LAST week, SM Supermalls kicked off its 100 Days to Christmas countdown by creating a circle of happiness among its shoppers, marginalized communities of women, persons deprived of liberty, artisans, cause-oriented organizations, and select local government units.
Through the campaign, SM Supermalls encourages Filipinos to support the advocacies of individuals and organizations that provide opportunities and create livelihood for their communities. This year, SM partnered with bag designer Zarah Juan, Spark PH, the Girl Scouts of the Philippines (GSP), the Association of Foot and Mouth Artists of the Philippines, Unicef, and the Quezon City Government for its Vote to Tote initiative.
The Vote to Tote program of the Quezon City Government involves upcycling 70 tons of election tarpaulins collected by the city. Together with Spark PH and bag designer Zarah Juan, these tarpaulins were used as the main material for the handmade tote bags sewn by marginalized women and female persons deprived of liberty (PDL).
Juan said she wanted to do something with the tons of election campaign waste and pitched the idea to Maica Teves, the founder of Spark PH. From there, they gathered help from the Quezon City Government to collect tarpaulins, partnered with women communities to help them create the bags, and finally SM Supermalls as their platform to distribute. The proceeds of the upcycled tote bags will be given to the women PDLs in Camp Karingal, and the marginalized women of Barangays Sto. Cristo, Greater Lagro, and Pinyahan in Quezon City.
Several SM malls are also collaborating with Brownies Unlimited and the Girl Scouts of the Philippines wherein for every purchase of a special GSP-themed box of brownies in-mall or via the SM Malls Online App, one girl will be sponsored with a GSP membership for a year. In the south of Metro Manila, the SM Mall of Asia family is partnering with the Association of Foot and Mouth Artists to sell painted Christmas cards to the shoppers.
This is the second time SM Supermalls has started a holiday countdown campaign. In 2021, through its 100 Days of Caring campaign, the mall chain helped underserved communities surrounding the 76 SM malls providing urgent needs through in-kind and monetary donations by the malls, its various business units, and the employees.
LIGHTER THAN AIR
SPEAKING of Zarah Juan, it’s proving to be a very busy season for the acclaimed bag designer. Besides her advocacy with the SM supermalls, she also collaborated with tech brand ASUS for its latest and lightest OLED laptop.
Aside from environmental sustainability, Juan also pushes for social sustainability and upholds cultural continuity through showcasing Filipino heritage. For ASUS, the social entrepreneur and designer developed a special limited-edition, sustainable, locally-made bag.
The Zarah Juan Zen Tote materializes ASUS’ thrust toward human-centric design thinking. Made by the Artisan Communities in Bulacan and Zamboanga City from locally available materials, the Zen Tote depicts the perfect balance between aesthetics and functionality—the perfect accessory with the ASUS Zenbook S 13 OLED.
ASUS is marketing its premium Zenbook S 13 OLED as the lightest of any 13.3-inch laptop in its class, with a sleek 1 kg-light, 14.9 mm-thin chassis made entirely from durable magnesium-aluminum alloy. It’s the ultimate ultraportable laptop for effortless on-the-go productivity and creativity for those who often work out of the office.
Despite its thin and light form factor, the Zenbook S 13 OLED is built to be extra tough with MIL-STD 810H military standard, making sure it’s durable and reliable for daily use in any environment.
The all-new contemporary design features the new monogram logo on the lid and is available in four sophisticated colors—Ponder Blue, Aqua Celadon, Vestige Beige, and Refined White.
The Zenbook S 13 OLED has a gorgeous 2.8K OLED HDR Dolby Vision display, which as we mentioned in one of our previous reviews is best not only for color accuracy but also for your eyes.
The expansive 16:10 aspect ratio provides a bigger workspace, and the four-sided NanoEdge design with ultra slim bezels creates more screen area for an immersive viewing experience. The super-bright PANTONE Validated screen is color-accurate with a 100 percent DCI-P3 gamut for ultra-vivid colors, and is VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certified for deeper blacks and ultra-high contrast. It’s also TÜV Rheinland-certified for eye care, so the user’s eyes will stay comfortable even during long viewing sessions.
For unrivaled audio quality, Zenbook S 13 OLED has a stereo sound system that supports Dolby Atmos, indulging the listener in their favorite entertainment with sound that moves all around with breathtaking realism in music, movies and TV.
Zenbook S 13 OLED may be #LighterThanAir, but it is a dependable, high-performance companion, with an AMD Ryzen 7 6800U Mobile Processor, 8GB or 16 GB of fast RAM, and AMD Radeon mobile graphics. Its ultra-fast up to 512 GB PCIe 4.0 SSD ensures fast boot times and instant app loads.
With its long-lasting, high-capacity 67Wh battery and up to a 19-hour battery life, Zenbook S 13 OLED needs fewer trips to the power outlet when the user is out and about. And when it’s time for a top-up, the fast-charge technology can take it to 60 percent capacity in as little as 49 minutes, so there’s no need to break the flow. With ASUS USB-C Easy Charge, it can be quickly charged using a USB-C Power Delivery-certified charger or topped up with any standard USB-C charger such as an airline charger, a portable charger, or a power bank.
Zenbook S 13 OLED features the latest WiFi 6E that loads online content in the blink of an eye, enhanced by the exclusive ASUS WiFi Master Premium fine-tuning technologies and software features that help deliver speed, stability, and wide coverage.
To keep Zenbook S 13 OLED hygienic, it’s protected by ASUS Antibacterial Guard—a special surface treatment that keeps the bugs at bay. In fact, Antibacterial Guard has been scientifically proven to inhibit the growth of bacteria by more than 99 percent over a 24-hour period, ensuring the surfaces of the laptop stay clean and sanitary for longer and reducing the spread of potentially harmful bacteria via contact.
The Zenbook S 13 OLED implements ASUS AI Noise-Cancelation Technology and real-time webcam optimization to ensure the best hybrid working and video conferencing experience. For its keyboard, the new full-size ASUS ErgoSense keyboard promises the most comfortable typing experience ever. For easy data entry, there’s the ASUS NumberPad 2.0, an LED-illuminated numeric keypad integrated into the touchpad. For I/O ports, the USB-C ports support power delivery and 4K external displays for enhanced productivity. There’s also a convenient headphone jack for your wired audio needs.
Those who will purchase the Zenbook S 13 OLED from now until October 31, 2022, get a chance to win the limited-edition Zarah Juan Zen Tote worth P8,500. The ASUS Zenbook S 13 OLED (UM5302) is available in ASUS Concept Stores and authorized resellers with a starting price of P63,995.