Returning from Shanghai, with its huge, modern international airport in Pudong, it was a letdown to arrive at the NAIA Centennial Terminal.
Cost cutting in the construction of the second terminal of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport is evident, with the government scrimping on items such as toilets, walkalators or travelators and escalators.
The rationale for investing in these facilities is to make a country’s port of entry, especially the premier airport, as welcoming as possible to travelers. Airports give visitors their first impression of a country. From the moment travelers step out of a plane and set foot on Philippine soil, their stay in the country should be made as comfortable as possible, even if they are only in transit.
Aren’t we supposed to be renowned for our hospitality? I don’t know why we have such a big problem providing clean and comfortable public lavatories. Not everyone can pee in public against a wall.
Escalators and walkalators are not luxuries. Carry-ons can be heavy enough to result in a pulled muscle or tendon or aggravate a slipped disc or frozen shoulder. At the international arrival area of the Centennial Terminal, passengers must lug heavy carry-ons down two flights of stairs. The first public toilet is after immigration and Customs, at the baggage retrieval section.
I hope the cost cutting was simply due to limited funds and not because someone pocketed what should have gone into the installation of escalators and toilets.
At least at the departure area of NAIA-1, Internet-ready computers were made available to the public for free starting last month.
Some airlines need to give their Filipino staff better training. At Cathay Pacific’s NAIA-1 check-in counter, a girl named Eldie doesn’t know what an aisle seat is. But clearing immigration is quick.
At Pudong International, a device at every immigration counter starts blinking once the processing is over, urging travelers to rate the service provided by the immigration officer by clicking on a particular category of traveler satisfaction. Another new gadget, installed throughout the airport, is a touch-button dispenser of hot or cold water, with paper cups provided, much like an instant espresso maker.
China, like many other countries, is increasingly using technology to improve the quality of life of the average citizen, and make visitors as comfortable as possible.
Technology for a better, greener life is a recurring theme throughout the impressive Chinese Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo.
When the Expo was opened to the public for the first time on May 1, the longest lines were at the high-tech pavilions of China, Singapore, Japan and the Western countries renowned for cutting-edge technology. Even Thailand used laser lighting on water and 3-D technology to promote the country.
I liked the tropical artistry in our pavilion. A room features exquisite Pinoy interior design, with the type of furniture for which several of our designers have gained global renown. But ours is one of the low-tech destinations at the expo, reflecting the state of the nation. Our theme is “performing cities,” and several foreign journalists guessed correctly that the pavilion would feature singing and dancing, both traditional and modern. Chinese visitors posed for photos beside our traditional musical instruments.
As I sat down for a lunch of roast chicken at the packed Travel Café (almost all the diners were Chinese), a performer belted out Randy Crawford’s “Street Life” on stage.
What the foreign journalists didn’t guess was the add-on at the pavilion – a free 10-minute massage, to promote Philippine spas. The setting, in a small room called “Hilot,” typified the best of our resort spas.
The pavilion plays up our strength as a land of warm hospitality. We may be lacking in the way of high-tech and musical originality, but a visitor can forget that – and many of his other troubles – in our land of friendly smiles, entertainment and relaxation.
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Again reflecting the state of the nation, what the pavilion lacked was a decent lavatory. People have to take turns at the lone toilet outside the hall, which (why wasn’t I surprised?) lacked toilet paper.
In my first visit to China many moons ago, when I traveled as a tourist (foreign journalists were undesirable aliens at the time) from Beijing to Nanjing, Shanghai, lesser known cities and finally the southern province of Fujian, it was hard to find a clean, modern toilet (or a decent cup of coffee) outside the big Western hotels.
Last week in Shanghai, in a government building where journalists had to undergo a security check before boarding buses for the Expo opening ceremony, men complained of the “nasty” toilet. The one for women had no door lock and no toilet paper, but at least it was clean and had running water.
Judging from the number of lavatories in all new Chinese buildings, the Chinese have realized the importance of providing clean and modern toilets to the public. Today there are also thousands of Starbucks outlets and other coffee shops all over China.
As Chinese government officials like to point out, all these changes happened only over the past 30 years, when the late Deng Xiaoping started undoing the mistakes of the Cultural Revolution and gradually opened China to the world.
What have we done in the past 30 years?
The Expo pavilions are a good reflection of each participant’s stage of development. Never mind Japan, whose pavilion is much sought after in part because of its cutting-edge toilet technology (no kidding); the Japanese have long given priority to this creature comfort. But even in the pavilions, there are indications that we are being left behind by most of our Southeast Asian neighbors in many human development indicators.
Indonesia, the new darling of emerging markets, spent $90 million on its large pavilion, whose theme is biodiversity. There’s a digital sign-up to save the endangered Komodo dragon, the world’s largest monitor lizard that attacks humans. It can grow nearly 10 feet long and weigh up to 150 lbs.
A source of envy for me was the pavilion’s spacious lavatory, bright with natural lighting, with ultramodern fixtures but traditional Indonesian interior design.
Like sofas and beds, a clean, modern toilet should evoke comfort. It’s not supposed to be a discomfort room.
If we can welcome visitors with relaxing spas, non-stop entertainment and the friendliest smiles, surely we can also provide this most basic of creature comforts.