New travel our constant author Evgeny They led him to the far edge of the South-East Asia. distances, трущобы, offices, work, vanity – Is it all Manila?
What we present pictures, when we talk about the Philippines? Of course, for many it is the eternal summer, warm sea, islands of paradise and miles of pristine beaches with dazzling white sand. But what, if we look at life through the eyes of a local resident? the eyes of, hurry to work every morning, seeking to “overshoot” to congestion, who spends time in the evening in supermarkets and waits patiently on Sunday to take a break from everyday life and spend the day with family…
This is how weeks pass for the majority of the capital's inhabitants of the Philippines, and my November trip to Manila plunged me into this whirlpool with my head for a whole month. well, let's look at life in the capital with no tourist sight.
city city
Manila has long ceased to be just a city, and now it is a vast conurbation, representing a merger of towns, settlements, business and slums in one huge gustnonaselenny center of all Philippine life, called – Metropolis Manila. It is home to nearly 15 million, of which more than half are those, who come from different provinces.
As in Russia, civilized life in the Philippines, is present only in the major cities, and larger than the city, the more it attracts opportunities and a better life. However,, in a terribly ignorant of urban management, corruption and the natural population growth of the various sectors of society – city choking in traffic, trash and smog under the rays of the merciless sun, where like ants swarming residents, immersed in a sea of important cases..
Люди
I think that it is possible with a considerable degree of certainty, that overall, Filipinos are very open, positive and nice people, who are always eager to help and try to leave a good impression about yourself. И всё же, not hide the characteristic of Southeast Asia social “scatter”, when entire neighborhoods slums, populated by thousands of poor, side by side with high business areas, where white-collar workers earn no less than you and I, They live in their own personal apartments, have the machines and everything necessary for civilized life familiar to us.
Unfortunately those, who stayed “for bortom” or somehow make ends meet, too much, and as a result, many areas are not safe for walking, even during the day, and objects “decent” life (business districts, shopping centers, subway station, etc.) surrounded by a police cordon for face-control and inspection of bags.
On the streets, from one region to wander a lot of beggars, stealing in the middle of the day is not uncommon, as well as a lot of those, who with pleasure will deceive you literally in any situation (taxi ride, bus, purchase,, tour and so on.) cocked an unrealistic price tag. State support for disadvantaged segment of the population (and indeed any other) there is practically no, and if you were born in the slums, the pre-doomed to eke out existence feeding on theft and fraud. Only a few are able to break out of the quagmire of poverty and get some kind of education / decent work.
If we talk about the national composition, then certainly the bulk of residents in Manila – filippintsy. Rarely, I met European officials and representatives of other nationalities. apparently, concerning, I often become the object of curious stares, especially walking along ordinary streets or on the subway / buses.
Among the undersized Filipino-haired my almost 2 m growth, I do hereby Gulliver, and fair skin and blond hair were given to several kilometers ahead, so that everyone can stare at me enough. And all this, in conjunction with episodes of begging and “divorce”, to be honest, deprived of any sense of comfort. I often thought, that I have someone watching and / or trying to deceive, so that the only desire in such moments were to disappear, hide or hide on a desert island.
Day after day
И всё же, Manila I was not idle for recreation and walks, and that for a short time to become a part of Philippine society class white-collar, working in business districts, in the states of large companies and corporations. Every morning, 8 in the morning I came to work in Cyber One Building, what's in the Eastwood City business district, to work a standard working day before 17 pm.
Working in an office is considered very prestigious, and because many local, who are lucky enough to become part of the high-caste, do not hesitate to emphasize this once again, proudly showing off branded badges on the neck, even if it's not too much.
But even if you work in an office and you, say, there is a super-cool car – всё равно, can not avoid the way to work, in which there is no alternative, but to stand in the eternal traffic jams on any form of transport. well, Gentlemen employees wear badges steep, sit in a jeepney or their vehicles, and is carried out in the way sometimes hours on the flight…
On depressing the transport situation, I'll tell a little lower, and now it has become possible it became clear, that is equal to start your day 8 the morning is almost impossible. Corks and dictate the rules of the employees at work already in 7 (otherwise they would have come only to 12), and the part is pulled gradually up to about 10 hours..
Filipinos are very cheap shots on the world market and therefore, say, Many IT companies prefer to expand and recruit its staff was in the Philippines. Working conditions in the majority of cases without the frills – staff provided your workspace in the office, which, как правило, It is a close openspace. There are a lot of such openspace in multi-storey office buildings, and employees, respectively, also not a little and sometimes, to wait for the elevator on the lower floors of the Cyber One Building I waited longer 10 minutes.
In my office, from the amenities there was a kitchen room, free wi-fi (though terribly slow, as elsewhere in the Philippines), toilets, in which, somehow, there is no paper, and free water. dine staff, either in the office kitchenette with food from home, or in any cafe nearby. It, в общем-то, как и у нас, with the only difference, that “hours” lunch here is usually stretched by at least one and a half.
I would attribute the presence of such an additional day off as Saturday to the features of the work of many office employees. Most Philippines only take rest on Sunday. More, of the benefits, certainly, very konkuretnosposobnaya salary, the average level in which in IT circles is considered the amount in the area 1000$ Per month after taxes. taxes, by the way, there have been very significant and rob 32% from the staff salaries. Where does that kind of money is not clear, and most of the staff are sure, just fill the pockets of corrupt officials. Well and of course you need to mention vacation – an ordinary office employee can receive no more than 15 days of paid leave per year, and in addition to this you can still cheer, but also no more than 2 weeks a year (the rest will not be paid). Although in general, условия, of course worse than in Russia, but for the Philippines, this is one of the best options and very many seek such a life and work.
To be continued…
And then we will walk around the city, see where the townspeople rest, воспользуемся общественным транспортом, оценим велодружелюбность города и посмотрим на цены в магазинах. Будет интересно! 🙂
