Goodbye, Hugo Burge, a gentle soul who made a difference
I was first introduced to Hugo Burge by Rod Cuthbert. It was sometime 2011. Rod said to me, “You know that debate you run, you need someone English to do it, someone who can do a proper debate in proper English.”
In the end, Hugo did not take part in the debate – he was way too gentle a sou [...]
Changing of the guard at STB as it prepares for a new future
Keith Tan leaves on a high, Melissa Ow returns to the fold
I remember commenting to someone at the recent Tourism Industry Conference in Singapore that it sounded like Keith Tan, chief executive of the Singapore Tourism Board, was making his farewell speech to the industry.
There was something [...]
Letter From Sydney: A city that hides its secrets in plain sight
Like the rest of the world, Australia is gearing up for an interesting year in travel and hospitality. The Australian Tourism Exchange or ATE23 is back in full force for the first time since 2019, welcoming travellers both international and domestic to an array of new attractions in the colossal cou [...]
From Thailand to Singapore to Malaysia: Of farming tips, colonial tales and curated experiences
I don't know much about farming or gardening. The closest I came to either was listening to my father talk about his time hiding amongst the sweet potatoes during the Japanese invasion of then-Malaya and oh yes, just to name drop, when Prince Charles (soon to be King) took me on a tour of his garden [...]
Psst, here’s a prompt – want to be an AI Whisperer?
If only I had known then what I know now
Doing my Marie Kondo bit the other day – but instead of saying, “thank you for the joy”, I said, “good riddance” – I came across a letter written by my secondary school teacher. I must have been around 16 and I wanted to apply for a scholarship [...]
Letter from Kuching: Want to get uncomfortable? This is the place
From the unexpected to its crafts and cuisine, Sarawak is an undiscovered jewel
When I told an American friend I was in Kuching, Sarawak, last week, she asked me, what do you do in Kuching?
It was a question that made me pause. Instead of firing off the usual quick responses we do these days on [...]
MATTA Fair 2023: A microcosm of Malaysian tourism and its appetite for international travel
The expo estimated 250,000 visitors and RM400million in sales.
I need to make a couple of things clear before getting to the heart of this article. The only times I’ve been to a MATTA (Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents) Fair were when I was a kid, with my dad. This was back in the 9 [...]
I dream of Finland, happiness, “onnellisuus” and everything, everywhere all at once
I once had a penpal from Finland. His name was Jukka Touvinen. He wrote to me about snow and ice, I told him about sun and sand. That correspondence sustained me until I reached my teens when I overcame my shyness to communicate with real boys and I supposed the same thing happened to Jukka, when he [...]
Letter from Berlin: It’s a marvel – in “The Blip” of an eye, travel is reunited
From warnings of climate change and war to celebration in the halls, first ITB Berlin in four years packs it all in
Stuck in traffic amid a light dusting of snow, I gaze up at the familiar walls of Messe Berlin. A big sign proclaims, “Welcome back, world”. Another smaller sign, with arrows poin [...]
In the wink of an eye, tech brings Van Gogh back to life for the masses
As I was “immersing” myself in the Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience at Resorts World Sentosa this week, I couldn’t help but wonder, what would the artist think of his work being turned into an almost-theme-park-like experience, complete with a Virtual Reality tour of his world?
Would he g [...]
