na nila ng banana cue, fishballs, at iba-ibang pang meryenda.

“Looking forward to having more food carts,” sabi niya.

Payo pa niya, kailangan daw na magkaroon ng kasunduan sa mga kapamilyang naiwanan para hindi sila gagastos ng walang kabuluhan.



Ayon naman kay Josephine Tabcao ng Batch 49 suwerte daw siya dahil naimbitahan ng isang kaibigan na maging parte ng pamilya ng Card.

“Ngayon I am applying what I have learned lalo na sa budgeting at pag-iipon,” sabi niya.



“Being an OFW, kung minsan puro tayo padala at gastos. After the fin- lit seminar, nalaman ko ang distinction ng needs and wants. Mas natuto ako na I- prioritize ang needs at isantabi muna ang wants.”

Kumpisal naman ni Reyna Elevenson ng batch 50, sa loob ng 12 pagtatrabaho niya sa Hong Kong ay wala siyang naipon o investment, at baon pa sa utang. Pero sa loob lang ng tatlong buwan matapos siyang sumali sa financial literacy seminar ng Card, nakikita na daw niya kung saan napupunta ang perang pinaghirapan niya, at nakapag-umpisa na siyang mag-ipon.



“This training has opened the door for an opportunity for us to achieve financial freedom. I will forever hold a part of this training in my heart, it has given me and helped me realized what matters most in life especially when it comes to our finances”, wika niya.

Sambit naman ni  Sheila Marie Almine ng Batch 51: “Laking tulong po sa akin ang workshop dahil mas na- motivate ako na mag-ipon. Ang kaalamang natutunan ko ay ibinahagi ko sa ilang mga kakilala dahil talagang na-inspire ako. Nawa’y mas marami pa kayong mabigyan ng kaalaman mabuhay po kayo!”



Para naman kay Sheryl Alalag-Mapandan ng Outreach group, “The seminar gave me a clear idea on how to manage my finances wisely to achieve a better financial situation. It is not an overnight transformation but slowly and surely, we are applying the financial concepts we learned to be better individuals, especially in handling our finances. We pray that you will not tarry, but will continue this program you started. If all OFWs will become debt-free and have secured savings, then we will be very proud to say we are indeed “bayani ng ating bayan.”

Dagdag ni Ma. Elvesa Apostol ng Entrepreneurship group, “Since I plan to go home for good soon my learning especially on entrepreneurship will definitely guide me and give me strength to successfully manage my agriculture business in the Philippines. You cannot be a successful entrepreneur if you don’t know how to plan your business, kaya importante ang pag-aaral natin ng business Planning na itinuro sa atin ng Card Hong Kong Foundation.”