What are you reading?

"The Pyramids" by Miroslav Verner. It's a factual analysis of pyramid building. I find it reassuring that 3.5 million years ago people were pushing the envelope in creativity and imagination to put in place the physical structures that we behold today.

Do you typically read about travel or history?

I'm a very eclectic reader. Another I've recently finished is called "No Mercy: A Journey Into the Heart of the Congo" by a gentleman called Redmond O'Hanlon. It's a natural history travelogue type of book. I really like the documentation of his humor and the fortitude that he shows, which is necessary to survive relatively sane in challenging situations. ... It's very humorous and heartwarming. I can relate to the Congo because I spent quite a bit of time in Lake Tanganyika. I was in Zambia on the southernmost tip, and I can well imagine what he went through.

Do these books remind you to approach aquarium challenges, such as its aging infrastructure, in the same way — with humorous resilience?

Interestingly, perhaps the best link of the books I'm reading is actually the one on the pyramids. Those people had a can-do, will-do attitude. They really pushed the envelope and they were visionaries. With a little bit of ambition and imagination shown by certain sectors of the people who make these decisions, we could really move ahead. ... I adopt the attitude that if there's a challenge, don't look at how it can't be done, look at how to overcome it.