What's on, where

HealthWise: A Free Basic Medical Check for OFWs
Daily, except Friday
Venue: POLO Office, 18/F, Mass Mutual Tower, 33 Lockhart Rd., Wanchai
Organized by: Philippine Overseas Labor Office HK in collaboration with Filipino Nurses Association HK and Balikatan sa Kaunlaran HK. Service includes free health assessment after blood pressure and glucose tests, as well as lesson on how to do breast self examination

Registration for ALSE 73 & 74
(Ateneo Livelihood & Social Entrepreneurship Program)
Feb 2 & 3, 9:30am-12nn MERC, 12/F Euro Trade Centre, 21-23 Des Voeux Rd Central
Contacts: Saturday class: Analyn, 6500 9288 / Sharon, 5507 5997; Sunday class: Wilma, 9386 2514 / Marilou, 6216 4198



Real Opportunities in Investing Seminar
Feb 2 (Sat), 1pm, Feb 3 (Sun), 3pm, Bayanihan Centre, Kennedy Town. Hosted by: KsK Coop
Prior registration required. For more details, Email: info@kskcoop.com | Tel. No.: 632-6373731. Mobile: 63917-8537333 (Globe) / 63919-9990906 (Smart)

Farewell for Ching Baltazar
BSK Founder and Chair, Card HK Foundation Trainor
Feb 3, 10am-1pm, Harcourt Garden, Admiralty
Organized by CARD HK Foundation. Details: Card’s FB page




Wimler Charity Dinner
Feb 15 (Friday), 6:30 – 11:00pm King’s Cuisine, 6th floor, Windsor House, Causeway Bay. For reservations & booking, contact: Myrna Hill, 9803 8049;  Emilie Veringa-Tobias, -51910902; Cathe Marsden, 95360166 or Luz Tan, 96309311

Free Breast Cancer Screening and Mammogram
Only for women aged 40 and above
Feb. 17, 10:00-10:45am,Talk; 10:45am-1pm Screening
Venue: HK Breast Cancer Foundation Kowloon Centre
Registration is closed. For details, visit the Philippine Consulate General’s Facebook page. Co-Organized by the HK Breast Cancer Foundation and PCG



Pia Wurtzbach Meet-and-Greet
Miss Universe 2015 will be Madame Tussaud HK’s first Filipino wax figure, Feb 17, 1pm onwards
Venue: Star Hall in Hong Kong

Free Financial Literacy Seminar
Feb 24, 9am-5pm, POLO Community Hall, 18/F, Mass Mutual Tower, 33 Lockhart Road
Organized by: CARD HK Foundation
To reserve your slot, call 56002526, 54238196 or 95296392. Watch out for similar whole-day workshops on these dates: Sunday: Mar 24, June 23, July 21; Saturday: Apr 13, Aug 17. Free handouts provided and certificates will be given



Free Training for Small Feedlot Cattle Farming. 
Mar 9, (Saturday), Philippine Overseas Labor Office, 18th floor, Mass  Mutual Tower, Wanchai
Resource Speaker: OFW entrepreneur Arnel Corpuz, former manager of biggest cattle feedlot in Australia. Pre registration required. Check: POLO HK SAR Facebook page

International Women’s Day 2019 Celebration
Mar 8, 2:30-4pm, Venue: G/F, 28A Fortress Hill Road, HK. Organized by: Caritas Asian Migrant Social Workers Project. There will be games, gifts, food and performances. For enrollment, contact us : Phone: 2147-5988 or Whatsapp: 5497-2899.

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Pinay helper denies setting up employer to bathe her baby with bleach-tainted water

By Vir B. Lumicao

The building that houses Shatin Court 

A judge in Shatin Court has reserved his verdict in the case of a Filipina helper accused of deliberately leaving a bottle of bleach-tainted water in the bathroom which her employer then used to bathe her six-month-old baby.

Merlyn Ando has denied she intended to hurt the infant because of a grudge she held against her employer, Charlotte Chan.

Ando's fate will be known on Feb. 15. 

She was arrested by police and charged with “Ill-treatment by those in charge of a child or young person” after Chan blamed her for the incident on Aug. 13 last year.

On the second and final day of the trial on Feb 1, Ando took the witness stand to answer questions about what had led to the mother accidentally bathing her daughter with the tainted water.

Also testifying this day was Chang Yu, a doctor at Prince of Wales Hospital in Shatin who had treated the baby after the incident. He said the infant bore no signs of injury apart from a redness on her arm and side.

Chan had accused Ando of intending to cause harm by placing a plastic bottle filled with Chlorox solution beside a bottle of Johnson’s baby shower gel on a rack for baby toiletries. The employer had poured the tainted liquid into the baby’s bath, thinking it was the shower gel.

She said Ando was to leave her flat the following day after resigning from her job, and had set up the incident in retaliation. The Filipina had worked for Chan for one and a half years, starting in February 2017.

In her testimony, Ando said she paid Chan a month’s wage for breaking her contract but the employer demanded  another month’s pay supposedly for “damages.”

At the prompting of her counsel, John Murray, Ando recounted that she was cleaning the bathroom that fateful day, and had brought with her a purple plastic bottle of baby bath that was filled with a 50-50 mix of water and bleach that she used to remove stains.

Ando told Murray she used that bottle instead of the original bleach bottle as it was easier to squeeze and safer because the fluid didn’t leak on her hand. She normally kept the bottle in the kitchen.

The maid said she had just sprayed the stained tub when Chan called and ordered her to fetch her eldest child, a 4-year-old boy, from the ground floor.

Ando had resumed her work when Chan called again and told her to get the baby’s milk from the car and put it in the refrigerator. Shortly later, Chan arrived and reportedly brought up again the matter of who would lend Ando money to pay for the supposed damages in her house.

Chan reportedly got angry when Ando said her cousin had not yet given the money.

After this, Chan told Ando to get the baby and take her to the bathroom. Ando said she was confused by the overlapping errands that she forgot about her work in the bathroom.

When she looked inside the bathroom Ando said Chan was already bathing the baby in the tub. Chan then asked why the water wasn’t bubbling. “I said I didn’t know why because I didn’t prepare the bath.”

Chan asked what was in the purple bottle and Ando did not reply. Another Filipina helper who was in the house and was hired to replace Ando answered, “That’s bleach.”

Ando said Chan took the baby from the tub right away and gave her to her husband, then pulled the maid’s hair three times saying “I killed her child. I told her ‘I did not kill your child. Sorry, it was an accident’.”  

Cross examining Ando, prosecutor James Cheng told her she deliberately put the purple bottle next to the baby gel so Chan would likely use it to prepare the bath. The maid replied it was only on that day that she put it there because she was cleaning.

“I put it to you that you deliberately did not tell your employer there was bleach in the purple bottle because you hold a grudge against her,” Cheng told Ando, but the Filipina replied her focus was only on the money that Chan was demanding.

Cheng insisted in his submission that the helper was lying and that she bore a grudge against Chan, so she tried to get even by harming the baby.

Murray said the intent was not established. He asked why Ando would do something that would put her in trouble just a day before she was to leave for home.

Ando was returned to custody pending the verdict.

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Hong Kong’s Global Geopark: Sai Kung’s little known treasure

Cave cuts through to the other side of the island.

By Daisy CL Mandap

Hundreds of millions of years ago, a number of underwater volcanoes erupted so fiercely it totally changed the landscape in this sleepy seaside part of Hong Kong. The cataclysmic event left priceless reminders that sadly, have been left unnoticed by many, including those who have practically spent their whole life in this busy, noisy city.

Pineapple bun island, so named because of rocks that resemble pineapple buns.

These relics from that distant past when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, are now known as Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark, most of which are scattered across Sai Kung, with just a small, eerie patch located on Tai Po’s shores.

The gigantic outcrops that form a 150-km swathe on Sai Kung’s shores are said to have been the result of the violent eruptions that occurred some 140 million years ago. First time visitors will surely be awed by the eerie ridges that formed naturally on the rock deposits, many of which resemble Hong Kong’s skyline today. It’s as if the city’s transformation into a world-class city with towering skyscrapers was foretold eons ago.



Even more impressive is the vastness of the geopark. On a sailboat, it takes all of three hours to tour all the islands with the impressive hexagonal columns that form this unique cultural heritage.

An alternative way is to take one of the tour boats that regularly ply the area and carry up to 20 people, for which each passenger is charged about $250. However, there are sites that cannot be reached by these bigger boats because of rough waters.



There are also one-hour trips offered by touts at Sai Kung pier for just $50, but as can be imagined, the tour covers only a fraction of the wondrous site.

Part of that short tour should include the famous Pineapple Bun island, where tourists can disembark to check out the gigantic sponge-like rocks that are strewn about. The shape and indentations on most of these rocks account for the island’s name.

According to Hong Kong Geopark’s website, there are 140 UNESCO global geoparks spread across 38 countries, and 37 of them are located in China. These wonders of nature include the famous Ha Long Bay in Vietnam and the Karst Mountains in Yangshuo, Guangdong Province, both of which predate Sai Kung’s rock ridges.



Hong Kong’s Geopark was first listed with UNESCO as part of China’s National Geoparks in 2009, but was renamed in 2015 as Hong Kong’s own.

According to its own website, the Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark comprises two geological regions within a unified boundary: the hexagonal rock columns in Sai Kung and the sedimentary rocks formed over different geologic periods in northeast New Territories. To reach this site where the ancient volcanic rocks are found, however, one still has to set off from Sai Kung and walk for about an hour to reach the seashore which is technically already part of Tai Po, New Territories.




What sets Hong Kong’s Geopark apart from most of the UNESCO heritage sites is the relative ease with which visitors can behold them. Sai Kung is an easy 30-minute trip from North Point MTR station. Just hop on the Tseung Kwan O line and get off at Hanghau station. From there, take the green 101M minibus which will take you all the way to Sai Kung pier.

There, you can either book your own private boat for the tour, or reserve seats in one of the Geopark tour boats for a glorious three-hour trip.



During the busy months or weekends, it might be best to book your boat beforehand. If you do, best to contact Angus Yacht International, as they have several boats to choose from, including pleasure crafts. As longtime Sai Kung residents, the couple who owns the fleet of boats is also one of the best providers for this service. Send a message to their Facebook page or contact telephone number 93694017.

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DH accused of stealing shampoo was verbally and physically abused by employer, says lawyer

By Vir B. Lumicao

 

A lawyer for a Filipina domestic worker accused of stealing toiletries told the court the employer must have made up the case to stop the helper from reporting to police the verbal and physical abuse she had suffered from the employer’s husband.

Thelma Damiago was accused of stealing small bottles of shampoo, shower gel and lotion, plus a bar of soap by her employer Jennifer Wong Wen-yi on Oct 15 last year, about two weeks after she handed in her resignation letter.

Her Duty Lawyer-assigned counsel William Wong said in summing up the defense case on Jan 31 that Damiago decided to quit just two months into her two-year contract because she could no longer tolerate her “bad-tempered” male employer.

In an audio recording played back in Eastern court during Wong’s cross examination by the defense, a man was heard shouting angrily at Damiago while calling her “stupid” a few times.

At one point, Damiago was heard reacting aloud, “Sir, don’t hurt me, Sir, please don’t hurt me” when the man allegedly hit her in the neck with a plastic folder.

Then the maid was heard telling another woman, “Sir hit me in my neck with a folder”. The woman, who Wong admitted “sounds like me”, simply said “What?”

The defense counsel said the audio was recorded by Damiago one day last September, before she handed her resignation letter.

The prosecution tried to exclude the audio and a longer handwritten version of the resignation letter the defense lawyer presented just before the trial, but Magistrate Leona Chan accepted them.

Prosecution lawyer Alexander Cheung suggested to the maid that she made up the letter after police arrested her, but the Filipina insisted it was the first resignation letter that she handed to her employer on Sept 22 last year.

She said Wong did not sign it, saying she did not like the reason cited there. The employer allegedly ordered her to write a shorter letter stating that she was quitting “due to personal issues”.

Wong, who lives in Repulse Bay with her husband and their two children, said in her testimony that she was unhappy with Damiago’s work, her second maid who did the cooking and cleaning, because it was “below my standard”.

She also said the maid was using so many things in her cooking that were bad for her diabetic husband and asthmatic son.

She said that on Oct 15 last year, while looking for a new pair of running shoes, her other maid Jazel Urbanes, told her she had seen the defendant put the shoes in her luggage.

Wong said she told Urbanes to tell Damiago she would check the contents of her luggage at 11pm that day because she might have taken other items from the household.

On inspection Wong said she found in Damiago’s bag the toiletry set she had bought in Thailand, and a pack of dried cranberry given by her sister. Wong claimed she also found the shoes, although these were not included in the charge sheet against Damiago.

Urbanes was also called to the witness stand, where the defense lawyer and the judge questioned her about her inconsistent time reckoning of when she told Damiago about the luggage check.

Magistrate Chan reserved her verdict for Feb 13.

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