The Success Chain

Department stores are a good place to begin your shopping. They offer a comfortable environment, hassle free staff; you know the kind who doesn’t trail you to see if you’re shoplifting. The stores have genuine sales and fixed prices that provide useful points of reference when shopping in stores where prices aren’t marked.  It’s good to do some browsing here first if you plan to shop elsewhere. It’s especially important if you plan to haggle.  This is really helpful if you know you want to shop for jewelry. In the department store, the difference in prices does reflect a true difference in value. This is not always true in other stores. In the Sukhumvit Road area you’ll find your basic American department store “Macy’s”. Bangkok’s most trendy and upscale mall “the Emporium Shopping Complex, can be found in the area nearby some of the Thailand luxury hotels. Genuine (no knock-offs here) designer fashion is featured in the slick modern stores.  In the same neighborhood there are quite a few tailors who offer “amazing” deals on made to measure garments for men. When dealing in this arena, exert caution.  Insist on two fittings, get everything in writing and know exactly which fabric will be used. Once you’ve paid, there’s not a lot you can do about an unsatisfactory outcome.

For a more “local” and authentic experience, visit the Chatuchak Weekend Market. You can get there on the sky train, the MO Chit station, which stops just outside the market. Arriving fairly early (9AM) on a Saturday or Sunday will give you a few hours to shop before it gets too crowded. There are more than 8000 stalls, which are divided into areas that sell pets, food, plants and clothing. There are some products geared toward the tourist, but for the most part the vendors offer discounted merchandise to the thrifty Thais. Food and drink stalls are located throughout the market, providing the necessary sustenance to keep you shopping.

Anyone looking for festivals pertaining to the arts will find it in Mumbai, India at the Kala Ghoda Street Fair.  The name means ‘black horse’, after a neighborhood in the Southern part of the city.  Not only is it a crafts festival, but a fine arts festival with the participation of the galleries such as the world famous Jehangir Gallery near the Bollywood movie studios.  This festival also includes the performing arts such as various fringe dance festivals, film and theater festivals, and music shows.  This is the festival the people of India wait for, with the restaurants and cafes buzzing with artists as well as the lounges of the hotels in Mumbai.

This is a three month festival, each Sunday, beginning in November and continuing through January.   The association responsible for this event was founded in 1988.  The goal was to create a district for the arts in the city, as well as to enhance the cultural infrastructure of the entire country.  With the advent of the festivals, more bookstores have opened as well as children’s theaters and local puppet theater companies.  They have managed to bring the Mumbai Art scene to the international forefront.

This is one of the largest street fairs of its kind, with the whole district opened for pedestrian traffic, and artists set up at their easels or working on sculptures.  Jewelry and clothing stalls sell saris and bangled earrings and bracelets, as well as tattoo parlors and history classes.  When the sun goes down, lanterns light up the city, and the music and dance performances begin.  There is a celebration and a ceremony announcing the winners of the film festivals, with a feast of the exotic flavors and cuisines of the local chefs.  This has become the soul of the art world, not just for the region, but for the rest of Europe, the Middle East and the United States as well.

The New Museum in Manhattan is located on Bowery between Delancey and Houston Streets, close to restaurants and a luxury Manhattan hotel.  The are presenting a new series of lectures, titled the Visionary Series.  This program invites the top, thinkers and innovators in the artistic world from around the globe.  From painters, to sculptors to designers and architects.  Any person whose creations illuminate the future and shape and create intellectual thought.  This is a privately funded event, and will be followed by a reception and a dinner in the Sky Room.  This is an event open to the public, however it is expected to sell out so advance ticket purchase is highly recommended.  The first lecture will be this Friday, the 24th of April.  The featured speaker is Bill T. Jones, a world renown and very respected choreographer.

Before he became a celebrated choreographer, winning an Obie Award and a Tony Award, to name a just a very few, he trained the Binghamton campus of the State University of New York.  He studied modern and classical ballet.  He then went on to perform internationally as a soloist and with a partner in duets, Arnie Zane.  The formed their own group in 1982.  His company performed more than one hundred different pieces, and while he was choreographing on his own dancers, he also worked with the Boston Ballet, Alvin Ailey, the Berlin Opera Ballet, and a list of many more companies.  He collaborated with author Tony Morrison, and has directed opera and theater.  He has had many television appearances,documentaries and has been interviewed extensively.  This is definitely a very good inaugural speaker for a series that proves to be both educational and inspirational.

Newmarket, England is just about sixty-five miles outside of London and has become a cosmopolitan city that nears that of London through the international interest in and tourism due to one industry.  Newmarket is in the county of Suffolk and as the name suggests is a market village, but what Newmarket has become famous for, throughout history and in current times, is the horse racing industry.  Not only are the largest training centers in England found here, but in the world as well.  Top breeders hold auctions, state of the art veterinary hospitals and research centers are located in this small town.  The industry has come to support the town and and to create business for the cafes, the Newmarket hotel business, as well as the market shops and restaurants.  The National Horse Racing Museum and an equine health center offer education and history, and even a pool for the soon to be famous to swim in, horses not jockeys.  And leading out from these centers, trainers and their horses are provided with routes set up specifically for the gallops home.

The racing of horses in Newmarket dates back almost 900 years.  This makes the town the earliest post-classical, recorded location of the sport.  Popularity was increased during the early 17th century through King James I.  The first wagered race took place in 1634, and was the result of the involvement and interest of King Charles.  The administration of the Jockey’s club is in London, however the clubhouse is in Newmarket.  A breeding center for thoroughbreds, The National Stud, was opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1967 and remains to be one of the few places around the world to attract international interest.  There are almost 3,000 horses cared for and living inNewmarket at any given time.  And a quarter of the jobs relate to the industry.  Most of the stables are in the middle of the town, most of land is dedicated to the horses and to the breeding of them.  This has affected and perhaps even created, the evolution of a different side to the industry and that is the sport painters.  Many have produced on canvas what occurs in life, as PeterTillemans and John Wootton have painted scenes from the stables to the finish lines.

Designers and buyers at Dubai Fashion Week are calling for changes in the event to make it more viable. The third annual edition of Dubai Fashion Week kicked off on April 5th and runs through April 9, 2009.

Buyers and designers alike are concerned at the lack of marketing for the event as well as poor accessibility to organizers and lack of post-event data. The bottom line is that little, if anything, was sold at last year’s event and the prospect for this year’s show is even bleaker, with the sagging global economy.

Concept Events, the organizers of the event, were unable to provide figures as to how much was sold at last year’s event.  This is in stark contrast to events such as London Fashion Week, held in September 2008, which reports $19.8 million (US) in orders were placed at their event.

Organizers argue that the event is still young and developing its identity and reputation.  Designers are worried that the event is not well attended and that many buyers and designers aren’t notified of the event in advance.

Samara Punjabi of Bauhaus, one of last year’s biggest buyers, revealed that she had not yet received notification of this year’s event.  Concept Events contends that all registered buyers have been sent information about the show, including a buyer’s docket and information on how to register.

Attendance will tell whether the fault is with the organizers or a failure of designers to understand the market, which is looking more for ready to wear garments than haute couture.

Dubua Fashion Week is expected to attract buyers and top designers from across the region. Look for international fashion media and even a few celebrities to be holed up in Dubai UAE luxury hotels during the five day event.

Designers scheduled to show their autumn/winter lines include Mariam Al Mazro, Hatem Alakeel, Walid Atallah, HSY, Salma Khan, Amal Murad, and Reem Ali Beljafla.

Forty-Six years ago Thio Keng Poon started the Malaysia Dairy Industries in Singapore.  What began as one company with a profit of one million dollars, has grown over the years into an industry with four companies and $800 million in profits each year.  Throughout this time he has become well known for his entrepreneurial spirit, and no one contends, and Mr. Thio has even been quoted as saying he put his blood, sweat and tears into creating a viable and very profitable family business.  He remained dedicated to his original ideas and philosophies concerning the creation of healthy products, from simple mild and dairy, to yogurt drinks, organic jams, and fruit juices.  The loyalty of the customer base has been outstanding, due to the continued adherence of Mr. Thio and his companies, to the philosophies he believed in and the consistent quality of Malaysia Dairy’s products.  Mr. Thio entered a Singaporean court last month, in attempts to save what he has created.

Two years ago, Thio’s family removed him as chairman of the company.  He has been charged with over-claiming travel expenses, charging the company for reimbursement multiple times for single stays at various business hotels, Singapore restaurants, and airline tickets.  It is alleged that he over-charged the company by more than $40,000.  He hired attorney,Vinodh Coomarasamy, and has filed counter-suits against all four of the family businesses , all six of his children and his wife.  They are being charged with oppression.  He is now, as a result of transferred most of his financial holdings over to his family, just a minority stock holder in the company that he built.  And as Confucian Filial Piety states, a philosophy he was taught by his father, the children must remain faithful and loyal to the patriarch.  So even though he doesn’t ‘own’ most of his company, he believed that his children would still respect him as the leader of the company.  Mr.Thio answered when questioned about it, that it is an unspoken understanding between a father and his children, but that unfortunately for him and his companies, his children do not follow the old philosophies regarding the respect of one’s elders.  This court case began in March of 2009 and is expected to continue into April.