Feature

BIO and my thoughts

Gaushey Shahariar

The successful completion of the 5th Bangladesh Informatics Olympiad was a praiseworthy endeavour jointly undertaken by Bangladesh Informatics Olympiad Committee(BIOC) and Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAC) with the support of The Daily Star and Nescafe 3in1. In a country like ours when people fight to settle the equation of three square meals a day and large number of students have no access to computers, this event of computer programing was a bold undertaking.

The young generation of our country and all over the world are getting more and more involved in computers. Computer programming bring fame, money and recognition. Skill in computer preogramming opens up a whole new world of knowledge. Such knowledge when applied in the filed of health, energy, education and agriculture will bring benefits to our socio-economic conditions.

There is no denying that events like the Maths Olympiad, Informatics Olympiad etc. are very creative and definitely productive as well as exciting to young minds. There is glamour in it too. What we need to do is change our point of view. Redefine our concept of 'glamour' from a broader and logical outlook.

From a participant's point of view this event was a massive experience. People in this poor country are condemned to be back dated. We are looked down upon in the international arena in any competition be it athletics, or an Olympiad. But must it really be so? I recollect a small poem.

“Many a stars like the sun,
lights planets lively as they burn; and many a stars on contrast,
burn to waste light in space vast!”

Unfortunately, we are like those million stars of this milky way and other galaxies that have light, the light that is potentially power to the world. But our light on talent is not nourished and utilised properly. Looking at the need of the 21st country and the coming future we need to organise more and more of this type of programmes. Our young talents should be engaged more and more in this type of activities. Our neighbouring country India has seen a boom in the software industry and information technology sector. We might not have gold mines, we might not have the world Bank in our country, but we have huge manpower equipped with the potential to dominate the era. Singapore is a country where the government even imports water for it's citizens and yet they are so developed.

We have to start a revolution, a renaissance. A renaissance to use the weapon that we have i.e. our thinking power. I finish with a saying of Einstein: 'The important thing is never to stop questioning."

The writer is a student of Notre Dame College and a winner in the national BIO competition