Pinoy Town idea divides community

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — For Tomas “Tatay Tom” Aven­dano, president and CEO of the Multicultural Helping House So­ciety (MHHS) here, designating specific places for ethnic groups in Canada “is tantamount to creating an atmosphere of division.” This was Avendano’s reaction to proposal to create a “Pinoy Town” located on a stretch of Fra­ser Street between Kingsway and 33rd Avenue. “Ayaw kong magka watak watak tayo (I don’t want our group to scatter). As Filipino-Canadians, we have already assimilated with other ethnic communities and we are all Canadians,” Avendano told this writer.Avendano’s stand was echoed by Nemecio “Mang Nemy” Cepeda, longest serving former president of the Filipino Zodiac Circle of British Columbia. “We have already started so many projects and most of them have not been completed yet,”

Cepeda, 68, sobbed. “We should focus on one project first so that we can maximize our resources before undertaking another proj­ect.”

LEADERS

Cepeda lamented that past and present Fil-Can community leaders “have failed to erect the Filipino Community Center which should have been given priority to serve as the bastion of Filipino-Ca­nadians’ solidarity and identity.” “We always have the temerity to start something and not finish­ing them,” bemoaned Cepeda . “It seems that some of our lead­ers have mental dishonesty and ulterior motives the reason why we can’t complete one major project except the MHHS.”

MMHS was built “to help new­comers succeed in Canada… moving Canada forward, one im­migrant at a time.” Cepeda suggested that in order to finish one project, members of the Filipino-Canadian community “must do it ala Bayanihan style and set aside personal interests.”

ATTENTION

“Let’s work together, focus our attention on one project so that our resources will not be divided and wasted,” he suggested.The proposed “Pinoy Town” re­kindled the debate after 24 Hours, one of Canada’s biggest daily tab­loids with circulation in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Mon­treal, and Vancouver, devoted a spreadsheet feature story about the project on January 4. “Petitions for a city-designated Pinoy Town — located on a stretch of Fraser Street between Kingsway and 33rd Avenue — have been going out since October. The movement comes after city coun­cil passed a motion last fall des­ignating Kingsway area between Fraser and Nanaimo Streets as ‘Little Saigon’ neighbourhood,” 24 Hours reported.

“But Little Saigon supporters made the misstep of not consult­ing with the entire community before submitting a 3,000-signa­ture petition to city council, said RJ Aquino, a COPE candidate in the last municipal elections who declared in favour of Pinoy Town. That omission angered many lo­cals.

CONSULTATION

“City-funded public consulta­tion on the Vietnamese neighbor­hood is scheduled for the start of 2012. Councilor Kerry Jang, who put forward the Little Saigon mo­tion, said he supports efforts to celebrate Vancouver’s diversity, but adds it’s important for orga­nizers to talk to both businesses and residents before approaching the city.”

The report also quoted 83-year­old Avendano as saying, “I think while we are here, we shouldn’t live as separate Filipino or Vietnamese (communities). This is Canada; therefore we should strive to be integrated and assimilate to Cana­dian culture.” Avendano said “giving neigh­bourhoods official ethnic designa­tions could hamper integration of new immigrants and wouldn’t nec­essarily boost cultural recognition or improve business.”

Written By: ALEX P. VIDAL