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Despite the surrounding protests and controversy, the two-night Lady Gaga concert held at the Mall of Asia Arena was an unqualified success. Thousands of fans, a lot of them dressed as outrageously as their idol, braved the congested traffic and went gaga over the controversial singer’s performances. The concert signaled the opening of the MOA Arena which we were told can accommodate as much as 20,000 spectators. Hans Sy (who’s on top of the SM Group’s mall development unit SM Prime Holdings as its president) worked almost 24/7 in the last two weeks to make sure that the preparations for the opening of the MOA Arena would be completed and ready for Lady Gaga.

 

Hans was telling us he was not really too keen on having the concert this early because he wanted all the plans to be completed for the venue. International experts were consulted to make sure the slick indoor Arena would evoke “world-class” from top to bottom, with its retractable seats and a spacious 2,000-parking capacity. But the concert promoter (Ovation Productions) was very insistent and really wanted the May 21-22 dates for the Manila leg of the “Born This Way” Asian tour. So on the first day of the concert, Hans himself was going around checking the venue, displaying the “Hans-on” work ethic that has made SM Prime the biggest shopping mall developer in the country with over P2.4 billion profits posted for the first quarter.

 

Congratulations to Hans Sy for a great job in overseeing the preparations!