Amfufu, Ayoko Talaga ng Mga Mall

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Tadtad na ng malls ang buong Pilipinas. It's creepy. No, it's terrifying. The map of the Philippines, it was once said, looks something like a human body. Today, that map is dotted with blocks of long, solid, monolithic concrete structures--malls, malls, and even more malls, sprouting up like diseased pustules on human skin.

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Siyempre, pag sinabing "pustules" nakakadiri yun. Many would say na hindi naman dapat ihalintulad ang mga mall sa sakit sa katawan, much less ihambing sila sa mga pigsa or kulugo.

Because we Pinoys can't deny that we are very addicted to malls. Malamig sa loob, as compared to the sweltering streets of the cities. Everything's so invitingly clean, dazzling, and sparkling inside, napakalayo sa mga kalye na puro putik o baha pag umuulan, alikabok pag summer, puro basura ang nakakalat, puro usok ng sasakyan. And all those merchandise on display entice you to notice their eye-catching colors and feel their vibrant textures. Yung mga presyo nga lang nila siguro ang nakaka gulat kaya after some time examining them iiwas ka na. It's simply better to appreciate them from behind glass windows without actually buying them.

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What's more, kapag nakakatawag pansin ang suot mo sa mall, your fashion statement most surely garners just as much attention from the window shoppers as the thingamajigs on display. Feeling artista ka tuloy!

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Have nothing to do on your spare time? Want to take your family out where all of you can watch a movie, play videogames, dine, and stroll leisurely? Want to set a date with a special person? Want to shop? There's always a mall nearby--hell yes, they're everywhere.

Then we hear about a mall getting blown up by a bomb or some faulty leak in their underground pipes--which it turns out, is combustive--and then perhaps we have to think and pause for a moment.

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Maraming dangers ang mga mall. And when we take these dangers for granted, we might become the victims. Many others already have been unfortunate enough to be. Totoo namang target ng mga terrorista ang mga lugar kung saan nag iipon ang mga tao. Malls gather whole families. Families. It is one of the few places where you encounter entire families together. Your family is inside a mall, then you may have just walked into a sitting target--a huge and unmissable sitting target.

And let's not forget that malls aren't exactly the best places to be in when an earthquake strikes--God forbid that you are taking a meal in the basement area. Fires and other accidents can easily provoke stampedes. Kahit pa sabihin na those kinds of things rarely happen...doesn't necessarily mean na they do not. They will. One day could be more than enough.

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Among other undesirable things, malls can also cause humongous amounts of traffic jams. Naku, tayong mga simpleng nag ko commute, alam natin yan. Lalo na kapag may end of the month sale. Ang dami daming mga private vehicles gumagawa ng mga bottlenecks na umaabot sa highway just because they are scrambling for parking space. Not to mention the havoc on the roads during the Christmas gift giving season! Amfufu.

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Malls don't exactly promote your general health. Sabi nila walking along the whole length of the malls while window shopping for hours can promote cardiovascular endurance. Yeah, walking does that, I agree. But in an enclosed space, however airconditioned? Breathing in all the possibly nefarious bacteria and viruses which seek exactly the cold temperatures and hospitable enclosures to thrive in?

Photo Taken From: http://mechelle2010.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/sm_mall_of_asia_2.jpg

Didn't they tell you to spend less time in crowded places in the presence of the A (H1N1) virus? Harmful viruses like those are inhaled, you know. Not to mention tuberculosis bacilli. Now, you still want your kids to spend more time at the mall, running around willy-nilly and respirating like an athlete?

Pag nagkaroon ba ng mall sa lugar mo, gumaganda ba ang buhay? We ought to give this question a fair degree of serious thought. Where once a huge acre of real estate was nothing more than grassland, bigla may tatayo na mall. Bigla, may isang higanteng lugar na pwede kang magpalamig, mag good time, mag pa-sikat, at mag park ng kotse. In a certain sense, we Pinoys like it that way because "nabubuhay ang lugar". Oo, nabubuhay nga ang lugar dahil may gimikan. Pero gumanda ba ang katayuan ng buhay mo? Ngayong nagkaroon bigla ng de-aircon at sosyal na gimikan ang mga pamilya at mga magbabarkada, did it create or stimulate prosperity, wealth, and well-being among Pinoys?

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Let's put it this way. Para mas marami kang mabili sa mall, kailangan meron kang fair degree of reasonable wealth. Or kung masyado mang marangya pakinggan ang “wealth”, sabihin na nating “purchasing power” na lang, or yung kapabilidad na bumili ng mga bagay.

Dapat meron munang production bago magkaroon ng consumption. Ang malls kasi, iyan ay lugar ng consumption – in other words, iyan ang isang lugar kung saan ka gumagastos. Ngayon, logically, bago ka gumastos, dapat meron ka munang ipang gastos. Dito pumapasok ang production. Sa madaling salita, production means income, or pera na pumapasok sa bulsa mo. Gets?

Di ba sa mall, lumalabas ang pera galing sa bulsa mo. Ang dapat nangyayari, bago pa lumabas ang pera sa bulsa, meron munang papasok in the first place. So, production should come before consumption. Let's repeat that. Production should come before consumption.

Ang nakakalungkot sa Pilipinas, sumosobra na ang dami ang lugar na pang consumption. Pero, yung mga lugar kung saan pwedeng mag ka production, kaunti lang. Mas madaling gumastos sa bansa natin kasi naglalakihan ang mga mall. Mas mahirap kumita ng pera kasi mas kakaunti ang mga lugar kung saan ka pwedeng makapagtrabaho at sumuweldo nang maigi kumpara sa dami ng mga mall. Our country has too many opportunities for consumption, but too little opportunities for production.

Photo Taken From: http://cache.virtualtourist.com/3080621-Mall_of_Asia-Manila.jpg

Bilangin na lang natin kung ilan ang SM, Robinsons, tsaka Ayala Malls – isama mo na pati yung mga mall na hindi masyadong kilala -- and you will notice that they are everywhere. Pero, ganun din ba karami ang mga building where you can earn a decent income?

Ikumpara natin ang sitwasyon natin sa sitwasyon ng ibang bansa.

Sa Japan, maraming oportunidad para kumita ng pera. Kasi malakas ang production nila doon. Hindi kasi inuna ng mga Hapon na magtayo ng mga malalaking mall. Ang ginawa nila, nagtayo muna sila ng malalaking mga factory. Imbes na kinalat nila ang mga lugar kung saan may consumption, sinigurado nila na may production muna sila. So, gumawa din sila ng malalaking mga building – kasing laki ng mga SM o ng mga Robinson’s dito.

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Pero, imbes na mga boutique stores and shops ang nilagay nila sa loob ng mga building na iyon, mga pabrika ang nilagay nila.

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Pagawaan ng kotse. Pagawaan ng mga bisikleta. Pagawaan ng TV sets, radios, wristwatches, basketballs, sports shoes, computers, cell phones, CD’s, DVD’s, semento, traktora… kung anu ano pa. Sa sobrang dami ng ginagawa nila sa mga pabrika nila, napuno tuloy ng mga produkto nila ang mga mall natin sa Pilipinas.

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Inuna ng mga Hapon na magkaroon ng production. Kasi sa ganitong paraan nagkaroon ng malaking income ang mga mamamayan nila. Sa pabrika kasi, kahit sino pwedeng mag trabaho – kahit yung hindi tapos sa pag – aaral, yung mga medyo lampas 40 years old na, yung mga bingi o bulag. Kapag marami kasi ang kumikita, kapag marami ang productive, mas marami ang kumikita nang mas malaki. In other words, production must be encouraged first before consumption.

Kasi kapag malaki na ang production, pwede nang mag consume ang mga mamamayan. Kaya ngayon ang mga Hapon, pwede na din silang bumili ng kung anu ano sa loob ng mall. Bumili ha, hindi yung magpalamig lang.

Ang hirap kasi ngayon from what I notice in my country, mas inuuna ang consumption. Instead of putting up large buildings where people can work and earn, big businesses would rather put up big buildings where people spend. Aren’t large buildings supposed to help people earn first?

Instead of putting up yet another mall, why not set up a factory for cars? Or a factory for making airplanes? In fact, production should not be limited to such consumer goods. Pwede din na paunlakin muna ang production sa mga agricultural areas – farming and fishing should be developed to become larger-scale industries where all Pinoys who work there would earn. Naku, kapag nangyari iyan, ekta ektaryang lupain na pwedeng kumain ng sampung mall ang magagamit para magkaroon ng production.

Ang maganda pa sa ganun, makikinabang nang husto ang mas maraming Pinoy. Hindi lang mga college graduates ang magkakaroon ng magandang pagkakakitaan.

Today, the Philippines is described as an economy of consumption. Kasi nga puro mga malls. Puro gastos ang ginagawa sa Pilipinas.

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Wala tayong produktong ginagawa, kung tutuusin. Or kung meron man, sobrang kakaunti. Hindi tayo kilala as an economy of production. Kasi kung economy of production nga talaga tayo, eh di dapat halos lahat ng binibili mo mismo sa mall, from clothes to cellphones to television sets to shoes to groceries, etc., would have “Made in Philippines” na nakatatak doon. Hindi “Made in China”, “Made in U.S.”, “Made in Thailand”, “Made in Japan”, “Made in Korea”…and so on and so forth.

Photo Taken From: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/cred%20-%20made%20in%20china.JPG

Again, an economy of production means marami tayong produkto. Kasi nga, pag marami tayong produkto, malaki ang kikitain ng karamihan sa atin. Pag marami ang kinikita, mas marami tayong consumption.

Di ba mas maganda kung medyo magbawas bawas man lang sila sa pag tayo ng mall? Di ba dapat ang itayo diyan yung isang lugar na pwedeng pagkakitaan, hindi yung lugar na pagkakagastusan? Maybe it’s time to proclaim that we ought to slow down on constructing even more newer malls. There are already waaaay too many of them.

Photo Taken From: http://www.travelpod.com/cache/attr_maps/Robinsons_Place_Mall-Manila.gif

And to think na ang karamihan ng mga kawawang Pinoy na nag tatrabaho sa mall ay hindi naman nababayaran nang tama at walang job security. Puro contractual na every 6 months pwedeng tanggalin sa trabaho.

Photo Taken From: http://www.bulatlat.com/images/5-36/SM-Makati-Strike.jpg

In other words, pag sa mall ka mismo mag trabaho, malabong aasenso ka. Kaya nga maraming nag sa strike na mga trabahante sa malls eh.

Hayyyyy amfufufufufufu!!!! Ayoko talaga ng mga malls.