Something to feel good about

The sight of people in masks was a bit unnerving, but I went in anyway. At the door, I was asked to fill out a health check list and told to hand it in when I registered. In my media kit was a box containing a mask, surgical gloves, alcohol, tissue paper and a health alert form; among the brochures was a medical fact sheet.

Welcome to the Manila F.A.M.E. International (MFI) in the age of SARS. After deciding not to cancel the trade fair, CITEM set up health check procedures and preventive measures, including the medical kits, an on-site doctor screening foreign visitors and a health booth available for consultation.

The decision to go on with the fair was made after industry consultations, and only a handful of exhibitors opted not to participate. None of the other trade fairs in the region–which forms an Asian "swing" for international buyers and merchandisers–have cancelled, and the only change is a consolidation of the Hong Kong and Guangzhou fairs, fortunately after Manila, so buyers come here before the two high-SARS locations.

Doing business in the time of SARS means one is more matipid with handshakes, and beso-beso is kept to a minimum; the flying kiss has become the greeting of choice. One exhibitor we talked to went to the restroom to wash her hands after each buyer leaves; others discreetly reached for the alcogel behind the desk. Only a few exhibitors wore masks; one had the teddy bears in his display wear masks while he didn’t.

One New York-based fashion accessories buyer revealed that everyone back home thought he was foolish and irresponsible to have come at all, and his wife would probably quarantine him for at least a week before allowing him back in the house ("I might as well go on vacation!" he quipped). He had brought his own mask, but admitted he hadn’t used it–it’s not easy to negotiate price and delivery schedules behind a mask. He’s "really scared" about SARS, he said, but business must go on.

Buyer attendance, not surprisingly, was down, to almost 1,400, even less than the October 2001 fair held barely a month after 9-11. The two MFIs last year (in April and October) had already begun to show very encouraging increases in buyer attendance, up to 3,300 last October.

And then came SARS.

The encouraging factor in this dire scenario is that the local and foreign buyers who braved SARS to attend the fair were serious buyers, and hopefully when the orders are tallied the figures will be even more encouraging.

What is definitely encouraging–and immune to SARS or tuberculosis or pneumonia or whatever other contagion–is the consistent high quality of the merchandise on display. A media colleague says she always attends the MFI because her faith in the Filipino is affirmed when she sees all the beautiful things our craftsmen come up with, and she is reminded that we are not hopeless after all.

As always, furniture and home accessories showed the highest standards in both design and craftsmanship. The sensations of the show were the Tony Gonzales-designed larger-than-life pieces of Locsin International–the O chair, the genie bottle chair and display cabinet and over-sized handmade paper floor lamps astonish before impressing with their boldness and daring, graceful proportions and rich textures. Davao-based Ann Pamintuan’s wire wonders have grown to include tao sculptures and an undulating three-seater ottoman, and a new line features wires flattened into fettucine-like ribonettes that add a surprising sparkle. Milo Naval’s new collection has become more luxe with lacquered raffia giving a sheen to his signature strong angles and clean lines. Seeing all this makes you feel like redecorating your house!

Coming out of the fair I didn’t just feel good about our country and proud to be Filipino, I learned a valuable lesson. Talking to several of the exhibitors/manufacturers, I realized that the way to beat SARS and a sluggish global economy and even terrorist threats is to simply keep at whatever it is we’re doing: to put our noses to the grindstone and keep working, doing our best and giving our best.