Skip to main content

Golf and the Exchange Rate

3.8
That's what our Ringgit's number against the U.S. Dollar.
Companies that deal with American imports are obviously facing a headache.
So how does it affect golf?
Most golf brands are American icons.
Retailers, already faced by the onset of the GST implementation, has some serious accounting to do.
And let's face it, the majority of the population has cut their spending due to the rise in the price of goods caused by the GST wave.
Consumers report that most goods and food items actually cost more than 6%.
It is still unclear why traders charge more, but some have reportedly blamed it on unscrupulous companies and opportunist owners.
At the CIMB Hari Raya Open House yesterday, I bumped into Mr. K. P. Low of MST Golf, Sylvester San of Fujitsu and Chuah Choo Chiang, the Director of Communications for the Asian Tour.
We discussed the downtrend of golf in the country caused by the effects of the GST on consumer spending and the weak performance of the Ringgit against the dollar.
What about corporate companies?
Most have frozen any spending on advertising and promotions, while an Asian Tour event, the Vascory Classic, has been postponed due to financial issues.
Even the CIMB Classic will be a lot more expensive due to the exchange rate, with the event being a PGA TOUR-sanctioned tournament.
K. P. has ridden many economic waves before but he did stress that these were uncertain times due to the GST and recent political developments plaguing the country.
Chuah has seen how the Asian Tour grew but laments that the current economic scenario in the region has put a dent in event sponsorship.
Sylvester's son Paul is aspiring to be a top notch professional and believes that the downtrend of the game can be reversed over the long-term with the right measures and people in place.
I couldn't agree with him more that going back to basics and re-educating the market holds the key to the game's reboot.
Being involved with the industry since 2000, I gave my view that many factors and forces have pushed the game into this downward spiral.
It is about the Malaysian people and culture I stressed when asked for my views.
Accountability, a lack of vision and focus are elements that causes any sport to drop off the radar.
Who promotes the game heavily? Is there any education campaign to drive Malaysians into the game?
That's where events like the CIMB Classic hold the keys of giving the game a shot in the arm it badly needs.
Youths who don't play the game need to be exposed to the sport. School children should be allowed to watch the tournament for free.
This will seed the interest and inspire dreams.
Only then will there be growth.
     

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Matters Most Is Inside You

Somehow, humans are a bunch of sensitive, overreacting bunch!!! Observing the way things have been going, it is obvious that the world, and in particular, the human species will never change. Our lives are filled with the trails and tribulations of evolution and co-existence. Wars... they are inevitable and have always been existent even before billions of us were born. With the good, comes evil. IS ANYONE GOING TO STOP THE GENOCIDE HAPPENING IN THE MIDDLE EAST? Never mind that... Just look into the mirror and ask yourself whether you have felt anguish and hatred towards another human being? Have you gotten so angry before that you felt like strangling an irritating, back-stabbing colleague? Yes..., you have right? It is okay that you have had such feelings as we all have faced our fair share of bad and evil people in our lives. Do we just sit in silence or do we do something about it? When I was younger, I would have chosen the latter cause of action. Nowadays, I am trying my best to
Post a Comment
Read more

SHARING WHAT I LEARNT... SO FAR!

Throughout my life, I have been blessed with many experiences from challenges - the good, the bad and the ugly. Like most other humans on Earth, there have been times when there seems to be no hope. The dark days were often filled with calamities in career and finances most of the time. Sounds familiar, right? For me, I have been fortunate to have family and friends to be there for me. May they be blessed with a happy and prosperous life. One thing is for sure, I realized now at 54, not all bad days will stay, just like good happy days. This realization comes from the "polishing" of my inner-self over the years; the hammering of the ego, the much-needed slap of my pessimistic nature... heck, whatever weaknesses that I was born with. Wisdom setting in? The meeting with many people that I came into contact with in my life, and the various situations that I had to deal with in my career and personal life of course, was the foundation laying of this realization. Learning from the
Post a Comment
Read more

REMINDER: BE KIND

  Have people forgotten to be kind & respectful to each other? Hello beautiful people. I was awakened by inspiration to write on this topic. In our daily lives, we meet many people who are either nice or toxic. If we're lucky, some of us can feel people with kind or bad energy. The experiences are unavoidable and is part of our life path or fate, I suppose. Yin and yang,  I have personally encountered good and bad people. More good and kind souls, thankfully. But either or, they are blessings of experience that have given me awareness and wisdom. Recently, I have encountered many rude people. They seemed to have forgotten their manners or the basic need to be kind and loving to others. Some are just plain rude. Has the desire and greed for success, money and power gone to their heads?  We must remind ourselves that we cannot change people though. Here are some tips for everyone to be aware of their speech and actions daily: Be kind You are not better than another person Don'
Post a Comment
Read more