The SUN HK

Wala kang magawa?

Posted on 04 July 2019 No comments

Hindi natin masisisi ang ilang kapwa natin OFW na sa tuwing Linggo ay naglalatag ng karton sa mga tabi-tabi sa Central upang maghapong humilata. Hindi natin alam, baka kulang sila sa tulog sa nakaraang anim na araw. Hindi natin alam na baka sa anim na araw na iyon ay wala silang ginawa kundi salagin ang masasakit na salita ng kanilang amo, o tiisin ang masamang pakikisama sa kanila ng sarili nilang pamilya sa Pilipinas.

Bakit nga ba natin ipagkakait ang isang araw na ang pahinga mula sa kanilang dinadala, mula sa kanilang kalungkutan?

Pero hindi naman lahat ay ganito.

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Karamihan ay masaya sa pagtatrabaho sa Hong Kong. Sa kaunti nilang kinikita (kung ikukumpara mo sa kita ng mga taga rito), nakapag-pupundar sila ng bahay o bagong kabuhayan, o unti-unti nilang nailalapit ang sarili sa kanilang mga pangarap.

Para sa kanila, sayang ang oras kung gugugulin lang na nakahilata.

Mapapansin mo sila tuwing mga espesyal na araw sa Central, gaya ng selebrasyon ng ating paglaya bilang bansa. Sa Chater Road, halimbawa, may nagbibigay ng libreng masahe. Ilang mga nag-aral ng nursing ay nagbibigay ng first aid, libreng blood pressure check o kahit mga payo sa mga kapwa Pilipinong alam nilang nanganganib na magkasakit. Alam mo ba, halimbawa, na halos kalahati ng mga OFW sa Hong Kong ay may alta presyon at nanganganib na magkaroon ng sakit sa puso?

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Marami sa makakasalubong mo ay may layunin, kahit ba ang papel nila ay magbibigay lang ng isang dance number. Bago sila i-rampa, ika nga, makikita silang seryosong nag-eensayo.

Dagdag pawis sa araw ng pahinga?

“Nabubuhay kasi ang dugo ko kung nakakapag-silbi,” sabi ng isang volunteer sa nakaraang Kapagyawan. “Ang mas mabuti, nalilimutan ko ang mga problema.”

May iba rin na hindi na naghihintay ng espesyal ng araw upang mag silbi, gaya ng mga admin at kasapi sa isang Facebook group, ang Domestic Workers’ Corner. Araw-araw, oras oras, handa silang magbigay ng tulong sa nangailangan, payo sa naguguluhan, at gabay sa naliligaw ng landas.

Para sa kanila, masarap ang pakiramdam kung nagsisilbi sa kapwa. Sana madiskubre mo rin ang kaligayahang kanilang nadaama.

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Mas madali nang tawagan ang mga advertiser natin dito. Pindutin lang ang kanilang ad at lalabas ang automatic dialer. Isa pang pindot ay matatawagan mo ang advertiser na hindi na kailangang i-dial ang numero nila. I-try mo!

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Maid jailed for 4 months for ill-treating baby

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By Vir B. Lumicao

Velasquez pleaded guilty to the ill-treatment
at West Kowloon court

A Filipina helper has been sentenced to four months in jail for ill-treating her 10-month-old male ward after her employer reneged on a promise to let her go on holiday in the Philippines.

Joan F. Velasquez, 34, was ordered jailed by West Kowloon Magistrate Ada Yim on Jul 2. The Filipina got a discounted sentence after pleading guilty to the charge and for having clear record.

She admitted swinging the baby fiercely for several seconds on Feb 2 this year out of anger at her employer for taking back a promise to let her go on a holiday.

Her lawyer said Velasquez, who was hired by Lai Shuk-fan in December 2017, had booked her Feb 13 flight as early as last November in anticipation of the promised vacation.

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The offense was discovered when Lai reviewed the CCTV recording at her house at The Bellagio in Tsuen Wan two days after the incident.

The maid was seen swinging the baby from right to left and up and down for several seconds in an apparent fit of anger. The baby was cradled in her arm with his head unsupported and bent backward.

Lai immediately confronted Velasquez, who denied abusing the child, saying she was merely playing with him.

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The baby was sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where Dr Lam Cheuk-san, a pediatrician, said in a medical report the child was admitted to the emergency department for repeated vomiting and suspected shaken baby syndrome.

His examination showed no sign of wound or damage, and x-rays showed the baby’s abdomen and chest, as well as head, sustained no injury.

But a pathologist, Dr Foo Ka-chun, said the baby’s neck muscles were very weak and could have sustained damage from the violent shaking or swinging.

In mitigation, the defense lawyer said Velasquez, who has two sons aged 10 and 2 and a daughter aged 8, had worked as domestic helper for two years in Kuwait, and just over a year with Lai. She said her client was remorseful.

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Pinay maid drowns in Tuen Mun beach

Posted on 03 July 2019 No comments

Police speedboat searching for the Filipina at Butterfly beach in Tuen Mun

By The SUN

A 25-year-old Filipina domestic helper drowned on Monday afternoon, July 1, at Butterfly Beach in Tuen Mun while swimming with a group of friends.

The victim, Jenny Gonong Lacson, was found unconscious at 3:37pm near the shark net that protects the beach, according to a spokeswoman for the Police Public Relations Branch.

Lacson, whose identity was confirmed by the officer, was taken to the Tuen Mun Hospital but was certified dead on arrival. The officer said the exact cause of her death is still being investigated.

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A search and rescue operation involving two police helicopters, pump boats and officers on the ground was launched after Lacson’s property was found on the beach shortly before 11am.

The search was widely reported on social media but some confusion arose because of initial reports that the missing Filipina was found asleep and drunk in a toilet at the beach. But police said they have no record of such an incident.

Another confusion was due to the victim having nearly the same name as her sister, who had left for the Philippines only the day before.

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Jennelyn or Jen Lacson is reportedly the name of the victim’s sister. The victim, on the other hand, was reportedly more known by her nickname Aiza, although her real name was Jenny.

According to Jennifer Debaja who was among the first to report on the case, Jen the sister, had informed her that the victim knew how to swim. Thus the family was shocked to hear about the drowning.

Various social media posts said the Lacsons were from Koronadal, South Cotabato.

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Breaches in the OFC raid

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By Daisy Catherine L. Mandap

Some highly unusual events occurred in the aftermath of the police raid on the Sheung Wan-based money lending company, OFC, on Jun.5.

First, there was no public statement at all on the raid, during which 1,400 Philippine passports were seized by the police, and OFC’s young owner arrested for “breach of the money lenders’ license.”

This was most unusual, given the number of passports seized, and the amount involved. Police said in a belated response to our query that more than $4 million in loans was extended to the “victims” whose passports and work contracts were taken as collateral.

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But what really stumped us was when we learned – and witnessed for ourselves – that the police had begun returning the passports to the borrowers, at the intercession of the OFC owners.

Even officials at our Consulate were in disbelief when they learned about this, as they had been confidently telling everyone that the passports would be kept as evidence, before being turned over to them, in line with standard protocol.

In similar cases in the past, the police were quick to issue press releases, along with photos of the seized passports. Those times, the documents involved were just a fifth of the number found in OFC’s possession.

This time around, everything was kept quiet – until some of the borrowers began asking on Facebook what could happen to them if their passports were among those confiscated by the police.

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We stirred the hornet’s nest when we asked the police public relations branch about the raid. How many passports were seized, whether anyone was arrested, for what charges.

We were expecting at most, about 200 passports, as that was how many people had apparently besieged OFC’s offices two days after the raid.

So when we finally got the police response three days after we emailed our queries, we were stunned. A record haul of 1,400 passports, and not a squeak from the police?

Confounding us more was why police took it upon themselves to do the painstaking task of sorting through the pack of passports so they could hand them back to their individual owners at the say-so of OFC’s owners.

Why seize them in the first place when they would be given back after consulting with the company whose owner was still being investigated for violating his money lender’s license?

Why not keep the passports for the meantime and consult the Philippine Consulate at least on how to dispose of them eventually?

The picture got even hazier when we learned that OFC was using the money lender license issued to another family-owned company, Cheer Holdings Limited, whose given address is in Wanchai and not Sheung Wan.

Then, we also found out that Cheer Holdings has the same owners as Cheers Employment Agency, whose accreditation with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office was recently suspended for confiscating the passports and HK IDs of its recruits from the Philippines.

There is obviously far more to this story than has so far been revealed.

We trust that after sorting through the mess created by such blatant disregard for our laws that forbid the use of our passport as collateral for loans, our Consulate would make good on its promise to ferret out an explanation from the police.

This bane has gone on for too long. It won’t stop if money lenders who violate the law are let off so lightly.

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HK marks 50th anniversary of moon landing with free exhibition

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A model of an Apollo 11 spacesuit is one of he featured exhibits of the "50th Anniversary of Moon Landing" exhibiion at the Hong Kong Space Museum.

The Hong Kong Space Hong Kong Space Museum today opened an exhibition to mark the day astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to step on the moon, the highlights of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

Entitled "50th Anniversary of Moon Landing", the exhibution is being held at the foyer of the Museum, which is open during weekends. It showcases images, footage, models and interactive exhibits such as the rocket, spacecraft, spacesuit and flight path used in the first manned lunar exploration, as well as a piece of lunar meteorite.

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The exhibition also features a 5-metre-high Saturn V rocket model created by Lego Hong Kong Limited for the exhibition. The Saturn V rocket was a three-stage liquid-fueled rocket used to send the Apollo spacecraft to the moon. The rocket model consists of more than 200,000 interlocking bricks.

The Space Museum has also arranged a series of educational programs including workshops, special lectures and astronomical observations to arouse visitors' interest in astronomy and enhance their knowledge of space exploration.

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At the opening ceremony today, officiating guests included the Museum Director Paulina Chan, Lego General Manager for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Troy Taylor; Lego Certified Professional Andy Hung and Museum Curator Robert Leung.

The exhibition is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, jointly organised by the Hong Kong Space Museum and Lego Hong Kong Limited and will run until September 2. For details of the exhibition, please visit the Space Museum's website at hk.space.museum or call 2721 0226 for inquiries.

The Hong Kong Space Museum is located at 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon.

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