ASIAD notes

Good soldiers

HANGZHOU – Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) executive director Paulo Tatad, son of Francisco “Kit” Tatad, who served as minister of Public Information under the late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., is in his first Asian Games in an official capacity. He said he liked what he saw in the first week he’s been here. “Well organized. Maganda,” he said. The only thing organizers, he narrated, could have done a better job at, was in security. Actually, it’s not the lack of it but too much of it. “Sumobra naman ang higpit. From the people I’ve spoken to, those who’ve been around, mas mahigpit pa daw dito than the Olympics,” said the PSC official. It’s quite common here for marked Asian Games cars to be inspected, its passengers being asked to get out of the vehicle, even if it’s PSC chairman Richard Bachmann. “Wala silang pinipili. But we are good soldiers. We comply,” said Tatad. Seriously, he’s not complaining. Besides, it’s a good problem to have.

‘Towel, please’

HANGZHOU – No, you just can’t have it all. Despite the smooth staging of the 19th Asian Games so far, from the competition itself to the highly efficient transport services, food and board and lodging, there’s one major problem here: the language barrier. In the past few days, Filipinos have had great difficulty communicating with the locals. Even with English-speaking volunteers around, it remains such a difficult task sending a simple message across. Take the case of Pinoy scribe Gerry Ramos of Spin.ph, who had trouble asking the housekeeping at the well-kept Media Village for fresh towels in the unit he’s staying at. “Towel, change, towel, please,” he kept repeating – but to no avail. Next thing he knew, Ramos was speaking to volunteers at the