From ‘Who will tell the people?‘ by Thomas L. Friedman, author of The World is Flat:

…A few weeks ago, my wife and I flew from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Singapore. In J.F.K.’s waiting lounge we could barely find a place to sit. Eighteen hours later, we landed at Singapore’s ultramodern airport, with free Internet portals and children’s play zones throughout. We felt, as we have before, like we had just flown from the Flintstones to the Jetsons. If all Americans could compare Berlin’s luxurious central train station today with the grimy, decrepit Penn Station in New York City, they would swear we were the ones who lost World War II…

Do not get me wrong. I am not trying to condemn New York’s Kennedy Airport or boast Singapore Changi Airport. It is just one of the many impacts of globalisation.