Together again

The Mijares-Ancheta siblings
Image source: Paul Ancheta

THREE WEEKS ago, my ten siblings and I gathered altogether in Manila for the very first time as a full group since 1982. We've been wanting to do this home reunion through so many family events (weddings, anniversaries, Papa and Mama's passing), but there was always a valid reason for one of us living overseas to miss such event. Last February, my brother Allan confirmed that he and his family were migrating to Canada in May. A flurry of e-mails and Skype conversations followed, and we all decided to come home in May . . . by hook or by crook.

And so we did. Between 28 April to 2 May, we did things together: catch up, cook meals, dine out, pray, shop, pose for posterity pictures at home, picnic at the tranquil resting place of Papa and Mama. We even visited the street in Quezon City where we grew up in the seventies, surprised at its eerie narrowness and saddened by its depressing crowdedness.

Those five days remain amongst the most memorable of our days. Now that we lead separate lives in the Philippines and overseas, we'll never know if and when this full reunion can happen again.

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A new office

SPRING PROVIDES the most beguiling colors and textures to my workplace. In Haifa, the Mount Carmel Terraces always transformed into floral staircases to the clear blue skies. In Mumbai, large jacaranda trees in purple majesty lined the park behind Eureka Towers. In Manila, a flame tree stood in full bloom outside the Triumph building, its scarlet blossoms matching the intensity of the red Triumph logo on the building. And now in Kolkata, the colors are so . . . black.

See, the office has moved to a heritage building just across Duncan House in the venerable but chaotic Dalhousie Square in central Kolkata. It's called Gillander House, and, like the rest of the colonial buildings in the area, it must have had the air of a prima donna during its prime. It's also possible that this is one of very few places in Dalhousie where human traffic doesn't collide with vehicular traffic.

I explained its existence to the rest of my colleagues who stayed behind in Duncan House with an e-mail on my first day in Gillander (31 March):

The building is filled with romantic character! The exteriors are beautifully dilapidating and chipping off, a lovely cobblestone pathway outside seems to have been gracefully taken off a 19th-century cemetery, and a scintillatingly curving interior staircase (dark, of course, to give it a romantic look and feel) next to a museum-relic, non-moving elevator reminds me of the charming interiors of a sophisticated movie (Alfred Hitchcock's “Vertigo”, maybe). I plan to wear Harry Potter-ish attires starting tomorrow to complete the transition.

Oh well, I might as well wear all my red, purple, and aquamarine shirts to the office. They look good against the black architectural background!

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Manila calling

MetroNow headline, 14 April 2008

UNTIL THE other day, Manila seldom landed in Indian conversations about Southeast Asian cities. Most of my local friends are not even aware of the city’s close proximity to Bangkok, KL, or Singapore, three favorite Indian travel destinations. (For the record, Manila is a 3.5-hour flight from Bangkok.)

Now, however, that the Delhi newspaper MetroNow has headlined Manila on its front page, the Philippine capital city is famous . . . for call center reasons. On its 14 April 20, 2008 issue, MetroNow reported: “Filipinos take the shine out of NCR as BPO giants shift business to cheaper Southeast Asian cities.”

India’s low manpower cost has made it the world’s top business process outsourcing (BPO) destination, with targets of US$50 billion revenues by 2013 from the current US$11 billion. However, as MetroNow reported, the Philippines has an edge in telecom, infrastructure, safety and security, cross-cultural relations, the support of the government in developing the call center industry, and—most importantly to me as an often-frustrated call center customer— proficiency in English.

I’m glad that MetroNow has picked this up. It’s time Indian call centers learn how to communicate with the most understandable words in the least number of syllables in the shortest possible duration!

Manila vs Gurgaon : the heat is on
by Joel Joseph and Manish Adhikary

• EXL expands global footprint, commences operations from Philippines Centre, April 8, 2008
• WNS to drive BPO Services in Philippines, April 4, 2008
• Accenture launches BPO operations in Philippines, February 4, 2008

If you’re wondering what point we are trying to drive home, let’s kill the suspense. The lines you read above are a few news headlines signaling the rise of Philippines in the outsourcing world. Manila and Cebu in Philippines are beginning to take the shine off cities like Gurgaon and Noida in India. And the livelihood of not only industry staffers but millions of Indian graduates eagerly waiting to join BPOs after college exams in June is at stake.

So, what does Manila have that Gurgaon and Noida don’t? “Lots of things—from work culture to safety and security,” says the CEO of a Gurgaon-based BPO giant.

Sanjay Mehta, managing director of Gurgaon-based Teleperformance BPO also chips in: “An Indian BPO has to deal with four things—transportation, catering (food), security and power generation—before it can sit down and get on with the real business. What’s more, BPO jobs in Manila don’t come with frills attached. The work environment, unlike in India, is similar to that of any other industry. You don’t have to spend a fortune in placating your staff and giving them additional privileges like we do in India.”

Manila also scores higher than India in infrastructure. “The city has better infrastructure with rail networks like the Metrostar Express. The companies there don’t need to waste their resources on safety and security,” says Mehta. Agrees BPO guru and Quatrro CMD Raman Roy, “From airport to roads, from water supply to education, Philippines is far ahead of India. And with the tax advantage they have thanks to their government, more companies are setting up shops there to reap higher profits,” says Raman.

Another interesting and significant area of difference is culture. The HR head of Convergys who takes care of recruitments in Manila as well as Gurgaon, Tim Huiting, narrates a story to explain the difference between Indian and Philippine agents.

“After every presentation, I show the new-hires a picture of a helmet of a popular American football team. No one in India has been able to identify it yet. But when I put the photo in front of Philippine agents, almost all of them shout—Green Bay Packers—the correct answer,” says Tim. “Philippines is more attuned to the Western style of living. They have a better understanding of the customers they talk to over the phone,” says Tim.

Another striking fact was revealed by Mehta. He said, “In Manila, you don’t generally get pickups or drops. You sleep in the office dormitory after your shift ends. Companies don’t spend too much on food and similar such facilities that are a given here.”

Speaking about the Philippines government’s role in helping the industry take off, Nasscom vice chairman and Genpact president Pramod Bhasin says, “The Filipinos are pretty excited about outsourcing. Their government has only recently sanctioned over USD100 crore (USD1 billion) for educating people to help them get a BPO job.” This is in contrast to the Indian government’s kill-the-golden-goose mission, say industry experts.

In an exclusive chat with MetroNow after joining EMRI as member of the governing board, former Nasscom president Kiran Karnik had said that the government had failed to acknowledge the headroom for growth our industry has. “The silence on extension of STPI scheme is very disappointing,” he had said.

Another important element is command over English. The English that Philippinos (sic) speak is superior to ours, which means you have to spend less to train them. BPOs in Manila don’t need to offer the traditional benefits we get working in a Gurgaon BPO like lunch, breakfast, or dinner.

So, the BPO industry in India—already under a lot of stress, what with the slowdown in the US, the depreciating dollar, talent crunch and an insensitive government—now finds itself in a tricky situation.

“It’s more serous than a tricky situation,” says another CEO, who did not wish to be named. “EXL, a big Indian BPO success story, is not eating the proverbial pie in the sky when it opens shop in Philippines. There are concrete reasons behind the move,” he says.

The trouble is many in the US believe that South East Asia is the place to be. And if the industry concerns are not addressed soon, our BLP dream can very easily turn into a nightmare.

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Spencer's Hyper ventilates in Baroda

Visual merchandising at Spencer's Hyper, Gujarat, India
Designed by Paul Ancheta, Vinodini Iyer, & other members of the VM team
Image source: Paul Ancheta

ONE MONTH ago today, Spencer's Hyper opened its portals to the Gujarati public in Vadodara (Baroda). It was a smashing opening, literally: by evening, over 1,000 Gujaratis outside the store were pushing and shoving each other to join 5,000 others already inside the store. On the roads, possibly as much cars jammed the traffic. Similar scenarios occurred through the next several days. To say the least, the store opening was a success.

Two levels, a larger fresh food area, a 30-foot-high atrium, a 30-foot-long show window, and a ramp way leading to the upper level fill the 55,000 square feet of trading area. Faced with a bigger display area, I adapted the look and feel of our earlier store (South City hypermarket in Kolkata) with even more baskets, barrels, crates, and ethnic terracotta vases decorating topmost gondola shelves. This VM approach matches the mindset and habits of the local Gujarati consumers, making Baroda look much more ethnic and food-focused than Kolkata.

Spencer's Hyper Vadodara is now the hottest store in the organization. Colleagues from all over India have been flying into this quaint city, inspecting the store to benchmark their own store openings. I was telling Vinodini (regional VM manager for Gujarat), that, for all the gracious welcomes that she has been giving the visitors, I should now change her title to “VM Guide”!

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Festival of Ayyám-i-Há

BAHÁ'ÍS ARE now celebrating the Festival of Ayyám-i-Há (“Days of Há”). These are the days between 26 February and 1 March that lead to the holy 21-day period of fasting. It is the time of the year when Bahá'ís celebrate God and His oneness with the joyfulness of gif-giving, merriment, fellowship, and hospitality. In spirit, the festival is not too different from Christmas.

Joyous Ayyám-i-Há to everyone!

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By the book

SO MUCH has already been written on two compelling facts about this year's Oscar awards: most nominations being dark-themed and acting awards going to non-Americans. But not much has been told about the fact that several nominations belong to adaptations of fiction books. There's “Oil” by Upton Sinclair (retitled “There Will be Blood”), “Atonement” by Ian McEwan, and “No Country for Old Men” by Cormac McCarthy. Toss in Khaled Hosseini's “The Kite Runner” and Robert Ludlum's “The Bourne Ultimatum” also, although they failed to win as much nominations at the other three.

Several Best Picture winners in the past 80 years of the Academy Award history originated from short stories (Mary Orr's “All About Eve” in 1950 and FX Toole's “Million Dollar Baby” in 2004) and plays (Shakespeare's “Hamlet” in 1948 and Ebb and Kander's “Chicago” in 2002). Rarely have they come from novels. Over the last two decades, only four Best Picture winners began as fiction books: Isak Dinesen's “Out of Africa” (1985), Michael Ondaatje's “The English Patient” (1996), Thomas Harris' “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991), and JR Tolkien's “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003). The blog “Strange Culture” lists statistics of the past ten years, noting that only 16 of 50 best picture nominees are fiction adaptations.

I don't claim to be an avid Oscar buff, but the literary stats above are reason enough for me to celebrate this year's Oscars—the year a writer's strike almost crippled the “Golden Boy”!

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Remembering Mama

MAMA PASSED away ten years ago today. What she had bequeathed to us, her eleven children, continue to bind us together to this day: her love for Bahá'u'lláh and the teachings of His Faith, a passion for laughter, and an indelible devotion to family. Even in the final, painful hours of her life, the sense of duty to her children never failed. She hung on until her youngest grandchild Zayca celebrated her first birthday in January that year. And no matter how ravaged the diabetes-ridden body was, the spirit was solid: she died gracefully, peacefully in her sleep three weeks later.

I join the rest of my family in remembering our mother, Zaida Linda Mijares Ancheta (1933-1998), on the tenth anniversary of her passing, with the following words from the Bahá'í scriptures.

O Son of Justice! Whither can a lover go but to the land of his beloved? and what seeker findeth rest away from his heart’s desire? To the true lover reunion is life, and separation is death. His breast is void of patience and his heart hath no peace. A myriad lives he would forsake to hasten to the abode of his beloved.

Source: Bahá'u'lláh, “The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh”

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Discovering sinigang in India

Prawn sinigang
Image source: Paul Ancheta

ONE OF the best things about Spencer's Hyper is discovering food ingredients that would have been extremely difficult to find in India. Imagine my joy of finally getting the right ingredients for sinigang, my all-time favorite Philippine recipe, after two years of living in India! I had tried Philippine dishes in two Asian restaurants in Mumbai and Bangalore, but they were too spicy for Filipino taste buds.

Sinigang requires a myriad of vegetables and meats (pork, fish, prawn, or shrimp) stewed in sour broth. In Spencer's, I found organically-grown radish, onions, tomatoes, pumpkin (to replace taro or yam which was not available), string beans, spinach (to replace kangkong), and tamarind—all staple ingredients in this much-loved dish. In the absence of pork, I used huge prawns which were ridiculously cheap at 50 rupees (50 pesos or 1 dollar) apiece.

What a delight to cook my first honest-to-goodness Filipino dish in India!

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India's largest Spencer's Hyper unveiled

Visual merchandising at Spencer's Hyper, Kolkata, India
Designed by Paul Ancheta, Haimanti Upadhyaya, & Nilanjon Ganguly
Image source: Paul Ancheta

FINALLY, WE opened it: the largest Spencer's hypermarket in India. After months of intense preparation, the doors of what is also Kolkata's first-ever Spencer's Hyper opened to the public at the glitzy South City Mall on 1 February 2008. It has been a blast since then, with footfalls and bill conversions exceeding anything that the company has ever done (or seen) before on a first-week run. This is easily its strongest store launch ever.

The Bengalis have not since anything like this before: 72,000 swanky square feet of electronics, appliances, music, books, apparel, home decor and commodities, sports goods, furniture, fruits, vegetables, staples, and grocery items under one tall roof. The products all come from various parts of the world, and they all scream for value for money. Buttressed by a clever marketing campaign around the tag line “Taste the World”, streams of shoppers lapped it all up. There is also the “hometown” factor: Spencer's Retail is owned by the Kolkata-based RPG Group, and opening its first hypermarket in the city is almost a homecoming event. And fellow citizens are loving them back.

For three weeks prior to the opening, I joined my team of three diligent and disciplined visual merchandisers in working the aisles, battling vendors and deadlines to create globally themed displays to match the international look and feel of the store. Initially, we thought we would not make the launch date, as the goods were not fully available until the week of store opening. Thankfully, the effervescence of the operations and merchandising teams infected us. The setups went smoothly, and they were fun.

Once during the opening day, I peered into a shopping cart queued at the cash registers. It contained a Levi's T-shirt, jars of Chinese ingredients, and an English-language cookbook on top of sundry pieces of grocery. We did it. We made the shopper “taste the world”!

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Chinese New Year

NEW YEAR festivities are now being celebrated by Chinese communities around the world. The festival—the most important in the Chinese calendar—runs for fifteen days starting 7 February 2008. This is the year of the rat; those born in the rat years are said to be leaders and conquerors.

I greeted my colleagues this weekend with an SMS message: “Gong xi fat cha! (Read as Kong hei fat choy!) May the new Chinese year of the rat be cheesy and anything but mousy for you and your loved ones. Rattily, Paul”

Some of the replies I got were not cheesy, but they were cheeky . . . and fun to read!

#1: “Chank chu. Read as Thank u.”

#2: “Same to you. Read as Same to you.”

#3: “Happy new year Jerry!”

#4: “I don't know how you would say it in Chinese but have a great year!”

#5: “Thanks and wish you the same. Cheeeeeese through the year!!”

To all of you, san nin faai lok (happy new year!)! Kung hei fat choy (Congratulations and be prosperous)!

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Focal point: Marie Phillips, “Gods Behaving Badly”

I'VE NEVER laughed this hard while reading Greek mythology! In her first novel “Gods Behaving Badly”, London-bred Michelle Phillips (b.1976) brings together ten Olympian gods to exist in dingy circumstances in modern-day north London. And being gods, they also interfere with the lives of humans—in this case, a nondescript engineer in a star-crossed love affair with a meek house cleaner. With egos the size of the universe and clout the size of an atom, the immortals are forced to eke out a living and struggle to revive their ancient vainglories while getting the star-crossed lovers back in each other's arms. With hilarious results, Ms Phillips succeeds in talking about man’s mortality and blind faith without moralizing. Watch for that colorful episode about a trip to the underworld.

See more about “Gods Behaving Badly”.

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The madness in Kenya

I WASN'T aware of the gravity of the post-election violence in Kenya until last night, when I received a truly disturbing e-mail from a fellow Bahá'í whose family lives in the country. What he vividly describes in his letter are the horrors faced by an innocent, confused population trapped in the viciousness of political maneuvering. I am sharing the letter with you below, with hopes for your prayers for divine mercy and intervention.

Dear Friends, Family, and Associates,

I am writing to request your assistance with an extremely challenging issue... As some of you are aware my wife is from Kenya. Our family lives their now... and are in grave danger...

Within the the last 3 days there has erupted a huge campaign of violence, ethnic cleansing and tribal warfare from the alleged rigging of the presidential election leading to the re-election of Kibaki. I will not relate the details as they are all readily available on the websites I include at the bottom of this email... but the basic reality is that the country is entering a state of warfare... Marshall law has been declared by the president... a curfew... riot police are out in streets throughout the country... if you are out past curfew you are beaten or shot... looting and rioting has decimated many of the shops in the town centers... many I and my family would frequent... leaving many without basic supplies to live. The President has shut off all the radio stations... all you hear is the eerie sound of static as you scan the airwaves... The television stations are only broadcasting un-interrupted movies... no news... no announcements... Everyone in Kenya uses pre-paid calling cards for cell phones... and the president has ordered them to stop being sold... He has stopped all flow of information internally... We had to ask our mom not to call her friends and conserve what little credit she has... we now have to call regularly to check on the situation... even the phone networks have been going down... He has shut the water supply off to Nairobi City (the largest and most developed city in east africa)... There are frequent blackouts... The two major tribes representing the presidential opponents are Kikuyu and Luo. My Wife and Family are Luo. Kikuyus are attacking and killing Luos en=masse throughout the country... and Luo are killing Kikuyu around the country... within the last day... mass killings have begun... In Lou towns Kikuyus have begun killing Luos... locking Luo social clubs while people are inside and burning them down... over 50 Kikuyu women and children sought refuge in a church after their homes were burned and an angry mob of youth locked them in the church and set fire to it killing 35... those who escaped were met on the outside with the mob... beaten... and burned to death in a kitchen garden outside the church... decimation of neighborhoods, slums, and villages where supporters of either candidate are being burned to the ground... with people inside... These atrocities are reminiscent of the beginnings of the Genocide which took place in Rwanda (The next Door neighbor to Kenya)...

My Mother In Law in Kenya received word from a friend in government that Kibaki was about to be announced the winner off the election and that she should rush to the grocery store because it was about to get very bad... she sent my cousins to the store to buy what food she could afford... that night 3 local social spots where my family would regularly hang out were locked up and burnt down with people inside... Luckily my family was all at home anticipating the violence to come... They are locked in their small apartment... 2 small bedrooms in a stone apartment structure. They have a small security gate before the front door which they have padlocked shut... My brother in law... lost track of his family when their neighborhood was attacked, people killed, and burnt to the ground... he ran around searching all night and luckily he was able to locate them... they rushed to my mother in laws home... He, His Wife, and Small children had to pass through streets littered with bodies... there are now over 14 people in this tiny apartment... they only have food for a couple more days... the stores are dangerous if impossible to get to... most stores have been shut or ransacked so there is no food anyway... what food is left is being sold at very high costs... Gunshots are heard round the clock and throughout the night...

I paint this picture to give an idea of the severity of the situation... I watch and feel helpless... Many who have watched Hotel Rwanda can remember that feeling of "What did we/could we have done to prevent this..." This is a similar situation... I am not sure of the best remedy for it.. but it is apparent that something needs to be done before the violence, civil unrest and massacres extend any further... How can I sit by and watch another Rwanda or Somalia take place without so much as opening my mouth... and the fact that my family is directly involved impels me to act with determination. Things may get better on their own... maybe in a few days... a few weeks... a few months... but for each day it doesn't... lives are lost... families shattered... and we inch closer to genocide... how many times did people assume that it would probably work itself out in Rwanda or Somalia... and thereby delay their own action... inaction enabled a spark to become a flame and a flame into an inferno.

I am writing to my congress people in Los Angeles... imploring them to press the US govt. and the UN to intervene... The only way to ensure my families safety is to ensure peace in Kenya... Please take a moment to do something... write to your congress person or call them and urge them to address the issue of the unrest in Kenya with haste... Each day that passes people are dying and being ripped from their homes... only 250 people have been documented killed so far... thousands injured and over 70,000 made homeless in 3 days... This does not include those who are fleeing and are undocumented by the statistics. I mentioned hotel Rwanda.. and the vivid picture it painted which brought us all a bit of shame... now picture your family in that hotel... being left to die as other countries get their own people out... this is more than a movie... My family is at serious risk... and I am praying for their safety. Please take a moment and help be a part of bringing about peace... not only for my own families but for all of Kenya...

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