A PEER SUPPORT GROUP FOR HK-FILIPINO YOUTHS

A Walk to Remember

by Florenz Anthony

 

Last 28th December, I joined a heritage walk activity, dubbed  “Rizal Day Activity: Walk with Juan”. It was organized by Section Juan, a pioneer peer support group for Filipino youths in Hong Kong, in cooperation with Lakbay Dangal. To young Filipinos born in Hong Kong like me and rarely go to the Philippines, or some, never, you may wonder what “Rizal Day” is. Rizal Day is celebrated every December 30, to honour the death of Philippine National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal (I wasn’t aware then).

 

Section Juan was established in May 2013 and was recognized as a society by the Hong Kong government in March last year. I recently joined as a member. Lakbay Dangal, on the other hand, was founded by ‘running priest’ Fr. Robert Reyes in March 14th, 2010. It is a group made up of passionate overseas Filipino workers, also recognised as a society by the Hong Kong government and duly registered with the Philippine Consulate. It is currently led by its convenor, Ms. Sonia Zerrudo. Ms. Sonia has traveled to various places around the world and has organized events in the past, such as ‘Teatro sa Kalye’, graced by Manila’s famous celebrity tour guide, Carlos Celdran.

 

The activity focused in Central, which I, and also participants of the walk, including the organisers themselves, did not know was also richly infused with Philippine historical links. When I was first invited by my sister, I was a bit interested. “A bit” took me out of my comfort zone, which in the end, became worth my while.

 

We met and started off  at Chater Garden,  not knowing it was a cricket field during the British colonial period. I was actually surprised when Lakbay Dangal, which in English, by the way, means “a walk with dignity”, showed us old pictures of Chater Garden and the interesting story of HSBC building still standing this day. Then, we trailed to Statue Square. In the past, the Square had more statues, including that of Queen Victoria, which we learned, is now placed in Victoria Park. Today, the lone statue standing there has been nicknamed “black man” by Filipinos who usually congregate there on Sundays. Well, because it is black in colour. But just who is he? This, you have to find out.

 

Some of the things I learned,too, was that the Japanese took some statues to make bullets since the statues were made of bronze. We then marched on to the HSBC site where as we know,two lions had been placed. That surprised me the most because I have been passing by those two lion statues, not knowing they had holes (look closely some time). They’re no less than “shrapnel wounds” from the Japanese (we heard about the occupation in school. It’s connected). The damage shocked me and some of the people who were with us. Oh, before we left, we touched the lions for good luck.

 

We then went on to Duddell Street, the street named after entrepreneur, George Duddell,who was successful with his ice business (Hence, Ice House Street.The walk has some interesting trivias about this and I won’t spoil it!) and what Philippine national hero, Dr.Jose Rizal had to do in that location – he also had a clinic in Duddell. I heard that some years ago, there was a campaign to put another marker there. After some “selfies” and “groufies”, we proceeded to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club. We briefly stopped in a point where Glenealy and Wyndham Street met and headed down to party hot spot, D’Aguilar Street in Lan Kwai Fong area, not to party, but to see the marker on Rizal that has been put up. We had a brief fun hunt. Whoever found the marker won a prize. I lost to Janina, another participant, but no hard feelings. Lol!

 

Then we proceeded to Wellington Street. The streets we went through led us to Dr. Sun Yat-sen trails and eventually, to Jose Rizal’s life. We then passed by to Victoria Prison, located in Hollywood Road. The second last location we visited was the old residence of Jose Rizal in Rednaxela Terrace. Can you believe it? He once lived in Hong Kong,too? I wonder who’s living there now…

 

It is located somewhere a little beyond Caine Road, far from the crowded streets of Lan Kwai Fong. We were not able to visit Morrison Hill where the Philippine national flag was born because it was out of way. And out of way meant traveling to Wanchai. But we learned that Section Juan is organizing another heritage trail, this time, a bigger crowd, some time in May to commemorate flag day, with the date to be finalized. The group is aiming to bring some noted historians to Hong Kong. Fingers crossed! We had to comply with the law so the number of people was kept at a maximum of no more than about a dozen.

 

The activity culminated in Arbuthnot Road, which also has a story linked to Jose Maria Basa. In brief, Jose Maria Basa (1839–1911) is better known as a patriot and a friend of  Rizal.  He was born in Manila but in 1872 was accused of treason by the Spanish authorities and exiled to Hong Kong. While here, his home became a meeting place for Filipino revolutionaries. The day and the walk were long but it was worth my while and it was a great experience. It was a great experience because this gives me another reason why I should be a proud Filipino living in Hong Kong.

 

The Filipino history here is quite rich and this place played a significant role in Dr. Jose Rizal’s life and journey. These heritages are also preserved, if we preserve them, so I can visit them once in a while again and maybe even bring people there. Another reason why it was a great experience was because I did not expect to enjoy my time and I did not expect to discover so much and discover connections in between people, locations and documents. Knowing that the peak tram rails were built by Filipino engineers and architects also surprised me. I had little knowledge of these places and it was very interesting to, not only learn Filipino history, but also Hong Kong history at the same time, and why streets were named the way they are now.

 

This walk was very educational for me. As youths, I think we should be get to know more about our history in Hong Kong and be proud of it. Not only that, but to also preserve Filipino history and pass it on to the next generation of youths so as to keep the Filipino history and heritage alive ,not just in Hong Kong but the world all over.

 

And with that being said, this is also an opportunity for youths to discover more about Hong Kong’s history,too. This sure is a walk to remember.