In the beginning of last year, The Australia Filipina identified 3 ladies who were making a difference in their fields of interest. Though 2021 may yet be another victory story for them about to happen, let’s do a little bit of stalking and see some tidbits of their 2020.
MELANIE PERKINS. The young businesswoman from Perth entered 2020 engaged to her boyfriend and co-founder of Canva Cliff Obrecht. Is it the love magic of her $30 engagement ring that has helped Melanie through 2020 with the continued success of her graphic design platform, Canva? Well that could be romanticising the design genius put into creating the remarkable tech business that has put Melanie’s name in Australia’s “rich list” at number 3 with her over-all value as of 2020 at 3.43 billion dollars. Not bad for a pandemic year.
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CATRIONA GRAY. One of the most loved Miss Universes continued to move people with her inspiring work as Ambassador for the Arts for the Philippine’s National Commission for Culture and the Arts and as an Ambassador for Smile Train a cleft lip and palate charity that helps children around the world born with the birth defect. Her active participation in social media has also uplifted and promoted Filipino designers and indigenous natural woven fabrics all over the globe. However, two major controversies further complicated the challenging.
The first was her inclusion in the “red tagging” issue by the AFP which after a while was retracted with a public aplogy from AFP head, Lt. Gen. Parlade. In Catriona’s statement on the ANC show ‘Headstart’, she said, “ No matter if you are a government official, a public servant, in the entertainment industry or whatever work you may find yourself in, it’s very important in this age of misinformation to really be careful of the information you take as truth and also research and fact check before making public statements.”
The second scenario was when she judged the Miss Universe Colombia pageant where she was introduced unnecessarily introduced as “Australian by birth” who represented the Philippines in Miss Universe. This enraged netizens who also called out the Columbian producers for airing Catriona’s misspelled surname. Catriona however, simply answered with an Instagram post of her Miss Universe photos and the word “Filipina”in the middle photo.
BAMBI MANLULO. Took on 2020 with high hopes of bringing Filipino Food in the Australian consciousness with the Filipino Food Movement Australia. After the 2019 success of the group’s Mabuhay Nights catering the foodies and Filos who miss our homegrown recipes, Bambi’s efforts were focused on a more mainstream audience bringing a series of food workshops entitled “Sahog” (Filipino for ingredients) at the iconic Paddy’s Markets. But as we all know, COVID-19 happened and major plans had to go back to the drawing board.
“When COVID started and restrictions were imposed in Sydney, FFMA had to find creative ways to continue with our mission of education the Australian community into what is Filipino food so the ‘Sahog at Home’ version started which is an IG TV Live of various home cooks, chefs and even mini chefs cooking different dishes from the Batangas tulingan to the classics Brazo de Mercedes and palitaw,” Bambi explains. Though the lockdown laws kept people from socializing and visiting social hubs, this did not hinder Bambi and FFMA from featuring Pinoy food to Australia,”We showcased chefs from Sydne, Melbourne, Brisbane, London and New Zealand,” she enthused.
“To add an educational twist to the Sahog series, FFMA also did Sahog Talks where we invited culinary historians, food writers, chefs and food media experts who generously shared their time and knowledge about the Philippine’s cuisine,” she explains. All of FFMA’s content can be found in all their social media platforms and their website – proof of a thriving community inspired by Filipino food amidst the challenges of the pandemic.
“The org is also intending to kick start the Filipino Food Crawl project titled ‘FILOFOMOGO’ – a campaign to support local Filipino restaurants through a points-based rewards system, think of your regular coffee card,” Bambi explains as she discusses the 2021 plans of FFMA. “For 2021,FMMA is also looking at providing social media support to small Filipino food business through workshops and networking events. We want to ensure these businesses are able to use social media platforms to reach more people and ultimately to promote Filipino food across all suburbs and even states.”
Truly inspiring and exciting times are ahead of these women. Keep it here as we follow what’s next in their 2021 efforts as we celebrate the achievements of our amazing Filipina Australians.