Tan Thiam Hock

Daily life has been rather monotonous the last 2 weeks since the reopening of the economic activities in this country. Nobody is excited with the daily cases of positive COVID cases as proven by the sudden absence of daily viral postings of positive cases and hospital numbers. Traffic jams in the city centre have returned […]

SINCE the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020, this column has discussed “lives vs livelihoods” and the “new normal”. Frankly speaking, all of us had no idea about the extent of the damage caused by the virus on the loss of lives, economic carnage and the drastic changes to social behavior and our way […]

ON the eve of Malaysia Day, I was delighted to share a few drinks and cigars with my two elderly sifus, Peter Khoo and TK Teo. Khoo, an accounting and tax practitioner and Teo, an experienced banker and corporate personality, have such great stories to tell with much wisdom imparted from their past experiences. But […]

FOR the last 12 years, I have travelled to London, mostly on Malaysian Airlines since it is a direct flight without the hassle of lost hours on transit and catching connecting flights. Due to infrequent and few MH flights to London since the pandemic, I travelled on Singapore Airlines for my current trip, now that […]

EVERY time I travel to London and Europe, I have been fascinated by the rich history of the nations. When I include old civilisations like India and China, I am always amazed at how civilisations have survived countless plagues and wars. Due to lack of science and medicine, there were high casualties of human lives […]

I have been in London since Aug 4. The purpose of my trip? Medical procedures that are not available in Malaysia. Since Malaysia is categorised as an ‘amber” country, I had to self isolate and quarantine in my own apartment for 10 days. I had to undergo compulsory swab PCR tests on day two and […]

During the last 12 months, I have met many SMEs facing severe cashflow problems due to losses and reduced revenue. My first advice is always to regularise cashflow sufficiently to cover monthly operating expenses and bank payments. Unlike any other recession, the current pandemic-induced recession has caused the most pain across many industries and

In the last twelve months, international traveling for Malaysians came to a standstill. Airlines were not allowed to fly, borders were closed and Malaysians were asked to stay at home. Businesses were asked to close, open, close and now opened again. Every instruction were given as SOP’s and citizens have to follow diligently or we […]