By Dhannabelle

  
Dedicated to: Dazherbelle Zyrene

A greatest gift, my beloved precious girl,
At first sight on you, really set my heart a whirl.
Baby girl so beautiful and so sweet,
Exactly what I dreamed, you were born so perfect.

The eyes that sparkle with joyful delight;
Bring peace to my heart every day and night.
As the sun shines in the morning and the moonlight turns to grey,
My love for you even brighter with each and everyday.

You are the reason each day I breathe, my one true love
Someone who fill my days with light, and make me laugh out loud,
You are the best gift, my one angel from above.
And I’m so glad to have you, really I’m soooo.. proud…

I made a poem for you to express the love I feel,
Can’t find the right words which can describe you well.
So for now I leave it but my love for you will remain eternally,
(for eternity)
And I want to let everyone know, how much you mean to me…

I love you Zezy…

Updates…
The much-awaited opening games of the Inter-Community women’s volleyball ’09 which is being sponsored by WESTERN UNION have started on 29^th March 2009 between New Brains and Survivors, with the former given a hard time on the first set (26-24) but winning comfortably in the second set 25-12.

5^th April 2009 games were between Smashers and THOI with the former winning 24-26, 25-19, 15-10; Chrystel and Azadh with the score 25-16, 15-25, 15-10.

12^th April 2009 three games were held with the following results: Survivor vs. Smashers: 25-13, 20-25, 11-15; THOI vs. Azadh: 25-9, 25-20; Chrystel vs. New Brains: 25-18, 25-20

26^th April 2009, the results were as follows:; Smashers vs. Azadh: 25-18, 25-23; Chrystel vs. Survivor: 24-26, 25-14, 15-3; THOI vs. New Brains: 12-25, 11-25

3^rd May 2009, the results were as follows: Chrystel vs. THOI: 25-19, 25-12; Azadh vs. New Brains: 13-25, 15-25

Standings: Chrystel: 8 points; New Brains: 7 points; Smashers: 6 points; THOI: 5 points; Azadh: 4 points; Survivors: 3 points
Schedule of next games: 10^th May 2009: Smashers vs. New Brains; Azadh vs Survivors; Chrystel vs. Smashers; Survivors vs. THOI.. Championship Games: 17^th May 2009. Awarding ceremony will be done during the 111^th Philippine Independence Day program on 14^th June, 2009.

By Johanna Bogbog  (Sideview – Tinig Pinoy)

A certain Pambos Kourtoulos sent his reaction to Chief Ed Joy Miranda about the latter’s article on the latest happenings with the immigration. According to him, those who had been sent home for lack of valid visas have only themselves to blame because a lot of Filipinas are ‘advertising themselves’. For instance, he said, he heard a Filipina singing at the top of her voice in her flat somewhere in Ledra; he likewise saw Filipinas standing outside the flat talking through their mobile phones in the cold evening indicating that there are other girls inside thus, she has to go outside for a private conversation; others laugh loudly and shout while in the street or at the Western Union or Coinstar; and some girls sing at the local karaoke bar in the middle of the afternoon which only means that they are not hard at work. All these of course, attract the attention of immigration officers. He also said that he was often told by a lot of girls that they prefer to live in the center to be near the bus station in Solomou square. But now, for those who had been deported to the Philippines, ‘How far is Solomos square now?’.
First of all, I give my thumbs up to Mr. Kourtoulos (a Brit-Cypriot) for his concern to the Filipino community. I perfectly agree with his observations. Some girls really do not know how to properly conduct themselves especially in public places. However, not all of those who had been sent home were caught because of the above reasons. For example regarding singing, Filipinos are by nature, music lovers. In fact, the Philippines is dubbed as Asia’s nightingale. We, Filipinos, young and old, love to sing wherever we are and whenever we feel like singing. Filipinos find singing as the best way of unwinding one’s stress and/or tension. Anywhere in the world, one can always find a Filipino in karaoke/video or sing-along bars. To Filipinos, singing is a relaxant and one can know what mood a Filipino has at the moment by the songs he/she sings. But then again, one must always consider the right time, the right place, and right disposition while singing.
I also agree on Mr. Kourtoulos’ statement on “running away�. He said that there are places one can go to get help if there are problems with employers instead of running away. Sure, there are. However, I know some girls who had been sent home without prior notice by employers because these girls complained to some authorities. Hence, some girls opted to just run away for fear of being sent home. I also have a first hand experience with problem employers. With my first employer, I was not given any day off and I work even on holidays. My employer instructed me not to even think of asking for a day off because the answer is a very big NO. I was also threatened not to complain to the immigration office because he said he has friends there and the Chief of Police is likewise his friend. And if I complain, he said he will make a strong case against me and I will rot in jail, never to go back to the Philippines. But despite of that threat, I went to the immigration office for help and I was given a release paper and found another employer. Another problem that we face is the lack of trust of employers. Some girls with release papers couldn’t find new employer because the former employer destroyed their credibility to prospect employers. These are just some of the various problems that housemaids face and it is sad to note that not all of us have the guts to conquer fear and insecurities and seek help from the proper authorities.
Except for those whose reason for running away from their employers is to stay with their boyfriends, I still believe that every Filipina wishes to work with a proper visa. Life in the Philippines is very difficult most especially in this time of global crisis. The ratio of job vacancies to job seekers is 1:100. The Philippines is blessed with natural wealth – gold, pearls, abundant forest and water minerals. However, the geographical location and topography of the country render it prone to all calamities like typhoon, hurricane, flood, tsunami, and earthquake. But two of the major reasons for the economic difficulty of the Philippines are the over population, and corruption within the whole hierarchy of the Philippine bureaucracy. I am inserting this piece of information because some employers consider the Philippines as a very poor country, hence the exploitation and oppression that some of us experience from our employers. We are being looked down because we are housemaids. This reminds me of my first employer again. One of the first questions that he asked me was; ‘Do you know about electricity?’ I did not know what to do then, whether to get angry at his arrogance or laugh at his ignorance, so I just looked at him and shrugged my shoulders.
For some Cypriots who have gone to the Philippines, they know how the Philippines is. In terms of education, medicine, computer, and the latest technologies, we are at par with the developed countries. We have our slum areas where the poorest in the society, and the outcasts live, but we also have our commercial centers which we take pride in them. The Philippines has the biggest mall in all of Asia. We have skyscrapers. The Emirates and Gulf air offices are in the buildings that have 30 and 50 floors. Our expressways have six lanes and we have trains and railways. However, as I mentioned, our economy is sinking in contrast to the growing population. Thus, most of us have to seek employment outside the country. We spent a lot of money in coming here, In fact, our salary here for one year is more or less the equivalent of the money we spent for the recruiting agency fees, medical, transportation and other personal expenses. Majority of us have incurred interest bearing loans just to pay these fees. This is one of the reasons why those who are not lucky with employers, prefer to continue working, taking the risk even without valid visas rather than to go home.  

Don’t Advertise

Dear Joy,
 
Reading your article on the latest happenings with the immigration, I agree with you totally. However, the Filipinas who are without visas are sometimes have only themselves to blame. Let me give you few examples. As I live within the walls, I see Filipinas every day. Recently on one of my days off, I was walking down Pericleous St., around ten in the morning, I passed one flat and I heard a Filipina singing on the top of her voice a song by Celine Dion. If I were an immigration officer, I would be making a note of that address. Also in the evening, you see some Filipinas standing outside the flat talking to their cell phones. Why are you standing outside your flat in the cold evening talking to your cell phone? It means that in the flat are other Filipinas, and in order that they can have a private conversation they stand outside. Again an immigration officer in plain clothes will see all this. Singing at the local karaoke bar in the middle of the afternoon, does not show that you are hard at work either. My advice, if you don’t want problems, DON’T advertise yourself. I am constantly told that, “Kuya, we live in Nicosia because it’s near Solomon Square and we don’t have to walk far to get to the bus.â€? Well, for those girls who are by this time in the Philippines, how far is Solomon Square now? I am sorry if I sound too harsh Joy, but lately I find some DH, do not act proper. Laughing, shouting into their cell phones when they are in the street, Western Union or Coinstar. You would not do that in the Philippines, so why do it here. Come to Cyprus, by all means. Do your work, save your money, live your life. You don’t have to be a “runawayâ€?. We all know that there are places where you can go to get help if you are having problems with your employers. But, to run away so you can be “live out” or to be near your friends or boyfriends… then don’t be surprised when you get caught.
 
Regards always,
Pambos Kourtoulos
 

Dear Pambos,
 

Thank you for your letter and patronage to Tinig Pinoy. My colleague Johanna has an answer to your letter in her column “Sideview�. Enjoy reading!
 

Chief Ed

Matthew Beatty, the 11-year old son of Tinig Pinoy Staff Ester Beatty, placed 2^nd in the category “A� (under 12 years old) at the 4^th Guitar Festival 2009 which was organised by the European Guitar Teachers Association Cyprus between 24 – 26 April 2009 at the Kastelliotissa (Nicosia). All competitors have performed a piece of music chosen by the organisers (Curiosity) plus two pieces of their own choice. Those who passed to go through to the final played three pieces of their choice. Matthew on his own played Sarabande by R. de Veese, Choro by an Anonymous composer and Tango.

Winners of the guitar competition performed one piece of music each at the concert on 26^th April 2009; Matthew played Tango as he said it is his Mom’s favourite piece, along with a guitar recital from the Cypriot guitarist Nikolas Kyriacou. Awarding ceremony was held after the concert.

Jurors in the competition included Yuliya Lonskaya, the first Belarussian guitarist to play in the famous Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow and Dimitri Illarrionov, winner and laureate of numerous international competitions in USA, Spain, Italy, Poland, Belguim, Czech Republic and Russia. The duo performed a guitar recital on 24^th April 2009 at Palio Xidadiko, Limassol and 25^th April 2009 at Kastelliotissa, Nicosia.

 Matthew with Dimitri Illarionov and Yuliya Lonskaya, jury members of the 4^th Guitar Festival 2009 and Cypriot guitarist Nikolas Kyriakou.