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2 | www.travelweekly-asia.com Published by NORTHSTAR TRAVEL MEDIA SINGAPORE PTE LTD SINGAPORE 91 Bencoolen Street, #05-08 Sunshine Plaza, Singapore 189652 • TEL: +65-6801-0450 FAX: +65-6801-0469 BEIJING Room 024, Building 8, Qijiayuan Diplomatic Compound, No.9 Jianguomenwai Street, Chaoyang District 100600, China • TEL: +8610-8532 3611 | FAX: +8610-8532 5293 SHANGHAI Room 2553, The Headquarters Building, No.168 Central XiZhang Road, Shanghai 200001, China • TEL: +8621-5179 8360 | FAX: +8621-5179 8360 Travel Weekly Asia is published on a monthly basis by Northstar Travel Media Singapore Pte Ltd. Located at 91 Bencoolen Street, #05-08 Sunshine Plaza, Singapore 189652. All rights reserved. Volume 9 Issue 6 Please address all subscription mail to the above address, Fax +852 3020 5794, or email travelweeklyasia@asia-ad.net. 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NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP (ASIA) GROUP PUBLISHER Irene Chua Tel: (65) 6801 0451 | ichua@travelweekly.com EDITORIAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Yeoh Siew Hoon Tel: (65) 6801 0450 | syeoh@ntmllc.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Esther Faith Lew Tel: (65) 6801 0457 | esther.lew@ntmllc.com EDITOR-AT-LARGE Ian Jarrett Tel: (618) 9433 6455 | ian.jarrett@travelweekly.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Lee Xin Hui Tel: (65) 6801 0453 | xinhui.lee@ntmllc.com REPORTER Naomi Neoh Tel: (65) 6801 0461 | naomi.neoh@ntmllc.com HONG KONG CORRESPONDENT Catharine Nicol | cn@monsterpix.hk PHILIPPINES CORRESPONDENT Bing Jaleco | bingjaleco@gmail.com ART DIRECTOR Lim Bee Bee Tel: (65) 9750 8405 | bb.bbcreative@gmail.com SALES & MARKETING REGIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Ng Whey Whey Tel: (65) 6801 0460 | whey.ng@ntmllc.com REGIONAL SALES MANAGER Kevin Ng Tel: (65) 6801 0459 | kevin.ng@ntmllc.com ASSOCIATE MANAGER, MARKETING AND EVENTS Melanie Ong Tel: (65) 6801 0458 | melanie.ong@ntmllc.com AD TRAFFIC AND PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Rena Koh Tel: (65) 6801 0455 | rena.koh@ntmllc.com IT & DIGITAL IT & DIGITAL OPERATIONS Ron Wee Tel: (65) 6801 0456 | ron.wee@ntmllc.com CHINA OFFICE GROUP PUBLISHER (China) Rebecca Zhang Tel: (8621) 5179 8363 | rebecca.zhang@ntmllc.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Roger Wang Tel: (8621) 5179 8360 | roger.wang@travelweekly.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Susan Li Tel: (8610) 8532 3611 | susan.li@travelweekly.com MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES HONG KONG/MACAU/TAIWAN ZAM International - Manna Ma Tel: (852) 9731 2090 | manna.ma@zamintl.com.hk INDIA MHI Communications - Smriti Khanna Tel: (9198) 1040 7483 | skhanna@mhi.com.hk JAPAN R Project Incorporated - Hiroki Fukunaga Tel: (81) 90 4958 0658 | hirokif@rprojectinc.com KOREA Young Media Inc - Keon Chang Tel: (822) 2273 4833 | ymedia@chol.com PHILIPPINES MMPR Media Group, Inc - Marie Monozca Tel: (63) 917 328 7658 | marie@mmprmedia.com AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR - ASIA Patti Mo | patti.mo@travelweekly.com DATABASE & FULFILLMENT MANAGER Zoe Chu | zoe.chu@travelweekly.com FINANCE ASIA FINANCE MANAGER Julia Tham Tel: (65) 6801 0452 | julia.tham@ntmllc.com NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Thomas L. Kemp CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Lisa Cohen PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL MEDIA Thomas Cintorino EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT/GROUP PUBLISHER David Blansfield SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lori Cioffi SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Arnie Weissmann SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES Janine L. Bavoso SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & PRODUCTION Roberta Muller VICE PRESIDENT, INFORMATION PRODUCTS GROUP Sheila Rice VICE PRESIDENT, IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS Rich Mastropietro VICE PRESIDENT, DATABASE PRODUCTS Elizabeth Koesser TRAVEL WEEKLY EVENTS PRESIDENT, TRAVEL GROUP Robert G. Sullivan SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS, TRAVEL GROUP Alicia Evanko-Lewis TALKING POINT Siew Hoon is a traveller who loves to write and a writer who loves to travel. She's combined her two loves into a career in travel journalism that has seen her launch several travel industry titles and conferences, including WIT. She loves the change and discovery that comes with travel and the business. As I go through my life without glasses, for the first time in a long time, I find myself feeling liberated, yet strangely vulnerable. For the most part of my adult life, I have been shielded by a visible barrier that helped me see the world better yet protected me from its full glare. I tried contact lenses once, and gave up. There are some things I am persistent about, this was not one of them. I first realised I needed glasses when I kept failing my arithmetic in class. My teacher suggested I had my eyes checked. Imagine my relief when I was told I was merely short-sighted, not dumb. Turned out however my mathematics only improved marginally with corrected vision. A month ago, I had eye surgery – some kind of lens implant that corrects everything so that you don't ever need glasses. Truthfully, I hardly recognise myself. The first time I looked in the mirror without glasses, I felt naked. I realised how much I – and everyone around me – had aged. The only true democracy really is ageing – you can fight it with weapons of beauty but there's no holding back the years. No one recognises me anymore too. One morning, at breakfast at Anantara Siam in Bangkok, I ran into Robert Hornman, whom I knew from Worldhotels. He looked right through me and when I told him who I was, he said, "Where are your glasses? That was your trademark." Identity and privacy are the two hot button topics these days. Our identity is wrapped up in our data, which we share freely with companies in exchange for connectivity and convenience, and our own heads as to who we are. Identity in our heads is another matter altogether. We all struggle I can see clearly now, but the future's hazy with it at some point in our lives. Entrepreneurs who dedicate their lives to their business lose their rudder after exit or failure. Corporates who spend most of their lives with one company struggle with who they are after leaving. Who we are is in many ways wrapped in what we do, although it shouldn't be the case. I suspect it's particularly hard to separate one's persona from one's professional identity especially if the business is named after you – like Kate Spade. I have known friends who've retired after a long corporate life and many about to step down. Most tell me the hardest thing to adapt to is the loss of structure to their days. Some remain lost. Others are reinvigorated to find new interests and form new structures, to forge new identities. At some point, all of us have had to take a long, hard look at the mirror to figure out who we are and what we really want to be. Some check into health farms, others rent a villa in Italy or Spain – which is good for our industry, by the way. At this year's WIT Singapore conference, we've chosen the theme of "Through The Looking Glass" because we feel it's time for us to take a hard look at the mirror, figure out where we are in our business and see if we can take best practices from the changing world around us to adapt to a future where everything is blurring. After all, identity is not set in stone. Changing technology and circumstances force us to question that all the time. Now let me grab my glasses – oops, I forgot. I no longer need them. WIT SINGAPORE 2018 IS HAPPENING OCTOBER 15 TO 17 AT MARINA BAY SANDS EXPO & CONVENTION CENTRE SINGAPORE.

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