Streetwise: Make new friends - and help society in the process

It's natural for grown-ups to feel a certain unease about making new friends. And as they drift away from old friends, their circle often comprises only a few people.

Bogged down in daily routines, adults feel it a burden to attend training courses - but they don't know what they are often missing.

Training courses can be fun. Aside from new things to learn, you can make new friends.

I happen to know a police officer who was reluctant to join a course. But then, mingling with younger and older people, he built new friendships. Plus, the course revived the good memories he had from his younger days.

Many people take training programmes as opportunities to socialise, or even to sell their products or ideas.

One of them is Mechai Viravaidya, founder and chairman of the Population and Community Development Association.

Recently, he joined a course at the Capital Market Academy, established in 2005 to groom capital-market executives for innovative ideas and leadership.

He made friends there with a number of listed companies' chief executive officers. As Mechai is a leading force in attracting financial resources from listed and non-listed companies to help finance the rural development programmes, he was not shy about selling his new product to the CEOs.

In time, Mechai - known for his out-of-the-box creativity - successfully convinced some CEOs to form a company, which operates under his "business for social progress" concept. The concept is easy: no business can truly prosper when the rest of society is in poverty. Therefore, they should contribute part of their profits to helping society.

Established last November with 70 shareholders, Wor Thor Thor for Social Progress has already seen its list of shareholders expand to more than 100. Its first business was to supply toilet paper to the companies for which the CEOs are working. Then, it sourced New Year items for the companies.

Profits from the venture were then allocated for social purposes, and the idea has brought joy to all the executives, who now consider themselves junior philanthropists.

The CEOs know that by joining the training course, beside new knowledge and friends, they have been able to do something for society.

Amid the current economic conditions, more and more training courses are being run. Though many are designed for the unemployed, I hope this lesson tells people that good things always await positive thinkers.