It is more than connections and connecting the dots. It is making things and people work together. Water and oil don’t mix, but water-colours and oil paintings do. Water and earthly objects can cohabitate our planet and have mutual dependency. Art and the environment are convenient and creative bedfellows. Creatively managing resources and inventing eco products draws on – and inspires – the innovativeness and energy in us all. Climate change and sustainability also share a common enemy and there are co-joined solutions to deal with both. As air travel adds to our footprint, we are normally reluctant high fliers, but for some very important reasons this month, we engaged in an excursion to explore art, energy and the environment. We didn’t ignore though important people and events in Singapore. Ken Hickson accounts for his time by sharing his recent diary entries. Read More

No Idle March for some!

We have to start somewhere so let’s make it begin here:

Thursday 7 March: Serious Business and No-frills flying

It’s the deadly serious and fun side of the business of Serious Games International (SGI), which occupied me for some of the day (and week). In Singapore were CEO of SGI Tim Luft and business development chief Felix Bradshaw – both from Coventry, United Kingdom. Helping to get traction in Singapore and Asia is one of my objectives, as we see a strong affinity between gamification – games technology and platforms – with education, training, social enterprise and sustainability.  Collectively we call it “games for good” compared with all the rest of the massive gaming industry. So setting up and attending meetings with private and public sector potential users in Singapore was the name of the game as well as an introduction for Chee Shin Yee, who’s just been appointed to help drive the business of Serious Games in Singapore.

No time to stand or sit on ceremony, as the airport called and I was whisked off on my first flight with the budget carrier Scoot, the newest member of the Singapore Airlines stable. The 7-plus hour flight from Singapore to Australia was quite comfortable. You get what you pay for and “no-frills” was perfectly acceptable. I’ll be telling Campbell Wilson, the airline’s CEO, who I met recently just that. A cost-effective (and sustainable) way to fly. Perhaps not as “great” as flying with parent SIA, but a worthy son or daughter of the leading international airline.

Friday 8 March: Exhibiting a close relation to art

Arriving at Gold Coast Airport around 8am Australian east coast time, was as good as anywhere to land. The weather/temperature was sunny and pleasant. The very necessary but rather time-consuming processing by Australian officials didn’t seem to be aided by the technology on hand. The long queues, two machine passport readers plus a camera meant an hour elapsed before I was through. And that’s without having baggage to collect!

But all was forgotten when I was driven through the pleasant green countryside, across the border into New South Wales, to meet up with artist son David – everyone else calls him Dave Hickson. Inspecting his home and studio alongside the canal at South Golden Beach, it wasn’t long before it was time to get ready to attend the launch of the art exhibition at Tweed River Gallery. This was primarily, the reason for my journey. His first one man exhibition with drawings, small sculptures (assemblages in wood and paint) and photographs, mainly covering his observations during his travels which included Europe, America and Asia last year. Singapore figured, but predominantly his work exhibited his impressions of art and architecture, the life and soul, of Spain and the US.  For more on the show and his work, go to the website:  www.davehickson.net

Of course it was a mix of fatherly pride and appreciation of art when Richard Weinstein flew especially from Sydney to launch the show – he is a barrister and art collector – and likened David’s art to that of Picasso and Matisse! He also spoke of the art which had been commissioned and acquired by the late and great Roddy Meagher, a strong supporter of “Dave Hickson”, who he described as one of Australia’s leading sculptors. One of the local papers gave the show and the artist a worthy mention: http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/magical-dawn-inspires-art/1785717/

Saturday & Sunday 9, 10 March: Home & country, art, food & wine

The weekend was spent in a very pleasant part of the world: Tweed Valley, South Golden Beach, Byron Bay and Murwillumbah. Windy roads, rolling country-side, where sugar cane grows on the flat and banana palms on the side of hills. Where everything is green.  And art abounds. Not only at the Tweed River Gallery where the works of Margaret Olley have a welcome home. Plans for a new wing for the gallery dedicated to the memory and art of Olley – plus an artist-in-residence retreat – will make this place one of the best regional galleries in the whole of Australia.  The towns and countryside boost many galleries and studios. A vibrant artistic community thrives in Byron Bay and beyond, competing with the surfing and fishing enthusiasts.  It all made me determined to visit again, to explore the art and environment, to write about it to a larger audience. And purchase an excellent map of the artistic attractions of the place!

Monday 11 March:  Change in the Air for Energy

Brisbane was the destination for some important business. A meeting at University of Queensland (UQ) with Adrian Ward of the International Energy Centre (IEC) – www.internationalenergycentre.com – to see how the educational objectives of the centre can be best exported to Asia. Already I had introduced the IEC to Singapore and we discussed next steps to develop some specific programmes on a low carbon energy future – and energy efficiency – which would be applicable to Singapore. I also visited the Global Change Institute – www.gci.uq.edu.au – where Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg has a team of people focusing on a cleaner, greener and brighter future for life on earth. I also inspected progress on the $30 million state-of-the-art building for the Global Change Institute (GCI) at the St Lucia campus which is due for completion this year.  It employs sustainable design, construction and operating practices. It was enjoyable dipping back into delights of Brisbane and UQ, visiting Toowong for shopping and banking. Public transport, in particular the train service from Brisbane and the Gold Coast, was efficient, but as I observed and others agreed, there certainly is a place for a speedier and more sustainable rail service. It cannot compete currently with the speed and efficiency of the four lane highway over-populated by gas-guzzling vehicles and their occupants.

Tuesday 12 March:  Air time for a book

It was time to leave terra firma – and in particular the pleasant home, art and environment of David and Jerusha in Northern Rivers of New South Wales – to embark once again on a high-flying experience with Scoot. Gold Coast, Australia to Singapore. The journey was once again pleasant enough – opting for an exit row seat ensures leg room and avoids the need to climb over resting fellow passengers. With an excellent book to while away the seven hours – Ian McEwen’s “Sweet Tooth” turned out to be a welcome diversion from all the heavy going, business and climate related material I usually digest on the road. He is also the author of “Solar” – more appropriate for a clean energy advocate – which I have also read.  Unlike travelling on “normal” airlines, Scoot does not offer screens built into the seats. But as the “pitch” says, the airline can “Stream content from our cabin server to your own tablet or laptop” for a small price or “if you want to engage in some on-board gaming, you can Rent-a-Tablet for S$20”.  I did think of my Serious Games friends and made a note to alert them to the opportunity of educational games for on board Scooting.

Wednesday 13 March:  Home for a change of pace

Back in home territory in Singapore, there’s work to catch up on and home life to fit back into, including meeting and greeting friends from afar. Angie and Robin from Dorset, UK have come to stay. An escape for them from the bleak European weather before they too fly on down to Australia. A conference to prepare for, clients to deal with, some writing and editing to undertake before another round of meetings gets underway.

Thursday 14 March: Eco Products to the fore

The show must go on. Eco Products International opens at Marina Bay Sands and SASA and its associates /clients have space to display our wares.  After the ceremonial opening there’s the networking and checking out who’s there and who’s not. A big presence of Japanese companies and people, including the Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), which plays the key role in organizing these events around Asia. www.epif2013.com  We meet the other speakers and get ready to act as moderator for a session on Sustainable Urban Planning. We meet and learn a lot more of the work of APO, as well as some key players, ORIX, who go beyond leasing to manage waste and develop solar energy.  Among the host of products on show, we latch on to the work of Enviplast from Indonesia with their cassava starch “plastic bags. We also meet – and get interviewed by – Nobuko Kashiwagi. Go to www.ubraintv.com to learn more of this innovative new media and its coverage of the Singapore event.

Friday 15 March:  Engineering Change

There was much more to do and see at the Eco Products show with presentations covering all manner of worthwhile topics. And people to meet. But a highlight of the day/night must have been the lead up event for the World Engineers Summit held at the BCA Academy. On hand was none other than Engineers Australian National President 2012, David Hood and PUB CEO Chew Men Leong. While I had another moderating job to do, I was most impressed by the attendance (mostly young engineers) and the quality of the speakers.  David Hood will be back for more at the September event – www.wes2013.org – and meantime he will continue to be the engineer at the forefront of change in Australia and throughout the region.

That was the week that was! And I better stop there. There’s more to do and connections that go beyond sustainability, eco products, environment, energy, water and earth. There’s the connections in the “cloud” that don’t relate to planetary climate but to technological advances to make things work better and more efficiently. It’s all connected. It’s all real. And it’s essential that each one of us continues to see that we have a critical role to play in this inter-connected world of ours.

As Shakespeare wrote a long time ago: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.”