IT was almost midnight on Wednesday, Sept 8,1997. A chartered Boeing 747 Malaysia Airline plane bearing flight number MH4802 took off from Subang International Airport. The then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad (now Tun), was on board with a few ministers and a planeload of businessmen, government officials and reporters. I was one of them.

Although some believed he was betrayed by his own party, he was a gentleman politician unfazed by all the lobbying and jostling around him. Hopefully history will be kind to a true Indonesian patriot.

It cannot be business as usual. In the Internet era, effective communication is needed more than ever.

An environment lacking in compassion is not good for business and the country in the long run. Business is also about humanity.

With Malaysian life expectancy rising, managing an ageing nation is a real challenge for the government.

PRESIDENT Donald Trump singled out four coloured members of the United States House of Represent­atives in his recent tweets.

SOMEONE rightly opined the late Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Dr Khoo Kay Kim was a man without race.

IMAGINE the unthinkable: Someone of substance in the Chinese community saying something deeply racist on video about the death of a Malay policeman in the aftermath of a racial skirmish in Kuala Lumpur.

I HAVE nothing against Latheefa Koya. In fact, I have a lot of respect for her as a lawyer, human rights activist and politician. She has made her name as someone who speaks her mind.

THE Pakatan Harapan government is still grappling with issues real and imaginary a year after coming to power. So much has been said about the performance of the present government.

Those above 60 years should not be taken for granted as they are poised to transform society in the 21st century.

MANY writers certainly aspire to be J.K. Rowling, one of the most commercially successful novelists in the world today. She is said to be worth RM4bil.