I don’t know what it is with us Pinoys that makes us so lax when it comes to things like aesthetics, cleanliness, systems, and order. We seem to enjoy filth and chaos. It seems that filth and chaos is our natural habitat. We like filth and chaos so much, it’s in every aspect of our lives – from our politics, to our airports, to our roads, to our advertising billboards, to our malls, to our courts, to our justice system, to our traffic system. If you were outside looking in (e.g. a foreigner), the moment you catch a glimpse of the Philippines, you’d immediately have a bad feeling about the country. I’m not trying to knock it, OK? Even without having to deal with one Filipino, a foreigner who gets to have one quick look at the country will, in all likelihood, have a negative feeling. And that’s sad because we Filipinos are a friendly lot. We have a lot to offer foreigners in terms of service, our hard work, our cool attitude toward work – and life in general. Every Pinoy is gifted with a beautiful smile (even the crooked-teeth kind) and an extremely warm personality. But human nature dictates that before we try out something, that something has to be pleasing to the senses. It’s like dating. The first thing you consider when you go on a date is how your potential date looks. If someone is setting you up, the first thing you ask is "How does she look?" If the answer you get is, "She’s very nice" or "She has a pleasing personality," you know right away that you’re screwed. You know you’re up for a long, sad evening because you will be with an unattractive person the whole-night. And no matter how many times we repeat the cliché mantras like, "It’s the beauty inside that counts," or "Beauty is skin deep" – and no matter how true those mantras are – looks matter. If it didn’t matter, L’Oreal and Max Factor would not be million-dollar businesses – and Vicki Belo wouldn’t be as successful as she is.
I’m not necessarily saying that it’s the only thing that matters – or that looks and aesthetics are more important than what’s inside. But it’s something we have to take seriously. Cleanliness, order, aesthetics, beauty are important not only because they are pleasing to the eyes and to all the senses. But more often than not, a clean, orderly, beautiful exterior is a reflection of what’s inside. Of course, that is not always the case. There are some aesthetically beautiful people that are mean and intolerable.
Whenever I travel, I always notice the difference in the quality of service when I’m dressed differently. Whenever I’m in a suit or tie, the stewardesses are cordial, friendly, and quick in servicing my needs. Whenever I’m unshaven and dressed in my sloppy Gilligan’s Island attire, I’d be lucky if I get as much as a smile from one of the attendants. Whenever I enter buildings, I’d always get stopped and interrogated by the guards if I’m just wearing a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. But whenever I’m wearing a suit, they’ll let me in – no questions asked.
Which brings me back to Singapore and Manila. There’s been a lot of negative talk about how the Philippines doesn’t get as much tourists as Singapore, Thailand or Malaysia. But how can you expect to have tourists coming in if the first thing they see in the airports are long lines at the immigration area, defective luggage conveyor belts, nagging porters, dozens of taxi drivers shouting at your face,"Taxi, sir? Taxi, sir???" and, right outside the airports, lines of shanties, clotheslines filled with laundry, shirtless men playing pool in the streets, and rivers filled with garbage? I remember when President Bush came, the government carefully plotted the route that he would take. They made sure that he’d pass through the best roads – and they placed welcome streamers along bridge railings to cover the shanties. While the attempt to improve the aesthetics was commendable, it was very superficial. It was like sweeping the dust under the carpet. Such is our commitment to cleanliness.
The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman has been getting a lot of flak for his strict policy regarding the public display of hanging laundry. A lot of people are complaining because his MMDA staff confiscate the clothes. I think his policy is a big step towards the right direction. He also had a policy prohibiting men walking around shirtless. I totally agree with that too. It’s about time we cleaned up our act. The operative word there is "act." We can think "clean" for one whole year straight – but if we don’t act on it, the dirt and the disorder will not go away.
I really believe that cleaning up externally is the first step. Our ultimate goal is to be clean inside. There’s an old saying that goes, "Cleanliness is next to godliness." Even when Mother Teresa was servicing the poorest of the poor, her clothes always looked immaculately white. Somehow, her clothes manifested her intentions and good deeds.
Sometimes, the thrust on external cleanliness and order can be taken to the extreme – to the point that that’s all that matters. On the way to the States, I watched a documentary on the plane on the whole Enron scam. The Enron scam was a classic case of putting more stress on external cleaning than internal cleaning. The "cleaning" was just for show – just so the stockholders would keep their investments in Enron. Enron’s finance heads and their cohorts in Arthur Andersen concentrated too much on "cleaning up Enron’s books and painting a pretty picture" when in fact, a lot of irregularities and corrupt scheming was already going on. In the end, Enron’s top guys got exposed. No matter how good their books looked, everything inside was garbage. The end of the documentary showed the top Enron guys walking to court in their neatly pressed Armani suits – with their hands cuffed behind them.
We must always strive to be clean and orderly – both externally and internally. In the corporate sense, what that means is you dress up decently and keep your desk clean – and, in turn, this cleanliness should be manifested in your work – i.e., you deliver clean and orderly memos, you come to work and meetings on time, you avoid conflict of interests, you shun any form of corruption, you pay your taxes correctly, and you treat people with respect and fairness. It means being decently and properly dressed, having the proper hygiene, cleaning up your home and surroundings, and having positive and pure thoughts about the people around you and circumstances. That’s all there is to it. But like I said, the important thing is action. Check your desk. Is it clean? That’s a start.