Book Launch
‘Reimagining Australia…’
Filipino-Australian
researcher and
writer Deborah
Ruiz Wall launched
‘Reimagining
Australia: Voices
of Australians of
Filipino Descent’
last month at the
Darlington Centre
Conference Room.
The book, authored by Wall
with Christine Choo, traces the
less known story connecting
Australia and the Philippines
notably the existence of
Aboriginal Australians of
Filipino ancestry.
The book recounts the story
of the “Manila Men,” the first
migrant Filipinos to arrive in
northern Australia in the late
1800s working in the pearl
industry. A large number of
indigenous Australians are
descendants of these Manila
Men, and 21 individuals shared
their stories in the book.
‘Reimaging Australia…’
was also introduced alongside
an exhibit at the Philippine
Embassy in Canberra with
the support of the Australian
Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade.
Earlier in October, the book
22
DECEMBER 2016
|
was launched in the Philippines
at the Cultural Center of the
Philippines.
“Our book aims to be a
platform for Filipinos and
Australians alike to hear the
voices of the descendants of
Filipino pearl-divers who
worked in the pearl-diving
industry in Australia in the late
1860s,” Ms. Wall said at the
Manila launch.
Some of the indigenous
Australians of Filipino descent
were present during the event
and, according to Ms. Wall, it
ANG KALATAS
was their first time to set foot
to the land of their Filipino
ancestors.
“They, in the sense, are also
our kababayans -- countrymen
who are returning to our
country. In the next few weeks,
they will be rekindled with their
relatives. It was generations ago
since their forebears sailed away
from the Philippines in the late
18th century, never to return,”
Ms. Wall said.
The book was published by
Keeaira Press (www.kpress.com.
au).
www.kalatas.com.au