Laidback colonial charm usually comes with a hammock-slung verandah and a rambling garden over-run by all manner of shrubs and trees with tongue-twisting scientific names.

Contemporary Chinese design has come to the fore with the Beijing Olympics all set to take off in August. Sharon Leece is a Shanghai-based English author who is enjoying success with three hot-selling books on the subject.

Stealth wealth is an underpinning of Malaysian society which, as the term suggests, stays below the radar of public attention.