Gung Hei Fat Choy 2017!

Chinese people all over the world will welcome the New Year on January 28 with general merriment, family gatherings, firecrackers, feasts and lucky money red envelops for children. We join the estimated 1.5 million ethnic Chinese in the Philippines in ushering in the Year of the Rooster with a lot of hope for the home that we share.

In this issue Michael Gonzalez revisits the myriad Chinese influences on Filipino culture with “Porcelain and Pansit.” Our peoples’ long history together etched these cultural markings, and it also explains why nearly a quarter of all Filipinos have some Chinese ancestry. Enjoy Michael’s piece with “Chinese Peanut Cookies for the Lunar New Year of the Rooster,” courtesy of The Happy Home Cook. 

This issue also has Rey De La Cruz's “Art for Love's Sake,” which features artist Angelito de Leon David.  

Our Video of the Week is “Filipinas” by Trio Los Panchos. This Spanish group visited the Philippines in 1958 and recorded the album "Siete Notas de Amor," which features Filipino folksongs. 

Days of Reckoning

In two days, the United States will transition peacefully to a new administration, practically 360 degrees different from the outgoing one.

It's not quite clear how the new one  will set in motion its announced denial of climate change as a real and serious issue, a stand that defies about 95 percent of science. However the politics of it will play out, Fil-Am journalist Dorian Merina categorically warns us, "Attention Filipinos: Climate Change Is Here. Now." Wherever we are, he states, we will be affected, the impact intense unless we each do our part in working to reverse it. A timely warning, this piece is.

Another reality-based admonition comes from Manila-based contributor Cathy Sanchez Babao, who contends that now is "A Time for Kindness." With this initial volley into the #kindnessrevolution, we ask readers to send us their personal experiences with kindness -- as giver, receiver or witness. Write us at kindness@positivelyfilipino.com and we'll post your stories.

San Francisco Bay Area-based artist France Viana profiles another artist, Johanna Poethig, who identifies herself as American-Filipino (she spent her childhood in the Philippines with her American missionary parents). Poethig's works are eloquent statements of her Filipino background and passions.

For those who are preparing for Chinese New Year on January 28, here's what to do with that always welcome gift of tikoy (gooey rice cake), from Correspondent and food expert Elizabeth Ann Quirino.

For Video of the Week, we feature the Kahayag Dance Company, which won the 2015 World Cultural Dance Festival. 

Our Extended Family

Every week for the past four years, Lisa, Rene, Raymond and I do the editorial and technical work to bring you new stories and this newsletter. But we couldn't have done it without the commitment and the good work of our contributors who have been relentless in digging up stories and writing them up for our readers worldwide to enjoy. 

Those who have written at least 10 pieces we have designated as Positively Filipino Correspondents, and composing our latest batch are: Cherie Querol-Moreno; Penelope V. Flores; Rene Astudillo; Serina Aidasani; Lisa Suguitan-Melnick; and John Silva. Read about them and the previously designated correspondents in About Us. 

And speaking of Positively Filipino Correspondents, we have two of them writing for this issue:

Criselda Yabes submits "Portrait of Patriotism As a Ship Aground," a feature on the celebrated artist Jose Tence Ruiz's much heralded installation -- and political statement -- called Shoal.

Myles A. Garcia discusses the often-funny, always-perplexing "Filipino Terms of Endearment."

This week we begin a new section: In The Know. We will be compiling stories from various legitimate news sources/publications that we think you, our readers, will find interesting, informative and instructional. 

Our Happy Home Cook recipe: Tinapa Spaghetti from Rene Astudillo.

And our Video of the Week comes from an enthusiastic millennial about Iloilo.