Philippine Airlines chosen among Asia’s most stylish cabin crew

Passengers across the Asia-Pacific region have spoken out in their own style survey, with Philippine Airlines coming in the top 10 ranking.

Leading global travel search site Skyscanner asked over 1200 jet-setters from across Asia-Pacific (Australia, New Zealnd, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Korea and Singapore) to vote for the cabin crew they thought was most stylish, and topping the list of 20 airlines in the study was Shanghai-based China Eastern who scored 4.15 out of 5 in the poll, wooing flyers with its smart navy blue uniforms teamed with white shirts and red scarves.

Closely following China Eastern was Korea’s Asiana Airlines who came second with 4.14. Virgin Australia, who ordered its staff to undertake lessons in etiquette, posture and language last summer, also have one of the most stylish cabin crew according to travellers scoring 4.03 out of 5 and taking third place in the poll. Air China and China Southern Airlines also completed the Chinese-dominated top five, scoring 4.00 and 3.98 respectively.

Janet Ranola, Skyscanner Philippines Manager and resident fashionista said: “Judging by the results of our survey, travellers clearly have a keen eye on fashion even at 35,000 feet and it’s great to see an airline from the Philippines scoring so highly. International Fashion Week clearly has some competition this month!” Top 10 Most Stylish Cabin Crew in Asia Pacific Ranking Top 10 Base Score out of 5 1 China Eastern Airlines China 4.15 2 Asiana Airlines Korea 4.14 3 Virgin Australia Australia 4.03 4 Air China China 4.00 5 China Southern Airlines China 3.98 6 Air Asia Malaysia 3.83 7 Singapore Airlines Singapore 3.78 8 Korean Air Korea 3.78 9 Philippine Airlines Philippines 3.76 10 Jeju Air Korea 3.63.

Japanese businessmen say PHL desirable investment area

Japanese businessmen believe the Philippines is a top investment destination in Asia, according to a survey by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Manila.

JETRO Manila, a semi-governmental agency that promotes business between the Philippines and Japan, said the results of the latest survey showed the Philippines is a “desirable” investment and business destination for Japanese companies as compared to other Asian countries.

The survey was conducted from October to November 2012 on Japanese-affiliated companies in Asia and Oceania.

Japanese companies see the Philippines and Indonesia as the “most profitable”, according to the survey. Philippines and Indonesia beat competitors in all industries with 71.9% and 74.4% profitability, respectively.

“This result came about specifically because of the very promising performance of the Philippines in export oriented business with a 72.4% profit as oppose to China in 5th place with a 54.6% profit and India at last with 55.3% revenue,” JETRO Manila said.

When it comes to good management, the survey showed the Philippines had the least difficulty when it comes to recruiting general staff, with a 4.3% rating. This was followed by Indonesia with 6.8% and Vietnam at third with 13.8%.

China was seen as the most difficult with a 35.5% rating, due to the strict working environment compared to other countries.

The Philippines also had the least number of strikes and lockouts, with only 2 in 2011. This is compared to Vietnam with 857, and India with 389 in the same year.

The same survey showed most Japanese firms found Thailand to be the least troublesome when it comes to customs and administrative procedures. Surprisingly, the Philippines came in second.

“PEZA on the other hand, has played a vital role in providing assistance and smooth procedure in doing business resulting to the good ratings by the Japanese respondent companies in the Philippines,” JETRO Manila said.

Cheap labor

JETRO Manila noted the survey highlights the Philippines’ competitiveness when it comes to salaries. The Philippines’ annual salary of $4,581 for manufacturing staff is neither too low or too high compared to Asian neighbors. China had the highest with $6,734, while Vietnam had the lowest with$2,602.

However, manufacturing engineers and managers in the Philippines and Vietnam get the lowest salaries in the region.

Manufacturing engineers in the, Philippines and Vietnam receive an annual salary of $7,636 and $5,441 respectively. Manufacturing managers in the Philippines and Vietnam get $17,498 and $12,245 respectively. Malaysia had the highest salary for both engineer and manager with $14,451 and $30,083 respectively.

For non-manufacturing managers, Philippines and Vietnam also had the lowest annual salaries with $20,169 and $16,422 respectively.

Challenges

According to the survey, Japanese businessmen see the Philippines with the least challenges.

But that doesn’t mean there are no challenges. One of the biggest challenges for Japanese firms is the difficulty in local procurement of raw materials and parts. Another challenge is the Filipinos’ perception of going abroad to work than stay in the Philippines.

“This still is a good performance for the Philippines as Japanese businesses in other countries had to deal with a lot more challenges such as wage increase and time consuming administrative procedures,” JETRO Manila said.

PH ranks last?

Despite citing the advantages of the Philippines, Japanese businessmen still ranked the country last for its expansion plans.

“Philippines landed on the last rank with 48.2% rating for expansion plan, while India, Indonesia, and Vietnam emerges as the target domestic markets with 83.6% , 77.3% and 65.9% respectively,” JETRO Manila said.

Many Japanese businessmen are looking to expand abroad due to difficulties in operating in Japan. Among the factors cited were the strong yen, high rate of corporate tax and shortage of electricity.

Pinoy author's book of love poetry gets published in London

LONDON - Love comes in all forms and, with the month of love in full swing, a new book published by a Filipino writer is attempting to navigate this irrepressible human emotion through poetry and words.

Written, edited and published by Kristian Jeff Cortez Agustin, “For Love and Poetry” delivers 14 chapters of poems tackling different kinds of love, from the classic notion of romance, to the love of family, friends, nature, and even the patriotic love of one’s own country.

Speaking to ABS-CBN Europe at the University of Westminster in London, where he recently completed his masters in visual culture, Agustin said: “Love is just everywhere. Even if there are lots of pain or bad things that happen around us, love still motivates people. So I realized that we should talk about love more, but not just in the romantic sense, because there are different kinds of love.”

The book features dozens of poems written over the course of 12 years, creating what the writer refers to as “musings” about love since his youth.

“It’s a matter of self-expression. Usually people see poetry as really profound, deep and hard to analyze, hard to understand. But I think we live in poetry in our daily lives because when you feel something, it's quite poetic,” said the 28-year-old poet, who graduated with an Arts Studies degree from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

He added: “More than a decade ago, I thought it would be nice to explore the idea of love and how it is not just restricted in the romantic sense. So as I grew up and collected more of my poetry, I thought it would be nice to put them together in a book.”

Published in London, the book also features a small collection of work from writers around the world, including Indonesian writer Laksmi Pamuntjak, who was recently featured at the international Poetry Parnassus in London.

It also includes a handful of writers from the Philippines, some of whom contributed to the final chapter of the book with poems written in the Filipino language, Agustin’s homage to his native country and mother tongue.

“There are things that we can’t describe in a second language which is really profound in Filipino, our own language. So by way of writing in Filipino, you’re able to give the book this kind of love to the country as a tribute,” he explained.

Agustin is back in the Philippines where he continues to write while pursuing other creative endeavors through publishing, theatre, design, advertising, and fine arts

On his passion for words, he said: “I love writing and exploring the meaning of words. I realized that if you put these things into poetry, your attempt in capturing love or your feelings makes some kind of sense. I thought it would be a good way to express myself, to explore my feelings, and at the same time communicate this to others, because a book lasts for a long time.”

Agustin is appearing in a poetry evening at UP Vargas Museum on February 14, followed by a book signing on February 16 at his visual-poetry exhibition in vMeme Contemporary Gallery on Visayas Avenue, Quezon City. He is also a guest at the Psych O’Clock Habit on DZUP 1602 Radio on February 21.

“For Love and Poetry” by Kristian Jeff Cortez Agustin is available on Amazon.

Art Fair Philippines showcases country’s top contemporary artists

As Filipino contemporary artists earn international acclaim, dedicated arts patrons Lisa Ongpin Periquet and Trickie C. Lopa felt it was high time to shine the spotlight on these talents here at home.

“We’re so excited about the inroads Philippine art has achieved within the worldwide contemporary arts community,” remarked Periquet at Ayala Museum to announce the inaugural Art Fair Philippines (AFP) 2013.

“One goal is to make sure Filipinos are aware that we have this exciting arts scene that we should all be proud of and fully support.”

To that end, Periquet and Lopa, organizers of the popular Art in the Park annual fair in Salcedo Village, and fellow Museum Foundation of the Philippines member Dindin B. Araneta have conceived a new exposition focused exclusively on Philippine contemporary art.

From Feb. 7 to 10, AFP will offer events and exhibits, including special lectures at Ayala Museum; displays of public artwork throughout Makati City as part of the Make It Happen, Make It Makati campaign, and a specially commissioned kinetic sculpture called “Asphalt” by Gabriel Barredo.

Original installations

Twenty-four galleries such as Silverlens, Art Informal and Salcedo Auctions were invited to showcase their artists’ works.

“We didn’t want to cramp their style, but we also wanted to ensure that they considered what they put out, that there’s a message the pieces should be able to communicate,” explained Lopa about the fair’s collaborative yet tight curatorial direction.

The participating galleries have risen to the challenge, fielding a wide range of original installations created for AFP.

Among them is Bembol de la Cruz, 2011 Ateneo Art Awards winner, who is working on diptychs, revealed Sylvia Golamco-Gascon of Finale Art File.

Tin-aw Art Gallery will showcase Mark Justiniani. CANVAS will display works centered on the theme “Looking for Juan in Basketball” from six artists, including Elmer Borlongan, Emmanuel Garibay and Don Salubayba.

Unusual venue

The exhibits will be on view at The Link car park between Landmark Shopping Center and the Makati Shangri-La Hotel—an unusual choice of venue but one in keeping with contemporary art’s nontraditional spirit.

“Manila doesn’t have any iconic venues. We wanted one that mirrors the vibrancy of the arts scene,” Lopa noted.

Added Periquet: “An important aspect of our concept was to transform an unexpected space into an exhibition venue.”

Furniture designer Kenneth Cobonpue and architectural firm Leandro V. Locsin Partners helped with the makeover from parking garage to urban-art gallery, where visitors will be welcomed at a reception desk made from San Miguel Beer crates by multimedia artist Norberto “Peewee” Roldan Jr.

Although this is AFP’s first year, Periquet and Lopa hope to make it an annual affair.

“Our goal is to eventually become the standard for the country’s art fairs,” said Periquet.

More importantly, they want to expose fellow Filipinos to the rich artistic talent emerging at home. As Lopa observed: “If other people can see what we see and appreciate what our young artists are doing, then it’s really something to be proud of.”

Call Joyce Perlas at 0917-831600; e-mail secretariat@artfairphilippines.com; visit www.artfairphilippines.com.

(Story courtesy of Tracey Paska of the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Pinay healthcare worker becomes instant millionaire in Qatar

 A Filipina healthcare specialist is the latest millionaire of Mashreq Qatar.

The Gulf Times reported that Herminia Mescallado won the one million Qatari Riyals prize money from the savings program MashreqMillionaire.

Mescallado won the prize during the program’s draw last December.

She received the cheque from Mashreq Qatar's head of retail banking, Niranjan Mendonca, during a ceremony held at the bank's Gold Center. The event was also attended by the OFW's family.

Mescallado moved to Doha ten years ago and is currently working as a radiographer at the Women's Hospital.

Since its launch in 1995, the MashreqMillionaire program has produced over 300 millionaires.

Those eligible for the monthly draws are customers who save by investing in fully-encashable MashreqMillionaire certificates each valued as QR1,000. - Philippine News

Two Pinoys collaborate on unique invention: a bamboo sound amplifier

Two Filipinos —New York-based architect Franz Ignacio and Japanese-Filipino
anthropologist Koh Onozawa—are the brains behind Loudbasstard, a sound amplifier
made of bamboo and handcrafted by Cebuano artisans.

The two met by chance during their vacation in Cebu, introduced by their Cebuana mothers who are longtime friends.

Wanting to bring their expertise together—Ignacio’s design skills and Onozawa’s intent to create a livelihood project for Cebuanos—the duo gave up their 9-to-5 jobs abroad and moved to Cebu to collaborate.

Their first project—a digital tablet case they called the Butler—did not take off.

Then the idea of creating a sustainable speaker that operates without electricity came up, after
Onozawa’s girlfriend, Julie Ghafari, used a plastic cup to amplify the music from a smartphone.

The result: the Loudbasstard, an eco-friendly amplifier that works with smartphones like the
iPhone, iTouch, and the Samsung Galaxy 3, and other portable media devices.

To use it, one simply has to slip in a gadget into the hollow part of the Loudbasstard, and the
music is amplified by the bamboo case’s cuplike shape.
.
“It took 3 months from prototype to final product and another month for packaging, marketing
and branding efforts,” Ignacio told GMA News Online in an e-mail.

To keep operations sustainable and environment-friendly, everything is done locally and
manually, in Sitio Cantiplan, Cebu City, through “an entire army of people” who grow and
harvest the bamboo and cut and dye the bamboo speakers by hand.

The craftsmen use traditional techniques in cutting and shaping the bamboo, a practice that has
been taught to them by their fathers, and their fathers’ fathers’ before them.

As Ignacio and Onozawa put it, “Who knows how to handle bamboo better than a family that’s
done it for generations? Not someone who simply was taught how to press buttons on a
machine.”

From Cebu to the world

Some of the first Loudbasstards were sold in Vancouver, Canada, in October 2012.

Now with the Philippines as their base, Ignacio and Onozawa hope to see their Cebuano design expand its reach abroad and are working on bringing it to Switzerland, the Middle East, and the US this year.

Ignacio recalled that initially they sent 50 pieces to Vancouver, Canada "through a family friend who was visiting for a bit, and they immediately placed a bulk order after that. That’s when we realized we were onto something.”

Other friends abroad helped Ignacio and Onozawa get the bamboo speakers distributed in
Rome and Milan, Italy. Locally, these are sold online.

Its sustainable and eco-friendly design has given the Loudbasstard some good press from
publications abroad, such as “Design Street” and “Fool Magazine” in Italy and “Chic Haus
Magazine” in Mexico.

One review came from Italian entrepreneur Enrico Marone Cinzano, a member of the exclusive design organization Associazion per il Disegno Industriale, who called the product “stylish and sustainable.”

On his Facebook page, Cinzano said, “The Loudbasstard [lets] you hear your favourite music without infringing on the capital brought to us by Mother Nature and helps retain local traditions while providing employment.”

Ignacio said he and Onozawa didn’t expect that their simple and practical design would be well received locally and abroad.

“The reception has been 100% awesome. We’re still blown away by everyone’s kind words. It
makes what we do that much more worth it,” Ignacio said.

The reception is also a validation for Ignacio, an architect schooled in New York’s Pratt Institute.

“Franz is a furniture designer by profession. So to have ventured out and have designed a
product that has been so positively embraced, outside of his norm, makes us feel accomplished in some level. It gives us more motivation to keep going and improve our designs and create," Onozawa said. - VVP, GMA News

Widow of Beatle John Lennon donates $10,000 for Pablo victims

Yoko One, the widow of Beatle John Lennon has donated $10,000 for the victims of typhoon “Pablo.”

The donation of Yoko Ono, an established musical artist and fashion designer in her own right, was remitted to the Philippine embassy in Tokyo on Jan. 28.

Ono learned about the disastrous effects of Pablo in Mindanao following a personal visit she made to the official residence of the Philippine ambassador to Japan on Dec. 5, 2012.

She spent her childhood years at the residence, an Iberian-style mansion built in 1934, which used to be owned by her uncle Iwajiro Yasuda.

The house was sold to President Jose P. Laurel, and was subsequently acquired by the Philippine government after World War II.

When she comes to Japan, Ono finds time to visit the residence to reminisce about her childhood.

During her visit to the residence last December, she conveyed to Ambassador Manuel Lopez her appreciation for the care the Philippine government has taken to preserve the historic mansion.

Ono’s charitable activities include assisting schoolchildren in the Philippines.

She also made a contribution for disaster relief efforts in the Philippines in the wake of tropical storm “Ondoy” in 2009.

(Story courtesy of the Philippine Star’s Pia Lee-Brago)