A quantum connection between light and motion

 February 6, 2012
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© 2012 EPFL

(PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists have demonstrated a system in which light is used to control the motion of an object that is large enough to be seen with the naked eye at the level where quantum mechanics governs its behavior.

The movement of objects is ultimately governed by the laws of quantum mechanics, which predict some intriguing phenomena: An object could simultaneously be in two places at the same time, and it should always be moving a little, even at a temperature of absolute zero - the oscillator is then said to be in its quantum 'ground state'. Until recently, these strange predictions of quantum mechanics have only been observed in the motion of tiny objects such as individual atoms. For large objects, the unavoidable coupling of the object to the surrounding environment quickly washes out the quantum properties, in a process known as decoherence. But researchers in EPFL’s Laboratory of Photonics and Quantum Measurements have now shown that it is possible to use light to control the vibrational motion of a large object, consisting of a hundred trillion atoms, at the quantum level. The results of their research have been published in the February 2nd edition of Nature magazine.



A ring of light

The object they used was circular in design - a 30-micrometer diameter glass donut mounted on a microchip. Under the direction of Tobias Kippenberg, the team injected a laser into a thin optical fiber, and brought the fiber close to the donut, allowing light to 'jump' to the object and circulate around the circumference of the donut up to a million times. Just as the pressure of a finger running along the rim of a wineglass will cause it to hum, the tiny force exerted by the photons traveling inside the glass ring can cause it to vibrate at a well-defined frequency. But the force can in fact also dampen the vibrations, and thus cool down the oscillatory motion.

Cold, colder...

Cooling is crucial to reaching the regime of quantum mechanical motion, as this is normally overshadowed by random thermal fluctuations. For this reason, the structure is placed in a cryostat that brings it to a temperature of less than one degree above absolute zero (−273.15°C). The light launched into the donut slows down the motion one hundred times, thus cooling it even more, very close to the quantum 'ground state'. And more importantly, the interaction between light and the movement of the oscillator can be made so strong that the two form an intimate connection: A small excitation in the form of a light pulse was fully transformed into a small vibration and back again. For the first time, this transformation between light and motion was made to occur within a time that is short enough so that the quantum properties of the original light pulse are not lost in the process through decoherence. By outpacing decoherence, these results demonstrate the possibility of controlling the quantum properties of an object’s motion. It also provides a way to see the peculiar predictions of quantum mechanics at play in man-made objects.

Looking forward

Mechanical vibrations can be coupled to quantum systems of completely different nature (such as electric currents), as well as to light. They could therefore be used to ‘translate’ quantum information between those systems and light signals. This is especially beneficial as it allows to transport quantum information - the basic ingredient of a future quantum computer - over large distances in optical fibers.

More information: Quantum-coherent coupling of a mechanical oscillator to an optical cavity mode, E. Verhagen, S. Deléglise, S. Weis, A. Schliesser, Tobias J. Kippenberg, Nature, January 2012. DOI: 10.1038/nature10787

Provided by Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

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Make money, passion or else ...?

It’s not just about pay cheque but also passion

MONDAY STARTERS By SOO EWE JIN

AMONG the many stories that have emerged in the global excitement over the Facebook initial public offering (IPO), I find the one about David Choe to be most interesting.
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Choe grew up in a tough neighbourhood in Los Angeles. His crime-ridden childhood and search for acceptance in the art community included a life-changing experience in a Tokyo prison.

Today, the 35-year-old Korean-American, who used to paint graffiti on the streets, is acknowledged as a world-class muralist and graffiti artist.

His “dirty style” figure paintings, including one of President Barack Obama, have made him an icon.

Now comes the interesting part.

In 2005, Choe was commissioned to paint the walls of the first office of Facebook in Palo Alto, California. Two years later, he was asked to do the same for the new headquarters.

He was given the option to be paid either in cash or with Facebook shares.

The New York Times quoted Choe as saying that although he felt the very idea of Facebook seemed “ridiculous and pointless” at the time, he chose the stock.

His shares are expected to be worth more than US$200mil once Facebook stock trades publicly later this year.

Don’t we just love stories like this?

Here is a man who is fully passionate about what he does, and who seems to be content with being recognised more for his talent than the monetary returns of his works. And good fortune smiles upon him and he is suddenly propelled into the ranks of the super-rich.

What would you do if you were in such a position?

I am not talking about ill-gotten gains or fantastic corporate manoeuvres but about how we, as individuals, can be so passionate about our work that even the world will sit up and take notice.

We work for the sheer joy of giving our best, without even thinking of monetary possibilities.

For example, if one were to write a book, he must write like an award-winning author. If the book also happens to make it to the New York Times Bestsellers List and he gets inundated with multi-million ringgit contracts, that will be a bonus, not his intent.



The late Tan Sri Dr Noordin Sopiee, who was my boss at one time, used to say that while it may appear unfair that some countries are blessed with valuable resources below their feet (like gold, oil and gas), God is very fair because there is always equal distribution of what we have between our ears (meaning our brains).

Creativity cannot be stifled by geographic boundaries. A dear friend, who worked on the animation work for hit movies like Iron Man and Mission Impossible 4 for an American company based in Singapore, has just moved to another company based in Sydney.

His talent is recognised and is made the more meaningful because he has a hearing disability which is not discriminated against by his employers.

He is passionate about what he does and his changing jobs is always about exploring his full potential, not about the pay cheque.

Going by this argument, I wonder if there are graffiti artists in the streets of Kuala Lumpur who have that level of passion to propel them to international stardom, like David Choe.

Deputy executive editor Soo Ewe Jin is impressed that Egyptian teenager Nour El Sherbini has a burning ambition to be the next Nicol David and is working hard to be the next long-term queen of squash. He wonders why no Malaysian squash player has publicly expressed such a desire.

Facing facts: smart move makes artist a multimillionaire

Nick Bilton, Evelyn Rusli

Stocking up ... from left, co-founders of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz with Sean Parker and the murals. Photo: Jim Wilson/The New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO: The graffiti artist who took Facebook stock instead of cash for painting the walls of the social network's first headquarters made a smart move. The shares owned by the artist, David Choe, are expected to be worth more than $US200 million ($187 million) when Facebook stock trades publicly this year.

The social network company announced a $5 billion public offering this week, which is expected to value the company at up to $US100 billion.

The Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 27, has 533.8 million shares, worth $US28.3 billion based on a company valuation of $US100 billion, or $US53 a share. He has undisputed control of the company - owning 28.4 per cent of the company outright and controlling 57 per cent of the voting rights.

Windfall ... David Choe.

Facebook's first outside investor, Peter Thiel, the billionaire contrarian, led a $US500,000 investment in Facebook in late 2004. He has 44.7 million shares that could be worth more than $US2 billion. Elevation Partners, the venture capital firm of Bono, the U2 frontman, paid $US120 million for a chunk of Facebook's shares in 2010.

Choe's payout could provide more money from his paintings than Sotheby's attracted for its record-breaking $US200.7 million auction in 2008 for work by the artist Damien Hirst.

In 2005, Choe was invited to paint murals on the walls of Facebook's first offices in Palo Alto, California, by Sean Parker, then Facebook's president. As pay, Mr Parker offered Choe a choice between cash in the ''thousands of dollars,'' according to several people who know Choe, or stock then worth about the same amount. Choe, who has said that at the time that he thought the idea of Facebook was ''ridiculous and pointless'', nevertheless chose the stock.

Many ''advisers'' to the company at that time, which is how Choe would have been classified, would have received about 0.1 per cent to 0.25 per cent of the company, a former Facebook employee said. That may sound like a paltry amount, but a stake that size is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, based on a market value of $US100 billion valuing Choe's payment at about $US200 million.

Choe is now a very successful artist with gallery shows and pieces exhibited in museums. His page on Facebook shows the life of a modern-day renegade artist. Choe declined requests to be interviewed; he said he wanted to maintain his privacy. But he has published an obscenity-strewn book of his art, David Choe, which includes images of the multimillion-dollar murals at Facebook.

He also offers life advice in his book: ''Always double down on 11. Always.''
Maybe the better advice is to take stock, not cash, from Harvard dropouts in Silicon Valley.

The New York Times

Related articles

• David Choe to Receive $200 Million Payout from Facebook (slamxhype.com)
• David Choe is the Smartest Artist Ever (thedenveregotist.com)
• Facebook graffiti artist David Choe, from homeless to millions - CBS News (cbsnews.com)
• Facebook's Upcoming IPO Will Make Artist David Choe A Very Rich Man (ohgizmo.com)
• David Choe Slideshow (telegraph.co.uk)

Guan Eng the 'street fighter' ?

Chua chides Penang CM for trying to gain political mileage by spinning facts

By ALLISON LAI alison@thestar.com.my

MALACCA: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng should refrain from being a political “street fighter” and instead focus his attention on resolving woes faced by Penangites like a true statesman, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said.

Taking a swipe at Lim for suggesting that MCA was a chauvinist party that supported Perkasa, Dr Chua stressed that Lim should pay attention at addressing pressing issues in his own state rather than challenging others and being interested in gaining political mileage by condemning others.

“It is a bread-and-butter issue today and people are observing what he (Lim) is doing to Penang.

“I humbly suggest for the sake of Lim Guan Eng, who is holding a key post as Chief Minister, to talk less politics, minimise spinning facts and refrain from attacking people.


Penang BJCC Golfers Protest over new Buggy Rule
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“Behave like an administrator, a statesman managing the Penang government,” he said at the Kuan Ti Temple Chinese New Year dinner here last night.

Dr Chua cited Penang's dire public transport system, unkempt hawker centres and wet markets as basis for his call for Lim to focus on issues affecting Penangites.



He also rubbished Lim's claim that MCA was a racist party that supported Perkasa just because one of MCA's party members attended its event.

“This is sheer nonsense.

“If Perkasa is a racist Malay group and MCA a racist Chinese party, then they would be in conflict and how can these two be supporting each other?

“It is as simple as oil and water can never mix together,” he said, adding MCA also had many photos that showed DAP leaders talking to Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali on stage when the latter was still with PAS.

“So are you drawing the conclusion that DAP had been working with Perkasa from the beginning?” he asked.

Dr Chua pressed further, saying that Lim, who always appeared at PAS functions, would probably embrace the party's spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat when they meet.

“Is DAP implying that MCA would say that DAP is supporting PAS and hudud?

“If we draw this kind of conclusion and political spinning, I would (also) draw this type of conclusion,” he added.

Billionaires Channel Millions to Think Tanks

 

Laurie Bennett, Forbes Contributor

Examining the social, political & business networks of the rich. 

Just as big money is transforming politics, it’s also helping to reshape American think tanks.

Members of the Forbes 400 have poured millions of dollars into research organizations that fit their social, political and/or business concerns.

The conservative Heritage Foundation has received funding from libertarian Charles G. Koch, CEO of Koch Industries, as well as from Richard Mellon Scaife, owner of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and heir to the Mellon banking fortune.

At the left end of the spectrum, financier George Soros has supported the Center for American Progress and the Center for Economic and Policy Research. (It should be noted, however, that his foundations have also donated to centrist groups and the conservative Cato Institute.)

In the middle, Bill Gates and Henry Kravis support the Council on Foreign Relations. Kirk Kerkorian, Haim Saban and Kirk Kerkorian have donated to the Brookings Institution.

The number of think tanks has grown from a few dozen in the mid-1940s to more than 1,800 today, providing wealthy donors with an ever-larger array of institutions to choose from.

And yet some still start their own organizations. Billionaire investor Nicolas Berggruen founded the Nicolas Berggruen Institute, which explores ideas for good governance. One of the institute’s projects, the Think Long Committee, has called for tax reform to help fix California’s economy.



While the Think Long Committee has brought together Democrats and Republicans, some of the newer think tanks are unabashedly partisan.

As real-time sources of analysis and forecasting, these groups play an expanding role in public debate. Fellows blog responses to the State of the Union. Wonks appear regularly on cable TV to opine on health care, defense spending and other national issues.

Think tankers also contribute to mainstream media such as Forbes. Manhattan Institute fellow Josh Barro, for example, recently responded on this site to a Heritage blog post about taxes paid by the top 1 percent.

The commentary can easily become fodder for those trying to shape policy. Some think tanks, including the Heritage Foundation and the Center for American Progress, have even formed separate action funds that advocate for specific policies and legislation.

In a recent article in National Affairs, Tevi Troy, former deputy secretary of Health and Human Services and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, warned against the trend toward partisanship.

“I’m a full-throated fan of think tanks,” Troy said in a subsequent interview. But the price of politicization, he said, “is that some good public policy research is not going to be taken seriously.”

In most cases, research organizations operate as 501(c)(3) nonprofits. Donations are tax deductible.

Billionaires, of course, aren’t the only funders. Think tanks draw support from individuals, corporations and other foundations. Some are affiliated with universities.

But deep pockets enable America’s wealthiest individuals to have a growing impact in this world.

Calculating their reach is difficult, because think tanks do not have to publicly disclose donors. We approached the issue from the opposite direction, examining U.S. tax returns of foundations established by billionaires.

We found foundation grants to a total of 46 national think tanks. The table below lists these funding connections.

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The times to change in Malaysian politics!

Evolving with the times

INSIGHT: By JOCELINE TAN

DAP’s new Malay recruits are more likely to impress its non-Malay supporters than the Malay ground which it is trying to infiltrate but, in the long run, it is an astute move to tap into the changing urban demography.

DATUK Ariff Sabri has been the talk of Pahang Umno since he joined DAP a few weeks ago. Ariff, a former Pahang assemblyman but who is now more famous as a blogger, is arguably the biggest Umno name to have joined DAP.

“I was quite shocked. I thought someone was playing a joke on me and I felt sad when it turned out to be true,” said Pahang exco member Datuk Sharkar Shamsuddin.

The Umno and DAP view of each other has always been extremely polarised – ultra Malay versus Chinese chauvinist. As far as Ariff’s friends in Umno were concerned, his political move was akin to leaving one world for another.

 

Malay recipe: Zulkifli (left) and Zairil (centre) represent DAP’s past and present attempts at diluting its image as a Chinese chauvinist party. They are seen here with life member Iskandar Basha Abdul Kadir (right) in Penang.

 
On top of that, DAP has been making a song and dance about the fact that Ariff hailed from the Prime Minister’s constituency and used to be the Pekan Umno information chief.

But no one felt more taken aback than Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob. The two men have known each other for years and when Ariff was not picked to defend his Pulau Manis state seat in 2008, the Mentri Besar had reportedly made efforts to ensure that Ariff and his family would be all right.

Sharkar is one of those people who sees everyone as a friend and he called Ariff to urge him to rethink his decision, but the die was cast.

Ariff and Aspan Alias, another Umno politician from Negri Sembilan, had attended the DAP national conference in January where they were welcomed like VIPs. Since then, former National Union of Journalists president Hata Wahari has also been recruited.

The latest recruits stand out as both are from Umno whereas Hata had single-handedly taken on Utusan Malaysia before he was sacked from the paper.

In that sense, it was the first time that DAP had managed to snare three Umno-related personalities who can now join them in challenging Umno.

Hata, who is currently working for Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, seems to be taking his radical views against Utusan Malaysia and on press freedom to the political arena.

Ariff and Aspan have used their blogs to air their opinions and often to hit out at what they think is wrong with Umno.

Ariff, being a former assemblyman, is definitely the biggest catch among the three. He said he is against corruption and wants to see good governance and the rule of law.

“It’s not easy to move on but I am taking stock of the new realities of Malay politics. The younger generation is less racial in outlook and more willing to go on merit,” he said.



He is also much harder to define – he is a big fan of muay thai, has a taste for serious literature and likes music from an earlier era. Although his blog may be rather too cerebral for the average person, his writing is very cut-and-thrust and he can be quite ruthless. He has commented on everything from politics to the economy and has a loyal following.

DAP Youth chief and Rasah MP Anthony Loke who took the initiative to approach Ariff admitted he was attracted to the latter’s line of attack against Umno.

“We told them to go on writing. They can attack Umno and explain a lot of things on our behalf,” said Loke.

But what is the big deal, some have asked. They said that a few new Malay members looking for a new platform to air their grouses is not going to change the image of DAP. They think DAP is recruiting people who have an axe to grind, basically “Umno-bashers” who can take the DAP fight with Umno to another level.

There has been a trickle of Malays into the party over the years and there is even an all Malay DAP branch in the Klang Valley. There have also been Malay DAP candidates every general election but only three or four have managed to win seats, the most notable being the late Bayan Baru MP Ahmad Nor who was a well-known trade unionist.

But DAP’s attempts to reach out to the Malays over the last 40 years have been a flop partly because of the success of Umno’s propaganda against DAP and partly because of the way DAP had exploited Chinese issues.

DAP was more than happy to ride on its reputation as a champion of all things Chinese but their troubles in the wake of their success in Penang and Perak drummed home the point that their Chinese image had become a liability.

All those years of attacking Umno, the NEP, Islamic policies, the civil service, the police and, more recently, the MACC have come home to roost.

The targets of their criticism have one thing in common – they are largely associated with the Malays and Islam. Their attacks have been akin to Malay-bashing and the party has, rightly or wrongly, acquired an anti-Malay reputation.

Last year, the party launched its Malay website, Roketkini. It is not the most original of names but it is quite an interesting site although critics say that it sounds like a Malay apologist for a Chinese party.

It is quite obvious that Roketkini’s purpose is also to debunk Malay prejudices against DAP, defending the party against notions that it is anti-Islam, supports the Islamic State, is trying to promote a Christian Prime Minister, has communist leanings and so on.

Malays in the party find themselves always having to explain themselves to their Malay friends. For instance, former vice-chairman Zulkifli Md Noor still gets puzzled looks after 30 years in the party. Some of his friends think that DAP uses Malays like him as tokens and that the party is not sincere in giving them real roles. His detractors see him as a DAP poodle.

They said that if DAP genuinely wanted to promote the Malays, people like Zulkifli should be given winnable seats. Instead, he has contested three general elections in seats where he was pitched against big guns and where he had little chance of winning. In 2008, he even had to make way for a well-connected Indian candidate even though he had been doing work in that particular constituency.

But Ariff is definitely not going to be anyone’s poodle. For instance, his blog is called Sakmongkol AK47 – Sakmongkol is the name of a famous kickboxer whereas AK47 is a Russian-made firearm.

He described his first few interactions with DAP as a culture shock but as he said: “Just because I am in DAP does not make me less of a Malay, I’m still a loyal subject of the Rulers.”

During a party retreat in Seremban last year, Lim Kit Siang had urged members to correct their image by attracting young, liberal and progressive Malays.

“We’re not only targeting former Umno members, we’re also looking for fresh faces without any political history,” said Loke.

DAP, said social historian Dr Neil Khor, is by constitution a non-sectarian party.

“They have to practise what they preach. They have been dominated by a Chinese type of thinking. I think they are trying to say that, yes, we can’t deny that we have become an ethnic Chinese party but we are pushing for a more multi-racial outlook,” said Dr Khor.

The latest Malay recruits will probably be made candidates in the next general election. The question is whether they will be tested in Malay seats where they will have to struggle to win or given safe, Chinese-majority seats.

“If they pull it off, it will be a real game changer for DAP,” said Dr Khor.

Everyone is watching what the party is planning to do in Perak. Pakatan Rakyat politicians have convinced themselves that they will take back Perak and the talk is that DAP wants to have their own Malay candidate for mentri besar. They have been badly damaged by attacks that although they won an overwhelming number of seats in the state, they had to surrender the mentri besar post to PAS.

Not everyone in the party is thrilled about the entry of Ariff, Aspan and Hata. First, there are the suspicions and stigma attached to party-hoppers. Then there is the concern about whether they will be able to adapt to the party’s way of doing things.

A few of them are also concerned about the Johor-born Hata. They saw how he bit the hand that fed him and his ferocious flogging of his then employer shocked many people. They are worried the firebrand could easily turn around and bite DAP if things do not go his way in future. They can see that this is a guy who goes for broke.

They want the party to recruit more Malays like Zairil Khir Johari and former Transparency Malaysia chief Senator Tunku Aziz Ibrahim. They have no baggage and do not ask too many embarrassing questions or cause trouble in the party.

Zairil, whose stepfather is the late Umno veteran Tan Sri Khir Johari, is seen as a rising star in Penang where he is the Chief Minister’s blue-eyed boy. The Internet chatter is projecting him as the next deputy chief minister. But to be fair to him, he is a genuinely likeable person, humble and hard-working.

“All these people joined without any pre-conditions. They may or may not be candidates in the general election and we do not have carrots to dangle,” said Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi.

The party constitution specifies at least two years of membership because anyone can be considered as an election candidate but it can be waived by the central executive committee as in the case of Ooi, who joined the party about six months before the 2008 election.

The short-term take on this is that DAP is trying to dilute its Chinese image which is becoming a liability in its quest for power. But the new recruits are more likely to impress DAP’s non-Malay ground rather than the Malays whom they are trying to attract. No one can quite see Malays rushing to join DAP in the near future and especially given the way DAP leaders attack Malay institutions.

But in the long term, this is an astute party that has begun to tap into the changes taking place in the urban areas and among urban Malays.

The Malay population is growing very fast and will soon dominate the electorate map in such a way that future general elections will be largely a Malay fight. Any party that wants to stay relevant will have to be acceptable to the Malays in one way or another.

Malaysia's nothing ventured, nothing gained

Nothing ventured, nothing gained

ON YOUR OWN By TAN THIAM HOCK

I had a weird start to 2012. For the first time, I joined the unemployment line. Voluntarily of course. I started working two weeks after my final examination in University Malaya back in Feb 1983 and I have never stopped working since.

Had a good month's break from writing this column and I have to admit that writing is much much more difficult than selling lipsticks! Mighty pleased that I am not making a living out of this writing profession ... or my family will be starving at this moment. No holidays. No iPhones and no I want this and I want that.

To some concerned readers, no, I was not banned from writing nor was I terminated by Star Publications (M) Bhd CEO. I did receive some formal complaints from some sensitive officials from government agencies and sovereign funds but no RM100mil defamation suits ... yet. As such, I do not have to apologise in public to anybody. So far, so good. No shame.

Writing this column forces me to recall snippets of historical events that had pass me by. Looking back, an event that happened 31 years ago could have changed Malaysian history. And your current cost of living.

In 1981, I was in AIESEC, University Malaya involved in organising the Heavy Industries seminar, at a time when our Dr M decided to launch the national car project. Our economics professor, Dr Chee Peng Lim was adamantly against the car project, arguing that Malaysia should concentrate her resources on modernising agriculture, invest in infrastructure and resource-based manufacturing.



He further argued that unlike Japan and South Korea, Malaysia has a small domestic market and we will not achieve the economy of scale that will help make us cost competitive for the export market. It would be an extremely inefficient allocation of economic resources if we were to proceed with the car project.

It was rumoured then that Dr Chee had to leave the country and he subsequently joined the World Bank. No opportunity to confirm this rumour but what a great story!

Commodity prices are at its highest in years. Felda pioneer settlers are all millionaires. Malaysian rubber gloves dominate the world market. And Proton is still in a poor state of affairs. Proton still needs the protection of the Government to compete in the local market. It has never been able to compete in the world market. With or without Lotus. It never will. Dr Chee was right.

To be fair, Proton did generate some economic benefits. It spawned many entrepreneurs with investments in car parts, logistics, etc and it created jobs. Billionaire entrepreneurs were also created ... from papers. That's right. From AP papers that costs a few cents to print. So, why bother to sell cars when it is more lucrative to sell a piece of paper? In the meantime, the poor rakyat has to pay some of the highest car prices in the world.

There is no better place in the world for entrepreneurship to flourish than Malaysia. The best projects are privatisation projects. Buy an airline from the Government with maximum loans from our GLC banks. If you manage it well, then you are a successful entrepreneur. If not, no worries. The Government will buy it back from you at the same price. So, you wasted your precious time but hey ... nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? You will never ever suffer personal losses. Only occasional lawsuits.

Back in the good old days before LRT, we had a haphazard public transport system of mini-buses and many bus companies. But it worked. In true entrepreneurship spirit, supply meets demand. And the mass could travel everywhere by bus. Many choices and on time arrivals.

Then the Government decided to upgrade the public transport system by centralising and privatising. All the old Omnibus companies folded. Tong Fong Omnibus, Klang Omnibus and Ah Hock Omnibus. Conservative entrepreneurs who toil over long hours and small margins. Good riddance though to those crazy and dangerous mini-bus drivers.

Brilliant entrepreneurs were roped in to invest in modern air-conditioned buses. Easy loans were arranged. Modern management techniques were employed. Monopolistic routes were divided and spread among these entrepreneurs. But still they lose money? Now they claim that they are providing a social service to the rakyat. “Compensate us for the losses or we will stop running the buses.” The rakyat was held to ransom.

With election looming, neither the opposition state government nor the federal government could afford the backlash from the rakyat. The rakyat's money was used again to pay inefficient and hopeless entrepreneurs. No shame. No shame.

Entrepreneurs invest in business knowing that the risk of failure is ever present. So you work hard and you work smart. You try your best. If it works, great. If you fail, just swallow your pride and walk away. Don't go begging for help especially if it is the rakyat's money. And don't you dare hold the rakyat to ransom again.

In the ETP seminar, Datuk Seri Idris Jala said inefficient entrepreneurs should be eliminated in a free enterprise economy. I agree. The politicians and the bureaucrats should manage the rakyat's money as if it's their own or the rakyat will hold them accountable in the polls.

Dr Chee, wherever you are, thank you for the invaluable lecture.

On Your Own The writer is an entrepreneur who hopes to shares his experience and insights with readers who want to take that giant leap into business but are not sure if they should. Email him at thtan@alliancecosmetics.com

Too Young to Fail

17-year-old Laura Deming doesn't drive and can't vote. Is now her chance to change the world? 

Thinking ahead: Academic prodigy Laura Deming left school and moved to Silicon Valley after winning a $100,000 grant to start a business.
Jessica Leber

Laura Deming was studying for finals in a crowded MIT reading room last April when her phone rang. That's when she learned she may never again take another exam.

Deming, only 17, had just been chosen by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel for a high-profile experiment: Put $100,000 apiece in the hands of 24 entrepreneurial teenagers and give them free rein to pursue innovative ideas.

The condition? Deming had to leave her studies and classmates, and vow to stay out of college during the two-year fellowship.

Thiel, who is PayPal's co-founder and holder of two Stanford University degrees, says higher education today is in a "crazy bubble" that, like a bad mortgage, saddles students with tuition debt often for little in return. A vocal libertarian, Thiel, 44, takes the view that a college degree can be harmful to innovators because of the conservative, career-driven mindset it imparts.



"Youth have just as much intelligence and talent as older people," says James O'Neill, head of the Thiel Foundation and managing director at Thiel's investment fund, Clarium Capital. "They also haven't been beaten down into submission by operating within an institution for a long time."

Thiel has attracted critics for his anti-higher-education message. After all, not every young person is like Deming, a home-schooled prodigy who learned calculus at 11 and sought experience in a cutting-edge genetics lab at 12. That's where she first had a chance to explore the science of extending the human lifespan, an idea she's now hoping to turn into a business.

For Deming and her cohort, chosen from more than 400 applicants, the publicity around Thiel's endorsement has been followed by some quick successes. Eden Full, 19, won a $260,000 social entrepreneurship award for her efforts to improve solar energy in developing countries. Dale Stephens, 20, landed a Penguin deal for his book Hacking Your Education.

Still, the foundation embraces the startup ethic that failure is inevitable, even desirable. So does John Deming, Laura's father, an investor who moved the family to Boston when his daughter enrolled at MIT at age 14: "What I say to Laura is 'The biggest problem you have so far, kid, is you haven't failed yet.'"

After packing up her things at Sigma Kappa sorority, Deming moved across the country to a tiny room in a shared house in Palo Alto. Most days, she gets up before sunrise and heads out on foot to catch a commuter train to San Francisco, where she is talking to investors about a venture capital firm she wants to create to back research on new therapies for age-related diseases.

Because of SEC rules, Deming says she can't go into details about the firm. But she jokes that one question now is whether to wait until her 18th birthday so that she can legally sign up investors or ask her father to do it. "The cool thing about Silicon Valley is that, though people might be skeptical of youth, they don't actually know that you're not smart enough or capable enough to make it work," she says.

With startup success stories tempting undergraduates to quit, universities have raced to add entrepreneurship to their curricula. Stanford has StartX, an accelerator for student-run startups. Similarly, last year UC Berkeley created FounderSchool, which prepares students to raise venture money. James G. Boyle, managing director of the Entrepreneurial Institute at Yale University (which lost four undergraduate students to Thiel fellowships) agrees that more colleges should help kids start companies, but he says that most students benefit from an environment where they can test ideas without betting their future.

Deming doesn't know yet whether she'll ever go back to finish her college degree. "The funny part is I think I'll miss studying for exams," says Deming. "It's the sort of thing that was very fun—like a sudoku puzzle or a crossword puzzle can be fun. But I thought that I could learn a lot more about the biotech industry and business by diving right into it."

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