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
Selamat datang daripada Langkawi, This is the story of two businesses in competition with each other. On the southern end of a peninsula – on Pulau Langkawi in northern Malaysia – is Tanjung Puteri Motel, run by a family who has invested everything into starting from scratch, to catch the boom in …Read More
Selamat datang daripada Langkawi, In the dying days of his presidency, Barack Obama said that whether we like it or not we live in an interconnected world. Here in Langkawi, Malaysia, there are very few who disagree, some who like it and some more who don’t like it. Globalisation came to this …Read More
Xin Chào from Đà Lạt, What thought process leads to the idea that you can make coffee out of beans after they have been through an animal? (??!!) We are in Đà Lạt for a weekend, looking for another patch of a fascinating country (me) and cooler weather (Linda). On the way to a visit …Read More
Xin chào tù Việt Nam, Here’s an unreserved recommendation – from both of us – for a possible tourist destination: Bạch Mã National Park. Linda jagged this destination when she was selecting places on spec, when she admittedly “didn’t have any idea what [she] was doing” when filling up our itinerary. And we’ve stumbled …Read More