VANCOUVEREYE ZINE

The Children Are Our Future by Tom Choy " It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."   Frederick Douglass Nicole Anne Zapanta Tiamzon(Ms. Nicole), 23 from Rizal graduated from the University of the Philippines in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree Major in Sports Science. Ms. Nicole proudly declares, " I want to help kids living in marginalized communities in my province of Rizal for a starter."  She continues, " Through my skills in volleyball(VB) sports, I want to teach VB skills." She could have worked for Nike or Facebook and enrich herself. However she has a better idea: While playing PRO Volleyball Player and being looked up as a positive role model by young people all over the Philippines, she can make a difference. She can teach and inspire. She plays for Bangko Perlas in the Philippine Volleyball League(PVL) and  decided to  segue her star power to help young people get inspiration to succeed in life. She decided ...

CONSUL GENERAL MEA ANNE CARES ABOUT PINOYS IN LOTUSLAND "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." John Maxwell by Tom Choy      Vancouver, BC      October 26, 2018 Ancient Greeks met and discuss issues in the Agora, an open space meeting place. In Vancouver, newly installed Hon. Consul General Maria Andrelita "Mea Anne" Austria initiated a Kapihan Sa Konsulado( Breakfast at the Consulate Office) to listen to the needs and challenges encountered by Pinoys. ConGen Mea Anne(she prefers to be called Mea Anne) says, " We want to listen more than we want to talk." ConGen Me Anne continues, "We just don't want to discuss issues but we want to come up with courses of action." She already promised the Vancouver media the 2019  Calendar of Events the Consulate General Office(CGO) intends to fulfill. She reiterated that the Kapihan intends to identify the pressing needs of the Fil-Can Community in Vancouver. And the...

THOSE WERE THE DAYS by Tom Choy Vancouver, British Columbia As Neil Diamond would sing it, "LA's fine but it ain't home; NY is home but it ain't mine no more." Vancouver is fine but it's almost home; Bacood is truly home but it ain't mine no more. Bacood, Sta Mesa Manila.   This used to be my playground. Once upon a time you are young and thought that you are indestructible and forever young. Then you sang with fervor "Once upon a time there was a tavern where we used to raise a glass or two. Remember how we laughed away the hours. And dreamed of all the great things we would do. Those were the days my friend we thought they'd never end We'd sing and dance forever and a day. We'd live the life we choose We'd fight and never lose For we were young and sure to have our way.." (Mary Hopkin)  ABBA's Dancing Queen was burning the airwaves then. Our Congressman Gerry Espina found home here too. The Crispa...

FROM MANILA TO BARCELONA WITH LOVE By Tom Choy Vancouver, British Columbia “You hit a homerun not by chance but through preparation.”    Roger Maris ZIP Mercado De Guzman   is now living and studying in Barcelona Spain. Not content with his already deep and wide academic achievements, Zip is currently taking Postgraduate studies at Conservatori Liceu in Spain, majoring in Operas. Just like millennials who are no longer happy with their undergraduate diplomas and take up further studies, Zip does it for a different reason though. He wants to be the #FILIPINO Baritone “Numero Uno.” Zip , the Philippines’ up and coming, debonair Baritone par excellence has won the First Prize of the 2016 and 2017 American Protégé International Vocal Competition at the Carnegie Hall( Weill) in New York City.   “ Zip has the ‘it’ factor in the classical opera genre,” quips Cliff Belgica of the classy Company Tribu Productions. “ Zip is not only a baritone ...

60 IS THE NEW 40 Tom Choy Vancouver, British Columbia “ My body is going to be 62 this year,” declares Grandmaster Datu Shishir Inocalla, 9 th degree Grandmaster of Arnis Maharlika , a school and society for Filipino Martial Arts. Shishir continues, “My heart is 26 and my spirit is 266th on my next birthday.” Shishir does not look his age. There are 40 year olds who even look older than him. What is his secret? Not only is he a grandmaster martial arts practitioner and mentor, he also believes in a healthy mind and spirit in a strong and healthy body. He smiles a lot. Smiling is one of the most potent natural medicine in the world. He just does not talk about eating right, he practices what he preaches. He is 100% vegan. Grandmaster Shishir  won the light heavyweight martial arts championship held in Ontario, Canada in 1973. He was featured in the Blackbelt  Magazine in North America. Inocalla was  bestowed  grandmaster by the Grandmaster S...

Targeting 1000 FEASTS By Tom Choy Vancouver, British Columbia “Never focus on your problems. Focus on your possibilities. The problems will pull you down. The possibilities will push you up.” Bo Sanchez Bo Sanchez, a Filipino lay evangelist, author, and entrepreneur, is looking to hold simultaneously 1,000 feasts worldwide in the future.  They do over 200 now. A feast is a weekly prayer and fellowship meeting held once a month among  their members. Most of these Bo Sanchez-led and inspired feasts (called Kerygma feasts) fill up to capacity huge and small halls including the PICC in the Philippines and the Broadway Church and St. Mary’s basement hall  in Vancouver.  Sanchez was awarded Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) of the Philippines in 2006. He won the Serviam Award, the highest award a lay Catholic may receive in 2007. On his spat with the Catholic Church, Bo says in his Facebook post, “By the way, just so people don’t get me wrong, ...

VANCOUVER’S PREMIER CULTURAL CONNOISSEUR By Tom Choy Vancouver, British Columbia “It’s not the years in your life but the life in your years that counts.”   ADLAI STEVENSON Mel Tobias, the consummate culture and arts connoisseur and patron, breathes, lives and personifies the Vancouver’s Filipino-Canadian  arts and cultural life. He was a perennial participant in the Cannes Film Festival in the South of France. He wrote for international publications like Variety and the Philippine Star in Manila. Mel is no longer with us and is now on” the other side.” Mel may no longer be around, but his influence and impact on the promotion of Pinoy content in Fil-Canadian arts and culture in Vancouver are still quite felt by a lot of people he came across. " I owe Mel the success of the Dahong Pilipino Directory (which featured a lot of Tobias articles and writings about the success stories of Pinoys in Lotusland) to Mr. Tobias," proclaims Leo "Jun" C...

"CARDINAL TAGLE DOES A LOT OF THINGS FOR THE HOLY SEE" Archbishop Michael Miller by Tom Choy Vancouver, British Columbia His Eminence Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila recently visited the Catholic faithful of Vancouver. Praising the young performers in a musical before his keynote speech at a Catholic rally held at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Downtown Vancouver, he said  " Isn't it wonderful when it is sung, when it is danced...?," referring to the mini-musical show the young people of Vancouver just performed.  The Cardinal prefers to be called simply Cardinal Chito. For tonight's rally, don't expect Cardinal Chito to be quoting  chapter and verse numbers   of the Holy Bible. . He would rather tell stories and weave the gift of faith and God's love through stories of people he encounters everyday from anywhere in the world. The whole night, Cardinal Chito told stories upon stories of the people he come across in the ...

XFACTOR ISRAEL WINNER ROSE CROONS LOTUSLAND by Tom Choy Vancouver, British Columbia " Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but playing a poor hand well."   Robert Louis Stevenson When  Rose Fostanes won the XFactor Israel a couple of years ago, she was still a caregiver for an adult client. The country was strict when it comes to having a licence to earn money for foreigners. When she won the singing contest(on TV), she was initially not allowed to earn any money except being a caregiver. In the end, things worked out well for her when the country issued her singing licence. Rose or Osang, just like a lot of Pinoys or people with Pinoy blood simply blessed with the gift of music like Bruno Mars and Apl D Ap, is herself a magical singer. Osang, now 51, ever since she was 3 years old has been singing. She has competed in various amateur singing contests in the Philippines. When she won some amateur singing contests in the Philippines, she brought home th...

RIP:BILLY GRAHAM--PINOYS' DEAR FRIEND by Tom Choy Vancouver, British Columbia Reverend Billy Graham, passed away at age 99. He is one of the most popular Christian evangelists of all times. He spoke to over 400 million people in over 150 countries in his events worldwide. No one compares closely to his acomplishments as a preacher and evangelist. This is not to include the number of people he touched via the modern-day internet, radio and television. Pinoys consider Billy a great dear friend. Billy declared, "I want to bring the Filipino people closer to Christ." Graham visited the Philippines in 1977 and spoke to over 400,000 Pinoys. In 2006, his son Franklin spoke to over 317,000 Pinoys. Later on Graham's grandson Will spoke to over 97,000 Pinoys in Bicol, a southern Philipines province. Predominantly Catholic, the Philippines and Pinoys looked up to Billy and his relatives for prayers, blessings and guidance. According to Pew Research,  the Philippin...

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CANADIAN by Tom Choy Vancouver, British Columbia Having lived in Canada for a couple decades, Canada becomes home for me and my family.  You appreciate how lucky you can be living in one of the best places to live in the world. Canada gives you comfort and honor. In return, we have to make Canada proud of us too. You feel welcome here in Canada despite some instances when people notice your colour is different from theirs. Sometimes you have to work doubly harder to prove you deserve to live in this wonderful country who embraces people who have chosen to stay here for good. When people tell me that Canadians contributed the insulin, blackberry, basketball and ice hockey and poutine, it gives me enormous pride and honour. Even if I have not invented anything huge, I love possessing the uniquely Canadian aura of being helpful to other people. I love volunteering in the soup kitchens of Vancouver Eastside. There is nothing embarrassing to be...

URBAN LEGENDS ABOUND by Tom Choy Vancouver, British Columbia W hen you find out from the internet or in your email that somebody famous passed away, just before you share it on FB or Twitter, check first the accuracy in Urban Legends or scopes.com or Google it. Or, it can be damn embarrassing to say the least. Sometimes if you get sued it will deplete your pocketbook. And it applies to me too. Recently, a famous actor and TV host Hugh Laurie was rumoured dead on a tweat I read. While chatting with a friend in person about recent news, I mentioned to him that Laurie is dead. I told him "Laurie tried a Viagra-like tablet and even shared it with Dr. Phil, the medic on TV." And I told my friend I better check first if this is just a hoax. I googled it on my Smartphone.  Lo and behold, the hoax verifier  websites say that it is not true. I had to say "sorry" to my friend. Just last year some famous people rumoured dead on Snopes.com included Kirk Douglas...