A PEER SUPPORT GROUP FOR HK-FILIPINO YOUTHS

Celebrating the Filipino Christmas

by Matthew Mateo

 

For 20 years thinking Christmas was just all about gathering your loved ones for a huge feast at home and exchanging gifts, getting myself to the traditional Filipino Christmas, which I’ve never experienced back in the Philippines, was one-of-a-kind.

 

When the Section Juan board members unanimously decided to join the “PaSTARan 2014”, an annual parol-making competition for Filipino Associations duly registered with the Philippine Consulate here, I was excited with the fact that I’ve never made a parol with recycled materials…or come to think of it, never made a parol at all!

 

Well, of course the team got my back and I got theirs. The enjoyable part of the experience with the team was having the opportunity to get a feel of Christmas back home, such as people lighting up fireworks (but none of that happened in the venue, of course. In the Philippines, the law is stricter now because of the accidents being reported), eating the Filipino way called Noche Buena, and going to the midnight Mass called the Misa de Aguinaldo (Gift Mass) or Simbáng Gabi (Night Mass) to show devotion to God and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

 

Anyway, we proudly carried our first-ever parol, which revolved around the theme of the late Philippine National Hero, Dr.Jose Rizal’s quote about the youths being the hope of tomorrow. We didn’t win in the event (yes, there was a competition and the winning associations took some cash prize) but being there already felt like a winner because we were recognized as Hong Kong’s first Filipino peer support group for the Filipino youths here.

 

The annual event was held in Chater Garden and the performances included singing and dancing, followed by the Mass. One thing about the Mass that evening was, from my perspective as a Pinoy Hong Kong youth, how united the Filipino community seemed when people from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao all congregated in an open-air venue, something new to so many like me.

 

To conclude, I realized how important the community needs to feel like home despite being away from loved ones not celebrating Christmas – The Pinoy way.