Ni Hao from Singapore, Here I am back in Singapore – sans Linda this time – to watch the Singapore 7s Rugby tournament. I’ve dropped over for the weekend to see how the Singaporeans “show us and show the world how we do it in Singapore”. This is the city/country where the standard deviation for public …Read More
Xin Chào from Cát Tiên National Park, With 90 odd million people in a fairly small area of land, and thousands of years of occupancy and development, it’s easy to see why a large proportion of Việt Nam is touched by humans in some way. Add to this, three decades of war. So, preserving natural …Read More
Xin Chào from Sa Pa, At our school in the city – where the majority of our clientele are of Asian descent – it’s sometimes difficult to invoke the spectre of child labour as a problem ie. as an undesirable element of a business plan. This is understandable in a culture where children muck in from …Read More
Xin Chào from Sa Pa in the far north of Việt Nam, Who’d’ve thought that rich Europeans would willingly choose to venture high into the mountains of northern Việt Nam, walk long distances up and down steep slopes, stay in local homes in ethnic villages and pay for the privilege? But that’s what thousands of …Read More
Selamat pagi from Bukit Lawang, Before corporations first gained their legal status as a person, they were much more benign, much less inclined to rape and pillage. They had charters, to build railways or bridges or such like, projects for the common good. When corporations lost their conscience by gaining their new status as legal …Read More
Selamat pagi from Bukit Lawang in northern Sumatra, I once had a lighthearted argument/discussion with a pupil who was just embarking on her career as an Economics student. I averred that there was no such thing as consumer sovereignty (in the same way as one might argue that there’s no such thing as …Read More
Ni Hao from Singapore, As a two-day stopover on our way to northern Sumatra, Singapore has proven to be a pleasant surprise. For Linda – a lover of order, cleanliness and urban efficiencies – it’s been so surprising as to warrant a promise to come back (to get a better look at the orchid gardens). For …Read More
Xin Chào from Huế, If supermarket chains have a 75% stranglehold on the Australian grocery market, here in Việtnam it’s the complete opposite. Most people here purchase just what they need for that particular evening’s meal . (In business textbooks this is sometimes referred to as ‘Parisian Shopping’, but that nomenclature is not suitable here.) On top of …Read More
Xin Chào from Central Việt Nam, I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh, And my soul was sold with my cigarettes To the black market man. I’ve had the Việt Nam cold turkey, From the ocean to the Silver City, And it’s only other vets could understand. opening verse “Khe Sanh” by Cold …Read More
Selamat datang daripada Langkawi, When did we change from perceiving islands as ideal sites for penitentiaries, asylums and quarantine stations to seeing them as idyllic destinations for leisure activities? islands as tourist destinations Was it when we successfully exchanged work time for leisure without diminishing our share of the return on capital? Was …Read More