WHEN times are tough, some industries can be more resilient than others. Tourism is one such sector.

WRITING has been on the wall for a while now that from an economic standpoint, we’re experiencing crunch time. Low oil prices and shrinking global demand are some of the factors forcing a “new normal” of slower economic growth the world over.

THE tough global economic environment is not going to do us any favours in 2016, requiring from us instead steely resolve and resilience to rise above and better ourselves.

THE tough global economic environment is not going to do us any favours in 2016, requiring from us instead steely resolve and resilience to rise above and better ourselves.

DURING my childhood growing up in the Kelabit longhouse, my father – always the teacher – would use the word “ketui” to spur me on. Meaning “burning desire to win”, he did not accept half-measures and lukewarm efforts. He was adamant I embody the burning desire, especially when the going got tough.

MY last column on regulating political financing placed me in the direct line of ire of readers and politicians. Salvos were shot through social media and bumping into friends would inevitably lead to robust exchanges.

LIKE death and taxes, getting old, ill and dependant are inevitable. It’s an easily dismissed subject when you are a strapping lad but with the passing years, the realities of illness and aging cripple some of us who are not prepared.

GONE are the days where we lived in the comforts of our bordered geographies, choosing to buy and sell only when it serves our purpose. In today’s highly globalised world, we have no choice but to be more interconnected and interdependent if we want growth and economic resilience.

WHAT gives me a major attack of the blues is the oft-repeated charge that transformation occurs only in the already developed areas, citing for instance the urban transport plan for Kuala Lumpur.

I LOVE to fish – you could say I am mad about fishing. I forget everything, I am relaxed, I am focused on what I am doing and the time just flies. And when I get a catch on the line – thats something else altogether. You have to try it for yourself.

COMING from Sarawak and as a former Shell employee, I know very well how important the oil and gas (OG) industry is not just to Sarawak but the whole of Malaysia. But we have to move beyond being largely upstream producers to increase value at every link in the entire chain.

KEY new features have been introduced to take us into the next stage of transformation while consolidating achievements made