Philippine Embassy launches essay contest

The Philippine Embassy to Korea tweeted last Feb 25 that they would conduct an essay writing contest for Korean students and Filipinos in Korea. There are two categories;

1. Category A - for Korean students under the theme “The Philippines in the Korean War”
2. Category B - for Filipinos living in Daehan-minkuk to discuss “Finding Jose Rizal in South Korea: A Migrant’s Perspective

The essay should have 1000 to 1500 words and written in English for Category A and English or Filipino for Category B. Deadline for submission is on March 26, 2010 at 5 pm (yes most definitely Korean time!) Essays must be emailed to seoulpe (at) philembassy-seoul.com. The top entry will receive the Medal of Academic Excellence from the Office of the Philippine President, a plaque and cash award. Runners-up will also receive plaques. The winning entries will also be published in both Philippine and Korean publications.

The essay writing contest is sponsored by the Philippine Embassy to Korea in partnership with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Seoul Global Center, and the Philippine Resource Persons Group.

For more details, check out the website of the Philippine Embassy. You can also read it on Korea Times and Korea Herald.

You can also follow the Philippine Embassy on Twitter. While you're at it, might as well follow mine. That's twitter.com/jempres

Filipino market in Hyehwa-dong faces closure

While we were still shaken about that minor earthquake, another report broke out. Filipino market in Hyehwa-dong is facing CLOSURE! From the Korea Times report:

“Jongno District Office in Seoul has told the Filipino community to stop holding a market in Hyehwa-dong, citing complaints from passers-by and residents.”

This is indeed sad and disappointing. The weekly market has been there since 1997. It has become a representation of the Filipino culture in Korea, a mark of the Filipino community in Korea. Lots of Filipinos, some from other parts of the country travel to Hyehwa to have a taste of home, purchase their Filipino food supply, meet their friends and families and also attend the mass in Hyehwa Catholic Church.

According to Father Alvin:
"The reasons they gave up us was one, they received complaints from neighbors and pedestrians in the area; two, there were concerns about cleanliness and order; three, they want to redevelop the sidewalk and include a waterfall wall in the area; and four, they want to transfer the market to a new multicultural market," the priest told The Korea Times over the phone. "It's a Philippine way of life. We go to church, then go to the market to buy provisions and meet friends. It's an expression of Philippine culture. The national government has a policy about supporting multiculturalism in Korea, but there seems to be a contradiction with the district office's plans. The church and the market should go together and not be separated," he said.

Huwat?! Complaints from neighbors and pedestrians- it’s been there for more than a decade. Did they only get the complaints just now? Cleanliness and order- yeah right. Relocation to a new multicultural street, the market is there because it is beside the church. These can be just lousy excuses. There may be more to it than what it seems. Or it could just be because of the redevelopment project. They are just throwing in some other excuses reasons to give the market a negative appeal. Whatever it is, I hope that they arrive at a resolution which can be beneficial to both the district government and the Filipino community.

Check out the whole report on Korea Times.

Also Buhaykorea, Jehan, Zenkimchi and Roboseyo wrote about it.

* Hyehwa station exit 1