Don’s Blog

I just finished reading the best novel that I’ve read in the past few years–and thought I should share it with those of you who are reading my blog…

Karen Connelly’s “The Lizard Cage” is lot of reading (hardcover, 500 pages) but is definitely worth the effort.  For those of you who have not heard of her, Karen Connelly is a Canadian author whose first book ”Touch the Dragon” was a journal of her experience as a Rotary Exchange Student in Thailand in the 1980s (and won a few literary prizes.) 

I’ve included a summary of the story below–although I should point out that it doesn’t really do justice to the book as it’s her writing style that really makes this book a great read.

In her long-awaited first novel, Karen Connelly recreates the world of a Burmese prison, and of the country’s tumultuous years in the late 1980’s, when millions of people rose up to protest against the brutality of their military government. This is a story of human resilience, love and humour — a potent act of empathy and witness.

Inside his solitary confinement cell, Teza, who once electrified the people of Burma with his protest songs against the dictatorship, now applies his acute intelligence and Buddhist patience to finding meaning in the interminable days. Arrested by the Burmese secret police, cut off from his family for the first seven years of a twenty-year sentence, he searches for news and human connection in every object and being that is grudgingly allowed into his cell.

Despite his isolation, Teza has a profound influence on the people around him. His integrity and humour inspire the conscience-ridden senior jailer to radical change. His very existence challenges the brutal authority of the junior jailer, perversely nicknamed Handsome. Even though his server, the criminal Sein Yun, sees compromising Teza as his ticket out of jail, the singer befriends him, and falls into a trap of forbidden food, conversation, and the most dangerous contraband of all, pen and paper.

Lastly there’s Little Brother, an orphan who’s grown up inside the jail, imprisoned by his own deprivation. Teza and the boy are prisoners of different orders, but their extraordinary friendship frees both of them in utterly surprising ways. Overturning our expectations, Karen Connelly presents us with a world that celebrates human spirit, and spirit itself, in the midst of injustice and violence.

Source:  http://www.karenconnelly.ca/book_details_the_lizard_cage.aspx

I recently became aware of the world of “peer to peer financing” which is a very interesting concept and has the potential to really change the world of lending and borrowing.

I am not aware of any p2p financing web sites in Canada yet, however Prosper.com (US) and Zopa.com (UK) are already in the business and it’s probably only a matter of time before one of them expands to Canada (or a home-grown alternative springs up.)

The premise of p2p financing is to reduce the transaction costs associated with financing by allowing lenders and borrowers to interact directly with each other (with the p2p financing web site providing a minimal amount of services in the role that has traditionally been performed by bankers.)  The prospective borrower provides information about themselves (creditworthiness, what the money will go towards, how much is required, etc.) and the lenders then can decide how many they would be willing to lend to that specific borrower and at what rate of interest. 

Essentially this is loan syndication for the masses–borrowers can access capital at better than bank terms, and lenders can earn better returns by diversifying their investments across a variety of borrowers. 

However, there is one p2p financing web site that really interests me, and that is Kiva.org.  Their web site probably best describes what they do (no need for me to re-phrase it) so here it is:

We let you loan to the working poor

Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can “sponsor a business” and help the world’s working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you’ve sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.

At present, you won’t get rich by investing at Kiva.org.  However, it will probably be only a matter of time before these approaches merge and “Joe Investor” will be able to lend/invest money to a micro-enterprise just about anywhere in the world (wow…better than GIC rates of return plus the opportunity to do some good with your money.)