I knew it won’t last long. Just when I thought that the Filipino community has been decently quiet with the small pock­ets of associations content partying and ballroom dancing on their own when my wife literally dragged me - my kicking and screaming had no effect - to a party a couple of weeks ago. Threatened with a suspension of all husband privileges I had no choice but to come along. It turned out that it was another fund-raising cam­paign, the Mrs. Philippines crown at stake. As it was for a fund-raising campaign, I thought it was alright. Besides I could break my diet in a while and practise my latest dance moves.

The evening started out fine - food and dance were ok - until the speeches. I felt one eyebrow involuntarily raise up when they mentioned the funds were for our own Philippine Cultural Center. I could only guess but wasn’t it about fifteen years ago more or less when the Filippino com­munity had started envisioning and rais­ing money for this so called cultural cen­ter? I felt like one walking in the dark with hair-raising feeling that something sinister is lurking behind all of these.

My better senses was telling me per­haps this is a new organization and people have come to their senses and was finally doing the right thing. But that sinister feeling was justified when they called to acknowledge some of the officers of the Philippine Cultural Center Society to the stage. I had to admit I was both amazed and dumbfounded when Mr. Mars dela Cruz and other PCCS officers delivered the same sales pitch they have been do­ing ever since they started doing it - what­ever it was they have been doing.

To those who may be wondering what in the world am I talking about, many many moons ago we were all very excited and very supportive that we finally will have a cultural center of our own - it seems like we’re the only ethnic group who doesn’t have any yet. And it almost became a reality - I’m not really into the details but what I remember was that as a result of the efforts of many community leaders, perhaps led by the PCCS, the government had awarded the Filipino community with a piece of land in Surrey and we only need to put up our share of the money. Every­body thought that we could do it since af­ter all those fund-raising efforts we should already have that kind of money.

Then hell broke loose when it turned out there was no money. The community was violently shaken that they decided to go after PCCS - in particular the head of its president Mars dela Cruz, and that was the last I heard of it. So much are still unanswered for on those missing or unaccounted money supposedly meant for that delusive and fictional Philippine Cultural Center, and nobody seemed to know where Mr. dela Cruz was. No news or photos on our community tabloids and apparently missing from many dinner and dance parties he used to grace. So after some quiet years it’s understandable why my hairs would rise when I see the same thing happening all over again. What I could never understand is why people would let themselves be reused all over again - perhaps nobody cares so long as they’re happy partying, eating, dancing and photos being plastered on the com­munity newspapers. Seems like the same people who were bent on exposing the great deception are now either dead and gone or suffering from severe dementia, or perhaps just plain stupid. It’s either for­give and forget, all simply play dumb and forget.

So after sharing these thoughts to my wife, she reminded me: “Of course, honey, you’re one of them. You paid for the party just now, didn’t you?” And of course I did.

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