Alistair G. Speirs

We all think we are entitled to our own opinions and rarely do we restrict our opinions to things we actually know about (which sometimes is a very narrow field!) But we love to pronounce our judgements on things we should honestly keep quiet about – or better – learn as much as we can

That’s a pretty strange statement to begin with at a time when everyone is talking about ‘New Year, New Me, New Start, a Fresh Beginning’ etc, etc. but can Bali actually make a new beginning? One that turns the corner to a bold new way of doing things? The Spanish – American philosopher George Santayana thoughtfully

Christmas is the time for those following the Christian faith to joyfully celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and to proclaim “Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All” which seems to be much needed these days, especially and ironically in the very area where Jesus was born, where there is such violence still continuing and

You may have heard of, or possibly even seen, tourists behaving badly here in beautiful Bali. It’s kind of hard to understand why because everything is pretty good here (well, except for maybe the traffic…). There really is no reason to misbehave or be disrespectful. But it does happen and seems even to be on

Do you know how Google Maps works? It is absolutely brilliant, but I have absolutely no idea how it operates! I imagine that there is GPS positioning that somehow tells my phone where I am, which also  somehow knows when I tell my phone where I am and somehow when I tell it to go

I perhaps should not tell you this, but I didn’t really want to start NOW! Bali. I was perfectly happy publishing two marvellous magazines called Jakarta Java Kini (JJK) and Hello Bali, but my partner at the time had other ideas and took over the company, leaving me with a bit of a dilemma since

Many think of Japan as a high-tech, industrial powerhouse, perhaps waning in the shadow of China’s mega-economy, but nonetheless, still an example of efficiency and innovation. Behind that, diligence, dedication and sheer hard work. And we would not be wrong. Japan has not faded, it has only recently been overshadowed.  Outside of the global economy,

Sustainability is, thankfully, all the rage these days, as people finally get to grips with their personal and corporate responsibilities to the planet and to the communities in which they live. Some people measure their personal carbon footprint to try to limit the damage they do to the environment through travelling by plane, train or

Sounds like a food processing factory, doesn’t it? But that’s not what I’m talking about; it all refers to our much loved, but not much cared for, destinations, here in Indonesia, and to a great extent, all over the world.  I used to be in the insurance business and we spent a lot of time

This article is available as a Podcast episode. Listen here: 2022 was an important year of recovery for Bali and, with a sigh of relief, we can see that the economy has bounced back and that the business, communities and individuals are not only surviving, but thriving! How far we have come from the desperate