My Memories of
"AdAsia Lahore 1989"
By
Mrs Lee-Gan Ai Lien
Wonderful times of our lives stay alive in our memories. When I bite into a juicy Pakistani orange, I always remember Lahore. What is so wonderful about Lahore? I was mesmerised by its unique culture, ancient beauty and the friendliness of its people when I was there 33 years ago.
When I worked in the commercial arm of Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), I had a few opportunities to attend AdAsia Congress over the years. One that evoked the most memories for me was "AdAsia Lahore 1989" which took place 33 years ago. People may wonder why I write about it after so many years? The answer is: I have learned valuable lessons from attending the AdAsia Lahore 1989, which I have applied in my life, time and time again.
AdAsia Congress is organised under the auspices of Asia Federation of Advertising Associations (AAFA). Since 1958, it has been held bi-annually in various Asian cities like Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Bali… etc and has since grown into the most influential and grandest event in the Asian advertising industry. It offers an excellent forum for the practitioners of advertising, marketing, media and public relations sectors to share and learn of breakthroughs, innovations, effective marketing and communications. It also highlights the global advertising trends with emphasis on Asia. The bid to host AdAsia Congress has always been fiercely contested, with brilliant ideas and creative presentations to win the hearts and applause of AAFA members. It was a great joy and pride for Pakistan to be honourably selected as the host country for the 16th AdAsia Congress in 1989. And they put their heart and soul into organising it.
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AdAsia Lahore 1989 attracted a large number of delegates, including several of us from Singapore. The four- day Congress was packed with many prominent speakers from around the world to speak on diverse topics. One of them was the world-renowned thinker and author, Dr. Edward de Bono, who invented lateral thinking. As advertising is all about creativity, his topic on how to improve one's thinking ability and creativity skills attracted great interest and attention from the attendees. The appeal of the Congress is that it caters not only to the attendees' interests in serious learning and discussion but also social gathering, entertainment and sightseeing. While we had many inspiring and enriching sessions in the day, there were also various well-planned exciting events to entertain us in the evening. Truly, AdAsia Lahore had showcased an excellent example of how "creativity at its best" had helped them make it a resounding success and a landmark chapter in the advertising industry. And for us, it was a remarkable Congress to attend.
Lahore is the capital of Punjab province and is Pakistan's artistic, literary and cultural heart. In the eighties, It did not have large and luxurious hotels to accommodate big-scale international events. So the organising committee, with its chairman, Senator Javed Jabbar, put on their thinking hats to plan for an "out-of-the box" solution. They had creatively overridden this drawback by using their unique culture, beautiful heritage sites and historic places as their highlights, venues and backdrops of the events. This in itself, demonstrated a very powerful way of creative advertising and putting the beauty of Lahore on the world map. Throughout the days of the Congress, the delegates had a marvellous time in all the different settings, gaining an insight into Pakistani culture and heritage as well as enjoying a true taste of Pakistan's best cuisines. If not for this out-of-the box arrangement, the events would just be held in the usual function rooms in the hotels. For example, the Congress held its grand opening reception at Lahore's world famous Shalimar Gardens, a most befitting venue to showcase the importance of the Congress on the national level. We were so impressed with the beauty of the Shalimar Gardens…. its wondrous landscapes, and exquisite architecture. The trees in the garden were well planted in perfect symmetry with hundreds of fountains and they all cast beautiful reflections on the flowing waters. A sense of harmony and joy came over me in the midst of this paradise garden.
On another day, we were treated to a fabulous fashion show called "Costumes Through the Ages" in the hotel. The elegance, unique identity and evolution of Pakistani attires were spectacularly presented right in front of our eyes. This is another fine example of how the organiser brought in their creativity in enriching the events of the Congress. The show, reflecting the high standard of Pakistani fashion, was very well choreographed. Coupled with melodic music and rhythmic pulsations of tablas, it was simply breathtaking. Shalwar and Kameez are Pakistani national attires. The Shalwar is a pair of loose trousers with wide tops and narrow to a cuffed bottom. The Kameez is a long shirt with open side seams below the waist-line. The Pakistani women always wear them with a flowing scarf that makes them look very graceful.
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The grand finale of the Congress was held at the splendid, historic Lahore Fort where all delegates participated in the gigantic firework display, a show which I felt, very well symbolised the theme of the Congress, "Together Towards Tomorrow". It was a strong call to share expertise and collaborate hand-in-hand to light up a bright future. Both Shalimar Gardens and Lahore Fort are UNESCO world heritage sites and they added so much charm to the events.
There were a few other things that I found particularly interesting at the Congress. At one of the talks after a sumptuous lunch, the audience was sleepy. The speaker for that session decided to do something about it. Slowly, he took off his tie... his coat. Then all of a sudden, with all of his might, he threw them off the stage. The audience had a great shock. The next moment, we were wide awake. The result was achieved. Creative people dare do what they think will work.
The next enjoyable thing was about our outing for food. One night, our Singapore delegates, having had enough curry meals for a few days, yearned for Chinese food, so we decided to dine out. Incidentally, we were all from different media corporations in Singapore. Though back home we might have been rivals, in Lahore, we were like old friends. There were eight of us. I, a lady, took the front seat, and all the seven men were packed like sardines in the back of the car. They were pushing, yelling and joking at each other. The car was so packed that only their heads could move. We finally found a Pakistani restaurant serving Chinese food.
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Surprisingly, there were already some foreign AdAsia delegates ahead of us and eating out there. We greeted each other with understanding smiles. The Pakistani waiters who attended to us spoke very fluent Mandarin and recommended what to order. That night, we had tasted the most authentic Szechuan cuisine in Lahore, the Kung Pao chicken and the "hot-and-sour" soup. The chicken was crispy tender with the perfect combination of salty, sweet and strong, numbing spicy flavours. The soup was loaded with mushrooms, silky eggs, bean curd…. utterly hot and delicious. We were very surprised that we could savour such a superb and mouth-watering Northern Chinese food in Lahore. All of us were happy and deeply satisfied. We, being competitors, probably would not have had such a jovious time together like this in Singapore.
On another afternoon, we went round some of the places of interest to have a glimpse of Lahore City. The splendid mosques of beautiful architecture, the historic Walled City, the Food Street where the food fare was so inviting. Oh, I loved the chicken tikka and naan bread. In the Narrow Paths, many artisans were making instruments, flutes, dhol and tablas. A random fruit seller offered me a Pakistani orange as I passed by a marketplace. What an unforgettable bite of Pakistani juicy sweetness! Wherever I was, I felt the warm welcome of the people greeting me with "As-salamu alaykum", which means "Peace be upon you". Children ran forward to touch my skirt, wanting to have a photo with me. Their lovely eyes and happy smiles appeared in the lens of my camera. What a joy to capture this essence of friendly humanity and the little touches of life.
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The last day of our stay, many delegates flew to tour Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. A Korean lady and a group of Japanese delegates went to Taxila, a celebrated historical place which is located in the Rawalpindi district of Punjab province. They all wanted to see the archaeological sites of Greek civilization and the ruins of Buddhist monasteries and stupas. Out of interest, I joined them. Taxila is an ancient city that has gone through many changes of rulers, culture and religion. It was well-known for its rich archaeological sites and Gandharan Art - a religious art form showing a strong fusion of influence from Greece, Rome and India. Taxila was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1980.
We had only half a day for sightseeing and could only visit three places.
On arrival, the guide took us first to Bhir Mound (600 - 200 BC) where we could see the ruins of what was built during the rule of Alexander the Great. The second site we visited was Jaulian Monastery, a famous ruins site of early Buddhist civilization and centre of higher learning. It was built atop a mountain and we had to climb up many steps. It was a spectacular and panoramic view of the sky and mountains when we reached the top. The guide explained to us that there were two main parts of these ruins. One was the central stupa surrounded by many small ones. The stupas were all engraved with beautiful carvings of Buddha. The other part was the Monastery and the University of Jaulian which was believed to be one of the world's first universities and where thousands of students came from afar to study. There were classrooms, assembly hall, living quarters, kitchen, stone mills, and a large pool for washing and for reflecting the sun and the moon. The guide also showed us some footprints of Buddha. I removed my shoes and respectfully put my foot on the footprint to take a photo. And I felt so miserably small in the footprint of the Enlightened One. Looking at these historical treasures, I could not help but marvel at the advancement of these people in the second century BC.
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Our last visit was to the acclaimed Taxila Museum which displayed various sections of rich archaeological finds of Taxila. The Pakistan Government had well preserved these treasures evacuated from the ruins. The Museum also gave us an insight into Gandharan Art. There are many stupas, Buddha's statues in various positions , sculptures depicting Buddha's life story as well as many well-carved stucco heads, big and small . As Taxila is renowned for its stoneworks, most of the carvings are impressive and unique. I wanted to take a beautiful picture of a well-carved meditating Buddha statue, but each time I pressed the shutter button, it became deadlocked. The Korean lady whom I went with advised me to say a "seek permission" prayer. There was no harm trying, with courtesy, I did. And to my surprise, I finally got the picture I wanted.
In hindsight, my visit to Taxila was brief and what I saw was very little. Nevertheless, it is still a valuable experience to have glimpsed this brilliant chapter of human civilization and glory of the past.
On our return flight from Lahore to Singapore, we encountered something peculiar. There was a weird-looking man amidst the passengers, and his behaviour caught our attention. He wore a long grey gown with unkempt hair and beard and held a bottle in his hand. He stood in the aisle at the back, most of the time and spoke endlessly about some religious stories. I could hear him clearly even though I was seated in front. Our flight needed to stop in Kuala Lumpur first, before flying back to Singapore.
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After the stop-over in Kuala Lumpur, all passengers returned back to the flight. But, one passenger was missing. The weird-looking man had disappeared and one extra luggage was unclaimed. For safety reasons, the airline conducted a thorough check on the plane. And in the process of checking, it was discovered that one of the aircraft's doors was faulty and the plane could not take off. A replacement flight flew us back to Singapore the next day. In the plane that day, we heard that there was an aircraft disaster that involved another plane with a faulty door. Gosh! The news sent chills down my spine. We could possibly have met the same fate yesterday if not because of the disappearance of the "weird- looking" man. Who was " he"? None of us knew. But we knew he had a hand in ensuring our lives were safe and our journey ended on a happy note.
I am grateful that I had this trip to Lahore and the visit to Taxila was an unexpected bonus. I took home a set of beautiful Pakistani national dress, Shalwar Kameez, with a scarf, two lovely flutes, my love for the tabla, but the most valuable thing I took back from this visit
is the lesson that I have learned about creativity. When we have a disadvantage, we can always look at it from
a different angle and turn it into an advantage by explorin
g our creativity, using our creativity to go beyond our limits.
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