“WHEN I was developing this marina, there was a height of around 3m before you reached the boardwalk. Today, seven years, the water has risen. The gangway before had an inclination, but today it’s parallel (to the boat).” — Arthur Tay on his marina, ONE°15
“I’m encouraged by how people are mobilized around certain issues. That’s the only good thing about the haze — to see how public pressure became very tangible for political leaders, and how they have to react.” — Ambassador Tormod Endresen of Norway seeing a silver lining in the hazy cloud
“If uou want to change the world. You start from the first person, then the second. If you can change the minds of a big country, you can change the minds of anything.” — Ambassador Michael Tay on winning over the Russians
“The power that money brings to make your life better is something the whole world aspires towards. I’m optimistic about the future. There’s a realisation that the current world economic system cannot continue as it has done.” — Sam Olsen of Kroll who wishes a secure future.
“The future is going to be disruptive. Creativity is all about disruption. Innovation is all about disruption.” — Prof Kirpal Singh on what lies ahead.
“When I sit in my country home in the evening, I hear the birds singing — it’s paradise. I think the world has a very positive future. But first the world must bring the most important letter back into their lives – ‘C’ for ‘conscience’.” — Ivy Singh-Lim ruminates among the vegetables.
“The fact is, you take a $3 chicken rice for granted. Chicken rice goes up from $3 to $3.50, it becomes front page news. Nobody talks about people up there being overpaid. Where is your $3.50 or $4 chicken rice going to come from when your child grows up? By the time you’re 70, you know what the cheapest thing you can eat is? Stuff from the Michelin star people.” — Makansutra’s KF Seetoh ponders the rising cost of living.
“Let’s not even talk about sustainability in terms of food — let’s talk about people. Why don’t we first sustain a country that was built by the grandparents, who did a great job, and the parents who have brought (the current generation) up? Who’s going to run the country in the future? Can it only be run by intellectuals?” — Peter Knipp of the World Gourmet Summit peers into the future.
“One of the lessons from putting together this event was understanding how large businesses and organizations make decisions. They have a big impact, but sometimes in a negative way. Many organizations we managed to speak to were hamstrung by their size, by their need to conform and to tow the party line. When we explained that this would be a session to share their findings for the benefit of everyone, they opted not to participate. The system paralyses them. This group think mentality doesn’t help the planet. The things that go wrong sometimes cannot wait for a committee to be convened and to seek resolution by unanimous vote.” — Kannan Chandran, Publisher of STORM, on why SMEs need to be more proactive in tackling larger issues.
