Beijing’s main airport is called Beijing Capital International Airport, which was definitely a big airport. Its International Terminal 3 was the second largest terminal in the world after Dubai’s International Terminal 3 (Wikipedia).

So, on one of my flights from this Airport, I got a chance to look at the Terminal 3E. It was definitely huge. I had no problem reaching the designated gate for my flights after I passed through the immigration since there were lots of signs to guide me. But as I got bored waiting in one of the many gates in the 3E terminal, I decided to take a walk and got lost! I had never got lost in airport before, even if it’s new to me, like the one in Hongkong or Guangzhou. Even I spent one and half hour of walking through the terminal, I had the nagging feeling that I had not seen it all.

–00–

In that day in the terminal, I overheard something interesting.

I was walking through a long hallway looking for my gate when I saw two men walking in front of me. One was Indian and the other was Chinese, but I concluded both were of Singapore nationality.

Indian: Wait, I need to rest my arms and feet. This airport is crazily gigantic. (He was carrying a baggage at that time, dragging it with him all along)

Chinese: (laugh) okay. Yeah, they surely built this huge.

Indian: Yeah. The way they do things is when they build something, they do it grandly. This airport is no exception.

Chinese: Yeah. In contradiction though, we in Singapore try to make everything compact (this of course refers to the little land Singapore has)

Indonesian (oh, who was I) in his heart: Wow, we Indonesian also build compact utilitarian sad cheap(?) buildings! Despite the fact we have relatively big landmass.. We just don’t have many financial options.

Oh God, how sad is that? There were free drinking water dispensers all over the airport, while we couldn’t even find automatic vending machine anywhere in Jakarta (just recently in busway stops, which you still have to buy through the operator).

And even though Singapore has a compact airport, it’s still much better and bigger than Cengkareng.

What happened to our country? What’s the huge natural and human resources doing?

I’m not nationalist. I just wonder where we got it all wrong.

And don’t you dare reply me with the philosophical motivational (accusatory) responses like: it should start with you, what have you contributed?

*KICK