A PEER SUPPORT GROUP FOR HK-FILIPINO YOUTHS

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Welcome to the page of Section Juan, the pioneer peer support group for Filipino youths in the city. We were established in May 2013 and recognised as a society by the Hong Kong government in March 4th, 2014.

 

We are also a duly registered Filipino association with the Philippine Consulate until 2nd July,2015.

The founding board members of our association comprise of Filipinos who were either born or brought up in Hong Kong.

 

According to the Hong Kong government, the population was approximately 7.15 million in 2012 and 91 percent of this are of Chinese descent, while the remaining percentage are “foreign nationals”.  

And it is in that same data when the government acknowledged “other significant national groups” that showed Filipinos being the largest at 168,850, followed by Indonesians at 165,170, and Indians at 28, 920.

 

But don’t forget, many of these “foreign nationals” are also “locals” who have been here for generations and there are also “locals” who have “temporarily” left their families in their country of origin, but have been here longer than “nationals whose visas are without limit of stay” (a huge shout-out and love to our 320,00 plus foreign domestic workers!), which you will later come to hear (or probably have come to know by now) as “ethnic minorities” or “non-Chinese”. Let’s not forget those who have naturalised, too.

According to the Philippine Consulate, there were about 172,000 Filipino domestic workers and about 15,000 permanent residents (or Filipinos whose visas are without limit of stay) in Hong Kong in November 2014.

 

In a forum organised by the Philippine Consulate under then Consul General Noel Servigon in 2013, a Senior Education Officer of the Hong Kong Education Bureau, noted that 50 ethnic minority students qualified into the university system in the previous year, but she had no data on how many Filipinos qualified.

As individuals who have gone through Hong Kong’s education system, we are deeply concerned with the situation, not just with our Filipino youths, but other counterparts and suggest that relevant authorities come up with effective measures to aid us in assessing the performances of our youths.

Otherwise, how will we, in our respective communities, be able identify the kind of support our youths need?

Consequently, many Filipinos, like most of us in what started out as this “mobile classroom”
 project, were sent (and I wouldn’t say ‘back’ if we were born in Hong Kong and spent our lives here) to the Philippines to study, also citing budgetary reasons, and/or if fortunate enough, other places overseas to pursue tertiary education. 

But the dilemma does not end here. Many of us who have completed our degrees do return and still encounter challenges entering into Hong Kong’s workforce system, which we understand is normal for anyone starting out.

 

Because of this, we believe that our community should come up with “reintegration and integration” programs where we could collaborate with universities and alumni associations in Hong Kong and in the Philippines, as well as NGOs here for relevant workshops.

For those who were not able to pursue tertiary education, we hope to rekindle their interest in learning with the help of linking them to Open University courses.

With a stronger, more established collective force, we hope to give our community a voice, especially in the education sector, by empowering our youths through our ongoing information-sharing campaign, which we hope will contribute to address the loopholes in system.

We came up with a “classroom” theme, “Section Juan” (when read fast, it's "1" and aspire nothing but the best for our youths. We would also want them to lead the world one day), as we believe that the welfare of our youths is not just a family’s concern, a school’s concern but everybody’s concern.

Hence, we will continuously strive to impart our cultural knowledge and professionalism while facilitating events that cater more to the Filipino youths and outreach activities. In doing so, they may be given opportunities to showcase their talents and further develop their expertise in various topics. 

Imbibed by the unique features of the Filipino culture, we hope that this project will be a springboard towards encouraging local youths to learn more about the Filipino/ Filipino-Hong Kong identity and its significance in the context of “Asia’s World City”.

 

We hope you enjoy navigating the page!