Always Winter, Never Christmas

I've taken a leaf from Marina Mahathir's blog on social entrepreneurs. Who are they and why are they flocking to the recent World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland? Florence Nightingale was a well known social entrepreneur who founded a nursing school. Another is Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi and last year's Nobel Prize Winner, dubbed a 'world banker for the poor'. His banking system extended microcredit to the poor, especially women, so that they and their families can break free from poverty.

Social entrepreneurs are people who have dedicated their lives to work for the eradication of poverty or at least an alleviation from the present state, the promotion of health and education, the betterment of women and children, the freedom of the press, the conservation of the environment and many, many more issues.

These are people who are not only innovative but single minded in their approach, so much so that they are willing to do away with whatever idealistic thoughts or even material comforts they may have for the sake of humanitarian causes.

These are people who want to share the fruits of their success with the society in which they were bought up and which they now feel obliged to serve

People with charitable hearts. People with the vision to see through projects and to find solutions to the social injustice that has afflicted the local community

They come from various backgrounds eg businessmen, economists, scientists, accountants and even fresh graduates. Their work is akin to that of full time philantropists but who uses their creativity and entrepreneurship to solve social problems. They have become a class of celebrity of a different kind at Davos. As a journalist, Nicholas Kristof observed: It’s one of the most hopeful and helpful trends around. These folks aren’t famous, and they didn’t fly to Davos in first-class cabins or private jets, but they are showing that what it really takes to change the world isn’t so much wealth or power as creativity, determination and passion.

You too can be a social entrepreneur if your heart desires it to be.

You know, I wish I could help emerging artists who are struggling with their livelihood. They are indeed talented but they do not have the material means to produce artwork that are consistent with their artistic genius. One of the ways out for them to promote their art is to display their work online for the whole world to view, as in an online gallery. Perhaps a like-minded person with better connections with local artists or art associations can do the job better. Perhaps the registration fee can be waived and they are free to post a limited amount of paintings with their biodata attached.

The organiser or webmaster can then help to oversee the transaction between the buyer and artist at a minimal cost. In fact, I would propose that the website be opened to artists from anywhere in the world for that added flavour and variety. We learn not only from our masters, but from each other so that we can better ourselves. We cater to different needs. A certain segment of the society may be collecters of floral paintings. An American art enthusiast may want scenes depicting the recent Thaipusam event at Batu Caves. A foreign bank may want to commission a series of work on the kampungs and fishing villages. Needless to say, the world is getting flatter and we have ample opportunities to make our presence felt in the international art terrain. The local artists need to be unified and not be like scattered individuals with hidden talents. A little networking can go a long way.