Education is the most important thing for a country's future prosperity. I'd add data to back myself up, but prefer to take the Malcolm Gladwell anecdotal approach. I heard an interesting point made recently that after WWII, Germany was bombed flat but in less than 15 years it was running pretty smoothly again. Meanwhile, a host of other countries just can't seem to progress. The key difference? Education.

I was struck when the other day I was reading a Chinese blog. It had a typical New Year toast that reminded me of Kazakhstan. Happy New Year! Good wishes for your whole family! Good health! Lots of prosperity! I caught myself thinking that perhaps the author was Kazakh. Then I got to the last point. And most importantly, may you be successful in your education!

Although Kazakhstan also has some tough sayings about education (Оқусыз білім жоқ, білімсіз күнің жок - without study, there is no education, without education, you have no life) they don't permeate the culture as they do in China. Of course many Kazakhs value education and I have some incredible students who work assiduously, but China is in a whole different ballpark.

Normally I don't enjoy giving or listening to toasts too much because everybody repeats the same frivolous fluff. So I'm planning to steal a good idea from the Chinese the next time I give a toast.

Адамға өмірдегі ең керекті нәрселер - мықты денсаулық, бақыт пен байлық! және де сіз осы айткандардын барлығына тек қана жақсы білімнің арқасында қол жеткізе аласыз! сондықтан да ең алдымен сізге жақсы ешқашан таусылмас білім тілегім келеді!

For all of us, the most important things are strong health, happiness and wealth! And you can only get these things through a good education. Therefore, I most want to wish you a good and never-ending education!