OH! What a tangled web we weave when fir st practise to deceive!" So said Sir Walter Scott in his epic poem Marmion, published in 1808. Of course, he could never have imagined the
THE anthropologist Desmond Morris noted that "everything about sport is derived from the hunt: there is no sport in existence that does not base itself on the chase or on aiming, the two key elements of primeval ...THE anthropologist Desmond Morris noted that "everything about sport is derived from the hunt: there is no sport in existence that does not base itself on the chase or on aiming, the two key elements of primeval hunting." George Orwell went on to say that "serious sport is war minus the shooting!"展开更多
STRATFORD,a run-down area of east London,is experiencing a re-awakening.This is an area that has never in its history risen far above poverty and squalor,and where depression and unemployment are commonplace.For just ...STRATFORD,a run-down area of east London,is experiencing a re-awakening.This is an area that has never in its history risen far above poverty and squalor,and where depression and unemployment are commonplace.For just a few weeks this summer,however,it will become the center of attention and entertainment for London and the world,as it hosts the 30th Olympiad.True,it will never achieve the cultural status of Stratford-upon-Avon,the birthplace of William Shakespeare,but it will enjoy its few moments of glory.At what price,though?展开更多
WHAT’S in a title There’s CEO,President and Chairman,but these titles are often used interchangeably and usually just mean Big Boss.Or Da Lao Ban.Or simply Leader.After all,leadership is what it’s all about.I asked...WHAT’S in a title There’s CEO,President and Chairman,but these titles are often used interchangeably and usually just mean Big Boss.Or Da Lao Ban.Or simply Leader.After all,leadership is what it’s all about.I asked a couple of friends to name the people who instantly come to mind if you say "boss." Their answers were: Richard Branson (Virgin);Rupert Murdoch (News International);Steve Jobs (Apple);Silvio Berlusconi (Italian Prime Minister and businessman);Sepp Blatter (FIFA);展开更多
I’VE always tried to be a happy person, but I’m now considering creating a Misery Index, to measure which countries have the least successful social welfare packages. My problem is that misery is a state of mind whi...I’VE always tried to be a happy person, but I’m now considering creating a Misery Index, to measure which countries have the least successful social welfare packages. My problem is that misery is a state of mind which is not readily measurable in terms of empirical data. Perhaps I will conclude that I will just have to assess relative misery展开更多
MY friend Wu Wei is understandably concerned about the safety aspects of intensified food production. My own particular interest is in how we are going to cope with the ever-increasing demands for food from a global p...MY friend Wu Wei is understandably concerned about the safety aspects of intensified food production. My own particular interest is in how we are going to cope with the ever-increasing demands for food from a global population that threatens to overwhelm the resources of the world’s land mass.展开更多
WHEN you grow up in a foreign country,as I did,it can be difficult to accept that maybe you don’t belong there. I spent a mere 21 years of my life in Uganda,Tanzania and Kenya,so I can imagine how hard it must have b...WHEN you grow up in a foreign country,as I did,it can be difficult to accept that maybe you don’t belong there. I spent a mere 21 years of my life in Uganda,Tanzania and Kenya,so I can imagine how hard it must have been for multi-generation colonists of those and other African countries to face up to the unwelcome truth that they may not be welcome there. It came as a shock to my family,on an otherwise unremarkable Sunday in 1973,to be informed that we would have to leave our homeland within 60 days (we were very lucky:few Europeans were given longer than 48 hours).展开更多
I have the privilege of visiting China four or five times a year,usually for business meetings in Beijing,but with the occasional opportunity for a purely social outing.Always,there are surprises.Always,I encounter so...I have the privilege of visiting China four or five times a year,usually for business meetings in Beijing,but with the occasional opportunity for a purely social outing.Always,there are surprises.Always,I encounter something new and fascinating.And always,someone observes that still, after all this time,I speak very little Mandarin.My response展开更多
TODAY’S news media are full of tales about the state of the European economies, especially about the unsustainable levels of national debt funding the social programs of Greece, Italy, Spain and Ireland, amongst othe...TODAY’S news media are full of tales about the state of the European economies, especially about the unsustainable levels of national debt funding the social programs of Greece, Italy, Spain and Ireland, amongst others. There are joyous reports of the negotiations and disagreements between the UK and the Eurozone countries, as the UK says: "The Eurozone must now resolve its own selfmade crisis. We’ll do our bit, but remember that we have our own problems in the UK." The reality is that the UK展开更多
No man is an island, entire of itself.-John Donne, poet (1572-1631)LAST month I celebrated the fortieth anniversary of my relationship with Stephanie, the woman who is now my wife.
WILL you marry me?"I asked her in my most romantic tone,all those years ago.I admit that my voice may have been trembling a little at that moment,but still I was surprised that it took her two days to say"ye...WILL you marry me?"I asked her in my most romantic tone,all those years ago.I admit that my voice may have been trembling a little at that moment,but still I was surprised that it took her two days to say"yes."Was it that she thought that this nervousness suggested a question about my commit-展开更多
MANY people have trouble distinguishing between publishers and printers. It may seem obvious that printers are the people who put ink on paper and who physically manufacture books, but there
I ’M writing this from South Africa’s Cape Province, where I’m lucky enough to be taking a few days’ holiday among the vineyards of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek and the animals and flowers of the Sanbona Wildlife ...I ’M writing this from South Africa’s Cape Province, where I’m lucky enough to be taking a few days’ holiday among the vineyards of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek and the animals and flowers of the Sanbona Wildlife Reserve. Yesterday, I found myself face to face with a pair of white lionesses. The fact that they were white was unusual enough,展开更多
IT was in January 1961 that I first fell in love. I had already been traveling for four years by then. Our family preferred the "paquebots," or ocean liners-Ferdinand de Lesseps and Jean Laborde of the Frenc...IT was in January 1961 that I first fell in love. I had already been traveling for four years by then. Our family preferred the "paquebots," or ocean liners-Ferdinand de Lesseps and Jean Laborde of the French Messageries Maritimes line, and would ride the steamers from Mombasa, through the Suez Canal or round the Cape of Good Hope to Marseille.展开更多
EVER had one of those guilty moments when you’ve just spent a small fortune on an item of "fashion," and you dare not admit it to yourself, let alone to your sensible spouse? After all, it will be outdated ...EVER had one of those guilty moments when you’ve just spent a small fortune on an item of "fashion," and you dare not admit it to yourself, let alone to your sensible spouse? After all, it will be outdated by next season, won’t it? As we all know, fashion is the most transient of things, and therefore is one of the great extravagances in life. Or is it?展开更多
IT was precisely 50 years ago that my parents put me,a skinny but carefree eight-year-old kid,aboard an aeroplane at Nairobi’s Embakasi Airport and sent me away to a boarding school in England.Unlike Rudyard Kipling,...IT was precisely 50 years ago that my parents put me,a skinny but carefree eight-year-old kid,aboard an aeroplane at Nairobi’s Embakasi Airport and sent me away to a boarding school in England.Unlike Rudyard Kipling,who was destined not to see his mother for f ive years after he had been sent from India for a dose of English schooling,I was reunited with my family at least once every year for the next 10 years.I was one of the lucky ones.展开更多
THE Englishman’s home is his castle, or so they say. It’s a safe haven, a place where strangers may enter only if invited. It’s a private place where each of us can have a different persona from the one that we por...THE Englishman’s home is his castle, or so they say. It’s a safe haven, a place where strangers may enter only if invited. It’s a private place where each of us can have a different persona from the one that we portray in our hours at work. Instead of being smart, cultured, controlled, authoritative, we are allowed to be untidy and lazy.展开更多
RECENTLY,I found myself in Seoul,at the invitation of Arts Council Korea. During the course of my stay,I enjoyed one of the most moving artistic experiences I have had in many years. It was my
A colleague recently suggested to me that Oriental medicine is largely preventative, while Western medicine is generally curative. I tested this thesis by visiting my local pharmacy in England, where there was no doub...A colleague recently suggested to me that Oriental medicine is largely preventative, while Western medicine is generally curative. I tested this thesis by visiting my local pharmacy in England, where there was no doubt that most of the products on sale were designed to fix your problems, rather than to stop them occurring in the first place.展开更多
文摘OH! What a tangled web we weave when fir st practise to deceive!" So said Sir Walter Scott in his epic poem Marmion, published in 1808. Of course, he could never have imagined the
文摘THE anthropologist Desmond Morris noted that "everything about sport is derived from the hunt: there is no sport in existence that does not base itself on the chase or on aiming, the two key elements of primeval hunting." George Orwell went on to say that "serious sport is war minus the shooting!"
文摘STRATFORD,a run-down area of east London,is experiencing a re-awakening.This is an area that has never in its history risen far above poverty and squalor,and where depression and unemployment are commonplace.For just a few weeks this summer,however,it will become the center of attention and entertainment for London and the world,as it hosts the 30th Olympiad.True,it will never achieve the cultural status of Stratford-upon-Avon,the birthplace of William Shakespeare,but it will enjoy its few moments of glory.At what price,though?
文摘WHAT’S in a title There’s CEO,President and Chairman,but these titles are often used interchangeably and usually just mean Big Boss.Or Da Lao Ban.Or simply Leader.After all,leadership is what it’s all about.I asked a couple of friends to name the people who instantly come to mind if you say "boss." Their answers were: Richard Branson (Virgin);Rupert Murdoch (News International);Steve Jobs (Apple);Silvio Berlusconi (Italian Prime Minister and businessman);Sepp Blatter (FIFA);
文摘I’VE always tried to be a happy person, but I’m now considering creating a Misery Index, to measure which countries have the least successful social welfare packages. My problem is that misery is a state of mind which is not readily measurable in terms of empirical data. Perhaps I will conclude that I will just have to assess relative misery
文摘MY friend Wu Wei is understandably concerned about the safety aspects of intensified food production. My own particular interest is in how we are going to cope with the ever-increasing demands for food from a global population that threatens to overwhelm the resources of the world’s land mass.
文摘WHEN you grow up in a foreign country,as I did,it can be difficult to accept that maybe you don’t belong there. I spent a mere 21 years of my life in Uganda,Tanzania and Kenya,so I can imagine how hard it must have been for multi-generation colonists of those and other African countries to face up to the unwelcome truth that they may not be welcome there. It came as a shock to my family,on an otherwise unremarkable Sunday in 1973,to be informed that we would have to leave our homeland within 60 days (we were very lucky:few Europeans were given longer than 48 hours).
文摘I have the privilege of visiting China four or five times a year,usually for business meetings in Beijing,but with the occasional opportunity for a purely social outing.Always,there are surprises.Always,I encounter something new and fascinating.And always,someone observes that still, after all this time,I speak very little Mandarin.My response
文摘TODAY’S news media are full of tales about the state of the European economies, especially about the unsustainable levels of national debt funding the social programs of Greece, Italy, Spain and Ireland, amongst others. There are joyous reports of the negotiations and disagreements between the UK and the Eurozone countries, as the UK says: "The Eurozone must now resolve its own selfmade crisis. We’ll do our bit, but remember that we have our own problems in the UK." The reality is that the UK
文摘No man is an island, entire of itself.-John Donne, poet (1572-1631)LAST month I celebrated the fortieth anniversary of my relationship with Stephanie, the woman who is now my wife.
文摘WILL you marry me?"I asked her in my most romantic tone,all those years ago.I admit that my voice may have been trembling a little at that moment,but still I was surprised that it took her two days to say"yes."Was it that she thought that this nervousness suggested a question about my commit-
文摘MANY people have trouble distinguishing between publishers and printers. It may seem obvious that printers are the people who put ink on paper and who physically manufacture books, but there
文摘I ’M writing this from South Africa’s Cape Province, where I’m lucky enough to be taking a few days’ holiday among the vineyards of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek and the animals and flowers of the Sanbona Wildlife Reserve. Yesterday, I found myself face to face with a pair of white lionesses. The fact that they were white was unusual enough,
文摘IT was in January 1961 that I first fell in love. I had already been traveling for four years by then. Our family preferred the "paquebots," or ocean liners-Ferdinand de Lesseps and Jean Laborde of the French Messageries Maritimes line, and would ride the steamers from Mombasa, through the Suez Canal or round the Cape of Good Hope to Marseille.
文摘EVER had one of those guilty moments when you’ve just spent a small fortune on an item of "fashion," and you dare not admit it to yourself, let alone to your sensible spouse? After all, it will be outdated by next season, won’t it? As we all know, fashion is the most transient of things, and therefore is one of the great extravagances in life. Or is it?
文摘IT was precisely 50 years ago that my parents put me,a skinny but carefree eight-year-old kid,aboard an aeroplane at Nairobi’s Embakasi Airport and sent me away to a boarding school in England.Unlike Rudyard Kipling,who was destined not to see his mother for f ive years after he had been sent from India for a dose of English schooling,I was reunited with my family at least once every year for the next 10 years.I was one of the lucky ones.
文摘THE Englishman’s home is his castle, or so they say. It’s a safe haven, a place where strangers may enter only if invited. It’s a private place where each of us can have a different persona from the one that we portray in our hours at work. Instead of being smart, cultured, controlled, authoritative, we are allowed to be untidy and lazy.
文摘RECENTLY,I found myself in Seoul,at the invitation of Arts Council Korea. During the course of my stay,I enjoyed one of the most moving artistic experiences I have had in many years. It was my
文摘A colleague recently suggested to me that Oriental medicine is largely preventative, while Western medicine is generally curative. I tested this thesis by visiting my local pharmacy in England, where there was no doubt that most of the products on sale were designed to fix your problems, rather than to stop them occurring in the first place.
