As with any two countries or cultures, there are always irreconcilable differences in social customs, that when visiting a place, are difficult to get used to. The western idea of "right of way" is one of them. In traditional Euro-American culture, we take turns, and make space for others when appropriate.
Many asian cultures, whether by tradition or by density do not have the same space bubble that other cultures have. Even in Vancouver, I am sometimes annoyed when Vancouverites of Asian descent (usually first generation) step out in front of me with out looking, or cut me off. With the hope of not sounding racist, this is a lack of understanding on my part, as I have not experieced this with a group from any other part of the world, and I'm not even sure if its indemic to every Asian coutry or only some.
When I visited China this was apparent, and a friend who visited Korea once, sat down in an empty park with friends to have a picnic, only to have a local group come and sit down right next to them. The Philippines has not noticeably been extreme in this case, except when it comes to driving and in other small ways.
Where as in North America, we wait until the traffic lights change, or when coming onto a main road from a side street, we wait until the other traffic has passed. Here on the other hand a vehicle coming off a side street will push its way into traffic regardless. Other drivers will continually swerve around this person, until they can no longer possibly do so. It is unusual to me (although I have experienced it before) but it seems to work, like most systems, since everyone knows how it operates and acts accordingly.
Another example of this different approach follows. Yesterday I visited baranguay San Jose with a few people from the city Mayor's Office. A few got in the back of the van, and then Melissa jumped in on the front bench and said, " you can sit here or in the front". The front seat had things on it so I decided to sit in the back. When she didn't move, I thought maybe it was her way of suggesting the front seat would be better, but in actuality she expected me to get in passed her, because I guess she likes to sit by the door.
Visiting other countries always does a good job of letting you know exactly how little you know about people. It is somewhat unfair to say "we" or "our culture" when talking about what I'm used to as well, because of course, Canada is made up of a lot of "we's" and many different cultures. So the important lesson to learn is that different ways of doing things, work for different people. There isn't necessarily a best way for anything.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Is Right of Way Right?
San Jose Kasoy Processors
Today along with Melissa and Enera from City Agri, I had the opportunity to visit the Kasoy processors of San Jose. Design is a complicated process, and although cosmetically it seems like a system of beautifying the world, the majority of its process is spent travelling around looking at things, asking lots of questions and organizing the information retrieved from that process. The actual making part, although not easy is a relatively short and systematic part of the whole process. After having been somewhat frustrated last week by slow government processes, today standing in a small bamboo hut with a thatched roof asking question about how the Kasoy processors go about their daily lives, something turned on inside me. I suddenly realized what a wonderful learning experience this really is.
The purpose of my internship here is to help people, and to make it possible for them and others to continue getting help after I leave, and as such, working with these women to help develop a language to represent themselves is going to be a pleasure. For most small product developers here packaging their wares consists of buying bulk plastic bags or generic containers from a local store and labels are produced through small reprographics stores who help groups pick a bad font or two.
The Kasoy processors are groups of local women who shell and roast or fry fresh cashew nuts purchased from local farmers. They buy the cashews in bulk, dry them out and then store them. The head of the one group I spoke to buys and stores the materials and then other women shell and roast them at home, while she does the packaging and sells them at the market. Other groups who were there today, shell and roast but sell their products to sellers at the markets who then package the nuts and apply their own labels. For these women, they are avoiding the costs of permits from the City Mayor's office, the Department of Trade and Industry and the taxes that go with being a registered business.
The goal will be to both look into who is actually their customer base, what kind of packaging solutions might be possible, who else they might sell to, how they might maximize working together to reduce costs, and finally coming up with a graphic branding language that will truly represent them and their products as unique and different from the other similar products already being sold in the stores. Their current generic labels have, like most local products, a bad character font, next to a drawing of the item, with a superimposed version of the image in the background. Oh, we can do so much better than this. (see more photos)
The City Agriculture Department
Yesterday morning, I finally had a chance to sit down with Melissa from the city Agriculture Office, along with Delia and Enera from "Agri" who deal with specific issues in that department. We were also joined by Leo Bachiller who helped Sam Carter, an Emily Carr Instructor who put on a workshop here for local producers here this spring, and Hipolito Murcia who works for the Agriculture Office and also happens to be the head of the Liberty Fisherman's Co-operative that I visited earlier (in Canada, that would be called a conflict of interest, hmmm). Boots from the city Tourism office was an active participant as well. Oddly, there was no one representing the city Planning Office, who is supposed to be the first contact for OTOP procedures.
I was able to give them a short presentation about what Communication Design is and what its potentials might be. I also explained to them what my observations had been after looking around for a week and a half. I divided my remaining time here into two stages during which, with their input and assistance, I would try to complete one major product branding project, one projecgt aimed at promoting and communicating the existence of these products to their respective markets, plus a number of educational seminars to help create foster some avenues for future productivity.
I think everyone was a little beside themselves when I asked marketing questions like who is the target market for a product, what kind of promotion has this product been given, and what makes these cashews different from those cashews? Making mention of observations like the lack of promotion through tourism channels or how the current vernacular of print shop label making could be improved, however, everyone was right on board.
I also asked about how the city goes about identifying producers that need assitance, and what program there is for helping them, but it is done on a pretty fragmented word of mouth basis, and they are handed off to which ever department will best be able to offer support for their area of need. This is not by any means a centralized process. Although there are other products, which are made locally, it seemed clear that for many baranguays, fishing and cashew production were the two principal industries, and so in the spirit of OTOP, we identified a group of women in the baranguay of San Jose who have been roasting, packaging and selling Kasoy products for twenty years, but have no formal packaging system, and could use some organization to boot. I decided that I could spend all of my time searching, or I could find someone whom my time here could really benefit from the ground up, and get the ball rolling. Cashews it is. (see more photos-more to come)
Plan of Action
After a rather depressing weekend, which included a chest cold, rain, power outages, and a great feeling of being lost, and not knowing what to do next, I decided that I had better clarify my intentions and get focussed. I spoke to Melissa from the City Agriculture Office who was supposed to be my contact. She attended a lunch at Czarina's place for a bunch of Australian Filipinos who were up visiting common friends. We agreed to meet with others from the Mayor's Office the next day.
After looking at many different products with the same kinds of issues, and the lack of promotion they were actually getting, I decided on a plan of action. Firstly, the interest in me coming here, was to help the local OTOP team with packaging and branding, because even with my student's knowledge, there is little specialization in design here. So ultimately it would be good to help design something along these lines, and ideally for someone who really needed help from the ground up.
Secondly, outside of introducing food products into the local supply chain, there seems to otherwise be no concept of marketing whatsoever. There is no consideration for who the producted is being aimed at, but rather a general hope that if it's in the store, then it might be purchased.
So this is the plan. The next five weeks will be aimed at project one. This will be the immediate identification of a producer who requires significant assistance, followed by a process of gathering information not only about their operation, product, competitors, and sales channels, but also with some focus on an attempt to identify possible target markets and alternative destinations for their products. I will work with the city and this producer to identify a visual language that will best create an unique identity to tell their story and create demand for their product. This will include a process of gathering and developing indigenous iconography that does not necessarily have to be a literal representation of their product, but should identify it with them, their history, and the place that they live. We will look at the availability of packaging materials and printing options, and develop a series of packages that will look unlike everything else on the shelf.
Along side this, the DTI is interested in holding a conference for local producers and all of its local partners. At this event at the end of the month, I will give a prensentation on the basics of good design, visual culture, and hopefully run some exercises aimed at promoting the use of simple design methodologies to help create better branding.
The second stage of the project will be directed at communicating the existence of these products to a selected target audience. This will either focus on promoting the benefit of buying local to the local market, or it will educate visitors to Puerto Princesa City about what is available and where to find it. At this time we will try to run a second and possibly a third presentation/workshop which will address souvenir shop owners needing help with promoting local products, and possible people from the printing, art, and packaging sales industries.
If all goes well, I will also hopefully be able to develop some kind of resource for local producers to reference in the future, for more information on how to pursue the ideas we will communicate.
Rain and More Rain
This past weekend the heavens opened up and dumped the South China Sea down on Palwan. Although most of the literature seems to say that the rainy season here doesn't end until November, most of the locals seem to think it doesn't usually rain this much at this time of year. Of course, we tell visitors to Vancouver that it never snows, and that our summers are wonderful (look at the one we just had).
Rain isn't usually so bad, but when all of the local transporation is by motorcycle sidecar, the internet goes down frequently and there are brownouts and no lights, it can become a bit more tiresome. I have been told that a storm like we had this past weekend hasn't happened here in about 10 years. Apparently because of its geographic position, Palawan is spared the monsoons, and cyclones that other areas of the country have to grin and bear.
I stayed in a hotel on Sunday night, who had power only because of their generator which is constantly on guard, and which is even advertised in their brochure. (see more photos)
Team Building Seminar
Following the day out at Langogan, where I began to feel I was being lead a bit off track, an even less constructive day followed. In the morning I was invited to a meeting at the city office of the Palawan branch for the Department of Trade and Industry. The DTI is the federal body who is charged with bringing national initiatives involving trade, investment and business to the local provinces and regional goverments. It is they who along with local city council, have intiated the OTOP project. They help small enterprises in the areas of identifying, branding, and marketing products, and bringing together the necessary resources for communities, including training and community processing centers. They do good work. Like all similar agencies world wide however, they like to go in circles, and the more feathers in their cap the better. I had been hoping to come and find out what the OTOP project was all about, but the discussion focussed on the available sites for a particular communities processing center and that was all the time there was.
In the afternoon, I was invited to a DTI sponsored "TEAM BUILDING SEMINAR", which was exactly what you're probably picturing. A bunch of people sharing communal activities such as building a group coat of arms based on our lives, and following on screen dance steps. This sort of thing is used by many organizatons, and they are probably even practical, but I spent the whole time thinking, "I might as well be working for Wal-Mart". I was inspired by the stories of a few single working mothers (everyone has lots of kids here) and met a few interesting people. One of these people was Attorney Vic Tan, an Chinese Filipino who commented that upon visiting family in Richmond (Vancouver) he couldn't understand why there weren't any white people. He was just about to open his store Budget Home Depot (with a few borrowed names—no such thing as intellectual property here). Although Mr. Tan prefixes his name with Atty. he apparently only practised law for a few years, because as he explained, everyone knew him and wanted him to work for them as a favour.
So a few interesting people were met. I received a number of texts afterwards, asking me to come up with packaging designs. I think I inherited Attorney Tan's problem. I escaped before dinner as I had another appointment and spent the next couple of days thinking what the heck am I doing here? Such is the adjustment period of coming to a new place.
The Green City
Puerto Princesa City has been given numerous awards for its efforts to build a green city and an economy which focusses on Eco Tourism. Under Mayor Hagedorn, the city has become the first in the country to have an engineered sanitary landfill facility. Green garbage bins are a regular fixture and there are laws against both littering and smoking in public places that carry fines, and even time in jail upon a third offense. The city has gone out of their way to ban any mining (a big industry for Palawan) within the city limits, much of which is rural and mountainous.
The fleets of tricycles with their dirty emissions, have been regulated so that an operator may only work on certain days of the week depending on whether they are in group 1 or group 2, in order to reduce the competition and over-abundant pollution created. There is even talk of banning tricycles from the main roads and restricting them to rural areas only. This would be a defeat for the hundreds of people who rely on this method of earning an income, and not much of one at that, however, if the city is going to continue to clean itself, this will be a necessary evil in the long run.
For a western foreigner who is used to finished sidewalks and groomed yards, it is sometimes difficult to see the good of these initiatives for all of the dirty air and crumbling concrete. When visiting the fishing docks or some of the communities outside of the city center, you can't help but notice all of the trash in the water, the batteries and empty liquor bottles on the beach. Compared to our world, this reality of thatched huts and remodelled old vehicles seems like a step back in time, but for a country like the Philippines these green projects are the best steps in right direction. The people here are friendly, and although the infrastructure will take a long time to develop if it ever fully does, the abundance of natural landscape, and a government focussed on promoting an eco-tourism economy will make Puerto Princesa City stand apart for a long time to come. (see more photos)
Animals
The Nokia mobile phone which I purchased here includes the sound of a rooster crowing. I believe most Nokia phones including the one I have at home include this ring tone. The difference here is that if I sleep through my alarm set to this tone, I can be sure that in place of the snooze feature will be real roosters crowing outside. Not only first thing in the morning either. Even in Manila in the 19th floor of a hotel, I would know it was morning by the sound of the roosters somewhere in the city.
In Puerto Princesa, there are chickens and other animals that run freely through people's property and somehow don't seem to run out into the road. A house down the road from where I stay has a front yard full of turkeys and they just stay there. I have to say, I actually find the roosters to be quite beautiful. They are the kind of cocks that have golden necks and bright green tail feathers (the kind you see on the Kellog's Corn Flakes box).
Other animals include goats on the side of the roads, and there are ridiculous amount of stray dogs here, and all of a similar sort. I asked a few people what the breed of dog seen everywhere is called. They literally call them "stray dogs" in Filipino and no one is really sure of the breed. Especially on the highway, there is a dog every half kilometer. The Lim's have several dogs in small pens on their property. Some are let free at certain times, but there is one retreiver who never seem to be out of the cage. Not sure why.
Insects are of course prevalent here, being a wooded tropical area. The mosquitos so far are second rate to the swarms you see on the Canadian prairies, but there are small midges which have left my ankles and forearms spotted and itchy, and there of course lots of flies, small spiders (which eat the flies) and a few friendly geckos. What really gets me are the ants. There are very small black ants which will throw a huge party if any food is left poorly wrapped. I spray the room with raid and I have about a day before the next battalion arrives.
One of the most interesting experiences I have found so far, is every day at quarter to five the crickets make music for about twenty minutes. It starts as a hum in the forest, and you can actually hear in move across the trees like surround sound, until the whole world around you is humming. Just as instantly, twenty minutes later it stops. Wow.
Langogan
After the first couple days of being shown around, and after the weekend, I was invited to join George and crew on an Eco-Survey to Langogan, the farthest baranguay north in the jurisdiction of Puerto Princesa City. As I am somewhat of a side project, George has other responsibilities than just showing me around, and this was one of them. He said that perhaps I could interview the people there regarding their local products. Upon arrival at the baranguay hall, I spoke to a few local officials who told me about rice and coconuts, and fish, but who were more interested in finding out how they could get to Canada, than promoting their products.
I joined the team from the city Planning Office to the beach where they spent several hours conducting a survey of about 20 or 30 locals about the quality of their surroundings. The village was made up of the typical grass roof, thatched huts on stilts, with the regular assortment of half dressed toddlers, and chickens running around. There was a central covered hut that seemed to act as a community gathering place, and near here a few people were turning over fish that were being dried out in the sun on large chicken wire topped benches. Interestingly enough, there was a hut with a sign indicating it as the local tattoo parlour, and another sign on a home at the entrance to the area which displayed a sign that translated to "lover's lane" The people spoke mainly Cebuan (from the city of Cebu) some of the many recent migrants to Palawan. The city's questions gathered information about access to the beach, safety, and whether or not the beach was clean (although every single one of them said yes to that last question, the beach was littered with packages, bottles and rusting batteries—there were chickens eating styrofoam). The only concern was that if installed, a breakwater would limit damage to the beach in stormy weather.
There were traditional wooden fishing boats being built and painted in this village, and like other hand painted signs I have observed with fascination, these were just as excellent. I watched a man painting the name Charlie in red on the side of a yellow boat, and could not believe how accurate he executed it by hand. I was told by Myrna, one of the city community officers later that they were asking if I was an investor. The children thought it was funny that I was sweating so much (that's what you get for being a pasty white foreign guy in the tropics).
We had a lunch of, you guessed it, rice, with some of the dried fish we got from the beach community. The fish was fried up in a pan over an improvised fire. At the end of the day, it was interesting to see what kinds of tasks and projects the city government is up to, and to see a community outside of the urban city center, however I couldn't help but feel that I was already getting a little off track. (see more photos)
Board of Investment
After a couple of interesting days touring around and getting to know the local products, I was invited to a business lunch with delegates from the Philippine Board of Investment. This lunch was attended by Melissa from the Agriculture Office, George from the Planning Office, the local members of the Department of Trade and Industry, and members of the Palawan Chamber of Commerce.
It was enlightening to hear what efforts Manila was making to attract foreign investors, which apparently involves unifying over a hundred separate investment laws into one governing and comprehensive piece of legislation. They are keenly aware that they are falling drastically behind Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Indonesia, etc. and are keen to bring investment to local communities to help create jobs and develop local economies. Many of the local problems stem from simple things like lack of roads, inconsistent power (one diesel power plant powering everything), and underdeveloped infrastructure. Most lack of investment stems from lack of funds both at the local and federal levels. A community who has a lot of business owners, and a lot of property owners, prospers because there is tax revenue, when people can't afford to start businesses and develop capital and assets, there is less money to go around.
In the afternoon, we met again with other Palawan City Mayors and heads of private industry for a general meeting in the Capitol Building. Here individual parties brought forth their concerns about various issues. Although it was educational to see how the local system worked, after the first half of the meeting, conversations broke into Tagalog, and I couldn't understand much of what was being said. None the less, it gave me a little insight into the different levels at play in making things happen here.
Hand Painted Signs
The craftsmanship here, when it comes to handmade things is simply remarkable. Although few things are technologically complicated, everything done by hand is done well. This is one reason that it's a shame so many small product developers are relying on bad computer fonts to develop their labels.
Hand painted type and sign painting are just excellent here, and beat the pants off of all the comparable computer generated signs. The city souvenir craft shop street has a number of hand painted signs with letters that are painted like bamboo, or other local references. Filipino culture is very concerned with looking to the west for ideas, and as such, much of the visual culture is a bad copy of somewhere else. Somehow though, when this kitschy vernacular of compounded character types is produced by hand on wood, it takes on a life of its own. In the baranguay of Langogan I watched a guy painting the name on the side of a fishing boat, and it was almost perfect, just by hand with a long brush. If only I could convince them that this simple, small town look is what people come here for.
Super Staff and Security Guards
It is typical of North American and European retail businesses to keep on hand a minimum of staff which will cover necessary operations while limiting useless expenditure and ensuring a maximum return on labour. Despite this, these days there seems to be a plethora of help wanted signs about, in Vancouver anyways. Since so much of our economy has turned to service industries, it is difficult to find enough workers, and therefore the dependence by staff on an employer is also reduced. Turnover is therefore high.
In the Philippines, the opposite situation is the norm. There are way too many people and simply not enough jobs to go around. The economy here is also moving towards the service sector, as able entrepreneurs are capitalizing on western business models and either franchising existing operations, or more commonly, creating regurgitated doppelgangers of what they think is the paradigm is. As such, and for other reasons I am not really aware of, most of these service sector businesses have an excessively large staff.
When my colleagues and I wandered into an electronics store on our first day in Manila, we were helped by at least five of the 18 staff counted, in what was not a very big store (at home there might have been 5). You get said hello to immediately, and there is always someone showing you what is on offer (could teach the people at the local markets a thing or two). Coming from a culture of "I'm just looking", it is an effort to graciously accept the help. Having experience in retail business at home, North American businesses would have to whip employees to get this kind of enthusiasm out of them. This is the difference between knowing you can easily get another job, and being desperately glad that you have one. Security guards are also stationed at just about every business here. Again, this seems to be more of a custom or a make work opportunity, and you quickly become used to having your bag checked when entering malls or large stores. At the local fast food joint they act more like greeters opening the door for you.
I have been to places in Eastern Europe, where upon seeing police or guards armed with semi-automatic machine guns, I felt disconcerted, not being used to this, but have now been enough places to no longer think it strange. The guards here really don't search people well, so it is clearly more of a deterrent. In Manila many money exchange offices have signs out front that state "Leave all firearms with the guard" as if one should be told that it's not in their best interest to have a weapon when dealing with a cash teller. It is surprising that we don't see more signs like this in the U.S.
Tourism in Puerto
After the unfortunate politcal events that took place here in 2001, Puerto Princesa City suffered a down turn in tourism, which is only now again on the upswing. The brochure published by the City Tourism Department is full of proud local festivals, arts and crafts and eco-tourism destinations and adventures. The tourist season is in full swing from May through July, and again at Christmas. Times in between, like now, you only occasionally see someone foreign (which means I stick out like a sore thumb). Many of the tourist destinations which are advertised through travel agents are outside of the city center such as the famous Underground River which tunnels its way under the entire island. There are a few diving resorts and wilderness hikes, but much of what attracts visitors to Palawan is outside of Puerto Princesa. Within the city there are a small collection of pensions and about three decent hotels.
Despite the advertising to foreigners to come and enjoy the natural splendor, there seems to be little in place to encourage them to stay in the city. The hotels, as far as I've seen don't have a lot of information about local products and there is certainly no good information to inform visitors where they might find these items. Visitors, even less than locals will be very unaware of the OTOP designation, and only may stumble upon these goods when making their way through the local market. There seems to be a little cross promotion with resorts. I have heard that some local resorts, buy local products at the market and then sell them at a premium to guests. Although, this is not uncommon anywhere, it is doing little to help the local processor at the ground level, who is making little off of this transaction.
I would love to see the city take the initiative to directly communicate to visitors about their local goods, and encourage them in a more convincing way, that they would be missing out if they leave without trying these delicacies. (see more photos)
Buying Local
In the NCCC grocery and department store, in the grocery section, there is a shelf filled with OTOP products. Above this, there is a large banner framed with green painted bamboo, that has the title, "The Best of Palawan" It doesn't seem like a very effective sign. Like many of the local packages, it has a couple of poor images dropped in with a bit of confusing text. To make the situation even less effective, this unit is set up in the narrowest part of the store, near the back which is always busy, and so unless you know what your looking for, it is difficult to have a good look. There is no story about where the local products come from or who makes them. And despite the OTOP logo (on the sign, not the products), very few people I have spoken to have any idea what OTOP is. OTOP isn't even "One Town, One Product". It is many baranguays, and many products. Although the idea is a potent one, it is not communicating to anyone in its current state.
I have asked people from the city governement, and I have asked producers. I have asked other people I have met, and they all agree that when they buy a product here, it is because they have always liked that product, and although there might be a stall in the market that they know they can get an item, there is little acknowledgment of who makes that item, or where it might come from. When I ask what products have been designated by OTOP, I get a lot of humming and hawing, and categories are listed. The Department of Trade and Industry has a kiosk at their PPC office which sells Palawan OTOP products, and has a hand produced cataologue of sorts, plus an internet kiosk to find out more on the web. Most of the local producers do not have web pages, and even the national OTOP website lists almost nothing of what has been designated on Palawan. How are people supposed to know that this kiosk is even here?
There are promotional banners all over the city talking about one government project or another, but no one has taken the time to think that communicating to the local community about their fellow citizen's products might be a good idea. For all I know when I buy cashews or chocolate or honey, they could be from any part of the country or another country. Many products are marked with "Product of the Philippines" but if they aren't leaving the Philippines, what difference does that make. What needs to be happening here is encouraging people to pride in their own home. This is what helps local businesses prosper.
Local Packaging
While being introduced to the city markets, and the various marine product processors, I was able to gain a reasonable understanding of what is the norm for local product packaging. As mentioned before, the products at the market were housed in generic plastic, while the organized Citra Mina Fish Stores, have a more professional set of packages. The situation for most of the smaller processors and vendors, is a lack of time or understanding of how to dress their products. This is exacerbated by the kind of uneducated home computer capabilites that we see even in Canada, and a local printing industry, that like most copy shops where we come from, use the understanding of Photoshop in the place of good design.
In terms of cost, most small producers, live more or less hand to mouth, and do not have the capital to invest in expensive packaging and professional design services. So, like the woman who colours her photocopied labels with crayons, they do the best they know how with the time and knowledge they have. The printing shops don't help. Akin to copy shops or those trophy and engraving places we are used to, the local printers have a set of generic computer fonts, which they ask the producer to choose between. Without any understanding of hierarchy or history, it is extremely common for these individuals to choose curly, ornate, or bulbous character fonts, that make their labels work against them. The only place that this kind of wildly ornate type seems to add character rather than blending in, is on the handpainted store signs of the sort seen at the souvenir shops. While some are clearly better than others, there is a certain cheesy vernacular that acts as a sort of big welcoming grin, rather than the Jackson Pollock effect seen in Manila, where the intent to express, blends everything together into a whirlwind of visual pollution.
The Liberty Fisherman's Co-op that we visited on our second outing, had their labels designed in Manila by the Design Center of the Philippins, and although they were not awe inspiring, they were clear. The only thing they really did lack was consistency, as their brand of Puerto Bay, had several different logos, and each label had a different layout with different colours. They have been in business for 20 years and are reasonably organized. I especially liked the bulk plastic bags they used for frozen seafood which was patterned with a grid of vector marine animals, in blue, on the outside. With a brief overhaul, this could end up being very professional. My time here, however is meant to help those, who need help from the ground up. I am seeing a need to focus my attention on the smaller, independent producer in order to come up with some kind of economical system for teaching them about how to imbue the face of their products with added value. A clean but unique visual character will make these products stand out at the market, and enrich the experience they give with a personality that will anchor it to this place. (see more photos)
Motorcycle Culture
Cars and trucks, here in Puerto Princesa, are for goverment officials and business owners. Many get around by mulit-cab and by tricycle, and for those who do own their own private transportation, they drive motorbikes.
The fleet of private transportation in Puerto Princesa, like other parts of the Philippines, is made up of tricycle. These are small engined motorbikes with elaborate covered metal sidecars attached to them. Their small engines are likely not designed with the purpose in mind of carrying four people up hill, and often they are slow going and practically have the front wheel lifted off the ground when they are full. But they are what is available, and for many they mean a regular, if not limited source of income.
Many ride private motorbikes, and not of the big loud American sort, but rather the small sleek kind. The styles of these bikes range from the small wheeled variety that are more like scooters than motorbikes, to the fully decked sport bike with bright colours and a fancy plastic body. Many models are little more than dirt bikes. Helmets are optional and you don't see a lot of them. It is amazing that you don't see more accidents with the lack of a right of way system here. Wherever someone else isn't, that's where they drive. There are also garges and bike shops everywhere, and with so many older vehicles, I'm sure it is big business.
Finding Your Way Around
Puerto Princesa City is easy to get around. Its urban center isn't that big and there are only really a couple of main roads. All you have to do is stick out your hand and one of a thousand tricycle drivers will compete for your business. The going rate for most rides is about 10 pesos (20 cents), and for a longer ride from the center of town up the hill all the way to where I'm staying, 20 or 30 pesos is probably enough, but usually 50 is appreciated considering how little these guys make. At first coming from a spoiled western country where catching the bus is a matter of waiting, I felt somewhat intimidated by the whole flag down a motorcycle charade, but honestly these guys are so friendly that most of the time it is a pleasure just to take a ride with them.
There are also multi-cabs here. Similar to the jeepnies you get in Manila, the mulit-cabs are small jeep/van hybrids that carry about 8 to 10 people and have regular routes. They are almost always packed, and so far I have found it much easier to take tricycles. Most things are within a half hour to 45 minute walking distance anyway, but the emissions from all of the retrofitted vehicles makes breathing the air on the main roads, somewhat less enjoyable.
What the city is lacking is a good map. Perhaps because most visitors are too scared (or smart) to drive here, maybe they don't think road maps are necessary. I asked at the city hall if they could print me out one, but the guy who knew what he was doing had the day off. I searched for one in town and was told that the tourist info center at the airport was the only place licensed to carry PPC maps. I finally got my hands on one directly from the City Tourism Department, and like the Lonely Planet book said, it wasn't really worth my time. This issue will rise again when I address marketing local products to visitors.
Fish Processors
After seeing the products themselves in the market, I was taken to visit to fish processing businesses. The first was the Liberty Fishermen Multi-Purpose Co-operative and processing center. This group has been in business for 20 years and has a number of boats and member fisherman. There are also five women (the wives of fishermen) who work at the processing center, processing the fish into everything from sausages to steaks, shrimp paste, fish sauce, as well as dried, and semi-dried fish (Lamayo). Their office is in an area that looks a bit like a squatter's village, with narrow alleyways, and small residences tucked away in corners. Still, they now own the buildings they operate out of, and employ quite a few people. They sell to all sorts of businesses both locally and in other parts of the Philippines. Their packages were more professional than many of the smaller sellers, and included a properly printed label for each product, plus plastic bags for freezing with a motif of marine animals on the outside. Their only real packaging issue was the lack of consistency seen in their labels. Each one was markedly different from the others, so that you would have to be familiar with the brand to know they were produced by the same company.
Next, we visited Jaytee Marine Products Trading, where a husband and wife team, with the help of a few employees processed fish products in their home. They owned four boats with a team of four fishermen per boat, and have been in business for about 3 years. They are recipients of investment and marketing help from the OTOP program and proudly display an OTOP banner outside their home business. They have taken part in trade exhibitions in Manila and had attended the branding seminars that the city had put on previously. They also shipped some of their product to Manila, and all of this under their own entrepreneurial steam. If people like this can grow small businesses, why not other small developers. Their packages were designed in house, and as expected, they included a confusing assortment of gradients and word art overtop of blurry close-up product shots. Difficult to read, and similar to many other similar products, but I was impressed at simply how much they took on themselves. People like this are to be admired. This is clearly one area that hopefully we can help out with is bringing some education and resources to people like this to help them clarify their products and make them communicate clearly and effectively. The previous branding and packaging seminar that was held here in the spring focussed not on design, but rather santitation and packaging material requirements, as well as what information needs to legally be printed on packages. (see more photos)
Anyone's Culture
After my introduction to the Old City Market, George took me to see a kind of "Souvenir Row", an area of street a little outside the city center which houses many of the city's handicraft sellers. This area is marked with a sign that says, "Puerto Princesa Tourism Council Souvenir Shops"
Inside the various shops, which are more or less identical, there are displays of the wonderful hard work of a variety of crafts people, including many wood carvings and statues, wind chimes, jewellery and woven baskets. Some of these products are purchased from the various indigenous tribes of Palawan, while others are made by local artisans, and some by those who work in the shops.
I had been warned, however, that as intricate as many of these crafts were, many which were posing as Filipino clearly were not. There were wooden sculptures that were clearly African in nature, and I was surprised to see Dream Catchers, which any North American can tell you, is not Filipino.
When asked, none of the shop keepers could tell me much about the cultural or historical relevance of any piece, and most weren't sure what was actually local. One beautiful chandelier like piece made of carved wood, and glass beads, was made by the man operating the shop, but when I asked about its history, he said he had learned how to do it from his brother-in-law, and wasn't sure of its lineage.
This is an area that Puerto Princesa City needs a lot of help with. In a country where borrowed culture is indemic, and poverty is a major issue, it would not be in the best interest to prevent copied culture from being sold, however it is the local government's interest to take stewardship for the preservation of indigenous Filipino culture, and for marketing this as their heritage.
The Markets
Day one after arriving in Puerto Princesa City, I was picked up at 8:30 am by George Vasquez from the city Planning Department in a truck with a driver named José. George is apparently the right hand man for the Vice Mayor, Lucilo Bayron, who I was taken to meet first thing at one of two locations of Itoy's Coffee Haus (the only decent cup of coffee I have had since arriving and a regular hangout because they have wi-fi). A couple of Mr. Bayron's daughters run the two locations respectively. After a friendly introduction, and an invitation to his beach house at some point, we were off to see the old city markets.
There are also new city markets but they are not in the center of town, and the old markets are where most people go for groceries. The other central place for groceries is the department store styled NCCC (New City Commercial Center), which has groceries on the ground floor with several levels selling household goods, furniture and other amenities on the above two floors.
The Old City Markets, on the other hand are a labrynth of small stalls and narrow isles. The whole building is built of dingy concrete with sparse rows of flourescent fixtures bolted above. Much of what is on display is a treasure chest of the freshest seafood, and wonderful local products. It is a shame that the venue isn't an outdoor covered space, similar to farmers markets or those you would find in Europe.
There are many small stalls with one or more people standing there to sell products. Surprisingly there is very little active selling that goes on, other than the occassional, "It's very good sir". Everyone calls you sir here, which is nice at first, but gets to be a bit much after a while. Still, you couldn't pay people to be this polite back home. George took me to visit one stall where a woman was selling mostly Kasoy (cashews) in a variety of forms. The cashew were packaged in varying sizes of generic, clear plastic bags. The only description on the product was a small photocopied black and white label with a drawing of a Kasoy fruit. The Kiosk operator had a bag of crayons with which she scribbled inside of the drawing to add colour.
We also looked at a multitude of local fish products. The fresh fish and shellfish, especially the wonderfully coloured lobster would make anyone's mouth water, as it all comes in daily. There is also a wide variety of packaged fish products including Lamayo, a half dried fish, apparently popular with tourists (so I've been told) and the only product to actually be listed under Puerto Princesa on the national OTOP website. Other fully dried fish, fish sauce, and Spicy Dilis (a spicy small sardine type fish) were all available and local. Other than the clear plastic bags, several products used generic plastic containers of the sort you would see tzatziki or hummus in at home. Upon asking about the availability and pricing of these containers, I was told they are purchased in bulk from the NCCC for about 4 or 5 pesos, plus the cost of their labels. This means that a products selling for 30 pesos already have about 8 pesos dedicated to their packaging. This is less than 20 cents Canadian, but when the product is only 70, you can imagine how little they make.
The markets are also home to small stores celling you name it from cell phone accessories to the second hand clothing stores that are common to South East Asia and South America. There are signs, marking stalls and advertising products, but the space is so cramped, I wonder if anyone even notices them. (see more photos)
Rurungan sa Tubod Accomodation
As Czarina Lim was my initial contact here in Puerto I have been kindly put up in a spare room in the Rurungan sa Tubod Foundation compound. The compound, along with the Lim's house is in the baranguay of San Pedro, one of 66 city baranguays and up on a hill surrounded by tropical forest. The building in which I am staying is a simple wood and bamboo structure, which houses the foundation's weaving center in the adjacent rooms. The room in which I stay is simple with a bamboo mat underneath a floor matress, with a small bedside table and a rattan cupboard for putting my clothes. The heavy sliding door is easy to open from the inside, however with no handle on the outside, it is a must to remember the most ideal leverage points. Wet hands are not good therefore, and sometimes it won't budge.
The yard is full of beautiful tropical trees and plants. There is a simple wooden shed with a grass roof in the back and the animation studio is in a small building similar to this one directly next door. There is also a small structure with equipment for scanning, a small residence for the Lim's main helper Ending, her husband Edward, who also works for the Lim's and their two young boys. The bathroom and shower are separate cubicles in a small free standing building, much like washroom facilities you might find at a camp site, but more than enough to do the job. Ending the housekeeper who lives there has given me a key and keeps the bathroom locked so the boys from the animation department don't make a mess of it.
There are chickens and a beautifully coloured rooster that roam around, plus a trio of kittens and a couple of dogs. The Lim's house is separated from the compound by a forested area about 50 meters wide. Although there is a path which runs between the two, the clay like mud sticks so vehemently to the bottom of shoes and sandals, that it is less trouble to take the road. It was suggested that I bring a headlamp, but I brought a small flashlight that isn't quite as bright as I'd like, but I managed to find a replica Petzl headlamp at the local hardware store for about 3 dollars (compared to $35 at home).
The Lim's house itself is a wonder of open air design. There is a large courtyard area that is home to Ernie Lim's extensive workshop and a sewing and mending area. Here is where meals are served when there is large gatherings. Upstairs the eating area is more like a dining hall, with a large wooden table for about 14, high ceilings and a large open kitchen area. Because of the design it always feels very bright even when the weather is gray. There is a large garden area with a shed for dying fabrics, many trees, a trampoline, and a length pool. This is all enclosed by a huge roof of black netting which allows the light in but keeps the bugs, birds, and other unwanted visitors out. In front of the home is a full sized basketball court. It is tropical and somewhat overgrown in places, but it is a remarkable home that Ernie Lim conceived of and built. (see more photos / more to come)
Arrival in Puerto Princesa City
After spending five fun filled days in Manila acclimatizing to the humidity, and the crowds, I made my way to the domestic airport and caught my flight to Palawan. The taxi driver overcharged me but was extremely friendly, and once and a while I don't mind (considering its only a few dollars for me). After two security check points and having to cough up for airport tax and excess baggage, I was quickly on the plane and on may way to Puerto Princesa City. The flight took about an hour and was very comfortable, and cost roughly $35 Canadian dollars, althought it depends what time of week you go. Why can't you get deals like that to Calgary.
Coming into land in Puerto looked a little like one of those movies where cargo planes land on remote airstrips in the jungle, simply because of all the palm and banana trees. Upon exiting the plane there was a marching band playing internationally recognized pop tunes, and I had to register my passport as I waited for my luggage. There is no customs per se, but if your a tall white guy, someone comes over and asks you to check in with a guy at a small wooden table.
I met Czarina Lim, my contact, whose home I am staying at, and she took me to meet the city mayor, Edward Hagedorn as he was at the airport, waiting for a flight to Manila himself. Hagedorn is a character, and had found himself in his current position off and on since 1992. There is barely a square inch of city that doesn't have some large banner or poster with candid publicity photos of the mayor promoting one initiative or the other. He gave me his business card and remarked that it could be used in any bank machine. Under his leadership the city has taken on many green initiatives to the point of fining those who litter or smoke in public places. Puerto Princesa thus has a reputation for being a "green city" which also allows no mining within the city boundaries. If only they could regulate the pollution created by all of the vehicles.
Czarina took me to the Rurungan Sa Tubod foundation, her compound adjacent her home, which houses a hand made fabric weaving center, and an animation touch up studio. We met for a traditional Filipino lunch with members of the City Agriculture Department and the Department of Trade and Industry, who spearheads the local OTOP program. I had the opportunity to show them my portfolio and discuss briefly what they were doing. I was assigned to George, a young man from the City Planning Department, who would be taking me around for the next couple of days.
Luckily I have been to tropical regions with high humidity before, so I knew what to expect, but when you're from a temperate climate, you start to sweat the second you step outside, and always feel like you need a shower.
Art and Design Manila
Before leaving for the Philippines, our predecessor interns had given us a significant list of people they had met, and that it would be in our interest to see. We had decided to spend five days in Manila thinking that this would be enough time. Being jet lagged, utterly exhausted from scrambling the previous week preparing to leave, and taking time to learn how to get around here, we ended up not seeing nearly everything that we should have. We wanted to look at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Design Center, not to mention a couple of other museums, but there was only so much we could squeeze in.
We met Boots Herrera, a friend and contact of Sam Carter, one of the co-op instructors, who has been involved in Asian design for many years. Boots is an assistant professor at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City, who teaches Art History. Jon and Alex, the two other interns from Emily Carr Institute who I came over with, and I met Boots at the Alliance Francaise de Manila, for the book signing of a local anthropoligist (all about the rates of suicide in southern Palawan-feel good stuff). Boots introduced us to a few contemporaries, and was then kind enough to take us to a couple of galleries at a an outdoor shopping complex called Fort Bonifacio. This area was pattered after European high streets, with a lot of typical high street shops running the length of a central courtyard, dotted with fountains, benches and public sculpture, a la the west.
One gallery held an exhibit of contemporary painting and sculpture by a community of local artists. It was interesting to see that the art scene, no matter how marginal here, reflected very much the kind of work and thinking that can be seen at home. We also attended a small opening at a different gallery in the same complex showcasing paintings that were created as illustrations for a childrens book authored by a professor from the University of Toronto. We didn't get to spend much time with Boots, but it was wonderful to meet her as she is very dynamic and well connected.
We returned the following night to the first gallery where the closing of the show was taking place. We made some contacts and had the opportunity to speak to many of the artists whose works were on show. We were then invited to another show opening in an area of Quezon City called Cubao X. Here we discovered a community of local artists, musicians and shop keepers, who frequented each other's businesses and made up a beautiful little collective. The gallery showed the works of a couple of local graphic artists, and we discovered beautiful t-shirts and other products by a couple of young Manila graphic design agencies. A couple of great local bands played, we ate at the cafe of one of the locals with their friends' comic store next door. We also had the priveledge of having a shop opened up for us, which housed a beautiful collection of pop culture memorabila, including old cameras, mannequins, and a collection of hand made articles including beatifully designed clocks, hand cut and painted wooden typefaces, and movie clapper boards that were sold as local souveniers. Although this side of young Manila, is steeped in the pop culture of the west, there was somthing here that was much more about the community, that seems somewhat lacking where we are from. (see more photos)
Food and More Food
As mentioned in a previous entry, there is a lot of fast food here. From American and European chains to homegrown copies of the same, to the international variety of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, and Indian restaurants, there is no lack of food for those who can afford it. Eating is not expensive here either.
On of the most successful Filipion restaurant chains is Jollibee. This McDonald's replica has hundreds of locations accross the country, and has apparently even opened a location in Las Vegas. Their menu is somewhat more elaborate than their western counterparts, with a full KFC style chicken menu, pasta, burgers, and you name it, all served with a side of rice as are most meals here. More than anything, this company has a very consistent and rather quite likeable design system. Like other Mickey Mouses and Ronald McDonalds, the "Jolly Bee" is a very recognizeable character, which along with simple graphic shapes and a consistent red and yellow colour palette (sound familiar) that really stands out from its surroundings because of their incosistancy and randomness. A lesson to be learned for other small business, and something which will have to be applied in my own dealings with small product developers, is how to create simple, yet consistent branding which will help to raise a local products above the noise of what is really a visually polluted culture.
Foodcourts in the malls here are also a spectacle in themselves. Unlike their niche western varieties, the malls here have food floors. I'm serious. Entire floor dedicated to every kind of fast food you can imagine. And what's shocking is that there are often several of the same kind of restaurant. It isn't just a matter of choosing what ethnic food you feel like today, but rather filtering out the way too many choices. In the upstairs food court in the Mall of Asia, my colleagues and I went to the food court (which in this case was only a tradional court, not floor) and after walking around the perimeter, agreed that although each business had a different sign, they all had almost the exact same selection of food. If there was a long queue at one, it didn't matter. You could just go to the next one and get the same meal. (see photos)
Mega Malls
Manila has two scales of living. Up and down. The majority of the city seem to live in roadside huts and allyways, naked children running around, and laundry stretched accross the roads to dry. There are approximately 50, 000 children living on the street in Manila, and this does not account for the adults. Crime is a problem, but how could it not be.
The other percentage live in beautiful homes. Some fenced off in compounds with their own private security forces. And there are malls a plenty. We went to several including the Ayala Center, the Power Plant and the Mall of Asia. You can find just about every store you have ever come accross from North America, Europe and Australia. Like commercial centers in the west, the majority of businesses in the malls are international chains, and the ones that are presumably Filipino are carbon copies of western stores. Bench, a Filipino clothing chain (there is also a Similar British company called Bench) carries the typical polo shirt and cargo short designs, internationally popularized by The Gap, and Abercrombie & Fitch. The bookstores are wonderful. There is no end to selection. There are books here that I have a hard time finding in Canada, mind you in a city of 10 million people, I suppose it is to be expected.
The culture here, in the city at least is one of assimilation. The Philippines has been culturally dominated by European and American interests for so many hundreds of years, the goal of business here seems to be to copy what works elsewhere. Although other asian countries have followed the business and product models of the west, Japan and China have managed to infuse these ideas with strong sensibiltites of their own traditions and perspectives. In the Philippines this has been disappearing for a very long time now. (see photos)