The K-economy...

Most of us have read about the K-Economy.The national leaders and intellectuals are busy talking about it-having seminars/workshops etc. What is it to the man/woman on the streets-especially my kampung folks? They seldom read newspapers,never read a book after their schools days and don't know what is meant to be online i.e connected to the Internet. Of course,they do watch a lot TV especially films  from Bollywood;-)

When I was back at my kampung last week, a friend who was my classmate asked me about it. He got a third grade for his SPM( O-Level) and decided to be a farmer. He now grows tobacco for cash and still plant rice.He is very concerned about the coming  AFTA where tobacco from Thailand will not be taxed. The reason: The cost of production is half in Thailand! How could he compete?

To my personal perception, the K-economy and the globalisation are real threats as well as opportunities. Sad to say,not many of us really know and understand these "New Kids" on the block. There will be with us,like it or not. We have to embrace them. It is imperative that we must really undertand them so that we can work with them and not against these 'kids" ,for they can be a real nuisance and disruptive to our old ecnomic model.

How do I answer my friend's question on K-Economy when some of the educated and well read people in the cities also have a blurred  idea about it.It is about knowledge and information driven economy.

How do I get the message across to  my kampung folks? So I try an analogy with a story....

When Mat Ghani cut an old rubber tree,he chopped it into smaller pieces and sell them as firewoods and sell them to his neighbours for RM 100.
However,if he has the skills of the carpenter,he could have cut the rubber tree and turns it into a piece of furniture,say  a table and sell for RM 500.
Next,if he has the information what type of furniture is in demand and in style,he could turn that piece of rubber tree into a beautiful designed table in demand in Australia and sell it for A$ 500! That is more than RM 2000.

With  that simple analogy,my dear kampung mate nodded his head. Now he needs new skills and new information. That is learning all the way...
As Saiyidina Ali said: Learning starts from the cradle to the grave!

The next BIG question: Is he willing to change? If he is willing,does he has the ability to change?And are we all ready for the change?Should we make the change if the change itself is constant and changes at therate faster  than we are changing?

Some foods for thoughts...