Convenience, Security and Safety

Our first stop upon landing in Singapore is a SHN (Stay Home Notice)  dedicated facility  - JW Marriot Hotel, a five star hotel, for a two week mandatory quarantine. 

We stayed in 2 connected 20th floor rooms which have floor to ceiling curtains. No strings to open close the curtains. The curtains are open and closed via electric motors. A push of switch reveals a spectacular view.

Sunset viewed from 20th floor of JW Marriot

The toilet in these rooms is TOTO Washlet, i.e. a toilet that can wash the bottom and genital area. Fortunately the washes are not automatic, one has to use a remote to start the process. A one second clean wipe from toilet paper will take a minute or two on the toilet. It may not totally clean the soiled area in stick situations :). That may be the reason TOTO Wahslet is not widely installed.

TOTO Washlet

Our two rooms are connected through face to face double doors. Person in one room can open the door on his side, but has no knob or key to open the other door to next room. The other door has to be opened in that room. So the connection is made through mutual consent, privacy is established either side. A very clever design, purely mechanical !

These doors and entrance doors have 3 layers, with a metal layer in the middle, seem to be bullet proof. They are very heavy, and make people feel safe.

The special door to the next room 

When we tried the double doors the first time, Nicholas came to our room, the door on his side closed behind him! He could not get back to his room through the connecting door. Unfortunately he did not have the card key to his room with him. We had to call front desk for help. Waiting for hotel staff to come to open the door for him for more than 5 minutes, we called again, we were told it was open already … it was opened remotely.

How convenient and efficient for the hotel staff! But it gave me chill. What about security? This was what prompted me to write this post

The bullet proof door is a nil if it can be unlocked remotely. Of course there is the same issue with card kay or the old time hotel master key. So one needs to activate the mechanical door stop from inside, at least one knows when someone tries to trespass.

The perceived security is not secure. Same to electronic locks.

What about the all the conveniences that require electricity? 

The elevator will stuck, people strand mid air when electric outage occurs. In case of emergency people can still get out of  building through the old fashioned stair well. The elevator is a convenience we can not live without, but the stair well is the critical structure we must have.

The motorized curtains can be an annoyance when electric outage occurs. Our rooms are facing west, they have great views of sunset, but also could warm up quickly. If the curtains stuck open in a sunny afternoon, no AC, the rooms can be a green house in no time!

Do we need all those good to have conveniences? Not all of them, e.g. the motorized curtains.

Are we more secure with digital technology? Most of the time but individuals are even more venerable  when people in power want to control their life.

Are we more safe?

The title subject is too large a topic to discuss in this post. Just some random thoughts on it.