a l l y b a s aI asked my Gradnfather (the only grandparent I am actually able to contact) where he was born and he forgot! Haha! He actually said: “ Where was I born... I don't actually know! Maybe Manila... or was it Bulakan...”. He does remember his name (fortunately!). We all call him Lolo, as that is what Grandpa is in Tagalog, and his name is Benjamin (or Ben for short). He arrived here in 1998 by the influence of his children, especially my own mother who took the initiative to bring her family here, for a good life. He lived in the same house as Janet and Jocelyn (Bi); small house, quite clean, single dwelling. He said it wasn't the cleanest house but it sufficed. I asked Lo about his religion and I found out that he used to be a Protestant! He actually converted into Catholicism by the influence of his wife, so he is currently a Catholic. He says that his current religion made a good impact on his life. It brought him closer to God and his wife especially. Something that surprises me every time I hear about it is that my Grandad actually has 15 siblings! And I struggle to manage with my older brother... haha! Lolo played basketball and this was a hobby of his, and so was ping pong, badminton, hand ball, and many games. He played these games and others when he was young and actually continued his legacy up until now. He plays ping pong a lot and was ranked as one of the top ping pong players of New Zealand at some point! He was able to hear about the global news through the radio. Back then, they did not have a TV. He recalled that the TV they owned back then was broken! His earliest memory was when he was 3 years old, he fell out of a window which was sitting on the 2nd floor of a building at a young age, eek! But then I proceeded to ask him about his parents. He said that they were nice and caring. And for his Grandparents, he didn't get to meet them because they passed away before he was alive. I asked him which life he preferred: The life here in NZ, or the life in the Philippines? Lolo then laughed and told me that he prefers the life here because in the Philippines, there are just so many unruly people, very troublesome people may I add. THe environment is better here; much safer and you feel more at ease. I also asked him more about his experience in WW2 and he told me that he was a civillian then. He was aged 11, and he remembers it being very loud while the war was happening. It was between the Philippines and Japan VS USA.
I also interviewed my auntie, Jocelyn Orjalo but more casually known as Tita Bi, (by me anyways!). She was born in Manila and is the youngest sibling of my Mother, Janet. She arrived here by plane in 2001 and this was encouraged by my mother. But instead, she came with her own family and she was happy to move away to a better place compared to the concrete, single detached dwelling that they had. Although living in these conditions was not particularly a bad thing and could be used as an experience in childhood that brings good memories. Her life also revolved around Catholicism and it impacted the way she lived greatly. This meant that it brought her and her family closer to God. Her hobbies consisted of drawing, playing guitar, singing and playing table tennis. Considering that her and my mum have such a big age gap, it is evident that their interests and responsibilities differ with each other. Tita Bi heard the global news through the newspaper, the radio or on TV. Tita Bi's earliest memory was actually her trying to walk her first steps and she could recall herself holding a rattle! I asked her to talk about her parents and she gladly told me that they treated her and the rest of her family with love and care. Her mother was a great teacher and her father was a very good provider to the family as he was always working hard. The only thing she could recall about her grandparents was that they drank a lot of coffee (haha!). I also asked Tita Bi what it was like being the youngest of 6 children (of both genders) and she stated that it is a bit hard, considering the fact that you have to follow the orders of 5 other siblings! But you get taken care of as well.
Janet Lino-Basa, my mother, was born in October 29 1965 in Manila, Philippines. She was the first to come here (by plane) and actually encouraged the rest of her family to come to New Zealand for a better life. Comparing our current house to her one back in the Philippines, there is quite a big change. Fortunately, this change is positive, seeing that her old house back then was made of concrete, meaning that it would be extremely cold! Mama described this as a four bedroom house. It was not connected to other houses and there was a front and back yard that was not too big yet too small, especially since the house needed to occupy all 8 people in the family. She heard about news coming from all around the world from the form of newspaper, radio or the TV, but my Mum was already working hard to earn money for the family at such a young age that she did not have enough leisurely time to stay attentive on the world news. As I asked my mother about religion, she gladly talked about how much Catholicism had affected her in the best way possible. It created a big impact on the way that she lived and the way she viewed the world, and this brought her close to God. She learnt to always use her conscience when making decisions. Her hobbies consisted of colouring but nothing much else. As stated before, my mother was very busy also helping her mum with household chores. “ I was the oldest daughter (not the eldest child) and had lots of responsibilities to account for. Like helping my Mum to shop, go to the market . . . ” Something that not many people know about her is that although she is very jolly and can even come off as a funny clown at times, she is still a very organized and futuristic person. Janet is also a very private person! She recalled he earliest memory as her Mum taking her to a school field trip. “ I had a red school bag and my Mum was carrying my bag for me, and then I joined the cue going to the bus . . . And then one apple rolled away, that is, the apple she put on top of my bag! I had to run after my apple like I was running for my life. This is because, it’s my Mum who gave me that apple, and it's the only apple! We rarely got apples then so it was really a privilege.” I asked my Mum about her parents, and she sat thinking intently for a while. “ Hm, well it is quite obvious that my Mother is very hard-working, very compassionate and very religious. She was an english teacher and on the side she even held a small retail business. My mother would sell her own stuff at the school she works at, local neighbourhood. SHe worked very hard to gain money for our family. As for my Dad, he is a very hardworking father. But, he is a man of few words. So we didn’t have much quality bonding time I guess. He is very understanding and a good father though. He worked as a supervisor at a bottling factory that made different kinds of glass bottles, and this shows that he is very hard working! As for my Grandparents, I had no more maternal Grandparents. My fraternal Grandparents were not very close to us either. They were - - - good to us. Although we barely ever saw them - - -”
My father, Rolando Basa or more casually known as Andy, was born in Cavite, the Philippines in 1996. He arrived to New Zealand by plane with his wife/my mother in 1996. And this was because the majority of his family were already situated there so he decided to take his own family up there for a better life. In the process, this encouraged Janet to take her direct family to New Zealand also. When I asked to describe his home back in the Philippines, he stated that it was made of wood, more specifically also stating that it was made of galvanised iron. It was a two storey house with three bedrooms. But my father also had a big family e.g 8 people, so fitting everyone into a span of 3 bedrooms is also very difficult but obviously they managed well enough. They lived life hearing news worldwide through the newspaper. My dad claims that his TV and radio didn't have much affect on him because: “ Hindi ako mahilig sa mga TV or radio... (I wasn't one to watch TV or listen to the radio...) I would much rather listen to music! ” My father grew up Catholic. He claimed to have practiced it his whole life and his family encouraged him in this act. ” It made me realise the value of knowing good from bad, or the importance of the superiority of good. My family has grown closer to God because of how frequent we practice our faith.” Andy's hobbies were biking, running, reading books playing guitar and travelling. When he defined travelling, he said that he loved biking and running long distances far away. Something else that not many people know about him is that he is actually very appreciative of art. All his life, even though he doesn't showcase his love for it often, he respects the artists because they are able to do something that he cannot do. “ They see something that is impossible for me to see. ” His earliest memory is when he was very young. My dad remembers waling alone behind his family and he suddenly yells: “ Hey! Wait for me!” And this was extremely weird because back then, it wasn't Taglish (Tagalog and English). People barely spoke english back then and apparently my Dad was very good at speaking it and at spelling. His sisters and his mother always boasted about it to other people because it was such a nice trait to have! In reference to his grandparents, he didn't see them much and since they were very old... and considering that even his own parents were already of extremely old age, that just made the grandparents more older (obviously!). So this meant that they had already passed away at the time. His father was also very old as my Papa was growing up so there was not much interaction. Although, when he was bedridden, Andy was mostly looking after him compared to my siblings because they urgently had other places to be at. My dad, being the youngest, was less busy. So his Mum and him took care of him at home. He says that his mother is very caring. And I also know this for a fact because before she unfortunately passed away a few years ago, I still got to meet her physically and hold her hand while she herself was bedridden. My dad's mother, also known as Nanay, is known as a loving person and the Christian faith of the family originated from her beliefs. My dad's father didn't go to church so without the help of Nanay, we might not be as immersed in our faith today as we would be if we didn't practice our faith consistently. I asked my dad about his feelings on being the youngest (like me!) and he says that he enjoys it. He is the type of person to only mind about their own business so he wasn't very affected by stereotypes or age gaps. He enjoyed his childhood very well and enjoys his current life here very well also!