Nice is Not Enough
Kuching needs glamour, edge, and the kind of friends your mother warned you about
Kuching is a lovely place. We know this already. The food is good, the people are warm, the city is charming, and life here moves at a rhythm that many bigger cities have long since lost.
But if Kuching wants to attract the movers and shakers who can actually transform an economy, it cannot be merely pleasant. It needs to be exciting, edgy, and — dare I say it — a little bit sexy.
Unfairly, perhaps, but Kuching must compete with London, Singapore, Shanghai, Sydney, Berlin, and Bangkok. These cities offer opportunity, momentum, and the electric sense that something important is perpetually about to happen. Those who have been to those cities also know they have their dark sides. But mature cities can handle mature adult problems.
We can only live with our doting parents, under their protection and their curfews, for so long. Young, upwardly mobile global entrepreneurs do not want safety alone. They want energy. They want possibility. They want to feel they are standing close to the edge of something.
So many of our young ones left for elsewhere for that reason.
The Iran war aside, Dubai was that place. Shanghai was the place to be before Covid, and stubbornly remained so after. Visitors to Sydney do not go only for the sun, the sea, and... the sharks.
I cannot wait for Kuching’s new performing arts centre to open and host shows that are not just good, but genuinely surprising, or sometimes, a bit shocking. An indulgent vainglorious fashion festival or two would not go amiss — where big-name designers come to experiment with local textiles, and fabrics from across the wider region. Maybe the designers do not merely show sedate, grandma-safe tradition, but possibly cover-your-eyes seduction. There should be room for the occasional strange runaway success and the odd crashing failure. And lots and lots of gossip. That is rather the point.
There is a saying that goes: if there is anything worse than being talked about behind your back, it is not being talked about at all.
To be fair, Kuching already has a few gems on its social calendar. The Asean International Film Festival, the Rainforest World Music Festival, and that other music thing — you know the one. They are a promising start. The scaffolding, one might say, for something bigger, grander, harder to stay away from.
Kuching needs glamour. It needs five-star hotels hosting secret-but-not-so-secret after-parties. And those not on the list should have their own beach parties in Damai or along the waterfront — better ones, probably. Or worse ones, better still.
We could do with a few scandals. An impossible love triangle involving models and an timber dynasty heir would do nicely — the kind that generates breathless coverage and strong opinions from people who were not there. The problem, of course, is that the models and influencers would need a reason to come to Kuching first. That is precisely what we need to be working on.
Right now, Kuching has many admirers. But too many of them say the same thing: it is a wonderful place to... retire. Lights off at 10pm.
That is lovely. It is also a bit depressing.
Kuching needs the kind of friends your mother warned you about.
Fewer BFFs. More HFFs - high-falutin’ friends. We should be so lucky to get a few of those.