2021 APRIL
WRITTEN AT THE
BEGINNING OF
THE YEAR
JANUARY 25, 2021
Written by: Andrew Sia
At this time when the January issue of the journal was published, the feeling was a mixed one as when I looked back into 2020, there were so many sorrowful and unpleasant events that took place. The lockdown due to the coronavirus and the other happenings had triggered a lot of grievances. It was mentioned by the report of the psychiatrist that one third of the world’s population has suffered from depression and anxiety.
At this writing, the number of infected cases will exceed the 100 million any moment now. Not only the numbers haven’t stopped from growing, also there is no sign that it will even be ceased to spread around the world.
We had dedicated one full page in our January’s journal—From the Desk of the Publisher—and adopted the front page of the Times magazine with the 2020 being crossed out. It was bleak enough. I promised that when I’ll write another article about the new year, I want to deliver a solid note. Please bear with me.
At this time of the year we would like to set our tone right—to drive for the positive energy and hope that by reading our journal will inspire the readers to find opportunities and a new approach in life for the year ahead of us. Just like the 2021 logo that we have adopted which has a feeling of a festival celebration. We hope that you will like it and we have engaged a design house to help us to design this to lighten up your days ahead.
Under the Special Report, our continuous report on the coronavirus will bring you the latest in the part of the world that you would be interested. We feel that knowledge is power as always, and we hope that you can use it to guide your business, and to take the necessary precaution when you will start to travel there. If you are not going there, the share of information, and to know their situation by reminding them to take the necessary precaution can also be something very positive.
We will update the trade shows and exhibitions on the quarterly basis. Knowing that many of the shows have moved from physical shows to digital shows, you can now sit home and focus on shows that you will like to visit and spend more time in meeting the exhibitors. Most of the shows will have the trend shows and fashion indications, please take the opportunity to study carefully and get ready for your presentation to the market, which in most cases, will also be done digitally. Make this virtual opportunity as a powerful tool and we hope that you will find it handy. We have the strong impression that when the pandemic is over, the shows will continue with the two prongs, physically and digitally, both will be useful for your business.
Market Intelligence and Market Information have now been combined into (Heard it thru the) Grapevine and it will give you news flashes for you to react accordingly. You can use this knowledge to carry out conversations with your counterparts. You will be more solid and carry more credibility through your conversation. All those news clips are for your use.
At this time, we have strengthened our articles in our Fashions & Designs that we hope will inspire you and help to bring in your creativity. We have different participants in this section.
For the Environmental and Sustainability, we would want you to have the in-depth reading and help us to promote this important initiative. This is not only the awareness, but also can be used in your marketing and if you will know the way to use it, you can apply it into your everyday business, it will become a powerful marketing tool. Please use this in your every day’s personal life. You will find the benefits.
For the Supply Chain, we feel that for what we have done for the past six years, we have covered a lot of countries that where the productions are coming from. We would explore now as the market and provide more in-depth report about the countries that you are selling to, and also the countries you are shipping to. We will come up with some information that you can use for the marketing effort. If you combine this with (Heard it thru the) Grapevine, this can be most effective.
We come now to the Entrepreneurship and Business which is something we would like to emphasize to think how this can benefit you. If you are thinking about changing your role, or moving to live in another country, to improve your life, this section can be useful for you.
Book Report which we will continue to feature those books that are design and technical related. You can always go back to the back issues and ask for the copy.
For the Academic & Education, we will try to list the courses that you can take, mostly online, so that you can study at your location and at your ease.
We are trying to come up with the key words by introducing the hash-tags, and when this is ready, it will help you to search for information that may interest you. Please look out for this and we hope that this can be available soon.