I have posted all the lovely, trendy and affluent scenes of Makati, besides several touristy & historical areas. Every country has got their good and bad sides like a coin. Somehow the slums in Manila is well known due to its huge area size and piles of garbage that piled up several storeys high. It has been named as "Smokey Mountain" because it is so high with garbage and there were daily gas explosions from the bio-organic stench that triggered fire. It was smoky all over in the past.
1. My jaws dropped in disbelief from the plane, to see the huge areas of squatter homes
around Metropolitan Manila. The tall buildings are located inside the Makati City.
My wifey snapped all the photos below for me.
My wifey snapped all the photos below for me.
2. Our tour guide driver drove us far away from Makati to visit
the Smokey Mountains area. It was like miles of makeshift houses
lining up the highway near the port harbor area.
3. Everyone has to work hard to search through all the daily garbage waste
from all over Manila to look for recyclable items.
4. Their living conditions are in a sad and unhealthy state but they
have no choice. Each tiny makeshift 'homes' are made from thick card boxes,
PVC materials and waste woods.
This could shelter a family of 10 persons!!!
5. My heart was weakened and didn't post the photos of myself
taken in front of these slums. I know I would look bad.
The young teens live, work & play at the same spot.
6, This is the famous "Smokey Mountain" which has been overgrown
with weeds and grass while the garbage still remains beneath.
7. The government could do nothing but moved the daily
garbage disposal to another area now.
That's like sweeping the problems under the carpets!
8. It was heart warming to see the kids playing happily
by just jumping like frogs without toys or sports.
Happiness is all around them. Why do we complain
so much with our life at home?
9. Come rain or shine, that's 4 houses and could easily
sleep over 30 people at night. They have no bathrooms, water pipe
or privacy. Their average lifespan would be 40-45 years.
Everyday someone dies and many babies are born.
10. It woke me up to see the tests of daily survival here.
The kids would salvage anything of use & value from the
street dumps and bring them home.
11. All their loots being tied up awaiting for daily pick up
by the trucks in exchange for tokens to fill their stomachs.
They do not go to school and that's life to them.
12. The driver did not allow me to walk inside the slums, so
I borrowed this photo to show how they salvage usable items from
the filthy monsoon drains.
13. The actual Smokey Mountain.
Oh dear, I was feeling sad too when I go through the pictures, and I agree when you said what are we complaining in our comfy homes? I must show these pictures (and your post) to Kz and sees if he understands it.. I cook rice and soup and steamed egg, and he complained about it, took few bites, and said he wanted ice cream.. I must show him these pictures and let him know not everyone can get whatever they wanted as desired..
ReplyDeleteI still feel sad when I recall back the few hours we spent at the slums. The smell was worse than our haze but we are too pampered here & always complain easily. I have seen the slums in Bangkok and Jakarta but they are not as incredibly huge as this one in Manila. Today I read the news that when Marcos fled Manila, the country's economy never recovered until today. We are being warned that we might suffer like Philippines and Zimbabwe. Oh God! That's scary man........ **shivers**
DeleteCan't imagine myself visiting the place as I'm already feeling so sad just going thru the post. Count ourselves lucky to be living well in our countries........
ReplyDeleteI would not expect anyone to visit these slums when in Manila.
DeleteOnly a weird guy like me would visit morgues, cemeteries and slums. LOL.
I would gladly share this awareness of life with everyone.
We must count our blessings, even more so after reading this post. It's an eye opener. I cannot imagine living under such conditions.
ReplyDeleteIf we live there, we won't be blogging at all and you will have no wok and ovens to bake & cook your yummy dishes and cakes. We should be happy and help the less fortunate always. Would you consider baking the moistest milo chocolate cakes for me to feed the homeless beggars at midnight? Wakakaka
DeleteEvery city has its dark side~
ReplyDeleteSo true. Even the streets of New York City have so many homeless beggars at midnight.
DeleteGood evening TM... Haze here, sobssssss and sulk sulk...
ReplyDeleteNext year we should start burning rubbish and blow them to Indonesia ok??
DeleteWe tend to complain this and that, by those pictures that you share with us, we should count our blessing...
ReplyDeleteI agree. I must learn to shaddup and be happy with my life. I should start dancing zumba too!
DeleteMaybe TM may want to consider organise a trip out there to help out...
ReplyDeleteYou bet. Spot on! I will go once you have raised enough funds from Singapore for my air fare, hotel and freebies to feed them all.
DeleteIts shocking and sad to see.
ReplyDeleteAnd made me realise how blessed my life is.
I had the same thoughts like you and felt so guilty after that. I discussed this matter with my wifey on how the government could help them but it is really not easy as they need education basically. It is like giving them a fish but they do not know how to fish.
DeleteOh no..that is indeed sad... we are indeed blessed over here... better not complain so much of this and that... thank you for opening our eyes, TM... I think whoever has seen this in real will wake up praising God each morning for what he/she has...
ReplyDeleteYeah I have stopped complaining nowadays and try to live meaningfully each day. While we enjoy the good days often, it would be good that we remember the ones who have bad days often.
DeleteI have heard of Smokey Mountain but have not been there nor visited it. I must be honest to say that I have not seen it in pictures as well. The reflections made from all these photographs are worth thinking. My complaints are miniscule compared to their lives.
ReplyDeleteThis Smokey Mountains area is so huge and it provoked my thoughts for many days, just like my visits to the interiors of China. I saw many suffering villagers in those remote areas but they are used to the way of their lives. I think we are being pampered sometimes.
DeleteBeing a Buddhist, I could only blame one's fate sometimes to live the way they are. In life, every problem has a solution. The government need to give priorities to their plight as they could be nation builders of the future.
i guess not many tourists would have chosen to go to the slum areas huh?? this is indeed a very eye-opening posts telling stories that many may not have know about Manila.. kudos for sharing!!!
ReplyDelete#1.. this is indeed an amazing shot!! look at how dense the houses are!! it is such a contrast between the Makati and the squatter homes huh??
#2.. the driver must be rather excited about bringing tourists to this place huh??
#3.. it looks like a huge area being occupied by the garbage from all over the metropolitan..
#4.. i just cannot imagine cardboards and PVC could be used to build houses!!
#5.. i agree that it would not be appropriate to take a photo of yourself visiting the squatters.. it would look weird as if you were so happy being in the camera..
#6 & #7.. the garbage must have been there for many many years before they turned into a hill and weeds could even grow on them!!
#8.. these kids are to be respected and salute given to them!! imagine our kids here who would throw tantrum when given food and clothes and toys they do not like, but these kids in the slum would appreciate anything they will have.. shame on the spoilt kids!!!
#9.. i guess that house is all the have for their entire lives, probably..
#10.. growing up under such harsh and deprived conditions, i would say the kids will grow up tough and be able to survive many challenges..
#11.. i suddenly feel like they could have been bullied for being paid way lesser than they should have been paid for the hard labour they had given.. sigh!!
#12.. OMG, this is indeed unbelievable.. this reminds me of the few sewage cleaners being awarded with Datukship by LGE in Penang..
#13.. this picture indeed look rather picturesque, if you have not let us realise what actually is happening behind the squatter..
The Smokey Mountains is definitely not a tourist area just like their Wealthy Chinese Cemetery but there are people like me who would want to see. Seeing is believing! After seeing, I needed to share so that I could wake you guys up.
DeleteSeeing the photos make me think of Elysium, the movie where the rich lives in a luxurious space station (aka Makati) and the poor lives in poor conditions in a ruined Earth (Smokey mountain). The question is why is there such a huge divide? How come the rich there does nothing to help the poor? I pray that our country do not become like that - such a huge gap between the rich and the poor.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking for many years over the huge divide in many countries. I would blame the faults of certain humans' greed, ignorance and selfish hearts. Those people in power would be greedy and caused damages that could last for several generations just like how the Marcos have brought sufferings to Philippines. They never see nor admitted their own faults. Now our country is moving towards the same track with the corrupted people in power. This is so scary indeed.
DeleteI guess every country also have their slum corners. Philippines is not rich country and not surprising you see these views there. Even in SG, there were homeless folks who slept at the benches in Chinatown.
ReplyDeleteGoodness. How could you compare such a tiny isolated cases of homeless people in the republic with Philippines? Even a small matter could not be solved by the government? What about this huge size in Manila? There seems to be no solution as it has been like this for 2 decades.
Deletethis is really sad indeed... I wish our Government will do something about this but unfortunately none of them seems to pay attention ... poverty has been a major issue even before I was not born
ReplyDeleteSigh.. i always pray that someday Philippines can overcome such challenge
You should study political science and stand for elections to be voted into the senate. Once you sit there, you could do something to help overcome the plight of the sufferings at the slum areas.
DeleteThank for sharing, We read about it but seeing it really make you count your blessing.
ReplyDeleteLets just pray that this will not happen in our country and to our future generations.
Hello !
ReplyDeleteWelcome. The "Directory Blogspot" it is not a spam, it's not a robot, it is a site like yours done by a person like you.
The goal is to promote your blog in the world!
I suggest you to publicize your blog by registering on the "international directory blogspot"
The "directory" is 24 million visits, 194 countries of the world! and more than 19,000 blogs.
In comments, please your URL. site name. and your Country
Activity is only friendly
Imperative to follow our blog to validate your registration
We hope that you will know our site with your friends.
Thank you for your understanding
I wish you an excellent day
sincerely
Chris
http://world-directory-sweetmelody.blogspot.com/
Thank you to follow my blog - it is greatly appreciated! O)
We follow your blog, please follow us in return!
This's so sad, meanwhile to remind us to treasure what we've and be thankful!
ReplyDeleteHi! The people who can be rich become richer, and poor people become poorer.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad that a difference spreads.
And the living also live among the dead
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/23/philippines-cemetery-urban-poor-home
Visiting places like these will make me realise how fortunate and blessed I am, I always tell myself there are many unfortunate people in the world so I should treasure what I have and be contented
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, looking at those photos, how horrible their living conditions are
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing TM
ReplyDeleteThere are many people staying in such horrible and terrible conditions, and here I am, blogging away in the comfort of my home, sipping my favourite ice lemon tea, so sometimes when I see those less fortunate people, I will think to myself "what can I do to help them?"
ReplyDeleteBuddhism ever taught us if you cannot help by donating money, what you can do is to "donate" your time by helping people to clean their houses etc
ReplyDeleteIf you want to, there is a tour company called Smokey Mountain Tours that organizes walking tours into the slums. They are run by a charity and the tour guides are people who grew up from the slums but made the transition out successfully. Their main works are to run schools for the kids in the slums and provide educational materials for them, hopefully in a generation or two's time, they can get more people out of the slums and back into the world.
ReplyDeleteEye opening TM.. I was impressed with Makati city and thought Manila has develop into a new hub to do business and internet..and wondering why Filipino still want to be maid all over the world.. now I see..
ReplyDeleteWhile we are blessed and fortunate in Malaysia now, many are thinking ahead whether will we become a poor state.. with greedy politician running the office..
So is justify we complaint now, before it get worse.. many just give up complaining and migrate.. what about you TM.. u think Malaysia got hope or it will become a slum in 20 years??
I felt sympathy for these poor urban residents...So, do they ask for donations throughout your visit there?
ReplyDeletewow ..., we should be gratefulll
ReplyDeleteAll these pictures are so saddening. Our youngsters and children are so blessed here. We needed to resort to cane to chase the kids to finish their rice, but they are suffering from starvation and thirst everyday.
ReplyDeleteThis post has given me an insight of poverty at other country. Thanks for sharing, Anay.
Gosh this is terrible. Adui...anay oh anay...you really go to everywhere when go go vacation. Not only to nice places but also visited the slums.
ReplyDeleteWell documented! I never imagined Manila has this side of story too, good that you have shared. Its really disheartening to see all these things. These photos reminds me of the Slums in Delhi, India, they too have really large slums.
ReplyDeleteTM thanks for the pixz which we normally would not have a chance to see if not for you. That's the 'other' side of life so sad. Visited something like this in India in Madras now changed to Chennai. You are not weird, Bananaz would do the same to see things not easily to be seen.
ReplyDeleteIt's heart wrenching to see the photos and the same reminding us to be grateful for what we have.
ReplyDeletei want to visit this place when i'm in Manila.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, some people still whining and scratching their head thinking whether to buy an iPhone 6s here.
ReplyDeleteI never imagined Manila has such a hidden face... I know there are slums in that city, but it seems 100 times larger than Mumbai slums. I was shock with the sight shot from the airplane and the life at dump yard.
ReplyDeleteI could only wish their situation turn better quite. Though i feel sorry, i think u for coming up with an eye-opening post.
ę§ęč·å®
ReplyDeleteęäŗŗč²¼å
å·ę
å·Øä¹³å §å°å¤Pē”儳
č²ę ę“äŗ¤
ęØč¦ē“ å©
å¾·å·ę²å éę²
ē·äøęę³Ø
č²éę²