Editor’s Note

What a year it has been. The idea for this festive issue – Six Tools of Seduction – was chosen in January, but looking at how world events have shaped up in the past six months, I can’t help but think the topic is terribly timely.

The economy is tepid, and the surprising results of the US presidential election and Brexit indicate that the very barometers that we’ve come to rely on to measure public sentiment can be scarily inaccurate.What are we to make of this new reality?

One executive in Singapore told me he crawled into bed, crushed, at the close of the US election day. He had expected to wake up to news of financial markets crashing, only to discover against all odds that was not the case.

I know what I do when circumstances are out of my control – I break out the Haagen Dazs. You may have your own coping mechanisms – whether it’s cooking for the family to destress or going for a spin in that mean machine.

The point is that this Christmas, more than ever, relish happiness wherever you can find it. Indulge yourself; pamper others, if that’s what thrills you. In fact, the first section of the Seduction package, Page 52 to 60, is a guide to throwing the ultimate party. The suggestions for wine are culled from our quarterly supplement, Gourmet & Travel, the latest issue of which contains critics’ picks of the city’s top 100 bottles.

Drink, feast and make merry. Seduce and be seduced. Give yourself over to delight. If there’s any time of the year when you don’t need an excuse to live the moment, it’s now, the close of 2016. Happy Christmas.