Manila Adventures - Part 1
Mabuhay! (That's welcome in Tagalog)
Am now in Manila for a few days for an ASEAN conference. And guys, Manila is fascinating!
Am bunking over in a hotel in the Mandaluyong side of town, for the period of the conference, till Friday night. Pretty cheap 24-hour broadband rates from within my hotel room, but the speed is just a bit faster than dial-up, really.
Manila is a great contradiction. They've got shopping malls over here, that will make you feel like you're right at home in KL. Posh foreign brands litter their malls, perhaps, to a worse extent than say Mid-Valley Megamall or One Utama in KL.
The malls are packed in comparison to the ones in KL, perhaps reflecting the population density in Manila. It's ironic - they looked very Malay to me, but they don't sound Malay. I had to keep reminding myself that I was in a foreign country - because it was like shopping in Shah Alam.
But most of the buildings are old, dilapidated, painted with gaudy colours like blue and yellow in combination and greatly in need of maintenance or upgrading. Even as I was flying in, the aerial view of the roofs showed that most parts were like Kampung Baru, except with more greenery surrounding them.
There's a suspicious and crammed-looking vehicle (which I think is called the Jeepny - it's like an extended limo version of the jeep) which acts as their local "mini-bus". AF, my friend whose a part of the delegation, explained that the Jeepnys did not have any proper stops - you get down wherever you want, by instructing the driver directly.
AF, who specialises in foreign policy, told me that the Philippines is more like Indonesia than us - there is a great disparity of wealth, concentrated in the hands of the few. Most of the local people, do not have the resources to enjoy the sophisticated goods and services, provided in Manila.
The local people are very polite and friendly, and on average, generally speak a better level of English in the services industry than Malaysians do and a large number of the female population is good or above average looking, which should be a great boost to heir services industry. I was amazed that the girls behind the counter at the hotel lobby, looked like a KL pageant line-up.
The civil service has a 4-day week here, in the Government's current austerity drive. Rising petrol prices are killing the locals, but there's not very much they can do about it (It reminds me of how fortunate Malaysia is). But they work 10-hour days, in their 4-day week.
Music videos on certain channels come with sub-titles, which I'm sure helps the karaoke business quite a bit. :) A lot of the billboards used local models, who I think would certainly outshine most Pan-Asians we have back home.
The nightlife in some parts of town, seem pretty sophisticated and westernized - the stretch outside the hotel seems to have all the same cafes as Bintang Walk. I forget that I'm an expatriate here and just like KL girls are friendlier to Mat Sallehs, the Manila girls are the same to me. But I'm not complaining. Mabuti! (Good!)
The conference will be launched in about an hour - this is where the hard work begins. Am just glad that I don't have to present a paper, this time round. But still, the pressure is there - to find angle to contribute positively over the next few days and to reflect well on the Malaysian delegation.
And hopefully, some concrete (and implementable) resolutions and measures after the conference for follow-through - I hate conferences that just end up as pure talk shops.
But I'm not optimistic - as a regional collective platform, ASEAN still has a problem being taken seriously, by governments of their respective member states - every country is at a different stage of development, with different sort of problems (from a policy or implementation perspective) - and local priorities (be it economic, social or political ones) take priority.
But yes, of course - one must continue to hope and strive - despite the contrary evidence of experience and circumstances. And yes, almost always the pulse of hope is spearheaded by the regional academicians, the press, NGOs and civil society participants - the people with the vision and the will, but without the power.
More on Manila later. Have got to catch lunch now. Paalam! (Goodbye!)
Am now in Manila for a few days for an ASEAN conference. And guys, Manila is fascinating!
Am bunking over in a hotel in the Mandaluyong side of town, for the period of the conference, till Friday night. Pretty cheap 24-hour broadband rates from within my hotel room, but the speed is just a bit faster than dial-up, really.
Manila is a great contradiction. They've got shopping malls over here, that will make you feel like you're right at home in KL. Posh foreign brands litter their malls, perhaps, to a worse extent than say Mid-Valley Megamall or One Utama in KL.
The malls are packed in comparison to the ones in KL, perhaps reflecting the population density in Manila. It's ironic - they looked very Malay to me, but they don't sound Malay. I had to keep reminding myself that I was in a foreign country - because it was like shopping in Shah Alam.
But most of the buildings are old, dilapidated, painted with gaudy colours like blue and yellow in combination and greatly in need of maintenance or upgrading. Even as I was flying in, the aerial view of the roofs showed that most parts were like Kampung Baru, except with more greenery surrounding them.
There's a suspicious and crammed-looking vehicle (which I think is called the Jeepny - it's like an extended limo version of the jeep) which acts as their local "mini-bus". AF, my friend whose a part of the delegation, explained that the Jeepnys did not have any proper stops - you get down wherever you want, by instructing the driver directly.
AF, who specialises in foreign policy, told me that the Philippines is more like Indonesia than us - there is a great disparity of wealth, concentrated in the hands of the few. Most of the local people, do not have the resources to enjoy the sophisticated goods and services, provided in Manila.
The local people are very polite and friendly, and on average, generally speak a better level of English in the services industry than Malaysians do and a large number of the female population is good or above average looking, which should be a great boost to heir services industry. I was amazed that the girls behind the counter at the hotel lobby, looked like a KL pageant line-up.
The civil service has a 4-day week here, in the Government's current austerity drive. Rising petrol prices are killing the locals, but there's not very much they can do about it (It reminds me of how fortunate Malaysia is). But they work 10-hour days, in their 4-day week.
Music videos on certain channels come with sub-titles, which I'm sure helps the karaoke business quite a bit. :) A lot of the billboards used local models, who I think would certainly outshine most Pan-Asians we have back home.
The nightlife in some parts of town, seem pretty sophisticated and westernized - the stretch outside the hotel seems to have all the same cafes as Bintang Walk. I forget that I'm an expatriate here and just like KL girls are friendlier to Mat Sallehs, the Manila girls are the same to me. But I'm not complaining. Mabuti! (Good!)
The conference will be launched in about an hour - this is where the hard work begins. Am just glad that I don't have to present a paper, this time round. But still, the pressure is there - to find angle to contribute positively over the next few days and to reflect well on the Malaysian delegation.
And hopefully, some concrete (and implementable) resolutions and measures after the conference for follow-through - I hate conferences that just end up as pure talk shops.
But I'm not optimistic - as a regional collective platform, ASEAN still has a problem being taken seriously, by governments of their respective member states - every country is at a different stage of development, with different sort of problems (from a policy or implementation perspective) - and local priorities (be it economic, social or political ones) take priority.
But yes, of course - one must continue to hope and strive - despite the contrary evidence of experience and circumstances. And yes, almost always the pulse of hope is spearheaded by the regional academicians, the press, NGOs and civil society participants - the people with the vision and the will, but without the power.
More on Manila later. Have got to catch lunch now. Paalam! (Goodbye!)
posted by Stingrayz | 10:48 PM
6 Comments:
At last.. you're now in the Philippines...
So where's next?? Jakarta??
wahhh... best nya...
kick some ass yah?
G'dday mate!
Glad to read of your adventure. Mine has been quite interesting too so far. Have to close one eye on the prices-times-three though. No Naomi,Nicole or Catherine yet to date, but I did see adorable roos and koala. Hahaha.
On the conference, it's quite hard to get a firm resolution further than shop talks as far as my limited experience and observation goes. But the opportunity to gain new contact and do the networking is especially useful, no?
Catch up later, mate, cheers!
p.s. Caught a gorgeous Aussie surfer dude and was informed of what Fair Dinkum means. LoL.
I'm back! Catchya later :)
AHA!!! I found your blog. Heh.
Update!! Hehe.
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