McDonald’s 25th anniversary: From Burgers to Bocelli

George Yang brought in the very first McDonald’s restaurant to Manila (on Morayta Street) 25 years ago, besting other more established bidders for the franchise.

But it took more than just money for entrepreneur George Yang to bag the McDonald’s franchise.

For as part of the requirements to win the franchise, Yang and his then 14-year-old son Kenneth had to "train" as part of the crew in a McDonald’s outlet in Hong Kong!

"I was working in the counter," recalls Yang, smiling at the memory. "I cleaned the toilet. I cleaned the floor. I opened and closed the store."

Once, he further recalls, a friend from Manila walked into the outlet, of all McDonald’s outlets in Hong Kong! The friend hid behind the post when she spotted George Yang mopping the floor behind the steel counter, embarrassed for him.

"My friend didn’t greet me kasi nahihiya siya. She would later tell me that she was thinking at that time, ‘Siguro down na down si George.’ She was a customer of my wife, Kristine, who ran our jewelry business. When my name later came out in the papers as the one who was awarded the McDonald’s franchise, she finally told me the story. ‘No wonder!’ she said."

If there is anything Yang wants to be remembered in the fast-food business for, it’s for the fact that he "showed the way."

"Can I tell you something?" he shares. "When they’re giving awards... they forget that somebody showed the way. They never awarded anyone who showed the way. That’s the truth."

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After 25 years in the Philippines, McDonald’s not only tastes better but sounds better than ever.

Though the sound of cash registers was music to his ears, Yang, an Andrea Bocelli fan, refused to let go of his other love – the opera. Backed by a 33-piece orchestra, Yang celebrated McDonald’s 25th anniversary with "A Sterling Night of Music," a fundraising concert for the benefit of McDonald’s Charities held recently at the Makati Shangri-La.

The McDonald’s Philippines chairman led the elegant production, serenading the audience with wistful tunes and impressive operatic arias under the baton of Gerard Salonga.

His friends shared the musical evening, including megastar Sharon Cuneta, concert queen Pops Fernandez and platinum award-winning balladeer Jose Mari Chan who did a number with his daughter Liza. Jasmine Trias, the 2004 American Idol finalist and McDonald’s endorser, flew in. Other guests included Michael Williams, who was also the concert’s stage director, and Rachelle Gerodias.

Dedicated to Charity

The young beneficiaries of McDonald’s Charities will be singing a happier tune with the total donation of P3 million, which includes concert proceeds and donations from McDonald’s Philippines. This will benefit key projects like Bahay Bulilit and Bright Minds Read (BMR) Program.

Done in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and local government units, Bahay Bulilit builds day-care centers in depressed areas offering primary education to children under six years old. Currently, there are nine Bahay Bulilit facilities in the following cities: Makati, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, Manila, Pasay, Batangas, Iloilo, Balayan and Taytay, Rizal.

There are at present 5,335 grade 1 classes in the NCR benefiting from the BMR Program. Out of these classes under the BMR curriculum, 1,520 classes have the complete set of big books from the BMR kit while the other 3,815 classes are utilizing improvised BMR big books. McDonald’s Charities continues to work towards providing the complete BMR Program to more grade 1 classes in the NCR and in other regions nationwide.

McDonald’s Charities is striving to bring BMR to its 75 target schools in the NCR and in other parts of the country where a McDonald’s restaurant is present. Through BMR, it hopes to make Every Child A Reader (ECAR) by 2008.

By George!

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From my mailbox came two very thought-provoking letters reacting to my column What Ails Pinoy Doctors? (Sept. 21, 2006). Due to space constraints, I will be sharing excerpts.

From Dr. Aileen Dualan MD, who graduated from the UP College of Medicine:

According also to Dr. Tony Leachon, "90 percent of UP Med graduates are abroad." I wonder if this is validated. In my class, no more than 75 percent are abroad – still a large number, I do agree, but it does make a difference. Among those in the Philippines are a few who have actually trained in the US, voluntarily returned and continue to remain here (myself included).

My thoughts on what "ails" doctors – well, why pick on doctors? What "ails" any Filipino who decides to live abroad, no matter what his profession? The fact that money is not the number one reason doctors cite for leaving the Philippines says a lot. Doctors probably leave for the same reasons other professionals leave.

I remember being at a social gathering of Filipino scientists in the US, most of whom have already decided to stay there. Talk came to this issue, why do medical doctors stay in the US, and they were all looking at me incriminatingly, relentlessly questioning me. That really riled me up.

I asked, "Well why do biochemists stay in the US? Why do engineers stay in the US? Why do pharmacists stay in the US? Why do molecular biologists stay..." I ranted as I looked around the room, glaring, citing their professions one by one. "Isn’t there as much a need for these professions in the Philippines as there are for medical doctors? Why single us out?"

While they all sunk back into their thoughts, I snuck out to the buffet table and comforted myself with a roll of lumpia, thinking, "This doesn’t quite taste the same. Lumpia still tastes better in the Philippines." That, for me, has been compelling enough reason to return and stay home.

Trite as it sounds, comfort is the reason I am home, and I suppose the same reason those people decided to stay in the US. I suppose "comfort" takes on different definitions for everyone.

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From Jun Dizon, an intern at the Ospital ng Maynila:

First and foremost, the passing rates that you stated in your column, I think, meant the percent of the medical board takers who passed the exams in the years stated, and not the passing grade of the exam. There is a big difference between the two. The statement in your column may send a wrong impression to your readers that the licensed doctors today are less capable compared to the doctors before, and that they are "pasang awa" by the PRC so just we can have an ample number of doctors. (You are correct, Dr. Tony Leachon was referring to the passing rate, i.e. the "passers over the examinees," not the passing grade. As was pointed out to me, the passing grade is 75 percent for any licensure exam).

Political instability is the reason why a lot of investors are shying away from our country but it is not the number one reason why doctors are leaving. Medicine and business are two different things. The reason why doctors and nurses are leaving is because of opportunity. Opportunity to earn more, opportunity to live in a cleaner and safer place, opportunity to work less hours and opportunity to practice the science we are studying to the fullest.

Physician-residents in our country are earning about 10-15 thousand on the average per month. Abroad, the salaries are as high as 10 to 20 times.

What a lot of people are ignorant about in the medical field is the number of hours we are on duty. An average office worker spends nine hours five days a week in the office, including breaks. A fourth year medical student, post-graduate intern and resident typically has eight-hour-32-hour shifts (meaning on a typical week, Mondays we have duties from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesdays, we come in at 8 a.m. then leave the hospital at 5 p.m. the next day which is Wednesday. Thursday we go in again from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday 8 a.m. until 12 nn Saturday. And so on).

I’d like to believe that doctors who go abroad will also do what Dr. Jose Rizal did – to go back here after spending a few years abroad. I hope you have heard of Dr. Willie Ong, founder of MIND – movement of idealistic and nationalistic doctors; who advocates young doctors to stay put. He inspires a lot of young doctors and is for me, a modern-day hero.

And lastly, a reason why there are few medical students these days is because of the tuition fee of med schools (It would cost about P1 million to be a doctor). I’ve talked to a lot of parents whose children would love to be doctors but couldn’t be because of financial constraints. Maybe this is where Filipino doctors abroad could help – to give scholarship grants to the less privileged.

(E-mail me at [email protected])