The Anticipation of Arrival

This is a campaign I created for Ismail & Associates in the advertising account pitch for Mutiara Crowne Plaza Hotels sometime in 2005. Yes, that long ago. Sigh.

The hospitality chain was formerly known as Merlin Hotels & Resorts, and they had various kinds of hotels in cities and resorts.



As per the usual with some of my best work (well, I do like this series of ads), another agency got the account and these thumbnails remain for me to gloat about as great ideas that were never realised.



My strategy was to create anticipation via suggestive and evocative headlines. Stir the kind of excitement in a reader's imagination as if they were about to embark on a trip, or arrive at a destination.

It was about creating a feeling for a place that is almost palpable even though you hadn't been there yet.



Isn't that the excitement and anticipation of travel?



Do you think it works here?

Wake Up The Village!

MM asked:

How do we change mindsets towards women so that they are no longer the victims of violence and abuse?

The word "abuse" isn't exclusive to physical harm. Many women around the world, across races, religions, income, class & cultures, are equally subjected to psychological, social or mental abuse, which are sometimes even more damaging than physical violence.

How can sexist, derogatory & abusive attitudes be overcome?

What role do the rest of us play in this process of change?

So I answered:

Mindsets and attitudes can only change with education and illumination, over time ... and each of us have the responsibility to do what we can when we see injustice of any kind.

We must speak out because evil triumphs when good people do nothing.

We must be proactive - teach young people to be empathetic and compassionate. Give them the awareness to recognize injustice, and how it can damage and hurt.

Bring home the truth of what hurts and destroys, what is evil and what aids the negative actions of others.

Young children should be nurtured on parables and fables, all those great stories that can fuel the imagination and strike a chord in the heart.

Those neurons must be sensitized from a young age. And this also happens when children themselves are subjected to care and compassion by adults. Are we spending enough time with them on these story-lessons?

Parents need to spend precious, quality time with their children. Adults need to set strong and clear examples. Abberant adults should be taken to task by those who witness their intolerable actions, especially when children are about.

It is true that it takes a whole village to bring up a child, and our villages need to come together fast!


Then I decided to take advantage of Yahoo! Answers:

Question:

I am unable to stay focussed on goals that I want to achieve. What can I do?

Question Details:

Too many ideas, not enough cerebral RAM or physical energy. I seem to be chasing my own tail on many things. I know that once I set my mind to it, I can make things happen. The universe has been good to me that way - providing many opportunities, and connecting me with wonderful helpful and generous friends and family. But I still feel unfulfilled. What's really missing?

I can't wait to see what answers come back.

Wake up the Village Idiot!

A Curious Blend

Burmah Road is one of the oldest parts of Georgetown in Penang, and is a main street for Kampung Serani. This was where a Eurasian community re-settled from Thailand, brought over by the British to act as go-betweens between the colonists and the local people, in the late 1700s.

I wrote these few verses to start me off, and hope to extend it further at a later stage.


BURMAH ROAD

Remember when the roads were lined
With shady trees as old as time
A village where proud houses stood
On pedestals or stilts of wood.

The families who lived here then
Comprising of a curious blend,
Were not as obvious just by face
To fit just one specific race.

For here was quite a melting pot
Of foreign ties and polyglots,
Where great-grandpa now buried here
Did come by ship from not so near.

(To be continued... )