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Art, Artisans, Skill and Inspiration

The art world is one that is very hard to understand, and I think those that control it want it to be that way! Which artist fetches the top dollar for their work? And why? It doesn’t always seem to be about what we (amateurs!) call quality, in fact some of the absolutely hot, top-grossing

Staying Fit for Life

Fitness and health aren’t the same thing – but they are closely related. You can be healthy without being fit, but you can’t be fit without being healthy! There are a lot of people who, for the moment are healthy but don’t do exercise, but this won’t last long. The heart needs to be exercised,

Design for Living

I was privileged to be part of a recent seminar on the circular economy which was headed by a Danish architect who talked about how we should design all of our buildings, infrastructure and all of our facilities so deliberately for the purpose for which they are intended so that they actually work! Seems obvious

Getting Well and Staying Well

The funny thing about the human body is that it may or may not tell you when something is wrong with it. We twist an ankle, “Oww”, we know it immediately, we have a cold “Aachoo” easy to spot. But for something more serious that you really want and need some warning on,  nothing !

Democracy in Action in Indonesia

Welcome to crunch month, when the country decides who will lead it for the next five years. The debates are over, the pollsters are making money – sorry – predictions and forecasts, everyone has become an expert on government, on the economy, the leaders, the powers behind the thrones, the spouses behind the powers, the

40 Years in Bali (Part 1) : First Contact

Ten Years of NOW! Bali but Forty Years of Memories Part I (this is extracted from the speech given by NOW! Bali Founder, Alistair Speirs to the assembled tourism industry at the NOW! Tenth Anniversary Dinner on 13th February 2019 at The Renaissance Bali Uluwatu Resort and Spa) NOW! Bali has survived and thrived for

Freedom in Bali: Too Much Can Be a Bad Idea

Scottish Philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806 – 1873) first proposed the idea of “personal space” in his treatise “On Liberty”. His idea was at the time very far ahead of current thinking whereby he said that everyone has the freedom to do whatever they wish as long as it doesn’t interfere or disturb anyone else,

Bali, 40 Years Ago

We have had ten years of NOW! Bali, but I have had 40 years of visiting this magical island. My first steps on Bali were taken in January 1979, exactly forty years ago and it was a very different place. There was no development, no modern hotels, not many restaurants, no bars to speak of,

Is Bali still the  “Morning of The World”? 

This was the question I was asked to address at the 2018 Ubud Writers and Readers Festival which took place in October. The UWRF is an amazing event which brought together 180 writers, some very famous, others just “emerging”, and thousands of readers from all over the world. In the esteemed company of Balinese intellectual

How the IMF-World Bank Conference Was Good for Bali

The Annual Meeting of the IMF-WB was really good for Bali and Indonesia. Despite the inevitable disruptions to the island’s traffic and airport access, the meetings meant that Rp3 trillion was invested in improving the infrastructure in Bali, especially the new airport-Nusa Dua underpass. It is claimed they also increased job opportunities by 1.26% across

Do You Know What an Authentic Experience Is?

Hello and welcome to Bali. I’m sorry about the technical question above but it will become relevant to you as you explore this marvellous island. There is a fascination – no, an obsession – of governments around the world to drive increasing numbers of tourists to their best destinations to increase their economic benefit and

NOW Bali with Kids

Kids, and Making New Discoveries in Bali

“Little children should be seen and not heard” was an arrogant and misguided belief held in the Victorian era in UK and probably across the Western world. I don’t think it was much better in China or India where discipline for children was considered essential and freedom of expression strictly controlled. “Speak only when spoken

Now Bali
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