He said to them,” You are from below, I am from above; are of this world, I am not of this world… (John 8:23)
How does Worldwide House look on a Monday morning? If you live in Hong Kong, Mondays are not typical days in Worldwide House. On Saturdays and Sundays Worldwide House becomes a virtual Divisoria where everything Filipino is seen and sold. It is not easy moving around Worldwide House especially on Sundays. Worldwide House is the Pinoy one-stop shop in Hong Kong. If you are looking for balot, penoy, bibingka, pancit, dinuguan, kare-kare, halo, halo, Hapee toothpaste, Milo, Ovaltine,cornik, etc, you will find it there. If you need to remit money or send a balik-bayan box come to Worldwide House. But what if you just want to relax, smile and simply be grateful for life, is this the place to go?
Yesterday, after changing some Hong Kong money into pesos, a brightly dressed elderly Pinay approached me and offered me a food supplement brand. I first noticed her happy and kind face before I heard her offer which almost floored me. She said the following in Filipino, “Buy…It will make your ………life…. hard and long.” It definitely sounded different in Filipino. This was followed with laughter and chuckling. She followed up her offer, trying her best to convince me of the miraculous properties of her product that will enhance my virility. At this point, I told her, I am sorry, I am a priest, I really do not need your product. She laughed and chuckled even more. She stopped convincing me to buy the product and our conversation shifted to something more than medicine.
Her name fits her disposition. Happy de la Cruz is an account executive of Dr. Smith Health Products Ltd in Hong Kong. She was only a few feet from their shop in Worldwide House when she greeted or nearly shocked me with her offer. We ended up talking about life in Hong Kong and nothing about her company’s product. I wonder though if her sunny and happy disposition has anything to do with the product she sells?
The streets of Hong Kong are bustling with the energy of OFWs working as hard as they can to earn a living. Happy is one of thousands who would approach you with a product that has properties that you badly need. I was not able to ask Happy if her disposition and determination come from the health supplements she sells, if so, then why shouldn’t I buy? But I am almost sure that it is more than medicine that propels this happy lady to live up to her name.
It was a happy way to leave Hong Kong yesterday. I really do not know when I will return but Hong Kong, like any place where meaningful encounter with people takes place will always be a treasure chest of the happy and sad, successful and not too successful, the sublime and mundane and so much more. Life indeed, is the entire gamut of human experience that stretches and challenges the human soul to see and appreciate that life is more than this or that product, more than this or that activity, organization or relationship. I once remembered the wise words of a friend, the late Msgr. Pat Lim who told me when I was about to leave the University of the Philippines as chaplain, “Robert, let go…there is definitely life after UP…”
I will miss the hustle and bustle of Worldwide and the streets of Hong Kong. I will miss the likes of Happy and the many like her who display heroic commitment and determination to survive and succeed. But the journey continues. Msgr. Pat is correct, indeed “There is life after Hong Kong!”
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