Since I was expecting my baby, we had been unable to travel around much over the last month, and it is not easy to travel with a newborn. The desire and intention to travel has been always there for our family so we decided to go for a quick weekend getaway to Bintan Island in…
In my third year in university in 2004, I followed the Economic Development course delivered by a very good professor, Elif Çepni, in Istanbul. I remember her telling us about the convergence in economies over time. The concept is pretty simple and logical. It is the hypothesis that the emerging market economies and developed market…
Interaction plays an important part in our lives. We interact with friends, colleagues, strangers and family members. Each interaction creates good and bad feelings in us and, most importantly, each interaction has social or business impact on us. Since it is important to interact, how can we make each interaction efficient in our social and business lives?…
I love technology and I hate driving. The inclusion of both love and hate presents a conflict, but the two can help each other in numerous ways. Many news stories have recently emerged regarding autonomous cars, which makes me very excited. Having lived in Istanbul, London, and briefly in Zurich and Singapore, I know that…
I lived in London for 7.5 years and I became a true Londoner in this period of time. Since I have been living in Singapore for the last 2.5 years, I sometimes miss London, and whenever I have a chance to go to London, it is a great opportunity for me to get into my…
Why do people buy an excessive number of luxury brands and spend so much money on these items? Not only rich people, but amazingly poor people save money to buy a branded handbag or a pair of boats. For instance, I happen to know a lady who earns $1,500 per month and bought a bag…
When I was a child and studying in primary school, the world population was estimated at 6 billion people. That was 25 years ago. As we approach 2016, the estimated world population stands at 7.3 billion people. What can 7.3 billion people expect in 2016? To start with, 2015 was not an easy year for…
What a week for my family and me! My first kid, Henry Alp, arrived this week on 14 December at 17:08. We were quite worried since the baby was over 4 kg and he wasn’t engaged so there was no way to deliver him naturally and we were heading to the hospital like we going…
Absolutely, the declining oil price is a good thing! Not only oil, but a price plunge in all types of commodity is good in the long term… In the short term, it may look dreadful. There may be difficulties in terms of keeping up with the debt repayments of oil rich countries and companies, expanding current…