Voices

Let's not sacrifice quality for speed

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-22 08:13

Let's not sacrifice quality for speed

The T3 terminal at Capital International Airport has staged a show that has already been seen at Beijing west railway station.

Both massive buildings have been flooded during heavy rains.

During a rainstorm at the weekend, rainwater gushed down from the roof of Air China's VIP room at the airport. The sofa in the room became wet, the carpet was flooded. Passengers fled the room, but not before taking a picture or two of the grand waterfall.

T3 is the biggest terminal in the world, covering an area of 986,000 square meters. The large-scale modern building adopted advanced design and building techniques. It should have become the pride of the industry, instead of being plagued with such quality problems.

It is reported that T3 has suffered from rainwater leaks several times, some equipment has even been damaged. The weather department has forecast that this year there will be more rain in the city. Why has the airport not taken efficient precautions? To close the gate after the horse has bolted is not the best option.

The T3 terminal is an expensive project with a cost of 25 billion yuan. Its area is equivalent to 170 soccer fields. Such a big project, however, was finished in only three years and nine months.

"High speed, high quality, low cost" has been the principle for conducting big projects in the country. In practice, however, it proves hard to guarantee both speed and quality.

True, our country has the systematic advantage in accumulating the finance and manpower for large projects. But the advantage in some way may be turned into disadvantage. The builders sometimes attach too much attention to speed at the sacrifice of quality. It is not rare for grand projects to be plagued with various quality problems after completion.

The waterfalls that appeared in T3 and at the Beijing west railway stations should be good lessons. On one hand, the management staff should enhance their sense of responsibility and take necessary precautions; on the other hand, in the future, quality should always be given the top priority.

Excerpts from a comment in Beijing Times, June 19

Wild claims are more like monkey business

According to Shanxi Evening News, Loufan county in Shanxi recently declared that it had proved that it was the hometown of the Monkey King, a figure from the classic story Journey to the West. To lure tourists, the county plans to develop a scenic area covering 460 hectares.

Loufan claimed that it had made such a conclusion based on a 20-year study carried out by experts.

It is just ridiculous.

Everyone knows the Monkey King is a character that exists only in a fairytale. How could such a thing have a hometown?

In the past years, we have witnessed many places claiming to be hometown of famous historical figures. Sometimes, three or four places had serious arguments as each claimed to be the real hometown of a famous person. They can all seek support from so-called experts.

Their motivation is just to attract more tourists to promote local economic development.

To give the Monkey King a hometown is an extreme case, which is an illustration of how crazy some localities have become in this regard.

But will the trick work? If Loufan has really beautiful scenery, maybe it can draw some tourists. But judging by the introduction of the local tourism department, there are only a few historical relics in the planned scenic area. Most of the buildings are newly built and that can hardly hook people.

Excerpts from a comment in Shanxi Evening News, June 19

(China Daily 06/22/2010)