Reimagining Community on Bathurst and Wilson

Reimagining Community on Bathurst and Wilson

Construction of Mabuhay Garden at Bathurst-Wilson Parkette

By Ysh Cabana

How do people express that attachment for their imaginings of comradeship, community, compatriots? In a tough and complex world, language and its cultural products give a sense of shared meaning. Poetry and songs are examples given by the late Benedict Anderson in his seminal book “Imagined Communities.”
In his unpublished poem “Doon sa may kanto ng Bathurst and Wilson,” folk singer/ songwriter Lui Queno describes how one could relate to the particular intersection and the images of longing and intimacy. The paradox is well illustrated in the following lines:

Doon sa may kanto ng Bathurst at Wilson

mabibilis ang saksakyan at mga tao.

At mapapatigalgal bigla, kung sa paglalakad ay makakasalubong pa

Nakangiting kababayan, tatango lang na parang kakilala

Mapapalingon na lang at sukat sa likod ay may sumusutsot.

Doon sa kanto ng Bathurst at Wilson naiibsan ang pangungulila

Sa lahat ng panahon ng tagsibol man at tag-init, taglagas man at taglamig!

(By the corner of Bathurst and Wilson,vehicles and pedestrians swiftly pass and brought to a standstill, during the stroll, by an encounter with a beaming compatriot, head bobbing as though acquainted head turning to the sound of the whistle-call from behind.

By the corner of Bathurst and Wilson, the pain of loneliness is assuaged

For all seasons of spring and summer, autumn and winter!)

Members of the community probably don’t know each other but the contact in a defined geograhic location makes it possible for one to perceive stability of social life and further reinforce relationship among others through frequency of interactions. “For all seasons of spring and summer, autumn and winter,” concludes the writer in his 2013 poem. Queano acknowledges the sense of ‘feeling at home’ despite the disadvantages of distance from the country of origin. It defines the substitutability of the familiar, since the site of desire already belongs in place of the other.

Sometimes, places inscribe cultural norms that are not easily acquired through the printed text. Take for example, the short film “Suman Ladies” created and directed by Althea Balmes in 2013. Through voice-over, she portrayed how Filipinos, represented by a nurse selling sticky rice in the film, find ways to connect to fellows discreetly. The opening sequence locates the audience in the median of Wilson Avenue. With the camera pointed towards the sky, it gradually tilts down and finishes with a shot showing the movement of cars on both sides of the road.

Then, the focus shifts towards the recipe for suman, made of sweet rice and coconut milk wrapped in banana leaves. Here the filmmaker reflects the symbolic significance of the complex cultural product as an indicator of one’s heritage and own identity. By tapping into the culture of food and relationships, the cinematic narration is not only personal, but is also relatable to its audience. As Balmes puts it: “The recognition of two Filipinos away from home is instant.”

In a globalized world where movement of products, particulars and people, articulation of place creates a community’s understanding of what it currently is and inspires what it can possibly be in the future. After the first run of the Filipino street festival, Vice Consul Bolivar Bao quips “Are these pictures taken in Quiapo? Baclaran? or Divisoria? NO! this is at Taste of Manila in Toronto!”

In the second fun fare, Toronto Mayor John Tory reassured the Filipino audience the intent to rededicate the park on the southeast side of the intersection. At more than 6,500 square meters, the Bathurst-Wilson parkette is revitalized with the construction of a new gathering space called “Mabuhay Garden” which includes new seating and landscaping, a pergola and flower plantings.

In 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tried his hand on the barbecue grill. “Mabuhay!” greeted Trudeau. The Filipino salutation, mabuhay, which literally means, “long live,” serves up nostalgia for the spectators.

Language then plays a central role in shaping and delineating diasporic localities. In this case, the dominant sociopolitical forces of the host country uses it to speak to a communal spirit and at an extent to control the people’s emotional state or beliefs.

In La Cosa Pinoy Distrikt’s piece “This is my Filtown” the hip hop group tries to position a story where the power of the place lies. LCPD’s rap lines chart the proper names of the businesses associated within the Filipino town and tailor their beat to promote a consumerist culture to the listening public.

If social life in the urban environment is associational and not territorial, then the individual’s, and subsequent community’s perception of place is imperative to implementing and augmenting a collective, positive mindset that strengthens community make-up and its image at large.

It is practically certain that the corner of Bathurst and Wilson is the centre of Filtown that could be.

Rather than letting the blind power of market relations through, would it not be better that the community be empowered to be semiautonomous to their relations. Surely, there will be massive investment in the development of Wilson Heights by both the public and private sector. How might this creative neighbourhood funding benefit low-income and minority groups within this burgeoning neighbourhood struggling to find form?

It is critical that this is planned and reconsidered as self-governing and not only an ancillary service to promote participation in its syncretic pageantry. Our urban vision must be rooted to our realities. It can be more beneficial to cultivate character and encourage building a model structure to challenge Toronto’s existing cosmopolitan agenda in the context of peripheral or suburban development.

Ultimately, it is up to those who live here to throw up to wave their hands and accept Toronto as simply a gateway city unable to complete or to assert their full engagement on their own terms.

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NOTE: Opening of Mabuhay Garden at Bathurst-Wilson Parkette was on September 11, 2016. This is a series on the topic of Filipino Town in Toronto. You can email him at ysh.cabana@gmail.com