Is this it?

At some point in our business, we realised we were sitting in a cave creating niche publications and dealing with a teeny weeny part of a greater ecosystem not realising how big the world was outside that cave and how much more we could offer it.

After PETWORLD, we created Music magazine for the music scene and The Life Explorer, targeting science and technology niches in education and industry. The market was small for each of these, and we realised we were just doing what we loved but not what was needed. We decided to bring our love of storytelling to the mainstream market and created International Business Review. That was 20 years ago.

We did it with the aim of championing the best of Malaysian-based industries, of giving them and government agencies the opportunity to shout out their stories.

And later on, as I took over the business on my own and transitioned it from pure publishing to PR and communications, The IBR Asia Group continued to help them tell their stories in different platforms and media. We did it for a who’s who of Malaysian corporations and agencies – Genting Malaysia, Maybank, MIDA, MATRADE, Malaysia Airports, CIDB, the Energy Commission, IGB, KPJ, IJN, SIRIM, numerous state governments and federal ministries.

Those years of working with these organisations and more, either through International Business Review magazine or other ventures, have taught me one thing. We have a lot to be proud of in Malaysia. Our people are driven and we have what it takes.

There is a reason why Port Klang is the 12th busiest port in the world. A reason why surgeons and medical staff the world over use Malaysian-made latex medical gloves. A reason why tech giants such as Intel and AMD chose to locate their semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Penang. A reason why aerospace industry leaders such as Boeing, Airbus, and Rolls-Royce have their regional operations in Selangor.

KLIA is without a doubt, one of the best airports I have ever been to, in terms of services and facilities. It is not just the airport though. There are so many things in Malaysia that can match, and even better, those found in other “more developed” countries. Take the example of KV MRT which is fast, modern, efficient, affordable, which I believe is superior to The New York Subway where I only memories I have are it’s scent of urine and vomit.

Malaysians just don’t do enough storytelling. So we started to do the storytelling for them. And it was something we did really well.

We grew out of working from our home to a rented office nearby and then we bought our own double story shop lot and we grew the staff force to – at the height of our media and custom publishing business – 30 people. 

We worked hard, we partied hard and met a whole lot of people we would have never met in that past world of ours that looked more and more like a parallel universe with two different cast of characters back then. It was almost as if we had stepped into a portal that sucked us into another dimension and I hardly recognised the girl I was once, driving around with a purpose to build a better life for my daughter.

I wonder if any of you ever get this feeling. You are in a family gathering or in a social event, surrounded by friends and family and you still feel like an outsider looking in. You go through all the motions – you laugh, talk, ask the appropriate questions… but deep down you ask yourself ‘IS THIS IT?’

Not knowing the answer is terrifying. So we pretend nothing is amiss and we go on with our lives. Deep inside, your heart remembers and so the emptiness builds up. A tiny bubble that snowballs with the years and eventually fills a significant part of your subconscious.

In response to this I worked harder. I would bring work home. I would look at all possible ways to make everything work. In a strange twist as Jewel sang in ‘Goodbye Alice In Wonderland’ a song that totally encapsulates the rise and fall of my marriage, “we hit the bottom as we reached the top.” He seemed to lose interest in the business. So I worked harder to compensate even more. What I did not know was that he was playing the field elsewhere.

Midlife crises hits everybody in different ways, but it’s almost always the same thing everyone is after – An adventure. A change. A second chance. A missing piece that momentarily gets filled.

Whatever the reason, for some it comes and goes. For some, it turns their life inside out and creates unbelievable pain.

However. We never lose. Either we win, or we learn.

The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.