Among the sea of colorful electronic billboards, the bright smile of bee with white and red colors stands out. That smile is encouraging and guaranteeing something hard to resist. Jollibee is the closest they have of home, among of the 189,000 Overseas Filipino Workers in Hong Kong. The three branches of Jollibee, two in Connaught Road in Central and one in Mong Kok, from Saturday through Sunday are crowded with OFWs to have their days off. Jollibee smells like Manila, for Filipino tourists like us who rarely come back to home. Eating in Jollibee is part of the program, with a child in tow, who hasn’t been to the Philippines for some time. Kairos, my son, was happy when he heard the service crew speaking in Tagalog. Kairos asked if he could carry paper placemat with Jollibee logo and pictures of the menu in Thailand, after eating his chicken joy. The old man who heard Kairos’ request, talked with us since it was already soiled. The old man gave Kairos a new placemat. But Kairos asked further – a photo and his autograph!
Antonio Espia, 62, known as Lolo Tony, was the name of the old man who has two jobs. From 6 p.m. to 12 midnight except for Fridays and Saturdays, he begins his work as a service crew of Jollibee. He would smile at each customer when people begin queuing for dinner at 6 p.m. Seldom he would exchange a swift talk with Filipino customers. Lolo Tony also works as a musician at Tong’s Seafoods and Grill in the New Territory, on Friday and Saturday nights. In an exploration of a better life, like a lot of the Filipinos, Lolo Tony ended up in Hong Kong. Lolo Tony is the eldest in the family of nine from a poor family, in Molo, Iloilo. As Lolo Tony remembered,
“As a child, I learned how to sing, play guitar and keyboard. I joined singing contests and my winnings were used to buy food.”He also worked as a singer and a keyboardist in a bar in Iloilo, while completing a two-year electronics course. Being the eldest brother, he constantly thinks of the future of his three sisters and six brothers. In 1985, Lolo Tony chose to work in Manila because it was simpler to apply overseas there. In Manila, at Baclaran Bar and at Max’s until 1988 Lolo Tony was worked. He remembered,
“Every Friday, I attended the Mass at Quiapo Church and became a Nazarene devotee. I was praying to have worked abroad.”
Lolo Tony never quit employing, until he met a friend who advised him to employ to an agent looking for musicians in Hong Kong. Lolo Tony arrived in Hong Kong on December 26, 1989. In Regal Hotel on Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, a known tourist and commercial hub, he began working as a musician. He has worked in different hotels like Peninsula, Ramada, Nikko, Sheraton, Marriot, and Miramar, in the past 28 years. He was worked in Havan hotel for 16 years until it closed down in November 2016. Lolo Tony added,
“If you are talented, you will never go out of work.”The Hong Kong government granted him a permanent resident permit given to experienced workers, after seven years. Lolo Tony has the Right of Abode, a pension when he turns 65, free medical services, and other perks provided to locals, as a resident. His family members are granted residency permits as well. They will be issued a permanent residence card, after seven years. His wife and four young children moved to Hong Kong in 2015. Lolo Tony used to give money to his siblings back home, but with kids in school, he cannot provide to do it anymore. Hong Kong is an overpriced place to live in, specifically for a single breadwinner.
Lolo Tony said,
“I stretch our budget until the next payday. I ask support from the Hong Kong government for my two children, one of them in high school and one in elementary.”For the cheapest flat, the Espia family spends HK$8,000 (about Php 60,000). As stated by Rey Asis of Asia-Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM), that there is no idea of ‘house’ in Hong Kong due to limited space. He also added that Residential areas indicate series of buildings. Gardens are free spaces. ‘Houses’ can only be seen at Victoria Peak where the richest residents live. The huge price of living pushes senior citizens to work and live on their own. Still Lolo Tony is confident. Lolo Tony smiled as he says this,
“We do everything to give our families something better. We don’t think of ourselves anymore because our families’ needs come first.”Before we left he greeted us: Sin Dang Fai Lok. Merry Christmas.
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