Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of Vanities was a favorite book of mine. It is about New York when decadence in the city was at its height. Its residents spent like there was no tomorrow. Greed dominated its life-style and to hell with everything else. But everything comes to an end. And the story that Tom Wolfe tells is that – how it all comes to an end of a modern day Sodom and Gomorrha.
The height of New York’s greed, wealth and decadence was in the 1980s. (Incidentally, Imelda was in New York then. Cosmopolitan Magazine called her “the richest woman in the world” not because of how much money she had with women richer than she was. But because of she lived then like the New Yorkers - at the expense of her country where millions could not even have a meal a day. “My favorite city is New York,” she said.
All seems so long ago. New Yorkers lived in decadence “over the top spending with very little regard for its after effects.” It seemed it would never end. But Tom Wolfe, a perceptive author could see that end coming and he wrote that it will be sooner than later. It is the story of the ‘Junk Bond King’ Michael Milken but there were enough Michael Milkens in the city who lived in greed and money.
Bonfire of the Vanities was published in 1987 at about the same time Imelda’s dreams of becoming a permanent resident of this “wonderful city” would end. “Bonfire”was inevitable. It is the story of people who are consumed with politics, their social standing and ultimately greed in 1980’s New York City.
The title, Bonfire comes from another historical event that happened in Florence, Italy in 1497. It was how Girolamo Savonarola supporters publiclly burned what they considered vain objects. This bonfire included writings, artwork, sculpture, cosmetics, music, playing cards and anything else that was thought of as immoral. This title was no different from indulgent life of 1980’s New York.
It may seem far from New York or Florence but Manila had its own “Bonfire of Vanities” recently when President Duterte ordered to crush smuggled luxury vehicles. It was not about destroying the luxury cars. What he did was to destroy the ethos behind people who smuggle luxury cars because they think they can get away with it, I am sure there were those who felt sorry for the cars – why naman destroy the expensive cars that owners could have paraded around the city (never mind the traffic) when others could gawk and envy you?) And this without having to pay taxes. But Duterte’s single act of destroying smuggled cars drove its point. It was about the sense of values in Filipino society where there was no shame to receive DAP and kickbacks for murderous Dengvaxia just to own a house in Forbes Park. Well, that’s an opinion. But it speaks for itself. That meaning reached me.
Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte hammered home his new policy on car smuggling by overseeing the demolition of dozens of seized luxury vehicles worth almost $1.2 million. Cars included BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes Benz and Corvette, were simultaneously crushed by road rollers at three of the country’s ports. It is a moral more than a political lesson. Many smugglers will get the lesson but so will bystanders like ourselves who ignored the smuggling of such cars to appear rich and therefore be looked at as persons who matter. The pictures in FB on how the cars were crushed are powerful. In the past administration, the President had a luxury sports car which he drove from Manila to Tarlac, away from the public eye. Eventually, he and his sportscar were found out and written about.
MISCELLANY: I am sorry for Wilson Flores, whose 79-year-old Kamuning Bakery burned this week. He had made it a place to go, where journalists could meet politicians and celebrities. It takes courage for what he had accomplished. Kamuning Bakery was the place to be for press conferences. It used to be the coffeeshops in big hotels but Wilson changed that all. He made it in Kamuning Bakery which is hard to find being in a crowded corner of a street where one rides jeepneys instead of luxury cars.
I remember him telling me the story of how he came to make Kamuning Bakery what it had become. He is a real estate agent and the elderly owner said he was selling it because his children were not keen to continue baking its famous pan de sal. The elderly owner said he wanted to sell it but also wanted to continue with the bakery.
He wanted Kamuning Bakery to continue serving the public so he put a proviso in the sale. He would sell it to him at a lower price provided he continued the bakery.
That was when the idea of making it a coffee shop for journalists came to him. I must praise him for being brave enough to think the impossible –make Kamuning Bakery a place to be where journalists met ambassadors, politicians and celebrities.
I have no doubt that Kamuning Bakery will rise up again. It is Wilson’s imagination that will bring it back.
Just to add to the story. I also wanted him to sell my house that was too big to be an empty nest. He kept promising he would but he did not come around to do it. My house, once called the Barragan house in Alabang (wrongly) was published in “Tropical Houses”. I hope it did not burn with the bakery. It was my only copy. It was a stroke of luck that Wilson was too busy with Kamuning Bakery. He did not sell the house. I remodelled it and built an apartment on the ground floor – a bedroom, living room, etc. a complete house where I might live for the rest of my days. Thank you, Wilson, for what you made of Kamuning Bakery and for not selling the “Barragan house” in Alabang.