During the Great American depression in the last century new Board games and toys were innovated to get young minds thinking anew and more seasoned minds to come up with new solutions to the malaise that hit society. Al Capone opened up soup kitchens for the hungry even as he pushed ahead with the then illegal liquor trade at a time of deprivation of the tipple. It didn't save him from prosecution. What it did was expose opportunities of serving society in a mangled sort of way. Miniature golf, monopoly and Lego were two distractions innovators came up with to try and get minds thinking positively, aspirational and productively. These fed in to the realities, sudden as they were of the Second World War that sucked the United States (US) in.
As regulators swing in to try and put the lid on gaming that is deemed to be destructive, the ICT Ministry has a real opportunity of using incubators and small entrepreneurs thinking of more productive gaming that can be linked with matters of state. Through the decades Prime Ministers and think tanks have been exhorting on the need for new thought processes to drive product innovation that support inspirational thinking and new export items.
TikTok has exploded as much as it has been reviled. Sociologists have been at odds with the more violent nature of gaming that has caught the fancy of young imagination without adding value to barring app creators. They are as appalled at the sexist nature of the content that can so easily be re-tuned to spur and attract creativity. As always, it's a boys and pieces effort rather than everyone pulling their weight together. Those would eschew free-market theories are going out of vogue. S quiet world Revolution has begun combining 'buy local' ,'recycle and reuse'. Garage sales are being sifted through to find clothes that are then sanitised and re-processed to be sold at affordable prices. Success has led an extension to fast fashion; the phenomenon of buying and getting rid of more expensive items for re-use. If that really catches on there's much for garments exporters to think of. Opportunities lie in recycling used clothing imported and sold at popular outlets such as Banga Bazar. The fillip required is branding so as to rid the process of the world 'used' and replacing it with the more in/thing 're-used'.
Garments exporters are investing in the finer aspects of manufacturing so as to satisfy and attract buyers. The second group , basically SMEs are missing out whereas they don't have to. There's enough capacity for the new phenomenon to thrive given policy support. If society pulls together import bills can come down further. Branding using technology, a little help from literature buffs and defined outlets along the Uniqlo model can replicate one's that worked during the Great Depression. Like it or not we're going through one ourselves. Non-government organisation (NGO) starved of funds due to the world recession must move from the much flogged poverty alleviation to more modern self reliance concepts.
Instead of relying on imported Board games and toys, the more relevant newer figures such as the successful Meena concept are ones that can support local culture and behaviour. Without doubt it would be better for toddlers to learn their language from such icons than continue to be fed on the Doreman and Pokeman versions that create a false sense of good and bad not to mention fun. That may hold the answer behind the ratcheting questions why Bangla doesn't spread and is cultured as much as it should. Dr Aitur Rahman has pleaded for a meaningful commute to be set up to address today's worries. Below that we need an implementation body that supports innovative thinking by bringing subsets of enablers together. That would include bringing in filthy profiteers to book while encouraging the honest entrepreneurs. Charity can begin at home from localising snacks and biscuits served at government offices. Every small bit helps.
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