SYDNEY – The ASAP Live in Sydney team visited a nursing home and the Town Hall of Sydney as part of a community outreach program. Joining to share the Kapamilya (family) spirit not only to Filipinos and Filipino-Australians but to the dynamic, multicultural people of one of the most populous cities of Australia were Pia Wurtzbach and Jed Madela.
The outreach activity came a day before holding a successful “ASAP Live in Sydney” concert on October 20 at the ICC at the Sydney Theatre, Sydney’s world-class entertainment offerings.
At Sydney Town Hall
The team paid a courtesy call on the Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore, represented by Councillor Jess Scully. She was given the classic hardbound book, “Kapitan: Geny Lopez and the Making of ABS-CBN” as a present by the ABS-CBN ASAP Live in Sydney team.
City of Sydney Councillor Jess Scully also presented a gift of the Australian boomerang to Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach and singer Jed Madela of the ASAP Live in Sydney cast. Councillor Scully and the team exchanged notes on what the City of Sydney has done recently and is doing currently and what ABS-CBN, TFC and ASAP are doing.
Councillor Scully shared that Sydney is supporting Artspace/visual Arts Centre Ltd’s plan to engage Filipino Australian artists Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan to create a month-long embedded community project in Woolloomooloo, Sydney, Australia and Bataan, Philippines.
According to the project info, the contemporary artists will develop a community-led design initiative to create a site-specific installation and socially engaged programming around basketball courts in the two locations. This project plans to work simultaneously across two basketball courts in Bataan, Philippines and Woolloomooloo, Australia by creating site-specific installations and using integrated programming accessible to the local communities.
The sculptural form of the work will be adapted to each site, led by consultation and collaboration with each local community. The architectural installation will operate as a place-making platform in order to activate the basketball court and the surrounding environment and offer a gathering point for community and visitors.
The project aims to celebrate the local and the global “neighbourhood” around the shared and social experience of basketball. The project will provide a unique opportunity to connect Bataan and Woolloomooloo basketball and youth communities by facilitating the sharing of experiences through live stream diaries and social media platforms.
At nursing homes and aged care facilities
Jed Madela and Pia Wurtzbach and some members of the ASAP Live in Sydney team visited the Quakers Hill NSW Nursing Homes and Aged Care Facilities where they brought cheers to the elderly residents of the sprawling facility. A lot of Filipino staff were also thrilled to interact with the ASAP team.
The sprawling Quaker Hill NSW Nursing Home and Aged Care Facilities literally rose from the ashes as it was burned down in 2011 through a callous arson attack that killed 11 and became Sydney’s worst nursing home disaster. Today, the facility is a premier residential aged care home in Sydney’s North West with generous accommodation options and living spaces, a Registered Nurse-led care model, access to a range of medical services, engaging social and recreational programs and strong links to the local community, among others. It is one of the 70 homes in four Australian states under the Opal Aged Care.
