The Business of Happiness

I consider myself luckier than many people when it comes to theme park experiences. I've had the good fortune to visit not only Eurodisney in Paris, but also Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida, which can quite accurately be described as the Mecca of amusement parks.

I don't know if it's the journalist in me that's being cynical or if its just the repeated visits to theme parks like Disney, Sunway Lagoon, Sentosa Island and Genting Highlands that's made be blase to the charms of this particular mode of entertainment.

Castle of Dreams or just a prettier and much more expensive Wal-Mart?

But whatever it is, I found myself depressingly immune to the charms these man-made Gardens of Delights have to offer. For example, at Genting, I'd notice how tacky the colours are, how the paint peels from the rides, how the mattresses in the hotel rooms seem to have suspicious stains of indeterminate origins and I'd make wise (or is that snide?) comments to myself about how the casinos are places where people go to murder and bury their dreams.

In Disneyworld, I'd observe how the hour-long lines morph into minute-long rides. I'd see that there is always a huge - and often, very expensive - gift shop at the end of every ride and around every corner. I'd moan about how expensive the price of entry to the theme park is and cattily say that fun and laughter is available only to those who can pay for it.

It's ironic then that when a gig to do a freelance assignment came my way recently, it was to cover the Asian Attractions Expo 2010 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. Basically it was an amusement park industry trade show featuring all the gadgets, gizmos and gimmicks that come with the industry.

Frankly, I did it for the money. A boy needs to pay his credit card bills and I ain't gonna turn my nose up at making an honest buck any way I can. Funnily though, attending the expo made me reassess my feelings about the entire concept of theme parks.

It wasn't the funky exhibits - and trust me, there were many of those! - that made me change my mind either. It was the conference sessions, which I had been dreading to attend. (Conferences are usually - to me -  deadly dull things which tend to put me to sleep more often than not.)

But attending this conference made me realise one thing. The people running these shows do really want to make their customers (or, as they call them, "visitors" or "guests") happy. I tried to think of any other business or line of work which is targeted at giving joy to people and couldn't think of a single one. Music and movies come the closest, but their primary purpose is to entertain and not necessarily create joy. Plus, it seems just weird to think of dudes like Ozzy Osbourne bringing joy and light into people's lives.

Hmmm...wonder which of these two blokes makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside...

But as I sat there, listening to people like Noble Coker (apparently that is his REAL name!) from Disneyland Hong Kong and  Paul Pei from Ocean Park Hong Kong talking about how the main objective is to give people memories and how the idea is to ensure they have a good experience, it dawned on me that there really aren't many more noble callings than that.

Yeah, you heard me.I said "noble". No, I've not gone off the deep end. I'm saying that an industry which generated over US$11 billion in revenues in 2006 is noble. I'm saying that parks which charge you an arm, a leg and half a duodenum for entry is noble.

Not out of choice or out of any altruistic motives, mind you. This industry, like any other, has an eye and a half on the bottom line and profit column. Still, any business which aims to give me good memories and a lovely experience is alright in my book. And when I look back at the trip to Eurodisney with dad, or the visit to Walt Disney World with Hoon, I suddenly realise that it was pretty fun. That I did have a good time and create some lovely memories.

And that, to me, is worth the price of entry many, many times over.