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Mar 1Liked by Niko Batallones

Going through the economics of hosting a Taylor Swift concert in the Philippines is such a brilliant way to explore development, infrastructure, and the greater geopolitical landscape. I loved this!!

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Thank you, Elle! Glad you liked it. Honestly... I think you captured what I ended up doing better than I did!

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Further evidence that widely-distributed NIMBY-ism is one of the most malign forces holding back humans from thriving.

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I always wonder how Manila would look like if there were less single detached homes and more housing towers. Maybe we'd have the public spaces we always deserved. But alas, we co-opted the American dream somewhat...

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> Yet my friends and I planned to go there as early as ten in the morning for a concert that would start nine hours later.

Ow I felt this. I shall not complain about KL traffic ever again.

It's fascinating how you tied up urbanism with Taylor Swift never thought these two issues were related lol. But it makes sense.

One of my favourite pet topics is urbanism, particularly sustainable transportation. It fascinated me how transportation could fuel economic growth, and even happiness. I was definitely interested in seeing how China, for example, prioritised infrastructure like high speed trains. I remember visiting a massive train station in China. The girnomous structure took my breath away. It made KL Sentral look like a tiny hut by comparison.

I guess all of us South-East Asian countries need more robust infrastructure to be "Taylor worthy", though for some us (cough, Malaysia, cough), our obstacles also extends to the cultural realm. (Each time some major star wants to perform, some parts of our society would protest.)

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I read maps as a kid and played SimCity a lot as a kid (and still do)—so yes, urbanism's a pet topic of mine, too.

I remember when the ex and I went to KL and were being driven around by her best friend who lived somewhere in PJ. She was apologizing to us for the bad traffic—it was rush hour, so it was heavy, but it was moving, and we both looked at her and said, "you haven't been to Manila!"

KL may feel like Manila most of the time—although I've only really walked Bukit Bintang, Chinatown and the Central Market, so what do I really know?—but you have a much better public transport system than we do. And I'm not thinking of the monorail. At least you guys have options. And while KLIA2 will always have a space in my heart because it's the most boring international airport I've ever been in, it's still better than our NAIA, which is cramped and often feels like a dingy, unloved hospital.

As for the cultural realm though... we were probably looking for Taylor to affirm us by performing here.

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I can understand that. We don't care as much about Taylor not coming to Malaysia but we sure are pissed that Sibnapore claims to have the best food in South East Asia 🤣

Yet weirdly, Malaysia likes to be underrated, mostly cos we want to be left alone lol.

About urbanism, have you read Happy Cities? I used the principles outlined in the book when i searched for a new apartment and worked. 15 min walkable cities are the best!! I can walk everywhere to do my daily living stuff and can even walk to the light rail to head out to Kl

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Ah, reminds me of that CNA program on the origins of cendol and how it seemed aghast at the idea that it probably came from neither Malaysia nor Singapore...

If you mean the Charles Montgomery book, then yes, I have! Useful for both my living and my day job. My apartment now is pretty walkable to most, and I did walk to the grocery during the first weeks of lockdown, but my heart thing meant I had to give that up. Not in our temperatures, not in this lack of shade...

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I feel you. I don’t walk anywhere at noon, even if I want to just walk to the nearby eateries for lunch!

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Would like to ask your opinion, can filipinos afford the Eras tour? Can it fill up the 55k+ plus VIP standing area of the arena? Just thinking economically if Pinoys can afford this major concert.

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I wouldn't underestimate Filipinos. I can count at least three instances when the Philippine Arena was sold out—two nights of Coldplay, two nights of Blackpink, one night of IU. (So, five instances?) Also consider that a lot of Swifties flew out to Singapore and Tokyo to watch Taylor.

Ultimately I think it just didn't make logistical and business sense for Taylor and her team to hold even just one night of the Eras Tour—knowing the regional demand, we honestly wouldn't have been able to handle the crowds going to the venue alone.

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