A PEER SUPPORT GROUP FOR HK-FILIPINO YOUTHS

Quenched

by Janina Celine Vitto

 

There is this feeling where you want to do something, in which you keep saying you will do it BUT never actually find the time to do it. I have – HAD – this feeling and finally it’s off my list. Here’s the deal: I’ve been living in Hong Kong for 11 years and in this course of time, despite the advancement of technology i.e. having the Internet as basically the new form of encyclopedia, I did not really use the said time to learn more about Philippine history even if I wanted to/needed to because of feeling ashamed of not knowing more. (Now you may ask if I really wanted to learn in the first place. Teehee.)

 

Anyway, an event transpired today where history enthusiasts – specifically those who have extreme fascination with the national hero of the Philippines who is D. Jose P. Rizal – conducted a walking tour that went through places that had some historic connection to Rizal’s brief occupancy in Hong Kong. The tour invoked me to ignite the interest in knowing about our history again. What I learnt today, they’re so new that I feel like a small kid learning about the world once again. Only the difference is that it’s out of interest and it’s more of enriching that you just keep wanting to have more. It’s amazing I think, and it’s an understatement. There’s a downfall to this though.

 

There were not a lot of participants despite the insistent outreach to the youth, which was the main target of Section Juan – the organizer of the event. I wish that the Filipinos in Hong Kong, especially the youngsters, can find it in them the thirst to know more about our country and its past, to know more about our culture and not just what’s on the surface. It’ll be a great shame if we were not to pass on history in the future. We have the resources and the actual places to visit but they’re being taken for granted. The tour made me realise that something needs to be done because the things we learn from the past are immense and are never boring. I hope that the youth here in Hong Kong, not just the Filipino ones, can learn not to be passive about what’s present in the city and to find it in them the richness that’s all around them.

 

Check out Janina's personal blog: https://douxmonsterseventeen.wordpress.com/