The title of this post is sarcastic if you haven't gotten that by now. Earlier last week, a post made the rounds on social media about a Php50M cauldron which the Philippine government spent for the upcoming SEA games. I think that amount is ridiculous and the netizens have been right to point that out. Where I draw the line is when people start chiming in on where that money should have gone to.
You see this issue happening in any country hosting the SEA games or the Olympics. The fact stays that hosting these types of events in the country is always an expensive affair. Every little thing is going to cost money. The cauldron itself maybe shouldn't be that expensive and the palace has stated that it's cost comes from it being a work of art.
Looking at its pictures online, I can say it did cost a lot to design. It looks simple but elegant, something that these days is very expensive to find (oddly enough). I'm looking at two scenarios right now which justify the cost of the cauldron though these are two of three and so I'll put all three.
Scenario 1. The government decided not spend much on the cauldron.
The lighting of the cauldron is one of those epic moments during the opening ceremonies of any sporting event and if the cauldron just so happens to be ugly, it will no doubt draw flak from the online community (government is at a lose-lose situation here). If they happen to get a decent design (which I swear is difficult to get these days), no one would notice. Conclusion: better to hire a good artist to make the design.
Scenario 2. Government spent the Php50M and the opening ceremony is praised.
No brainer here. Conclusion: the Php50M cauldron was well worth the money.
Scenario 3. Government spent the Php50M and no one abroad notices.
The people online will then be the experts yet again. There is a chance that the opening ceremony will be criticized though seeing the design of the cauldron, I highly doubt it.
All this is reminiscent of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) built in Mandaue. When Governor Gwen Garcia had it built, it was criticized as well for being overpriced and not needed. The CICC, when it operated did bring in a lot of business to the area until Gwen's term ended and her successor decided to abandon the entire project since it was overpriced and done with "low quality". Now, Cebu has lost the CICC entirely. It's now a rundown shell and is now more of a waste than it was before. It's currently being used by squatters as their permanent settlement. It really is sad to see.
The point here is we really don't know how best to use the money of the government. We can criticize for sure but let this be our learning moment to realize two things from this:
1. We now know how the people who approved his think and can vote correspondingly.
2. The government sucks at everything. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment