A man felt sorry for himself because he had no shoes…until he saw the man who had no feet. That proverb came to mind numerous times while I was on a recent three-week-plus trip to Southeast Asia. I made a point of trying to get a glimpse of life there compared with that of Los Angeles and Our Valley. Truth be told (as opposed to lying to you), there really is no comparison. Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand truly are Third World countries. (I am still searching for a list of Second World nations.) But despite pervasive poverty, intermittent infrastructure, and a paucity of political freedom, the people appear to accept, rather than resent, their lot in life. But what a typical Valley-dwelling American, with his own home, his own car, his own business, and about as much food as he can consume, sees is a lesson in life not easily forgotten. And if you think doing business is a struggle during our continuing recession here, you haven’t seen it there. It is said that nothing is as broadening as travel (that may refer not only to one’s perspective, but to one’s waistline). The next time someone complains to me about the problems business faces here, I’ll remember what I saw in Asia. Start with healthcare. The next time I read about premium increases from Blue Shield or Blue Cross (they’re so easy to confuse; couldn’t one of them have chosen a different color?) I may resent their seeming avarice. But I won’t forget the tour guide in Vietnam who told us that, as a young boy, he spent three months in a hospital with meningitis…with absolutely no medicine available. There is no such thing as healthcare insurance in most Southeast Asian countries. The trash issue I won’t forget how we deal with the trash of our industrialized lives compared to Asians. We have complained for years of having to separate our trash…until we finally became inured to the inconvenience. Remember how Sam Yorty, Los Angeles’ only Valley-dwelling mayor – from Studio City – won his mayoral race by promising Angelenos he’d do away with the sorting of wet and dry garbage? In Southeast Asia, trash decorates the sides of the roads; plastic bags, household garbage, and the other detritus of human life, stretch for miles. Mounds of garbage are episodically burned, adding to the pollution. And I won’t forget the complete lack of zoning or municipal planning in Southeast Asia, with absolutely no rhyme or reason to what is built where. At least here we have specific plans and neighborhood plans…much as they are ignored and exemptions granted. Best current example: Just take a look at the poor-man’s-Mondrian knockoff of an out-of-place mixed-use development next to Jerry’s Deli on Ventura Blvd. in Encino. As for construction safety standards…let’s just say that one looks at OSHA in a whole new light when watching lithe Asian workers scamper up and down on bamboo scaffolding with nary a hard hat or safety gear in sight. And I guarantee I’ll never forget traffic, particularly in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), where there are 9 million residents and 6 million motorbikes. Traffic accidents The U.S. State Department’s travel site sums up Vietnam’s traffic accurately: “Traffic in Vietnam is chaotic… At least 30 people die each day from transportation-related injuries… Traffic accident injuries are the leading cause of death, severe injury, and emergency evacuation of foreigners in Vietnam. Traffic accidents… are the single greatest health and safety risk you will face in Vietnam. “Outside the cities, livestock compete with vehicles for road space. Sudden stops by motorcycles and bicycles make driving particularly hazardous. Nationwide, drivers do not follow basic traffic principles, vehicles do not yield right of way, and there is little adherence to traffic laws or enforcement by traffic police.” Makes the San Diego Freeway at rush hour seem like an English country road. And I won’t forget the economy. While we in the U.S. bemoan the shrinking of the middle class, there is practically no middle class in these countries. I did meet one man who I thought was middle class in Bangkok, but he may be the only one. Traveling along the main roads the visitor sees huge factories, most of them housing locals toiling for near-starvation wages making garments. The wages are so low in Vietnam that China subcontracts many of its European and American clothing manufacturing agreements to Vietnam. The workers slave (a near-truthful word) away for 11 and 12 hours a day six days a week for a pittance (whatever that is) in garment factories owned by the Chinese. Don’t get me wrong; Bangkok is as modern a city as you’ll see; Hong Kong has so many buildings over 30 stories tall it makes New York look like New Amsterdam; and the ostentatious opulence of those few at the top of the economic ladder is unmatched on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. I’m glad I went to Southeast Asia; it makes me appreciate Our Valley even more. There was no better salutation than to have the U.S. Immigration official at Tom Bradley Terminal say to me, as he scanned and then returned my passport, “Welcome home.” Only the traveling is good which reveals to me the value of home and enables me to enjoy it better. – Henry David Thoreau Martin Cooper, President of Cooper Communications, Inc., is Immediate Past President of the Los Angeles Quality and Productivity Commission; Founding President of The Executives; Vice Chairman of the Boys & Girls Club of the West Valley; and a member of the Boards of the Valley Economic Alliance and of the LAPD’s West Valley Jeopardy Program. He is Past Chairman of VICA and Chairman of its Board of Governors, Past President of the Public Relations Society of America-Los Angeles Chapter and of the Encino Chamber of Commerce. He is the 2010 recipient of VICA’s Harmon Ballin Community Service Award. He can be reached at [email protected].
