Things You Can Do Right Now to Fight Off Depression

I wrote it two days ago. I then became sidetracked by my company responsibilities and was unable to finish working on the list I created. I also worried it was too self-indulgent to post. Today I decided "What the heck." Besides, I completely missed celebrating this year Christmas and I'm more than a little bummed about it. I could use a pick me up.

Anyway...

Truth was, I didn't care about me because I was tired and depressed. So, without further distraction, here is a list of things I am going to do today to fight off Depression. It's a personal list, but you can certainly adapt it to your own needs. In fact, I'd love it if you'd post your own list in the comments.

1. Hug my xxx (your lover)
It's excessively mushy, but I can't think of anything more immediately beneficial for my heart.

2. Step outside
Enjoy the weather. It may be good, it may be bad (and currently RAINY in here!! *sigh*), but you're alive today to enjoy it. That may not seem like much, but considering how much death and violence there is in the world, it's not a bad place to start.

3. Smile practice
Yes, it sounds daft but for years I have occasionally stood in front of a mirror and forced myself to smile. It came from years ago when Depression ruled my every breathing moment and I had forgotten how to smile. My face was almost permanently drawn downward. Smiling was work and so I set about to break my face with the weirdest exercises I had ever done in my life. You want to know something? It works...because you might see your own pimples then!

4. CookingNo doubt...I love cooking.

5. ExerciseWhat the heck. My belly doesn't make me happy. Might as well take my frustrations out on it.

6. Clean my room
Yep, it's messy again. I always find my spirits lifted if I clean something. You don't have to worry about me becoming obsessive compulsive. I'm not THAT tidy...compare *err...*

7. Take a napYep, I'm getting old. But putting that aside for the moment, taking a nap helps reset the mind and renew your energies. Although I don't really like to take a nap...well.. it works!

8. Hang out with friends
Years ago, I set up a regular meeting every Saturday. My friends show up automatically. They only stay away if there is sickness in the house. This means that they come even if I'm depressed, or ticking. It's embarrassing to feel so exposed, but by the end of the evening I am thankful for their companionship...

Well these are common methods...I use one or two mostly and that will cheering me a lot. Anyway, now I have my love, Rachael, that always fill my heart with joy, so I think - most precious moment to fight off your depression is with someone that you love most...

Life Is An Opportunity Cost

Back when I started blogging, I had a go-around with some of my friends. I'm not going to rehash it, but I think the best summary of the entire affair can be found here.

During that discussion, I made the mistake of bringing up the concept of "opportunity cost." The mistake wasn't so much that the concept didn't apply to the discussion. Rather, my mistake was in believing that he and some of the other folks in his echo chamber would understand what I was talking about...(confused may be) So, from time to time, one of them tries to mock me by throwing the phrase into a discussion somewhere.

Now, I suppose I could take the time to explain "marketing opportunity cost" to these guys (im my company), but I can also spend that time playing a internet with my love, Rachael, or reading a book, or watching the latest episode of CSI in TV. Better yet, rather than explaining to these guys why I might be inclined to fix someone else's problems before I get around to fixing theirs, I can spend that time actually fixing bugs.

Now, I'll bet that at least one of these guys will offer a comment complaining about how we place profits over fixing bugs, thereby demonstrating that they really don't get it. If they do, I will most certainly approve their comments. Do you think any one of them will stop to ask themselves why I might be inclined to approve such a comment?

Well...wondering why?

2007 almost over...counting to 2008

A bizarre year trundles to an end: I was sick for almost a week, but despite some of the darker times in recent years there have been a number of highlights, which I won't detail too much, mostly writing and doing a project, if I've felt isolated this year I like to think I've used what's been a weirdly bare bones existence (at least in terms of you know, leaving the house) to spend more time taking stock of things and deciding what I want to do with my career, what kind of person I want to be, what parts of my self are worth retaining for the day when I might feel better. It's been a serious 2007 for me, not much frivolity I'm afraid, quite a lot of introspection, I mean, what else do you think about but the serious when you're feeling sick...

In that vein, one thing which has struck me in the last week, is the sheer invincibility of a good family life, that I have imagine myself with my love, Rachael. I realise this sounds a bit like Old-Catholic way's Christmas homily, but most people probably don't get a snapshot of what it's like to depend on their family and really value the time spent with them until they're elderly. And of course plenty don't have a family they get along with. A good family care enough to understand when things are going badly and know you well enough not to care. I don't mean to suggest friendships are worthless or false, just that it's not humanly possible for most friends to help us when things are bad...

I've never been anti-Christmas anyhow, but Christmas this year has been particularly great because it's such an easy thing to engage in. I have a lot of great friends, and found my new life with Rachael, but the downright normality of family at Christmas is something chronic illness can't really take away, a good feeling, all too rare. This craving for normality actually feels kind of abnormal.

As for 2008, I hope to keep posting my journals here, and have a few career plans up my sleeve which could be interesting. I hope people have enjoyed reading this revived journals the last few months, I've really enjoyed writing it particularly as I've noticed a few more people reading in the last month or two (may be... errr?)

Oh and I hope you all had a great Christmas, and that 2008 will be a fantastic year... Happy New Year 2008!

My Imagination

Another copy from my Facebook journal: --

We all make assumptions and whilst I try not to, I am finding that it is a very difficult thing not to do. I have made assumptions about people's behaviour, about their character, about their feelings and motivations, about their lifestyles, even about their emotions. I have labelled people and been labelled because of my imagination.

The problem with assuming things is it leads to incorrect behaviour on my part. Sometimes when you think you are doing the right thing, it can be totally wrong. I am not a good communicator when it comes to personal issues. Put me in front of an audience where I'm talking about work related stuff and I do a good job - get me one on one to talk about feelings and I generally fail miserably and clam up. Maybe that's a male thing, maybe it's a result of being a turtle - pulling my head inside my shell every time it looks like getting knocked off.

I've also made assumptions about why people read what I write and for those who comment I think it's because there is some way in which we connect. But maybe I'm wrong to imagine that too.
Funny I started blogging simply as a form of therapy and if I dig back into my archives I see that the comments there were few and far between. Somewhere along the way though, I began to see the establishment of my own little community, people who visited me and who I in turn visited and came to know. I have assumed, and again maybe incorrectly, that most people who read my blogs regularly are also bloggers. Certainly everyone who comments [with the exception of you, Rachael] seem to also write your own blogs.

But I am curious about the rest of you and therefore I am asking a favour. If you read this please leave a comment as to who and where you are and maybe if you feel like it why you visit here... I just thought...

10 Years from Now...

Somehow, I would begin with a big assumption that in next 10 years, the concept of cash does not exist and we use only plastic money. I guess we are not oblivious of the fact that plastic money is not anonymous. Every purchase we make can be traced.

Here is one weird thought which came to my mind last few months ago (after worked for e-Banking project, then this is what happens to you, day-dreamer !!!) Suppose Banks collude with the consumer products companies to share our purchase data (say, for a modest fee). Sample case: I go to Carrefour and buy a Crest Toothpaste (let say 1oo grams).

Now, P&G gets this information on their supercomputer (Mind you, they are getting millions of such information on their supercomputer) and they collate this with other data such as:
- I lived alone, I do not have any guest at my house at this point in time. That makes the number of end-consumers as 2.
- Based on historical data, it takes 33 days to consume this toothpaste tube.
- I never buy toothpaste in bulk and usually buy it when I need it. That way, consumption cycle would begin on day zero.
- They may also trace the RFID tag on the toothpaste tube which I am using NOW. The moment they see it in garbage can, they start the counter!
- Last toothpaste I bought was 32 days back!

When 25 days are over, I would start getting targeted ads on my emails and SMS to buy a new Crest Toothpaste. Worst case, if I go to Carrefour after 30 days or so from the initial purchase and buy Colgate this time, P&G gets after me!

They would start sending gift coupons and special discounts etc so that they can get this ONE lost consumer back from the competitors. Believe it or not, it is not so far-fetched. At this point, it may seem like a costly option but as technology becomes affordable, it may be possible after all to do such things on the aggregate. Taking a case of toothpaste may seem silly but consider the same with a car! There is so much which can be done.

Anyway, that was my sweet little fantasy! Please leave comments if you happen to have a similar one on some other product or service. It would be fun to collate them and publish a book of sorts...

But for sure - I have someone already that won't change till end of my life...Anita.

"Old" Alfred

When I reached 35 (this year),
it seems I became a bit of an old grumpy.
Instead of inteligent conversation,
I now grumpy on about nothing.
A blog seems like a good place to do this,
without boring the pants off everyone within earshot.
As it's a blog,
it's ok to yawn and move on to the next one,
leaving me to my own devices.

z..z..z !!

Zen of Life

Another copy from my Facebook: --

I think, we definitely live in a beautiful world. I was listening to net-radio this afternoon. Advertisement for some bar or pub. Ladies get in free all night and special drinks prices for ladies only! Some cover charge for guys after 10 PM or something! I just imagine how much trouble the pub would have had from feminists and other groups, if it did the opposite - charge extra for ladies.

Not to mention the fact that it would run out of business because of boycott by the ladies.Most pretty ladies probably go through their entire lives without knowing how difficult some simple things can be for the rest of us. Whether it is getting work done at a government office or influencing a bunch of people to go with a certain plan for a holiday activity or enlisting someone's help for anything, on a typical day, things just happen for them. I don't envy their ease or the many unwanted attentions and advances they have to endure. But I do wish that the stupid obstacles would not come up in the path of hairy beasts like yours truly... especially in places like government offices.

Bottomline is, as long as there are different sexes in the world, sexist behavior and discrimination will exist. It is ok. It is ok as long as it benefits people. It is not ok if it harms them. It is ok if a pretty girl breezes through the process of getting a driver's license. It is not ok if the lecherous government official held up my processing just because he did not like my face. We are different genders. Let us accept the fact. Let us accept the countless things - big and small - that make us different. Let us celebrate the differences. Let us accept the positive consequences of those differences.

And let us address the negative behavior and practices with empathy and open mind and love. Let us have the love to accept certain things that cannot be changed. Above all, let us not forget that, as the yin-yang symbol shows, there is a little bit of the other gender in all of us.

Question of Culture - Languages!

Another copy from my Facebook: --

I recently spoke about language needs with a person who works in a multinational company. He mentioned that although English was the official corporate language, and all employees in different countries spoke it, issues arose when non-native speakers communicated with each other.

The problem was not with special terminology, which everyone knew well, but rather with an incorrect tone of the message.A translator or an interpreter knows such cultural differences and takes them into account. But an increasing number of people communicates daily with each other in a non-native language. (All the worse when the communication is done mainly via email, where short sentences, typos and too many recipients on the cc: line add to the problem!)

Knowing the special terminology is essential, but not enough. This also means that companies need to think about testing the language skills of their employees, and about giving them language and cultural training. After all, a satisfied customer would expect to hear not just the right words, but the right message!

I think that we will see interesting developments in tools and services targeted to people who need to work in a language other than their native language - simply because this is a rapidly growing group. Obviously there are more and more non-native English speakers using English daily at work.

An interesting question is: what will happen in China and India? According to Wikipedia, India has 23 official languages (one of them is English), 800 spoken languages and 2000 dialects. In China, there are 6 to 12 main regional groups of Chinese, according to classification. A friend of mine said that China could choose English as their official langauge, just like in India. I am not quite so sure. With about 800 million Mandarin speakers, maybe we will all be learning Mandarin in the future.

Anyways, I checked the most popular blogs from Technorati, http://technorati.com/pop/blogs/. The top 30 "most linked to" blogs included 8 blogs in a language other than English. To me, this is just a reminder that there is a world outside English!

Mad Mad World!

I usually have frustrating exchanges with women whenever power is mentioned in the context of sexual harassment... specifically, sexual harassment of women by men. The discussion in the comments section of my blog post about the root cause of eve teasing in India is an example. Women, especially the feminist types, believe that sexual harassment is mainly about power, and less about sex. Some of them even claim that it is all about power and not at all about sex.

This is frustrating for me because I am a man. As such, I understand how the male libido works. I am not a rapist nor have I sexually harassed anyone. Nevertheless, I understand what goes on in the mind and loins of a guy vis-a-vis sex. So, I know what I am talking about when I say that the primary motivation for most men who are guilty of sexual harassment is sex.

This is when women like to ask questions such as: Why would a married man who has free access to a sexual partner, still harass some other woman? Or, why would a man, who could easily buy sexual gratification from a prostitute, risk everything to commit violent rape instead?

Clearly, there is a lack of understanding of male sexuality. The reason why I keep coming back to the "power and sex" discussion is because I feel that women's beliefs about the role of power in male sexuality further distorts their understanding. Thus, women totally miss out on understanding the root cause and the motivation behind male sexual acts... whether they are acts of harassment or acts of shared pleasure.
For the record, through this blog post, I want to clarify my position on sexual harassment and power in as simple terms as possible. So, here goes: Sexual desire is the root cause and primary motivation for sexual harassment. Power enables or allows harassment to happen. Power is only an enabler, a facilitator. Sexual desire is the root cause.

To give an analogy: The primary reason for humans to eat chicken is not that they are more powerful than the chicken. The primary reason is that humans feel hunger. The fact that humans are more powerful than the chicken enables or allows them to eat chicken. But that is not the root cause for chicken being part of the human diet.

Now, one may ask, why should humans violently kill and eat chicken, while they could easily eat vegetables, which involves less violence and gore. There are a different set of reasons for that. That is a different line of discussion. But we know that it is certainly not because there is more power in eating chicken than in eating a vegetable.

It is important for us to discern and understand this truth. If we don't understand the truth, our efforts and energies will be directed at the wrong things. For example, if we believe that sexual harassment is all about power, we will conclude that empowering women will stop sexual harassment. I don't think it will.

Empowering women will help curb sexual harassment, but it is only a matter of time and place before the woman will be vulnerable and a possible target. No one can be powerful at all times. Having said all that, I want to reiterate that I am not totally dismissing the power factor from the sexual harassment equation. Not only is power an enabler of harassment, power (or rather the feeling of powerlessness) also happens to be the most important, overwhelming and enduring experience of sexual harassment for the victim. From the victim's perspective, the harassment is not a sexual experience. It is an experience of total vulnerability and powerlessness!

Consider a woman who has been raped. Physical violence and humiliation are big aspects of her experience. However, the biggest aspect is the feeling of being utterly powerless and helpless. It is like a stranger, or someone you know and thought you could trust, came up to you, helped himself to a piece of your soul, and simply walked away. There was nothing you could do to stop it, before or while it was happened. And so often, there is nothing you can do after it has happened. Even catching and punishing the perpetrator, only helps the woman's feeling of powerlessness in a very small way. The feeling of total weakness and powerlessness, wherein any asshole could just drop by and violate her body and soul intimately, is something that endures for a long time.

Yes, from the victim's perspective, the overwhelming and most enduring experience of sexual harassment is the utter feeling of powerlessness. It is important to understand this because this understanding is more useful in the healing of a victim, than in the prevention of such crimes. Yes, empowering women will help curb harassment to a little extent, but it is not the panacea for harassment prevention. The role of empowerment is much more in the healing of a harassed victim.

Empowering a harassment victim and specific steps/measures to make her feel empowered, should be the most important part of any healing process. Catching, punishing and preventing the perpetrator from repeating the crime play an important role in restoring the victim's confidence. On the other hand, if the criminal gets away scot-free, it contributes to her feeling of helplessness. However, justice alone is not enough to heal her. Real healing starts when the lady is empowered enough to feel safe again, to feel that she will not be violated again. It is through such empowerment that the lady starts to feel like a living human being again, instead of like a powerless object. It is through such empowerment that she starts to value herself again, to feel that life may be live-able and then to grow to feel that life is worth living after all.

I hope this blog post has helped people understand what I have been saying all along about sexual harassment and power. Not only has this been written from a man's understanding of male sexuality and power, this is also written from an empathic understanding of sexual harassment by being close to a victim, from sharing the deeply painful feeling of powerlessness. I hope this understanding contributes to better prevention and healing of sexual harassment in the world... again its a Mad Mad World!!

Education in Asia

Again another copy from my Facebook journal: --

As recently as a decade or so ago, we were still very conservative - in our outlook and spending. That has been the biggest change. Urban life in Asia are now much more liberal and willing to spend. Sample many Malls in Singapore are full of international brands. The mall is designed very well also - there is a feeling of openness and space You see people walking around - mobiles in one hand, and shopping bags in the other. The revolution that Singapore is witnessing, more than anything, is one of attitude.

Education is one of Asian's greatest challenges. It is something my friend has encouraged me to think about for quite some time. He is himself working on ideas for setting things right. One Friday afternoon a couple weeks ago, we were brainstorming on this very topic. One thought emerged in my head - based on some experiences that we need to solve about Asia's education problem at the primary school level. For sample, around more than hundred of millions of students do not get a proper education for a variety of reasons. How many Einsteins have lived and died in obscurity, never having had the opportunity of getting an education?

As I heard what my friend had to say, I reflected upon it as a father. The previous week, another friend had come over for lunch. His five-year-old daughter had just gotten into one of the best schools in Singapore after a lengthy process of interviews - of not just the parents, but also the child. My friend mentioned that I may need to put in the application shortly as well (I am confused in here).

I was struck by the craziness of the thought and the process. I would need to start 'grooming' my vision about my future children soon enough so they could pass the interview at a future point of time to get into one of a handful of good schools within a reasonable distance from home (someday...) and I know parents who get paranoid about the process. I know that someday my future children will get educated in a good school and college. But what of the other children out there who will be denied that opportunity because their schools don't have good teachers or their parents have other compulsions.

What is it that we can do - since the government isn't likely to do anything about it? How do we ensure that another generation of Asians does not lose out on opportunities?I had a crazy idea. What if we could use an earlier idea that there is a package like 'the School-in-a-Box' and combine it with the concept of distributed home schooling for the less fortunate? There are millions of computers in homes in Asia which are not used for more than a few hours a day (especially in Asian developing countries).

There are millions of educated people (housewives, retired people) who have time. Can we combine these ideas together? The kids who are not fortunate to get into a good school and get the benefit of good teachers could learn via the School-in-a-box content running on a computer in our homes during the day. The home-based educated people could become facilitators in this process. The schools can become information exchange points between a much smarter bunch of children.

To do this all, we do not need the government. We just need our own initiative with a bit of external help. Many developing countries in Asia stands at the threshold. The economic engine that I saw in the malls, like in Singapore is in danger of sputtering soon if we cannot get the education core running. Not for the first time, we can see a bright future.

Will we once again snatch defeat from the jaws from the victory? What do you think?

How I Blog My Life?

Again - copy from what I have published in Facebook: --

I have posted almost every day since I started to write around 4 years ago. I wrote a Technology note during this period after completing 'First Blog Years'. I thought it is time for another look at the blog world and how that has helped shape my thinking about technology, entrepreneurship and life.

The blog began around 2003. Like many others, I was inspired by my friends in Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB). I had been writing a daily column on my faculty journal for about couple of months then. I would end up reading a lot to get those written. My motive for writing was that it forced me into a discipline of reading and thinking about a broad set of technology areas - thus expanding my own horizons. More fundamentally, writing is something I have always liked and done.

When I was young (college days), I kept a daily. Every night, I would write a couple of hundred words on what happened during the day. It helped me reflect and get a bit of perspective as I was growing up. That habit continued somewhat infrequently during my UI and VUB days. Now, I write out a diary page once a week or two in my notebook. I find that writing about the world as I see it helps me think better. There are times when I am very happy or very sad - the writing helps me balance my emotions - usually I love to write poems to expressing it.

My love for technology writing found its first natural outlet in a fortnightly column I had started in Express Computer called 'Internauting' in early 1997. The column was inspired by a Red Herring daily column (I don't recall the name now). I wanted it to be daily because it would then become as much a part of my life as it would for my readers. That philosophy continues to this date - but now become more personal for me. When I came across the blog format in early 2003, I immediately liked it.

The free flow of thoughts on one's own site appealed to me. But it took me a few months to make the decision to re-start again my own new note thru this facebook - I wanted to make sure that I could have something new daily. In that sense, it was more news-paperish - because I wanted the blog to become a daily utility in the lives of my friends who wish to read it, especially for Rachael. I have now settled into a fixed style of blogging. At times, the series carries on for more than a week. On weekdays, I publish 1-3 additional posts which are mostly snippets of things I found interesting. On Saturdays, there are three more such posts while on Sundays, there are two. So, in a week, there are around ten blog posts on various topics mostly related to technology and life.

This routine has remained largely unchanged over the past year or so...well, I hope I can continue this later in the future as well. I create most of the other blog posts in advance so that I am not scurrying around in the morning trying to find items to publish! I spend time reading almost daily, and whenever I come across something interesting which I'd like to remember and share, I put it as part of the blog. At any given time, I have a dozen or so blog posts in 'draft' mode waiting to be published. Every morning, the decision is mostly about picking a section of those posts to be published on my blog note. This may not be blogging in the classical sense of the which is writing out one's thoughts.

The discipline of reading and blogging helps me build and extend my mental maps of the world of technology, entrepreneurshop and life. Comments help embellish this process... I hope. But, over the past year, the time available to me has reduced because of my works and other related family matters. I have had to give up a few things. But my commitment to blogging has remained unchanged.The blog reflects my interests. These have changed somewhat over the past four years. The focus on emerging markets and the use of new technologies has, however, remained constant.

My focus now is around two broad themes: building the mobile internet appropriately for users in emerging markets, and enabling computing as a utility. The first is about ensuring that the services that we use on the Internet via the PC can be made available to users suitably on the mobile. The majority of new Indian users will experience the Internet more on the mobile than on the PC. Asia has an excellent mobile data infrastructure, and that can create the foundation for a set of compelling information, communication and entertainment services primarily centred on the mobile.

Personally, my blogging will continue. I feel more comfortable writing than speaking. All in all, it has been a fascinating experience blogging, learning and meeting people in this community link - I, otherwise would probably never have come in contact with. That's one thing I'd like to go on and on and on.

Free Education

Actually, I have posted this note to free-published community note (facebook) - herewith a copy from what I have done:

By liberalizing the education sector I mean that it has to be made totally free of government control and involvement. Whoever wants to provide educational services must be free to do so, be it domestic or international, for profit or not for profit, at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level. What would be the expected benefits of doing so?

The supply of educational services will increase, the quality will improve, and prices will come down. These are all everyday first-order efficiency effects of letting markets work. The second-order effects will be increased productivity, increased production, and better allocative efficiency within the sector. The third-order effects will arise from the increasing returns to scale associated with the production of education. Finally, there are very important forward and backward linkages that bind the sector with the overall economy. One of them is the use of information and communications technology (ICT) tools. It will give a boost to the IT sector in a way that is unthinkable in any other endeavor.

Increase in the supply of education is a natural outcome of removing all barriers to entry. Domestic and foreign institutions will invest in educational institutions. One can imagine corporations such as IBM, Microsoft, Harvard, and Stanford opening shops in Asian countries, all eager to make a profit. This is no different from a large number of automotive companies starting manufacturing in many developing countries to supply their domestic market. The effect is predictable: an increase in the variety and therefore expanded choice for the consumers.

No longer will one have to fight to get into a good school or college. Instead of a sellers' market, we would have a buyers' market where the consumer is king and therefore the producers will be ever eager to reduce their costs and deliver a quality product. The best part is that with competition, even the incumbents - the public sector institutions - will wake up from their -lack of competition- induced slumber. Competition for students will force institutions to be nimble on their feet and therefore provide education that is relevant. No longer will the education system be producing graduates the majority of whom are unemployable.

Think about the waste of resources that accompanies the current supply-constrained system. Just one example: each year hundreds of thousands of students spend incredible amounts preparing for the entrance exam for public universities. That is directly unproductive use of time and money. That spending would be sufficient to fund a dozen public universities every year. Or think of the estimated US$10 billion that Indians spend in getting an education abroad.

In today's world, an educated population is more valuable than any natural resource. Yes, in Asia, especially China or Indonesia; has a large population with favorable demographics. But only the private sector has the resources to provide the investment required for educating them.

The operative word is "investment". Firms don't invest unless they expect to make a profit. And yes, there is profit to be made from providing education because education itself has positive returns and therefore people will pay for education. Which brings us to a very important point. Producing education will be massively dependent on the use of IT to reduce costs and improve quality. Private firms will use it intensively and effectively to produce education. Meaning that instead of a few computers sitting around in a dusty room in your average school, you will find the best technologies being used in schools and colleges. Students will be learning to use the IT tools while learning other things.

More importantly, one will not have to worry about the much lamented digital divide: whoever attends an educational institution will become a digital native. And who, you may ask, will be attending schools and colleges? My answer is: everyone. If in Indonesia or any Asian developing countries, liberalizes the education sector, then everyone - rich poor, minority, majority, this caste, that caste, this religion, that religion, you name it - will be able to get an education. Only problem will be: the politicians will have to figure out some other way of dividing the country. But that is their problem, not ours.

The liberalization of the education sector in Asia, that is, by allowing free entry - especially for-profit firms - will result in increased supply of educational services. Here I will explore the predictable consequences of this. We begin by recognizing that education is not an undifferentiated homogeneous good; there are distinct levels within it, from basic primary education to post-secondary and tertiary levels. Each level has different pay-back periods for the -return on investment. Furthermore, different people have different abilities to pay for the various levels of education.

Let's graph the ability to pay along the x-axis, with the very poor at the left and the very rich on the right. On the y-axis, let's graph the level of education, with basic primary at the bottom and specialized tertiary (Ph.D level) at the top. The top right quadrant of this diagram represents rich people and higher education, the lower left quadrant poor people and basic education. Recall that higher education has a short payback period and the payback is both private and social, that is, it has positive externalities. So the rich will pay for both higher and basic education if the capacity increases. Basic education, however, has long payback periods and most of the returns are social, and therefore poor people will under-invest in basic education given their shorter planning horizons.

Firms will profitably supply to the two right quadrants because the demand and the ability to pay, both, exist. The left top quadrant is also served by the for-profit firms. For the poor, who have basic education but are unable to pay for higher education they desire, if credit (educational loans) were available them, they would be able to pay for higher education and firms will supply to that need. That leaves the left lower quadrant: if the poor have public support (grants), they would be able to pay for basic education and thus the for-profit firms will supply to that market as well.

By allowing the private sector firms into education, the capacity for greater human capital increases and thus the economy itself grows larger and the growth rate increases. This increases the revenue base for the needed public support of basic education for the poor. Universal primary education can be a reality if the government raises the resources from a larger economy and allows the private sector to efficiently provide the education. Note that the funding is public but the provisioning is left to firms that compete in the market.

Guaranteeing universal basic education is a must for ensuring equality of opportunity. Even the poor, if given the opportunity, will be adequately prepared to continue on to higher education if they so wish. While for basic education the poor needed a grant, for higher education the poor will need a loan. Banks can easily enough provide these if the funds are efficiently spent on acquiring suitable higher education - which again depends on the availability of wide range of choices. And the choices will exist if the education sector is liberalized.

Let me stress this: education is an amplifying mechanism for economic growth and development. If we fix our education system, what we will get for our efforts is going to be far greater than what we put in it. In today's dynamic world economy, the returns to education are staggering, and so also are the losses that accumulate from a dysfunctional educational system. If need be, we should even borrow - money, people, ideas - from others to fix our system.

If I were a billionaire industrialist, here's what I would do. I would get a few of my fellow billionaires to create a corpus of funds - say US$200 million - for a 'Golden Goose' strategy. With the money, I would simultaneously buy out all the politicians of every party so that they will en masse vote to liberalize the education sector. It will be a one-time cost for us billionaires. But that would lay the foundation for many developing countries, like in Indonesia with such formidable growth that we would recover our "investment" in short order.

But alas!! I am not a billionaire and nor are you. We, as the saying goes, are up a creek without a paddle. Any ideas?