Hinabing Gunita (Woven Memories): Filipinos in the United Kingdom

4/5 ( ratings)

Woven Memories tells the story of how Filipinos found their way to the United Kingdom in the sixties. Filipinos arrived during a period when the Brits were trying to drive Commonwealth immigrants out via the Commonwealth Act. The result was that the usual employers of Commonwealth workers recruited Filipinos, sometimes chartering planes to fly workers in to man factories, hospitals and hotels. But Filipinos have the dubious reputation of being the UK's "invisible ethnic minority", content to labour in the background. This book tells the story of the Filipino community from the ground - through interviews with men and women who to this day continue to struggle to make a living in an environment hostile to immigrant workers. The book is historic in that it is the first time these stories have seen print. There is added poignancy in the final chapter where young Anglo-Filipinos talk about straddling two cultures are not prepared to accept them for who they are. A must read not only to understand the Filipino migration phenomenon, but to see the impact and complexities of migrant culture.