Lost at Legco

Having followed the (limited) reports of the Legco proceedings since it began its current session, I finally made the effort to watch the proceedings live recently. "Effort" is unfortunately the right word if you want to do the same. First of all, getting into the building is a trying experience in itself. If you are not a "somebody" then the front entrance is not for you. Members of the public must use the entrance at the rear of the building, that is the gate at Jalan Kebangsaan. You need to register with the security and hand over your IC. Having parked your car, the great hunt for the entrance into the building itself begins. After several false leads which involved a lot of walking around the building and following other lost souls (the blind leading the blind), I finally found that elusive portal. You need to find the service road which leads to the underground car park and from there you need to go through the big doors to enter into the foyer. Inside the rather elegant building there were a lot of helpful staff to guide visitors to the main chamber. Pity not even one was stationed outside.

As I was mopping off my sweat after my unintended exercise, I was ushered to the first floor. I have visited the legislative buildings in London, Singapore and Japan. In terms of opulence, the new Legco building is right up there. It is like entering a rather posh hotel. Rather like Empire meets ICC.

There was further uncertainty as to the entrance to the public gallery. One need not be an architect to expect it to be somewhere near the front staircase for easy access. But no. The public have to walk through the corridors all the way to the back of the building. The reason for this still defies me. Perhaps it is a subtle way to encourage people to exercise more. Well it worked. Even before entering the main chamber, I managed to burn off the calories from the 'mee mamak' I had for breakfast.