BETINA BANGSOYAO, FILIPINO, MOM OF 3 CHILDREN (15, 10 & 7 YEARS OLD)
How will you be celebrating Christmas Day and New Year’s Day in HK?
After a year full of changes and uncertainty, I am simply excited to celebrate with my family via video calls, listen to mass and a simple ‘salo-salo’ (gathering) with my karate family to celebrate Christmas. Of course, since the pandemic is not over and it’s been a trying year for many, my celebration might look different this year.
I will encourage my family to watch me on YouTube Live for the upcoming MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) tournament. After Christmas, I’ll probably be enjoying my holiday inside the ring, so I actually make my Christmas a great time to mix things up and try new things apart from hiking, biking and so on.
How did you celebrate Christmas Day and New Year’s Day before you came to HK to work?
During Christmas Eve evening, as we are Christians, we go to church to listen to the last ‘simbang gabi’ or the Christmas Eve mass as a family. This is followed by a midnight feast, called ‘Noche Buena’. It is a big open house celebration with family, friends and neighbors dropping in to wish everyone a merry Christmas.
It is filled with celebrations, exchanging of gifts, parlour games and the most enjoyable part is cooking different delicacies. We slaughter pigs and chickens to make ‘Lechon’ (roast pigs and chickens). As a Primitive Igorot (indeginous mountaineer) in my country, we invite everyone to celebrate the gift of life together as a form of thanksgiving.
When I was in The Philippines, as an active youth leader and advisor, I usually gathered the youth to go for carolling. We used our guitars and tambourines to sing Christmas songs in all the households. In exchange for that, we were given a (monetary) blessing that came from their hearts. The proceeds went to running a big Christmas party, preparing gifts for our less fortunate ‘kailian’ or ‘kababayans’ within the ‘barangay’ (people from the same village) – especially for the children to make their Christmas Day merrier.
As an advisor, I usually told the children and young people that everyday is Christmas Day, and it’s better to give than to receive and “to serve with love”. This was how I celebrated Christmas with my family, friends and community.
When was the last time you celebrated Christmas Day and New Year’s Day with your children?
As many say, there is no heart you couldn’t measure deep inside a mother. So I am proud to share that I am a mother of three children. I have 2 daughters aged 15 and 10, and my only son is 7 years old. I flew here to HK when my baby boy was only 15 months old. The last time I spent Christmas with them was in 2015. I have been longing to be with them for almost six years.
Every Christmas Day is a big challenge for me. As a mother not with her family, it’s not only on Christmas Day that’s challenging but also on the children’s special days. As an OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker), the only possible means of communication is via video calls. For six years, my love and hugs have been on the screen, and I miss them terribly and so very much.
Being a mother I must be resilient, and yes, I have to. And I am blessed to have a big family who embrace them on my behalf. I always comfort myself that ‘sacrifice’ is the essence of love.
Do you know how your children will be celebrating Christmas Day and New Year’s Day?
They would probably spend quality time together at their granny’s house, and have a simple celebration with their uncles, aunties and cousins.
What would be the best Christmas and new year present for you?
To win a flight ticket home to have a long holiday in The Philippines with my family.
How does it feel to be away from your children this Christmas?
I feel like an empty cup, trying to fill, but don’t know which ingredients to mix in.
Why is Christmas special for you and your family?
It’s because it is a celebration of life, joy and happiness – and only in your family do you really feel the warmth of love. As thanksgiving, we spend time doing something fun together. Love is where the heart is – faith and happiness with all the care and understanding.