CHRISTMAS WONDERLAND AT THE SM MALL OF ASIA / CNN'S
HERO OF THE YEAR?
[PHOTO
AT LEFT - SM Prime Holdings president Hans T. Sy turns on the lights of a
50-foot Christmas Tree at the SM Mall of Asia. The event, which also features a
tableau of singing dolls and a performance of the Magical Christmas Story
performed by the Philippine Opera Company, also launched the beginning of the SM
of Mall of Asia’s Christmas Wonderworld.]
MANILA, NOVEMBER 10, 2009 (STAR) Christmas came early to the SM Mall of Asia with the ceremonial lighting of the giant Christmas Tree recently, officially signaling the start of the Christmas season at the mall.
SM Prime Holdings president Hans Sy lighted the 50-foot Magical Christmas Tree decorated with thousands of gold Christmas balls and poinsettias that also formally opened the Christmas Wonderworld Celebration at the SM Mall of Asia.
The program started with a play, “A Magical Christmas Story,” performed by Philippine Opera Company. It is a Christmas story set in the kingdom of MOA, with an evil queen who does not want to celebrate Christmas. The other characters come up with a plan to make Christmas happen in the kingdom by lighting the symbolic Christmas Tree, so all of the men and women in the castle will start to feel the spirit of Christmas.
Visitors will also be taken on a Yuletide trip around the world with “Sounds of Christmas Around the World,” a unique and meticulously constructed tableau of singing dolls and landscapes of different countries like France, Thailand, Japan, England, Alaska, Philippines, Cambodia, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Sounds of Christmas Around the World will give holiday shoppers a welcome music break daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
SM Mall of Asia’s Christmas Wonderworld also features the Grand Festival of Lights. Themed floats with dazzling bright lights and colorful decorations will parade around the North and South Arcades with dancers, singers, and seasoned performers in beautiful whimsical costumes. It’s a breathtaking experience that will surely bring good cheer to everyone during this favorite time of year. The Grand Festival of Lights will take place on Nov. 28 and all Saturdays of December (Dec. 5, 12, 19 and 26).
Can Pinoy teacher make it as CNN's Hero of the Year? By Rhodina Villanueva (The Philippine Star) Updated November 10, 2009 12:00 AM
[PHOTO AT LEFT - Efren Penaflorida Jr. teaches children at a rally organized by his supporters at the Mall of Asia yesterday. MANNY MARCELO]
MANILA, Philippines - Family and friends, as well as the street children taught by teacher Efren Peñaflorida Jr. gathered at the SM Mall of Asia music hall yesterday to encourage the public to vote for him as CNN’s Hero of the Year.
At least 1,000 supporters of Peñaflorida showed up at the rally, with Internet booths set up on site for those who want to log on to www.CNN.com/Heroes and cast their vote for the 28-year-old teacher, who grabbed the limelight after being chosen from 9,000 nominees from 100 countries as one of CNN’s top 10 heroes for 2009.
CNN’s heroes are ordinary citizens accomplishing extraordinary deeds. Votes can be cast until Nov. 18.
Peñaflorida said what he wanted was to simply help poor and underprivileged children get access to education, even through non-traditional means.
A co-founder of the Dynamic Teen Company (DTC) – a group of teen volunteers who teach street children basic reading and writing – Peñaflorida said he was inspired by his teachers to eventually join their ranks and share his passion for knowledge in and outside the formal classroom setting.
“Before, what I really wanted is to become an engineer but my teachers were my inspiration, they made me appreciate their job so that it was the same profession I pursued,” he said.
While teaching full-time at the Palmridge School in Imus, Cavite, Peñaflorida and other volunteers took time out every Saturday to teach street children.
He said the teaching sessions are conducted every morning and every afternoon in at least four sites in Cavite on Saturdays.
“In the morning, sessions are held in the marketplace and in the dumpsite while in the afternoon, teaching activity takes place in the cemetery and in the Badjao community,” Peñaflorida said as he noted that so far, they already have 348 children who are officially enrolled in their “pushcart classroom program” – though overall, 1,700 kids are benefiting from the group’s advocacy.
The children, aged two to 14, flock to the pushcart every Saturday to learn reading, writing, arithmetic and English from Peñaflorida and the other volunteers.
Peñaflorida’s group has been doing this for the past 12 years, with their pushcart classroom stocked with books, pens, tables and chairs.
“What we also wanted is to divert the attention of these children for them not to engage in vices and bad deeds and become productive members of the society,” he said.
The group has also sent promising children to formal school, among them a former pickpocket and solvent addict, gang members, street beggars and abandoned children. Some of these former street children are now young professionals who devote their spare time to DTC as volunteers.
Apart from Cavite, the “pushcart classroom program” is also being conducted by the group’s 10,000 volunteers in Nueva Ecija and Zamboanga.
Even with the unexpected fame, this simple Caviteño remains humble. “I am just an ordinary guy. It was just fortunate that I was given this chance and that my group’s advocacy was given recognition. But anyone of us can be a hero. In our own little ways, we can serve as a hero to our fellow Filipinos,” Peñaflorida who hails from Caridad, Cavite City, said.
Peñaflorida will receive $25,000 for being in the top 10 and is eligible for the $100,000 award bestowed on CNN’s hero of the year later this month at a star-studded gala in Hollywood.
Peñaflorida plans to use “90 percent of my prize in expanding the program of DTC while 10 percent I will donate to church.”
Hosted by CNN’s Anderson Cooper and taped at the famed Kodak Theatre, CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute will air on Nov. 26 at 9 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Senate approved last night Resolution 971, which congratulates and commends Peñaflorida for providing access to alternative education to street children and out-of-school youths in the country. – With Christina Mendez