SPECIALITY SHOPS springing up in districts from North Point to Sai Kung and Tai Po reflect how much the Filipino community has grown. And Nelia Cheung, who arrived from the Philippines in 1972, was among the first to tap its potential, opening a shop to sell toiletries, cross-stitching accessories and treats from home.
The Filipinos make up a large market: while there are a number of professionals such as financiers or architects, most work as domestic helpers and the influx has swelled the number of Filipino residents from 61,200 in 1990 to 130,810 this year. Over time, modest ventures catering to their needs attained critical mass, spawning hubs within some commercial blocks.
Of these, perhaps the oldest and busiest is in Worldwide House, Central, where Cheung runs Nelia's Shop. Married to a Singaporean, she has leased a third-floor space in the property for 21 years and seen business go through troughs and peaks over the decades.
'I think I'm the only remaining 'original' Filipino tenant here,' Cheung says. 'Rents used to be incredibly low when I opened in 1985, a few years after the plaza was built. Many of the shop spaces were unoccupied and those used were by Chinese people.'
Michael Ra?ola, who manages the Philippine Products Store, counts his business among 15 tenants that have been in Worldwide House the longest. His parents opened the mini-market in 1990, and he has since taken over its operation, stocking shelves with gossip magazines, toiletries, canned food and popular snacks.
Affordable rents, coupled with a good location and the promise of huge numbers of Filipino consumers, encouraged enterprising types to set up businesses ranging from remittance services to grooming salons and snack shops.
