In Beginners, Tom Vanderbilt argues that you’re never too old to learn something new – and enjoy it
Beginnersby Tom VanderbiltKnopf
Malcolm Gladwell popularised, and oversimplified, the notion that 10,000 hours constitutes the magic number of greatness . That investment of time and effort, he argued in his 2008 bestseller Outliers, is imperative for anyone hoping to master anything from a sport to computing to music. The message? That success is far from arbitrary; it requires work.
But that s assuming you want to make sacrifices and be an expert. What if you cannot afford the equivalent of 416 24-hour days of deliberate practice to achieve prowess? What if you re content simply to dabble? Tom Vanderbilt asks those questions in Beginners, which should motivate especially the middle-aged to learn for the joy of it and gain from its transformative power - tempting rewards promised in the subtitle.
China’s carbon neutral goal: Cainiao, JD.com and online retailers say all that mountain of plastics and packaging have to go Illustration: Henry Wong/SCMP
Outside a residential compound in the Longhua district in southern China s technology metropolis Shenzhen, home to some of the country s most advanced companies, a quiet revolution is unfolding.
A green, giant recycling bin outside the delivery room of the compound receives discarded cartons, plastic wrappings and packaging of nearly 1,000 parcels on an average day. Operated by Cainiao, the logistics arm of Alibaba Group Holding, the recycle bin and the delivery room are among 80,000 established since 2017 across China to spearhead Cainiao s campaign to reduce, reuse and recycle packaging in the world s largest e-commerce market.
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World’s biggest free-trade deal has to be welcomed SCMP Editorial Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, left, and Commerce Minister Zhong Shan at the signing ceremony of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement in Beijing last year. Photo: Xinhua
A key building block of what will be the world s biggest free-trade area has fallen into place with approval of Japan s ratification by the upper house of parliament in Tokyo. This follows a green light from the lower house for joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and comes a day after China called for the deal to be ratified to boost the Asia-Pacific region s economy.
Travel bubble: explore Singapore’s red light district, war bunkers and heritage hotspots on alternative tours of the city Exploring the Marsiling Bunkers. Photo: Handout
Will it or won t it open in May? The Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble has long been discussed - and last November was just hours from being opened, before Covid-19 snatched it away - and there s no harm in hoping that, this time, it will inflate.
To whet your appetite for what s likely to be Hong Kong s first getaway, here s a rundown of the best the Lion City has to offer in unusual guided tours.
Exploring the Abandoned World War II Marsiling Bunkers
The national identity of Australians in Hong Kong has evolved since the city’s 19th century urban beginnings The cover of An Australian in China, by George Morrison. Photo: Handout
Hong Kong has accommodated Australians since its mid-19th century urban beginnings. Whatever their ultimate ethnic origins, Australians in this part of the world are - for the most part - immediately recognisable, as soon as they open their mouths. That distinctive twangy nasal accent remains a dead giveaway. But what was the resident Australian community like in the past?
Australian women were readily recognisable - enterprising business types were, and remain, a perennial local feature. In early times, many came as performers with travelling theatre companies, got beached by unkind fate, then worked precariously on the fringes of the hospitality industry. Others ended up working in brothels to stay afloat.