Take a bow Pasifikans
December already – and I’m the last one from the Pacific still here at the Expo site in Shanghai! It wasn’t so long ago that I welcomed Mai Life readers to the Pacific Pavilion and little did we know that we would win a few awards and welcome 7 million visitors to our little piece of paradise in China! But that we did and here we are – with an interior slowly making its way to the floor and out to waiting containers.

There is also a 3-metre high wall being built around our beautiful Pacific Blue pavilion, and Expo Village – where we all lived – is also turning into a ghost town with only 300 residents in an area built for 10,000 people. But we are fortunate that security remains, scant when compared to when Expo was in full swing, but security nonetheless.

There have been many lessons learned for all of us from the Pacific here at Expo 2010 and one very in-the-face reflection is how both government and people all have the same goal – China! Everyone works for the betterment of their family, village, town, city, province and China. There is no rubbishing of public property and facilities and very little graffiti or rubbish on the streets. There are no clean-up campaigns that we are all familiar with that work while the promotion is on and then when nobody is monitoring it’s ‘back to normal’ rubbish all over again.

There is a purpose for work and as I said in my column some months ago, there is pride in whatever they do here in Shanghai whether it’s cleaning the streets or being CEO in a corporate organisation. We’re talking billions of people here – I wonder how we can get to facilitate that attitude with our own small communities? I feel if leaders take care of the people and then the people will take care of the community – but it all takes good leadership.

A police commissioner in one of the provinces was put to death in August for abuse of office and everything that goes with it including murder. Newspaper articles report openly on high-ranking officers charged with mismanagement and abuse of office which perhaps encourages the public at large knowing that the law is for everyone and not just for the poor or underprivileged. And the discipline observed in the citizens of this fair city is impressive. Well done Shanghai – hosting Expo was a lesson not only for you, but the world also. We learned to co-exist side-by-side for this short time and we all walk away richer for having known each other.

Awards
The Pacific Pavilion was very honoured to receive in one day, the second last day of Expo 2010, the 7 millionth visitor to the pavilion, as well as the Model Pavilion award from the Expo Bureau and the Gold Award for Creative Display from the Bureau International de Exposition. The board members of BIE spent quite a long time in the Pavilion that day and came away impressed with the exhibitory which won the BIE Gold award. They noted the general use of natural fibres and recycled materials – like the beautiful Sepik figures in PNG with the modern Sepik figure in between made of rusty tin, broken car parts and other pieces of metal; the magnificent carved crocodiles and huge totem poles of Papua New Guinea; the handmade eel and fish traps from Kiribati; the PVC plastic canoe designed and made by Lingikoni Vaka’uta and his colleagues that was commissioned by the Fiji Expo Committee and then disregarded because nobody liked it until we bought it to bring to Expo and it sat pride of place at the entry to the Pavilion’s VIP area.

There was also the beautiful Solomon carvings; the Tongan carved chair by Steaven Fehoko; the pigs and the banyan tree of Vanuatu; the handhewn canoes of Samoa, Niue, FSM, Fiji and the Marshalls as well as the daily entertainment and singing, artisans and carvers. It’s all commonplace to us but to the first-time visitor to the Pavilion it’s another world!

Our second award was for the Model Pavilion in Zone B – the best managed and operated Pavilion – now this was a great shock to us but a very welcome one. It was a huge team effort at Expo and all of the staff and volunteers helped to win these awards. It’s thanks to them that we have this recognition from the world. When I say it was a shock to win this award it’s just that we had some hiccups along the way but we stuck to the rules at all times so I guess this was noted by the Expo Bureau.

A high-raking delegation comprising of Expo executive committee members and Shanghai Municipal Government officials, paid a two-day visit to Fiji and made a courtesy call on President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, the then Acting Prime Minister Ratu Epeli Ganilau, and the South Pacific Tourism Organisation to say thank you to Fiji and the Pacific region for their successful participation at the historical Shanghai event.

We were honoured to be the first country to be visited by the delegation and the dignitaries thoroughly enjoyed their short visit to Fiji.

Ni sa moce Shanghai
For most of us at the Pacific Pavilion, Shanghai has been our home for the past seven to eight months and it was crying and tears daily for the staff that left Expo Village over a period of 7 days after October 31. However the tears turned to fears for many when overweight baggage at the
airport resulted in some paying up to 10,000 RMB each for their spoils of Expo – nearly F$3000 – and that was from Shanghai to Nadi only! A few
fearless Pasifikans had nine suitcases – not to mention the other five going in the container. We love to shop and Shanghai is the place for that so everyone took home a little piece of Shanghai when they left.

For the first wave of Pacific Pavilion staffers to leave us, Air Pacific’s Rehana Weiser, Nigel Fiu and colleagues prepared tinned meat and bisikete much to the delight of Master Lai Veikoso and team and was the first warm step to their homecoming. There’s nothing like food for the soul to forget the overweight charges. And I know the family members back home will have a Christmas full of cheer from Shanghai. A warning to potential visitors to China and southeast Asia: there is no unaccompanied baggage facility available for serial shoppers.

Have a wonderful and peaceful Christmas everyone. To all at Mai Life, thank you for your patience and professionalism. I hope all your dreams come true for Christmas and the year to come and that you also remember the reason for the season – the child that was born in Bethlehem!

Bernadette Rounds Ganilau is the Director of the Pacific Pavilion at World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China.