Body odor can be an embarrassing problem. This unpleasant smell comes from a mixture of sweat and bacteria. Sweat should have little odor. However, bacteria on the skin causes perspiration to smell sour. Our bodies perspire to lower the body temperature and keep us cool. We sweat more during hot weather, when we exercise, and […]
My husband and I had a great laugh when we saw a series of signs – saying “Boycott China Products Now!!” – recently lining a street behind St. Luke’s Medical Center, Quezon City and ending at the barangay hall on Broadway corner E. Rodriguez Sr. Ave. We immediately looked at the tags of the clothes […]
For more than 40 years, we have lived by the meaningful credo of Kaisa Para Sa Kaunlaran: “The Philippines is our country. It is the land of our birth, the home of our people. Our blood may be Chinese but our roots grow deep in Philippine soil, our bonds are with the Filipino people. We […]
We huddled around a birthday cake of decadent chocolate and cups of siphoned coffee, notepads and pens scattered among the cutlery. Moist glasses of ice-cold water stood by on the coffee tables that Saturday high noon in the middle of May. Angela Yu, president of Kaisa Para Sa Kaunlaran, Jonah Martin of MGA GAWA Foundation […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 28, no. 3 (July 7-20, 2015): 9. This is a new generation. The generation Uy, Yu and Lao belong to is different. They are native-born. They are Filipinos. In 1970, I was a student at the University of the Philippines. One late afternoon, two men came to see […]
In a chance meeting at the sprawling outdoor gardens of San Agustin church in 1990, I discussed with Angelo King the work that I had been doing. I shared that working with a nongovernment organization rather than in the more lucrative corporate world was a deliberate choice for me. He listened intently as I shared […]
Few Catholic priests in the Philippines are “pure Chinese.” There are many who have mixed Chinese and Filipino ancestry whose families practice the Catholic faith actively, so when they decided to enter the priesthood, the choice of vocation was seen as a blessing. Young Catholics from traditional Chinese families often find it difficult to explain […]
We are going to war, Dad said the night before he enlisted. A month later, the soldiers came for my older brother, Ethan. He was going to graduate from high school this year. Mom was so distraught afterwards, the rim of her eyes were a constant red and the dark circles underneath her eyes got […]
My ahia Benjamin Sim studied animal husbandry, taught biology in Davao, and became spiritual shepherd to many Tsinoy Catholics. As the first-born son in a Tsinoy family, the path to priesthood for him took determination to follow. Ahia was tapped to join the family retail business, and his choice to become a priest met with […]
The title of “Father” embodies Benjamin Sim, pastor to parishioners in Mary the Queen Parish, where he had served from the 1990s to 2004 and Sacred Heart Parish in Cebu City. He is fondly called Angkong by his many parishioners, people who had served and are still part of his staff and members of communities […]