NESTLED in a salubrious suburb of Metro Manila is a place they call the country club. But the membership requirements are not what you would automatically associate with the swimming pool, badminton courts, rolling lawn and palm trees. Drug addiction is what will admit you among these rarefied surroundings.
Hong Kong teenagers hooked on heroin and middle-aged women addicted to alcohol are among those who have sought treatment at New Beginnings, which could be dubbed the Betty Ford Clinic of Asia.
With very little available in terms of residential care for the treatment of drug addiction - especially for expatriate sufferers - and treatment centres in America and Britain costing as much as $200,000, Hong Kong addicts are increasingly being referred to New Beginnings.
Boasting a success rate of between 60 and 70 per cent, New Beginnings was set up by a group of well-heeled Filipinos who had sought help overseas for their addictions, but wanted to establish an affordable treatment centre in their own country.
Compared to its overseas counterparts, HK$27,300 for the New Beginnings 45-day programme is relatively affordable, but is still out of reach for many Filipinos. Established in April 1990, New Beginnings offers one place free to a local addict for every six paying residents.
Over the past 18 months since referrals began, 30 people from Hong Kong have tackled their addiction with the help of New Beginnings' counsellors.