How Cebu became Singapore

By the time this column sees print, my family and I should be on our way to Singapore. I wanted to go to Cebu and stay at the Mactan Shangri-La. I was at that resort a couple of years ago when I attended the corporate planning session of ABS-CBN. I thought it was a good resort, and something I wanted to share with my family.

As early as June, I tried to make reservations. But the price quoted was almost $600 a person for a three-day stay and that that didn’t include the plane fare. Peak season, daw. I could have opted for Plantation Bay, given that I have an invitation to stay with them again. But I don’t want to be a free loader on peak season, so that’s out for now.

Then I attended this press conference of Singapore Airlines organized by Rita Dy and Bonjin Bolinao. Found out they have some pretty good packages that are very competitive to what it would cost me to go to Cebu.

Of course I want to do something for our tourism industry and our economy. But once you have done your pencil pushing, the $490 package of Singapore Airlines, all in, with rooms in an Orchard Road hotel, is difficult to resist. Plus the fact that my wife and daughters have not been to Singapore yet. Tell me what you would have done.

Well, so it’s Singapore. Maybe, next time I could go to Cebu or anywhere else in the country. Actually, the Singapore package is more expensive compared to what you could get for packages to Hong Kong, parts of China, Vietnam and Thailand.

We are as usual, the least competitive in the region. Why can’t we compete head on with what the other countries offer in terms of tourist packages? I know there are a number of packages being advertised by the tourism department, but not on the same level as what could be had from Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand.

It is a very competitive world. The earlier our local tourism industry realize that, the sooner can we develop a thriving foreign exchange money maker. And we sure need the boost now.

Singapore

Speaking of Singapore, the island city was in the news over the holidays. Looks like they spooked neighboring Malaysia over an island the two countries are claiming. The Singaporeans started building structures on the island and the Malaysians have protested. Some Malaysian hotheads want to cut the water supply of Singapore. The island state is pretty dependent on the Malaysian state of Johore for its fresh water supply.

Singapore relies on its neighbor for about half of the 300 million gallons of water it consumes every day. But negotiations on setting a new price after current agreements expire have become acrimonious. "We don’t want to sell water to them," Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had declared. "We are losing money selling to them."

Resource-parched Singapore countered by saying it would need less from Malaysia in the future because it could fill some of its requirements by turning waste water into so-called "Newater". Indeed, water is the weak underbelly of this first world city state where everything is clean and efficiently working.

In a sense, the Singaporeans are like the Israelis. They have turned adversity into victory. The Israelis perfected hydroponics to make the desert bloom. The Singaporeans are reclaiming used water and purifying it enough to make it safe and drinkable again.

The problem, really, is all in the mind. It would take some convincing to get people to drink water they know came from the sewers, no matter how much they are reassured that it had been cleaned. My father who is an expert in public health, once told me that they were doing pretty much the same thing in some cities in the United States he visited while taking his Masters. This is why I totally agree with what the Singapore government is doing to address their water problem.

In reality, Newater has been certified cleaner than tap water by a panel of international experts. Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong gave it his seal of approval by swigging a bottle for the local press some months ago after a game of tennis. The Singaporeans are known to be pretty practical and rational people and despite some jokes about Newater, they are expected to accept it as part of life in the island state.

Right now, only government officials know to what extent Singapore intends to cut its reliance on Malaysian water, but the heavy emphasis on the possibilities of Newater is clearly designed to be a bargaining chip over price. Singapore now pays three Malaysian cents (less than one US cent) for every thousand gallons of raw water piped in. Malaysia wants to rework the pricing formula after a proposal to make the city state pay 100 times more by 2007 was rejected.

If I were in their place, I would much rather drink reclaimed sewer water that had been cleaned enough to be certified safe than to submit to this blackmail over Malaysian water. Living under threat is no way to live.

Fat theology

The holidays must have gotten you thinking about two major things in life, religion and food. Maybe, something like this.

In the beginning, God populated the earth with broccoli and cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow vegetable of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.

And Satan created McDonald’s. And McDonald’s brought forth the 99-cent double-cheeseburger. And Satan said to Man, "You want fries with that?"

And Man said, "Super size them." And Man gained pounds.

And God created the healthful yogurt, that woman might keep her figure that man found so fair.

And Satan brought forth chocolate. And woman gained pounds.

And God said, "Try my crispy fresh salad."

And Satan brought forth ice cream. And woman gained pounds.

And God said, "I have sent your heart healthy vegetables and olive oil with which to cook them."

And Satan brought forth fried chicken and steak so big it needed its own platter.

And Man gained pounds and his bad cholesterol went through the roof.

And God brought forth running shoes and Man resolved to lose those extra pounds.

And Satan brought forth cable TV with remote control so Man would not have to toil to change channels between ESPN and Star Sports.

And Man gained pounds.

And God said, "You’re running up the score, Devil."

And God brought forth the potato, a vegetable naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition.

And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fat fried them. And he created sour cream dip also.

And Man clutched his remote control and ate the potato chips swaddled in cholesterol.

And Satan saw and said, "It is good."

And Man went into cardiac arrest.

And God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.

And Satan created HMOs.

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Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is: [email protected]