For the past five years, I have read just about every motivational and business book I could get my hands on. I found ideas I liked, but this was the first experience that changed something in my daily life. The difference, for me, is that Landmark is practical. I began to notice patterns while they were happening, and I had a way to respond differently.

One of my blind spots began when I was 10 or 11. I was picked on in Holland for being a little chinese girl because I just moved to Holland from Hong Kong, and I came away believing I did not belong. I carried that belief into my friendships, my family and my work. It followed me through every country I lived in. I had no idea how much it was shaping my life, or how hard it had made me on myself and the people I love.

A great deal of the learning happens through listening. Someone shares a breakdown or a breakthrough, and suddenly you recognise something in your own life. You share your experience, and someone else sees something in theirs. That is how the ideas become useful, through real conversations and the chance to practise them every day.

I wish I had known this 40 years ago. I wish this kind of learning were part of our everyday education.

This Saturday, as part of my candidature to become a Landmark introduction leader, I am leading an introduction from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. I will share my experience, explain some of the basic principles and tell you how the course works. You are welcome to come, listen and decide for yourself whether it interests you.

DM me if positive transformation is important to you.

A Clockwork Orange is a novel by Anthony Burgess, published in 1962. The novel is set in a dystopian England and follows the life of 14-year-old Alex, a juvenile delinquent who is sent to jail and subsequently undergoes a state-sponsored psychological rehabilitation programme aimed at curing his violent and deviant behaviour.

The novel explores the boundaries of human morality and freedom of choice under an extreme political system. Moreover, the novel is written almost fully in a futuristic slang, known as Nadsat, that gives further insight into Alex's psychology and his life.

The novel begins by describing a totalitarian society where extreme violence is ever-present among the youth. Alex, the protagonist, is a teenager who greatly enjoys classical music and is also a member of a violent teen gang. His gang frequently engages in acts of brutality against innocent and defenceless people.

When one of these escapades goes awry and Alex ends up murdering an elderly woman, he is sentenced to 14 years in prison. Eventually, Alex is chosen to undergo a form of aversion therapy, which results in him becoming physically sick whenever he encounters violence, whether simply thinking about it or attempting to commit a crime.

The novel raises important ethical questions, particularly whether it is better to choose to be bad rather than to be forced to be good. It explores the importance of free will and the ethical consequences of suppressing someone's freedom of choice for the sake of society's safety.

Ultimately, A Clockwork Orange forces us to question the role of morality in society, leading me to a quote that stuck with me from the book:

“Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness?”

We looked at each other and thought, ah, maybe not. We were literally on our way out when they very kindly said, “You know what, stay. You know the owner.”

Thank goodness we did. Pillars is an amazing space inside the historic Guang’er Warehouse, an old industrial building along the river. The gallery only opened in 2025, and its name comes partly from the extraordinary columns running through the building. It is one of those spaces where the architecture is almost as interesting as the art.

And then we discovered Li Chuangli. Born in Wuhan in 1991, Li Chuangli studied oil painting at Hubei Normal University and graduated in 2014. His work takes images and references from contemporary life, popular culture, advertising, commercial products and social media and turns them into these wonderfully strange oil paintings. There is something familiar about them, but also slightly unsettling. I absolutely loved them.

There was one enormous yellow painting that I completely fell for. It was 50,000 yuan, about RM30,000. Not that I could have afforded it, but it’s always good to dream. And anyway, it was already sold, so clearly it was not meant to be.

They always say with art that it isn’t really about what something costs. It’s about what it is worth to you, what you would pay if you could. And this one was just absolutely beautiful.

And then, of course, there is the Pillars Gallery Shop, which is dangerous in an entirely different way. I bought the most beautiful pair of 3D printed earrings with tiny drops of natural amber hanging underneath. They also had these extraordinary mirrors and a wonderful selection of objects and pieces that felt genuinely different. Not your usual gallery shop.

So what began with us almost walking out because we didn’t want to spend 50 yuan ended with discovering a young Chinese artist whose work I now love, buying a pair of earrings and adding another place to my Shanghai must-visit list.

Pillars Gallery is an absolute must.

Pillars Gallery
Guang’er Warehouse
195 Guangfu Road, Jing’an District, Shanghai

I received the most beautiful book for my birthday from Soraya, the wife of the Dutch ambassador: The Hidden Histories of Flowers by Maddie and Alice Bailey. Besides being a beautiful book to look at, it is filled with exactly the kind of stories I love.

It explores flowers through their origins, Latin names, fairy tales, mythology, symbolism and the relationships different countries and cultures have with them. There are quotes, wonderful illustrations and fascinating little pieces of history throughout. It is the kind of book you can open anywhere and immediately discover something you didn’t know.

And then, of course, I found the dandelion.

The dandelion has been Nala’s logo for the past five or six years. It came to us after a trip I made to Bangkok, and since then this little flower has become very much part of our identity. According to the book, dandelions have been around for some 30 million years, which means, technically, our logo is 30 million years old.

Dandelions have appeared in ancient Egyptian, Roman, Arabic and Anglo-Saxon texts, and have a long history as a medicinal plant, used by cultures across the world to treat all sorts of ailments. But there is even more to this little flower. Its stems and leaves contain a milky latex, and it has also been used to create natural dyes, with yellow coming from the flowers and purple tones from the leaves.

And then there is the question of what a dandelion actually is. Is it an invasive weed, an unwanted intruder that appears where it wasn’t invited? Or is it a beautiful wildflower that simply has an extraordinary ability to grow almost anywhere?

Perhaps that is exactly why I love it so much. The more you discover about the dandelion, the more remarkable it becomes. Resilient, useful, beautiful, ancient and almost impossible to contain. Its seeds travel with the wind, find somewhere new to land and start all over again.

The Hidden Histories of Flowers is beautifully illustrated, full of wonderful stories and a fantastic source of inspiration. I absolutely love it and can highly recommend it, both as a book to keep and as a beautiful gift.

Not forever. We have simply decided to focus all our Singapore energy on one shop, one team and one location. But before we leave, I wanted to say a proper thank you, because our time at TANGS has been such a happy one.

Our relationship started at Boutique Fairs, and from the beginning I absolutely adored the team. We laughed a lot, learned a lot and had such a good time together. TANGS is an incredible location, an inspiring department store and, most importantly, full of wonderful people.

But one of the things that made me love being there was the story of C.K. Tang himself.

He arrived in Singapore in 1923 and started by selling lace and linen door to door. Years later, he made a bold move and opened on Orchard Road, at a time when the area was nowhere near the shopping destination it is today. People thought the location was a terrible idea.

He bet on Orchard Road anyway. And he was right.

But what I love most is that his success was not built on cleverness alone. It was built on honesty. His philosophy was simple: tell the customer the truth, give them value, treat them properly and they will come back.

We can make the prettiest shop in the world, create beautiful patterns and dream up wonderful products, but none of that means very much if the person walking through the door does not feel looked after.

Retail is about people. So for now, we are putting all our focus into Great World. But we leave TANGS with a lot of love, very happy memories and huge affection for the people we met there.

This is not goodbye.

It is simply: see you again soon, TANGS.

The Thursday Show returns next week, and this season we’re trying something completely new. Instead of fitting one big story into five minutes, we’re telling it over four episodes. It gives us the time to slow down, explore in greater depth and discover the details that would otherwise be left on the cutting room floor.

We absolutely loved filming this new format. It’s more immersive, more thoughtful and gives us the freedom to follow our curiosity. Sometimes that means taking an unexpected turn, listening to a local recommendation or wandering down a street we would otherwise have missed. Those moments often lead to the most memorable discoveries.

Our first series is filmed in Singapore, where we uncovered some wonderful hidden gems that we’d never experienced before. That’s all we’re going to tell you for now.

We can’t wait to share this new chapter of The Thursday Show with you.

See you next Thursday.