Community

Canadian Filipino Net, the online-only publication of nonprofit Maple Bamboo Network Society, marked the end of its fifth fiscal year with record numbers.

The Tagalog word sayang (roughly translated into “what a waste”) carries with it a myriad of Filipino cultural attributes to which perhaps only citizens of poor countries can relate. Indeed, fried rice is our solution to using days-old cooked ice. Even kaninglamig (cold rice) connotes not just leftover rice but the thought of not throwing away a single grain of rice.

Community groups in North Vancouver have banded together in response to a spate of anti-Asian graffiti that sprouted in the city’s Lower Lonsdale. Filipino Canadian artist Esmie Gayo McLaren was commissioned to provide a poster image with the message “Inspiring Connection and Friendship.”

What started out as a magazine exploring the identity of the “hyphenated Canadian”, Living Hyphen now produces podcasts that uncover what it means to live in between cultures.

At least three Filipino Canadian businesses have been nominated for this year’s Small Business BC Awards (SBBC) in several categories. Cast your votes for these businesses on the SBBC website https://smallbusinessbc.ca/awards/. 

Pinoys on Parliament 2021 (PoP21) holds its third annual national youth leadership conference via a free online event from February 19 to 21. The theme for this year’s conference is Bayanihan, a spirit of communal unity and collaboration, with workshops and panel discussions on leadership in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and Filipino Canadian identity in arts, culture and politics.

Editor' Note: at the end of each year, CFNet reviews all the articles it has published and selects for its yearend review articles that were the most read, most liked or had the most impact.  This year those articles were mostly related to Covid-19 which has occupied the mind of almost everyone in the world.) 

Since launching in 2016, Canadian Filipino Net (CFNet) has gone from strength to strength.

Year 4 marks another milestone for the online publication of Maple Bamboo Network Society (MBNS), a Vancouver-based nonprofit dedicated to celebrating Canadian Filipinos. 

Every night at 7 on the dot, a noise barrage erupts in Vancouver and vicinities as a grateful population shows its gratitude to frontline workers who are risking their lives to make it safe for everyone. All employees whose jobs have been deemed essential have to continue working in pandemic to provide their necessary services to those who need them. These frontline workers are the modern-day heroes in this Covid-19 lockdown.

The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver is inviting all Filipino Canadian groups in British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories to register their organizations with the consulate. 

Almost all of the Catholic churches in Canada’s dioceses are closed, and Eucharistic mass celebrations are cancelled since the Public Health Agency of Canada recommended the cancellation of in-person gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19), the pandemic that is raging around the world, impacts not only the health of our collective community and our individual community members but also our economic livelihood and security.