To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. I am one of those fanatical supporters of the All Blacks whom I believed are God-chosen to be the masters of the rugby universe.

A yearly budget should be able to address real issues not just dangling carrots and promising sweeteners.

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.