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...