First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest, November 1-14, 2016 | vol. 29, No. 11 | Do you believe in ghosts? I didn’t use to, but now I have to admit that I do. I think back to the big ancient house in Santol that my grandparents lived in, where Japanese soldiers were reportedly killed, […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest | November 1-14, 2016 | vol. 29 | No. 11 | The vast necropolis in the north of Manila’s Sta. Cruz district, consisting of the North, La Loma and Chinese cemeteries, is a veritable museum to the evolution of Western and Chinese architectural styles and their adaptation and […]
The famous Chinese Volunteer Fire Brigade was organized mainly because of two fires that almost devastated Chinatown in Manila – the 1962 fire in Divisoria and the 1968 fire that started on Ongpin Street. These made the Chinese community realize they had to rely on themselves and get organized to effectively fight the fires they […]
The Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival (中秋節) is one of two occasions during the year when Tsinoys are reminded of their Chineseness (the other is the Spring Festival or lunar new year). This is when all our Filipino friends would remind us to give them mooncakes. So familiar are they with the festival that Filipinos […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest, September 20-October 3, 2016 | vol. 29, No. 8 issue | Originally titled “Buddhist, Laborer, Undocumented: The Case of Chieng Liang-un in Leyte, 1891.” | The case of Chieng Liang-un is contained in one of the Chinos bundles (SDS 13044) at the National Archives of the Philippines. His […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest | September 20-October 3, 2016 | vol. 29, No. 8 issue | Hokkien, on the tongues of Tsinoys, has grown and evolved, taking on a life of its own. Sometimes words simply fail us. With some creativity, Tsinoys have strung together words to form colorful phrases that simply […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino DigestSeptember 20-October 3, 2016 | vol. 29, No. 8 issue On April 24, 1911, Lin Jue Min (林覺民), then 24, a native of Fujian and schooled also in Japan, wrote his father and his wife a farewell letter (與妻訣別書) before joining the Guangzhou (Canton) uprising against the Manchu regime.Part […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino DigestSeptember 6-19, 2016 | vol. 29 | No. 7 issue 放屎糊壁邊 pang sai ko pia pen wipe bowel on the wall grossly insulting gesture 掛羊頭賣狗肉 kua yun t’ao bue kao ba hanging goat’s head but selling dog’s meat doing dishonest business 賬簿隔格 siao p’o ke k’ang drawing lines on […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino DigestSeptember 6-19, 2016, vol. 29, no. 7 issue The story of the Uy Matiao family is an example of how the Chinese entrepreneurs who settled in the island of Negros have diversified their activities.Uy Eng, a native of Fujian and the founder of this family, arrived in Dumaguete around […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino DigestSeptember 6-19, 2016, vol. 29, no. 7 What does Francisco Balagtas, the “Prince of Tagalog Poets,” have got to do with Binondo?Balagtas was a significant part of Binondo’s cultural history, according to a book by Fred Sevilla.Most historians refer to Binondo as the economic center of the Philippines during […]