Author: Datuk Beatrice Nirmala

The power of suggestion

Nobody counts the number of ads you run; they just remember the impression you make. – Bill Bernbach, American advertising creative director There was once a magician I watched on TV who said that he will mesmerise everyone to produces exactly the same thing he was thinking about. He wrote

Books, books, books

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one. – George R. R. Martin, American novelist and short-story writer ALL I ever wanted to do when I was a little girl was to read storybooks. I did not need much – just

Leadership

Finding leadership requires vigilance, hard work, an abhorrence of complacency and self-satisfaction –and a willingness to make changes when changes are needed, no matter how painful they may be. – Katharine Graham, first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company when she took over as CEO of The Washington Post

When a column comes to life

Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It’s about getting up, getting well, and getting over. – Stephen King, author November

Goodbye, Collossus

I had to euthanize my dog today. Colossus entered our lives right after my divorce, eight years ago. It was just the three of us: my daughter, son, and me, all reeling from the shock of having our lives torn apart and experiencing a significant shift in dynamics. We had

The book

Writers and artists know that ethereal moment, when just one, fleeting something – a chill, an echo, the click of a lamp, a question – ignites the flame of an entire work that blazes suddenly into consciousness. – Nadine C. Keels, author and blogger Today I send the final edited

The R&D puppet show

While the universities are increasingly corporatised and militarised, their governing structures are becoming more authoritarian, faculty are being devalued as public intellectuals, students are viewed as clients, academic fields are treated as economic domains for providing credentials, and work place skills, and academic freedom is under assault. — Henry Giroux,

The risks of Central Bank Digital Currencies

CBDC can allow government agencies and private sector players to programme … targeted policy functions. By programming a CBDC, money can be precisely targeted for what people can own and what people can do. — Bo Li, deputy managing director, International Monetary Fund Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and their

Hello, Sarawak

Sarawak is like a dragon that is awakening and only starting to unfold its wings – it hasn’t even flown yet and has yet to use its awesome fiery breath. – Datuk Beatrice Nirmala, founder and CEO of The IBR Asia Group Sdn Bhd, and writer I am writing this

The luxury of print

If you drop a book into the toilet, you can fish it out, dry it off and read that book. But if you drop your Kindle in the toilet, you’re pretty well done. — Stephen King, American author IN the middle of a pitch to the board of a prominent