From fighting to reopen to leading the way in tech innovation, Asia travel puts its best foot forward
Key takeaways from WiT Experience Singapore 2021
IT’S been a tradition of past WiTs that a group of us would escape to a remote location or island somewhere to mark the end of yet another event. Over the years, we’ve been to Siem Reap, Bali, Phuket, Samui, Penang, Kuching with Nikoi and Cemp [...]
How Naila Kiani balanced babies and banking to summit an 8,000m peak
“I want to change perception of Pakistan and promote what it has to offer.”
WHILE some of us were afraid to cross the road to go to the supermarket for fear of catching Covid, Naila Kiani became the first Pakistani woman to summit an 8,000m peak in Pakistan – Gasherbrum II (8,035m) � [...]
When all you can do is talk about it, inspiration is the new transaction
WHAT is it they say about those who do, do and those who can’t, talk about it?
It seems these days, my friends in Asia, who have been as travel-deprived as I have been the past 18 months, and I talk more about travel than we do about food and if you know Asia, you know how extreme this [...]
The exhaustion of optimism but hey, be a rebel and ‘Skroo’ the rules – it pays off
IT was Winston Churchill who famously said, “I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.” And through this pandemic, most of us who are still in travel have chosen to be optimistic. What’s the alternative?
But there are days when even the strongest, most resilient
[...]
Practising for my first flight – my four-step plan to travel
THIS week, I took out my suitcase, dusted it off and started wheeling it around. Got my dogs excited with this unfamiliar activity – maybe they will be pleased to see the back of me after all this time.
I rummaged around for my passport. Since I've had at least two house clean-ups in the last [...]
Farewell, Datuk Kee – you made a difference to Penang
ANYONE who’s ever had any dealings with Penang’s travel industry would have met her, if not, would have known or heard of her.
In fact, more often than not, you would hear
or sense her before she actually arrived on the scene because Datuk Kee Phaik
Cheen had a personality that was larger t [...]
“Animal spirits” keeping travel alive, Phuket Sandbox making history
LET'S face it, there’s just no killing the human desire to travel. Look at all the conditions around travel these days and all the news about rising infections, and you’d be surprised there are still people travelling – people finding ways to get around the restrictions.
It’s amazing to [...]
Variety is the spice of life and diversity is the oxygen of business
IT is often
said that variety is the spice of life and although this pandemic with its
restrictions on our movements has significantly restricted our ability to have
variety in our lives, it’s certainly reinforced, to me, the belief that
diversity is the oxygen of business.
Diversity
in every [...]
A hotel giant talks sharing, caring and loving Asia
From selling groceries in Santo Domingo to CapitaLand in Singapore, Miguel Ko has had a remarkable journey to the top
IT was a love affair that started in 1979, and even though he left hospitality per se in 2012, after departing from Starwood, Miguel Ko always kept his ties with the industry. Th [...]
As business events claw their way back, APAC to lead the way in digital innovation and adoption
Studies show stronger appetite in region for virtual and hybrid
ONE-and-a-half years into Covid, and attending a conference in person still feels like a novel activity. Even the driver who dropped me off at Marina Bay Sands this Monday was curious. “You going to an event? How many people? Got [...]
