Philippine pride: Besting CNN in 2009, BBC in 2010

MANILA, Philippines – This country of 7,107 islands is not only a breeding ground for peaceful revolutions, world-class singers, seafarers, nurses, and beauty queens; it is also a lush source for award-winning social projects.
Social projects that aim to lift the plight of the country’s underprivileged have bested entries from other parts of the world in 2 international media outfits.
In 2009, Efren Peñaflorida was hailed by American cable news network CNN as the “Hero of the Year.”
In 2010, the Ram Pump Project by a non-governmental organization based in Bacolod in the Visayas region was named by the British cable news network BBC as the winner in the “World Challenge.”
Both competitions were determined by number of votes cast for the finalists.
CNN Heroes had 2.75 million online votes cast over 7 weeks for 9 finalists, while BBC had about 167,000 people across the globe casting their votes for 12 finalists over about 2 months.

CNN Hero of the Year 2009 Efren Peñaflorida

The votes came after each international media group featured them on TV and online. BBC World News ran six 30-minute programs and ran features about the finalists in Newsweek magazine. CNN ran a star-studded awarding ceremony in Hollywood.
Both aim to inspire. CNN focuses on the individual who makes extraordinary contributions to help others.
Efren Peñaflorida started a "pushcart classroom" to bring education to poor children as an alternative to gang membership. Peñaflorida’s team of volunteers brings around their mobile classroom stacked with teaching materials to different areas they service.
BBC, on the other hand, champions specific projects or small businesses that make a difference at the grassroots level through enterprising and innovative means.

'No Way But Up', an indigenous hydraulic ram pump project in Bacolod, wins in BBC's 'World Challenge'.

 Besting over 800 projects from all over the world was "No Way But Up," an indigenous hydraulic ram pump that uses a river's flow to literally push water uphill to supply water to villagers living in mountainous regions.
The project -- an entry of the Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation Inc. (AIDFI) based in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City -- does not require the use of electricity.
The foundation is led by Dutch ships engineer Auke Idzenga and has introduced the project to over 170 upland villages benefiting 50,000 people.
Peñaflorida received a total of US$125,000 to continue his work, while AIDFI received a US$20,000 financial grant.

Top 10 Largest Shoping Malls in the World

Jan.20, 2011 in Amazing, World Share19

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Large shopping malls provide a one-stop shopping for anything imaginable. Our list of largest malls in the world is based on the amount of “Gross Leasable Area”.
This is the number of squar feet the property has for revenue-generating activities like retail, dining and amusements. The building boom in Asia, where land is cheap and labor costs are low has produced the largest shopping malls. Only two shopping malls on this list are located outside Asia.
10: Siam Paragon (3.22 million sq ft)
Siam Paragon in Bangkok is one of the largest shopping malls in Thailand. Only the nearby CentralWorld is larger. It includes a wide range of specialty stores and restaurants as well as a multiplex movie theater, the Siam Ocean World aquarium, the Thai Art Gallery and an opera concert hall. It also has a large bowling alley and karaoke center.
9: Berjaya Times Square (3.44 million sq ft)

Located in Kuala Lumpur, Berjaya Times Square is a twin tower complex containing a shopping centre and two five star hotels. With 7.5 million square feet (700,000 m²) of built up floor area it is currently the fifth largest building in the world.
It includes more than 1,000 retail shops, 65 food outlets and several entertainment attractions such as Asia’s largest indoor theme park, Cosmo’s World and Malaysia’s first-ever IMAX 2D & 3D theatre which is located on the 10th Floor.
8: Istanbul Cevahir (3.47 million sq ft)

Located on the European side of Istanbul, the Cevahir Shopping and Entertainment Centre opened its doors in 2005. It is the largest shopping mall in Europe.
There are 343 shops, 34 fast food restaurants and 14 exclusive restaurants in the shopping centre. Other facilities include a large stage for events, 12 cinemas, a bowling hall, a small roller coaster and several other entertainment facilities.
7: SM Megamall (3.6 million sq ft)

Opened in 1991, SM Megamall in Metro Manila is one of the largest shopping malls in the Philippines. The mall attracts a daily foot traffic of 800,000 people with a maximum capacity of 4 million people.
The mall has two main buildings. Building A features cinemas, a bowling alley, food courts and the Toy Kingdom. Building B features the retail shops. The bridgeway connecting the two main buildings of the mall contains several eateries.
SM Megamall is currently under major renovation and expansion. When finished, it will be able to claim the ultimate title of largest shopping mall in the Philippines.
6: West Edmonton Mall (3.77 million sq ft)

The West Edmonton Mall in Alberta was the largest shopping mall from 1981 until 2004 and is currently the largest mall in the Americas.
Beside 800 stores and services the mall includes the largest indoor amusement park in the world, the largest indoor waterpark in the world and Ice Palace (a scaled down version of a NHL regulation sized ice rink, so not the largest in the world). Other attractions include an 18-hole miniature golf course, a movie theatre and a bowling alley.
5: Dubai Mall (3.77 million sq ft)

The Dubai Mall is part of the Burj Khalifa complex, the tallest man-made structure ever built. At over 12 million square feet (equivalent in size to more than 50 soccer fields), the Dubai Mall is the largest shopping mall in the world based on total area but about the same size as the West Edmonton Mall if based on leasable space.
The mall contains more than 1,200 shops including the world’s largest candy store, an ice rink, a SEGA game center (featuring a 3D bowling game), a 5 star luxury hotel, 22 cinema screens plus 120 restaurants and cafes. The mall also contains one of the largest aquariums in the world.
4: SM Mall of Asia (4.2 million sq ft)

The SM Mall of Asia in Metro Manila, opened in 2006, consists of four buildings interconnected by walkways. It features a 20-seater tram which takes shoppers around the mall grounds.
One of the mall’s main attractions is an IMAX theater with one of the world’s biggest 3D screens. The mall also features an Olympic-sized ice skating rink. It can accommodate both recreational and competitive figure skating, as well as ice hockey.
3: Central World (4.62 million sq ft)

Opened in 1990, the eight-story CentralWorld is the largest shopping mall in Thailand. It marketed itself as a middle class shopping center, opposed to the upper class-marketed Siam Paragon.
On 19th May of this year, CentralWorld was one of the many properties set on fire by anti government protestors. The fire raged for two days and the Zen department store collapsed in the fire.
After months of repair works, the shopping complex reopened on 28th September with 80% of its retail space open for business.
2: Golden Resources Mall (6.0 million sq ft)

At 1.5 times the size of the Mall of America, Golden Resources Mall was the world’s largest shopping mall from 2004 to 2005. Although the developer of the mall initially estimated that the mall would have 50,000 shoppers a day, as of 2004 the actual number was far smaller, as few as 20 in an hour.
One problem was that prices of most items sold were far beyond the purchasing ability of most ordinary Chinese. Another barrier was the inaccessibility of Golden Resources Shopping Mall to foreign consumers due to its location outside the heart of Beijing.
1: New South China Mall (6.46 million sq ft)

New South China Mall in Dongguan is the largest mall in the world based on gross leasable area. The mall features seven zones modeled on international cities including a replica of the Arc de Triomphe and a canal with gondolas.
It also has an indoor-outdoor roller coaster. What is doesn’t have is customers. Since its opening in 2005, the mall has suffered from a severe lack of occupants.
Much of the retail space has remained empty, with over 99% of the stores vacant. The only occupied areas of the mall are near the entrance where several Western fast food chains are located. It has been nicknamed the largest ghost mall in the world.