KVETCH! KVETCH! KVETCH!
Now I'm not sure whether I should be afraid or excited, but at the very edge of Pasay City on Manila Bay, Henry Sy's gargantuan Mall of Asia is on it's final stages of construction. Rising up on land reclaimed from the sea, this gargantuan temple to consumerism boasts of a 20 hectare footprint and 381,000 feet of commercial space. Undoubtedly, the biggest in the land and arguably the biggest in Asia as it's name suggests. But aside from the bothersome issues of instilling first-world consumer habits on a third world society, inappropriate and garish architecture, and negative environmental impact (ie. garbage and pollution management, CO2 emissions from air conditioning systems and the utter lack of trees in the plan), what really makes me think twice about this place is the huge globe/sculpture right at the entrance driveway of the mall. Although China and the United States and Africa are well represented, I couldn't find the Philippines on Henry Sy's map. Bizaare. It really makes one wonder whether he really cares about the society he earns his money from. Don't forget, it was his SM Mall of Baguio, with it's ugly boxy frame and oppressive nature, that locals blame for the decline of their downtown and the ultimate demise of Baguio as a tourist destination.
posted by carlosceldran @ 7:50 AM
30 Comments:
Very good questions/remarks, Carlos!
Alas I have the impression that very few people care about those issues.
It is refreshing to read someone with a more critical mind.
Last I checked(w/c was last week), I saw an oversized Philippine relief map at that globe...lo and behold,suddenly, the country is towering above the rest!
Really? Cool. I took the photo about two weeks ago actually. Must've been right before they put installed it. Nevertheless, all other observations regarding the building still holds.
carlos, i read in the papers today that they are restoring the MET. why dontcha write about that- teo
Hmmm. I've heard that restoration story so many times, I just don't want to cry wolf. I'll ask my insiders and make a post soon...
OMG OMG OMG, Carlos, let's shelve our political differences first :) I'm 100% totally redundant with you here. The Sys have this weird colonial mentality to the point of being out-of-this-world racist. I mean, they could've used only Chinese models in their SM Makati stores. But guess what?!?!?! They only use Caucasian models. And guess what? No one in the mainstream media can say this because SM is one of their biggest sponsors, so okay, that's understandable.
But guess where I'm shopping at later? :p
The point is I can't avoid SM even if the salvation of my soul depended on Henry Sy's bank account, I mean, am I making sense?
Sadly, yes, you are. I too am beholden. Actually, I think they only use caucasians because they might be too cheap to pay for real models (their ads look like stock photos available on the web). And then again, there is Charlene Gonzales.
bad architecture aside, and not considering the privatization of public space, what amazes me is that the metro economy is strong enough to support all of Mr. Sy's malls along with the other pretenders -and still have enough leftover to support Ayala Center, Divisioria, Tutuban, Kamuning market and the sari-sari store around the corner.
wouldn't it be great if the government could pass a law requiring big box mall developers to include affordable housing units in their projects? they could use it to provide housing for their sales people -and create viable small neighborhoods besides.
If SM wants cheap models, then he could have chosen local models not affiliated with CalCarrie or something. :)
hey, urbano, that's a great idea. but you can't legislate things like that, eh.
I mean 'they.' Argh.
An ugly structure, a mall, overlooking the whole of Baguio speaks volumes about priorities. Then again, perhaps it's better to have such a monstrosity that gives a lot of jobs to the locals instead of an empty lot filled with a lot of ghosts. We can't have our heritage cake and eat it too.
If no tourists come because Baguio has just become another commercial wasteland like any other ugly lowland luzon city then what jobs are there to speak of? Besides, if everyone is employed by SM, who will be left to shop? And jobs available at SM are not REAL jobs. One cannot aspire to be a waiter or salesgirl for the rest of their life. It is just not sustainable. SM might have worked for other places, but in Baguio, it was a disaster. Too big. Way too big for where it is.
Actually, I haven't seen that behemoth yet, but I've lived in Baguio for four years and I can only imagine how the behemoth looks from all angles of that unique and beautiful tourist town.
What SM could've have done then is a little respect for its illustrious space in the sun. The Ys thought they were just buying cheap real estate; they were probably unaware that they were buying more than that -- they've bought an entire city's vista, a tourist town's historic vantage point. And what's tragic is they didn't show any respect. Gad, this gadawful attitude is becoming a pattern, don't you think. Please forward this note quick until it reaches the Sys. (Btw, what are Baguio people thinking and doing?)
I mean, all along? I didn't hear a rat's patootie about anything.
There were protests against it and studies presented that showed Baguios electric, sewage, transportation and water systems could not handle such a development but money spoke louder naturally. The mayor who approved it has since been elected out of office showing you how locals felt about the city's unbridled commercialization. It was truly insensitive of the Sy family to impose such thing in Baguio and I wonder if any of them have ever been there to see the effect it has on negating the spirit of the city. But some say the ignorance about proper development was inevitable. I remember hearing an observer snort, "Well, that's what you get when you have a city run by Igorots." Ouch.
To think it's them who will benefit the most from heritage preservation. And I never heard Igorots hate the Americans, except for the local LFS. Igorots, I think, even prefer to be American than Filipino. A lot of them even sport American surnames. Your two latest pics depresses me. So many beautiful structures torn down and replaced with terrible things.
x-p,
what do you mean:
"hey, urbano, that's a great idea. but you can't legislate things like that, eh."
? that there's not political will or that it's unconstitutional?
carlos,
what baguio needs -to respect the spirit of Burham's urbanity -is a design review board -and, of course, design standards -as part of the building approval process.
I mean, with our wage rates and standards, that idea is already too much for SM to give; that dangerously borders on generosity. And society doesn't make laws for things like that, which is just as well, because things like that ought to be restricted to within the individual's personal choice/decision. hah, don't mind me too much.
Urbano,
I think that's called market segmentation. Actually, these developers (not just the Sys and Ayalas) are already thinking 'beyond the box' and developing residential places beside their malls.
Of course its a double-edged sword as theyre only catering to one segment of society (the likes of you and me) but totally neglecting the other side of the coin, who, unfortunately have no one cling to -not even the government.
X-P,
The Sys are first-generations billionaires and live in a mercantilist culture so really, heritage preservation mantras are not in their linggo, I guess you can say that they havent reached the stage of the Ayalas (yet) in terms of cultural appreciation (Lucio Tan is far better off in supporting certain cultural projects)
And to throw the tomato at them when it comes to having caucasian (pure or pseudo as in the case of Charlene) images as their image models is probablly not looking at the whole picture. I guess you can say that their sense of aesthetics is totally Wal-mart (their business model) and oh-so-North-
American(wannabe!) but who here in the Philippines would put a chocolate-colored skinned to
brand a high-end product?
It's market demand and society's preference which put those white-faces up in SM-Makati.
Yes, its a totally skewed but sadly, thats how it works in the country.
Im just glad Bench is doing otherwise. ;o)
You're right Ivan, those are helpful observations. But the Sys now are the country's business leaders. To whom much is given, much is expected. They should start behaving more like this country's preeminent citizens.
To Urbano: The strength of the local consumer market is directly attributable to the 7 million OFWs remittances (which is really whats keeping us afloat) and The Sys have been forward-thinking and/or fortunate enough to be positioned at the receiving end of all this imported cash flow. Doesn't say much for our cultural development though-- we're turning into little brown consumerist americans. Hassle.
And yes the Sys are indeed more on the nouveau riche end of the spectrum and therefore cultural appreciation and classic good taste may not be high up on the agenda as of yet.
"And yes the Sys are indeed more on the nouveau riche end of the spectrum and therefore cultural appreciation and classic good taste may not be high up on the agenda as of yet."
I'm not sure how to take this statement. It has this presumption that things like heritage and 'good taste' are concerns only the elite are capable of demystifying and appreciating. It's an offensive thought. No wonder most Filipinos don't a fig about these matters. I thought the main issue with heritage structures and stuff -- aside from the stupidly obvious one, which is beauty/aesthetics -- is national iconography, which is everyone's concern, foremost of which are everyday Filipinos.
Have you seen the home of a nouveau riche person? Ok, maybe 1 new money person out of 10 (100?) will have a beautiful tastefully appointed home, but the rest just want to buy the most expensive toys and accoutrements--however tacky -- because they think it exudes class (basta mahal! and this explains the proliferation of home furnishings and chandelier stores with outrageously ugly/baduy merchandise. someone has to be buying em!) and to show that they have 'arrived'.
After all, they've worked hard and made it, why shouldn't they show off? That's the thinking behind it. Can't say i blame them, it's pretty damn hard to make a buck these days in this country. Anyway, it takes a couple of generations for this affinity for garish opulence to die down.
That was my point. No need to be offended, there are exceptions to every rule naturally, and good taste is subjective...but not really haha. The thing is, one need not come from the old rich at all to have good taste. And frankly, some old rich pinoys have pretty baduy tastes. A few have atrocious taste. so there.
What's with all the snooty blah-blah about "nouveau riche"? Kung magsalita kayo, para kayong mga English barons and earls. Everyone has to start from somewhere. Victorian London and 1880s New York, by most accounts, were also pretty ugly places. But as they got richer, they acquired the taste for and the means to obtain a more aesthetic environment. In this context, people like the Sys (not that I'm saying I agree with their aesthetics), by promoting business development, help the process along.
thats right, everybody has to start from somewhere. we all saw the film Gangs of New York. i agree with you, in fact you merely restated what i already said: "...as they got richer, they acquired the taste for...aesthetic environment." my point exactly, but usually it doesn't happen in one generation. it's the next generation that develops the aesthetic sense. so where is the argument?
Mr. Ma,
I'm not the one who used that term. But there is one point that I totally disagree with: The point is we have already a rich legacy when it comes to design and architecture. And we are squandering this legacy. And the Sys certainly don't help enrich the scene further but destroying the legacy. Thats what we're against.
Just drove by the globe again. What people thought was the Philippines is actually Japan. There is still no Philippines on Henry Sy's map as this entry goes to press.
Hahaha. The Sys are perhaps too busy making money to read your blog.
i know henry sy. all i see is a scared barefooted 12 year old boy who had dreams like you and me. henry sy worked hard to get what he had. if we live in an imperfect world, it`s not sm`s fault. sm just flows with the system.take evita peron (the play) for example: ` `just what do you expect me to do? solve the world`s problems from war to pollution? there`s no hope for a solution, even if i live for 100 years! there is evil ever around FUNDAMENTAL.....`some people expect that just because henry sy has all this money---it is all his fault. he just flowed with the system like you and me. heck if its not sm, then it could be someone else (maybe Walmart or Hitler)! Max Ehrmann, the writer of Desiderata put it brilliantly. `In my youth, the moon promised much. But now I understand better; that was not the moon`s fault. Also the moon and I have this in common: we both are wanderers across the night.` i had a short chat with him (mr sy) last dec. 19 just before christmas. he probably won`t have time to read your comments (but ill tell him when i get the chance!!:), but just the same i just want to tell you; henry sy is just a wanderer like you and me in this world--- who dreamed dreams and worked hard to make them happen. he is just a scared barefoot 12 year old boy from china who worked hard to survive---like you and me.....and baby, if the world aint perfect, just like what milli vannili said, blame it on the rain----it aint mr sy`s fault. to borrow a line from kitty go, the queen of the evil badings....in this world sh*t happens...errr CHIC HAPPENS pala. ..oh btw, great book! Mwah hahaha ha ..... martin soriano. iloilo city 09224865881....
PS...you know why Gina Lopez is like that? Because all the madres at the Assuption told her when she was young that the Lopezes are EVIL because they have so much money...so she ended up running away from home...going to India and Africa to help the poor and the sick like Mother Teresa....poor Geny had tears in his eyes as he tried in vain to fetch her from Africa one time.... Jesus Christ...what these nuns do...they brainwash these little kids telling them money is EVIL and that we should all give away our wealth like st francis.......crap pare....it`s like--- it`s all YOUR fault the world`s goin` shit! It`s another thing when you`re old.....but when you`re young and naive...you really do believe them....you really think the world`s a shit place and it`s all YOUR fault....
To whom much is given, much is expected in return. And I don't see that happening here. The world's imperfections cannot be blamed on him, that is true. But it is precisely selfish investment attitudes like that (I worked hard so I deserve everything that I have no matter what I did to get it) which is the reason why those imperfections can flourish.
Henry Sy's "going with the flow" is not enough especially in terms of what SM Baguio has done visually, ecologically, and culturally to the city.
I'm sorry, although you may have a point, your argument is not enough to change my point of view nor change the fact that SM Baguio is an architectural disaster and a SARS plague waiting to happen (does the trash it produces ever get carried DOWN the mountain?).
And although the nuns may have done a hatchet job on Gina Lopez's ego and self-image. Lord knows her current actions are really doing more to help Philippine society than Henry Sy's investment savvy or rags to riches sob story ever would.
It's time for him to give back to Philippine society. Really. the SM foundation
(http://www.lcf.org.ph/member_details.asp?vvMemIdKey=47) seems like a drop in a bucket compared to what he earns and just comes across as a cheap tax write off more than anything else.
And you can tell him that to his face too. Tell him I'd be more than happy to sit him down and tell him everything that is wrong with SM Baguio.
Post a Comment
<< Home