The new economy is a state of mind

But don't be scared. 'New economy' isn't just for geeks and IT whizzes, it's just about a more gung-ho way of thinking

MY NIECE is what you might tag an Internet Baby.

Way back in 1994, her parents met and romanced via the Internet.

On one side of the screen was my sister, a worked-to-the-eyeballs teacher-administrator at Raffles Institution in Bishan.

On the other side was Phil, a peace-loving, banjo-picking American computer programmer in Huntsville, Alabama.

I don't know if it was click at first sight, or how exactly they bumped into each other in the information highway, but they did.

One day, Phil visited us. He's a nice, sweet guy. We were relieved. A few months later, my sister went to Huntsville. Then Phil flew back here again, this time for their wedding in March 1996, and off they went back to the US. My niece is now 28 months old.

In the four years since my sister's marriage, so much has changed in the world that my mind boggles.

I remember how, for ever so long, I actually felt a personal resentment against the Internet because it took my sister away from us.

These days, who can live without the Net as a source of communication, information and transaction?

When my sister first moved to the US, it cost us about $1 a minute to call her. Today, with the sudden freeing up of the telecoms sector, I'm charged a mere 34.5 cents if I use SingTel's 013 budget call service this month.

When I first visited her two years back, I was thrilled with her cable channels. Today, I've nearly 40 cable stations myself to choose from.

Two weeks ago, I had a cable modem installed. When my sister gets her cable modem in a few weeks' time, we will both fix up web cameras and get a live feed into each other's home. THE changes that have taken place in my life can be seen as microcosmic side-effects of the so-called "new economy".

But what, in the first place, is this much touted phrase "new economy"? In fact, to non-IT savvy folks like myself, it can sound rather scary.

But new economy merely refers to how technology -- driven mainly by the Internet -- has heralded a sudden shift from an industrial economy to one that is digital and "knowledge-based".

Put very simply, where a country might have once relied on the manufacture of clothes (which didn't require much brains to carry out), it now relies on the knowledge-intensive task of making computer parts (because you need a computer to get onto the Internet).

As for the Internet, think of it as a giant market-post office-encyclopaedia. People anywhere in the world can connect to it and get information, make decisions and strike deals within minutes.

Naturally, companies have been set up to take advantage of the Internet, and their value have shot sky-high.

Because of how fast things move in this Internet world, speed, flexibility and nimbleness are qualities that will allow you to seize business opportunities.

As such, the new economy isn't just about intimidating computers and dot.com wizards. New economy is also about a new state of mind -- and mindsets can be changed.

We're talking about a whole new way of thinking, working, living and playing that will allow us to break the old rules so that we're more innovative, creative, cutting-edge and able to take risks.

And the aim -- and result -- of this new mindset? So people can chart new courses, and hopefully make millions in the process, of course.

In fact, this new economy mindset is already being played out in many areas of our lives, not just in the IT and business world, as this Sunday Plus special shows. THERE are, of course, downsides to the new economy. The computer-illiterate feel alienated, and the almost effortless success of some Internet firms has given rise to a new social disease -- dot.com envy.

Much froth has also been generated about the Internet economy, and when the bubbles burst, you wonder how many people will be left empty-handed and hurt.

It is also important to remember that whether we are into the new economy or old, there will always be values that will stand us in good stead -- honesty, hard work, thrift and discipline.

In the end, everything also boils down to human chemistry and relations.

No matter how clever machines become, there is no running away from the fact that for deals to take place and for systems to work in the new economy -- as in the old -- people must still communicate and connect.

If new economy guru Richard Branson didn't click with the people at strait-laced Singapore Airlines, would their amazing partnership have been struck?

If veteran artist Kuo Pao Kun and new economy technopreneur Sim Wong Hoo didn't see eye-to-eye, would they have come up with their very innovative techno-arts centre?

Or, for an example closer to home, just look at my sister and Phil.

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