Year in year out, Sydney’s Filipino Senior citizens organisations celebrate their trademark Valentine Day as their second biggest event in their annual calendar, next only to their foundation anniversary day.
The first and most resilient Filipino seniors club in Sydney the Philippine Australian Society for Seniors Citizens of PASSC, crowned last 16 February this year Mrs Francisca Magsalin, 81, as Mutya ng PASSC and Mr Casimiro Castor, 78 as Ginoong PASSC 2013, during their Valentine Day celebration at the Fairfield Community Centre, in Fairfield.
No less than Philippine Consul General Anne Jalando-on Louis honoured the association and found time to attend and address the seniors with familiar encouraging words during the event on a Saturday afternoon.
Previous press release of the association announced modest admission price for the gathering held in a local community centre, a more budget priced venue compared with last year’s event which was held in an RSL Club.
Two other senior citizens organisations the Association of Golden Citizens of Australia-Philippines, Inc. (AGAPI) of Rooty Hill, NSW and the Sydney Australian Filipino Seniors, Inc.(SAFSI) of Marayong, NSW celebrate similar type of calendared events, namely foundation day and Valentines day.
Many Filipino seniors are blessed to attend fortnightly their club meetings in Sydney, with a mixture of fellowship, shared meal, ballroom dancing and occasional address by invited guests of politicians, health resource persons, migration professionals and Department of Ageing personnel. But annual celebrations such as Valentines Day is an anticipated event viewed with fun and plenty of self-encouragement.
Some adult children of seniors may shun seeing their mum or dad being crowned as pageant king and queen and consider the idea as daggy or lacking in taste.
But looking at it deeply should reveal that seniors, however frail or their faculties failing as they may be, can really boldly accept to say “love conquers all” , a message of experience not primarily to one’s pageant partner during the occasion, but to the greater world out there and the younger generation still able to learn of their life’s testimony.