Upon the initiative of Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran, the Kaisa Heritage Center was built and opened in 1999. Initial funds for buying and building the Center was provided by Dr. Angelo King and the rest raised from the Tsinoy community.
Objectives of the Center
- To be a lasting repository of the historical and cultural legacy of the Chinese in all aspects of Philippine life.
- To document the tangible and indelible imprints and influences of the Chinese in Philippine history, society, culture and politics.
- To help restore and record the Philippine historical past that is found in Chinese records and artifacts.
- To highlight the unique blending of Filipino and Chinese cultures and the intertwining destinies of the two peoples throughout history.
- To help promote and hasten the integration of the Tsinoys into main-stream society.
- To be a bridge of understanding between the Chinese community and the main-stream Philippine society.
To achieve its objectives, the Center houses the following
Bahay Tsinoy: Museum of Chinese in Philippine Life
- Gallery of Rare Prints and Photographs- scenes depicting old Chinese occupations, streets of Binondo, prints on turn of the century Chinese life.
- Ching Ban Lee Ceramics Gallery – tangible artifacts testament to centuries of trade between our two countries.
- Jimmy Ongking Hall – contains the Tsinoys in Nation Building permanent exhibit of Bahay Tsinoy.
- Chinben See Memorial Library- in honor of the late anthropologist and renowed scholar on Chinese overseas, Prof. Chinben See, the library holds 8,000 books, documents, magazines, dissertations, and other articles particularly on the Chinese in the Philippines and other parts of the world; an extensive Filipiniana collection of books on Philippine society, economy, culture and politics; rare books, some almost 200 years old, that have mention and photographs of the Chinese in the Philippines.
- Research and Data Bank Center- contains a collection of current research materials, clippings, microfilmed archival materials, old Chinese newspapers, data base from Chinese tombstones all over the country, etc. The center plans to output policy papers that will help government.
- Office of Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran
- Awat Keng auditorium- named in honor of Dr. Angelo King’s late younger brother, the auditorium seats 380 people and is used for seminars, conferences, theater productions.