Someone told me that Singapore is a little island of prosperity in an area of the world that is struggling, and I think I know why. For the longest while, I’ve suspected that it was vision and innovation that made America become the superpower it is. You get a sense of that here in Singapore […]

The problem with being right on the equator, surrounded by water, is that the humidity is just gruelling. I went to a school yesterday and the librarian informed me of how the body adapts. She said, “You just wait, in six months of this heat your body would have made some physiological changes, and your […]

My third day in Kuala Lumpur and where do I begin? Went to visit a publisher this morning. Kuala Lumpur has quite the train system. Apparently most people rely on the trains to get across the city. Problem is the signs are in Malay, and I don’t read Malay. I’m informed that there are signs […]

I was invited to a publisher party tonight. I always find them so daunting. Meeting people I admire so much…tends to make you feel kind of inadequate. But I went, because I’ve always found that I never regret it afterwards–even though I had a ton of preparations to do for tomorrow night’s trip to Malaysia […]

There are two Muslim women in the media/arts field that I really admire! Whenever I think of them, and it’s often, I do so with a smile on my face. The first has the same last name as myself, but as far as I know she’s no relation. Her name is Sheema Khan. She is […]

Today I visited a small inner city school in Ottawa full of working class immigrant parents and teachers that were some of the nicest I’ve ever met! And talk about dedicated! I visit a LOT of schools and you can always tell how effective a school is by the atmosphere in the office and the […]

So I mailed off the Hajj novel this afternoon and I did so without rereading it for the umpteenth time. Not sure if that was a mistake or a stroke of genius. Only time will tell. Now comes the hard part…waiting. And the only thing that helps with the waiting is working. It’s really pathetic […]

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The beauty of western governments is that they’ve known this for a long time. Countries like America and Canada reacted to this idea because they had to live under monarchies and they saw first hand the corruption of such systems.  As a result, what they tried to do […]

I’m writing this from the train, on the way to Leeds and then Bradford. Hard to believe all the things that have happened over the last few days! Arrived on Sunday, it was dreary and foggy, and I wrote about how the cold seeped into my bones! Traveler beware. The temperature might claim it’s 7 […]

Arrived this morning in pea soup fog! I had checked the weather forecast and was reassured by it being around 10 Celsius during the day and not getting any lower than 4 at night. That did not prepare me for the bone-chilling dampness! Gotta buy a raincoat! Gotta lack of sleep headache but otherwise I’m […]