Editorial

When Mable Elmore was first elected MLA for Vancouver-Kensington more than 10 years ago, one of her first projects was to set up an Alliance of Filipino Associations in British Columbia (AFA-BC).  It’s a sad commentary on the Filipino community that the AFA-BC did not materialize. And it was not for lack of trying on Elmore’s part. 

The year 2020 has been called many (bad) names: dumpster fire, exhausting, year of infamy, a fresh new hell at every turn.

But it will especially be known as the year that will forever be etched in every conscious mind that lived through it.

 In a recent media briefing, British Columbia’s top doctor talked about what is on the mind of a lot of people: Christmas.

Dr. Bonnie Henry joked that Santa Claus is probably immune from COVID-19, but stressed that the holiday season is going to be different in 2020.

 November 2020 - When family and friends have a birthday, we often wish them many more birthdays to come as though a long life is a great gift. Is it always desirable?  

I have many long-living relatives. My grandparents died at ages 95 and 88 in Pila, Laguna. 

Ten months into the year and the world is still wading through the pandemic.

COVID-19 carries with it unintended negative impacts on almost everyone’s state of mind, whether you’re a parent, a health worker, a teacher or a young adult whose once active social life came to a screeching halt. 

Canada celebrates Labour Day on the first Monday of September.

This year, the event falls on September 7.

August 2020 - "Canada is free and freedom is its nationality," proclaimed Canada’s seventh Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier. We Canadian Filipinos hope that those words will continue to ring true to this day and extend to our homeland, the Philippines. 

The summer of 2020 is unlike any other summer we have had before. 

 With the country still in lockdown mode, the usual favorite summer activities are out –  travelling to a “Must-see wonder of the world” or picnicking on the beach with many friends.

On May 22 this year, the Vancouver Police Department expressed heightened concern about rising anti-Asian hate crimes in the city.

Mother’s Day in Canada is celebrated every second Sunday in May.

It is a national holiday but not a public or bank holiday so businesses are open just like any other Sunday.

You don’t have to be a scientist to figure out that what has befallen the entire world these recent times will not go away as quickly as it is spreading.

COVID-19 has further upended an already topsy-turvy world. The virus knows no gender, country, age or social standing. It doesn’t choose who to infect. 

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,

Citizens of the world recently commemorated International Women’s Day.