Feb 27, 2011

There was a desperate effort during the term of the interim government to try and salvage a few things - like a corruption free political field, and a society led by intellectuals. During that period, they coined a term 'সুশীল সমাজ' (pronounced 'shusheel shomaj' and translates loosely to 'decent society'), which I have seen met with lots of ridicule. To my discredit, I don't get whats so funny!

I laughed when I was a student at a Malaysian university about a decade ago, when I found out there was a subject titled "Moral and Ethics". I laughed since I believed, these are obviously things you pick up at home and just redundant as a university course. Over a few years, I changed my mind on that. Another target of ridicule is that person who has returned from outside and complains about the way things are. I could say if someone has been to a country better off and not found things here worthy of complaining about, then that person has spent time abroad with his vision stuck to the pavements they treaded there.

Lets unfold now from inside out, starting with the complaining individuals who has just returned. Those who complain, has just experienced a different way of doing things which are simpler and more efficient. Hence the complaints. The ridicule, I imagine, comes from not being able to comprehend that point of view. My ridicule for 'Moral & Ethics' as a university subject is definitely not there anymore. Now, I would say we need that kind of a course every year, coupled with extensive community service programs. I don't think people learn how to live as a community at home. I shudder at the thought of what the spineless and corrupted who are amassing large volumes of wealth, or the bitter public servants who are reliant on bribes are teaching their children. As for the term 'সুশীল সমাজ'... It could be possible to use it more casually in a decade to come, when all traits that define 'সুশীল' have disappeared almost completely, to reminisce, for some of us, about times gone by. Those who find it funny now, I see them as a reflection of me laughing at the thought of studying Moral and Ethics in a textbook.

Posted on Sunday, February 27, 2011

No comments

Feb 4, 2011

The Prothom-Alo "Bodley Jao, Bodley Dao" billboards once filled the cityscape and airwaves, tv channels. What I thought was a well made campaign and empathized with, also met with a lot of sarcasm from a lot of people. At the same time, a lot of anti-corruption billboards also blocked the skyline along with the usual commercial ones.

Government offices are also adorned with posters with such messages, the same offices where they are still practicing what the the posters are frowning on. This really makes me think that we have no way to fight this! Its so deeply rooted into the characters of these people who get these jobs, after passing the BCS examination, which tests their knowledge on the government and history and I don't know what else.

I can understand that some of us are helpless victims of that corruption, but its also not unusual to find a so-called educated man accept this corruption as a rightful way of life. They would tell you, there is nothing wrong with paying for a service! Imagine going to a restaurant and ordering food, and the waiter is looking the other way and not listening to you, in wait for a bribe to take your order and bring you your food. A payment over the price of the food, the VAT, and Service Charge that the restaurant has set for their services. This is right?

So, for those of us who do think this is wrong, is there really a way to fight back or stop condoning these practices? If a thief who nabs a purse and runs away, can be beaten to death on the streets, what makes us feel that bribery is an acceptable thing?

NOTE: Hope no one responds with a 'Every country has corruption' or 'Everyone Does It' like Mr. Suranjit Sengupta did on TV. I am not looking for excuses and you're blind if you do not see we're taking corruption to a new level.

Posted on Friday, February 04, 2011

1 comment

Feb 2, 2011

Found out through Faizul Khan of The Independent that awards were given out for people in the IT industry! Pretty good!

Visit Contest Site

Related:
Ministry of Science and ICT

Posted on Wednesday, February 02, 2011

No comments

Feb 1, 2011

It seems that one property of a government is they want to be right. I had no idea that the Egyptian people held so much beef against their government, and from the news you can see how hard it was to prove to the government that they were wrong.

Relative to that, we have a news today that the TIB officials who were accused of libel have gotten their bail. Poor chaps tried to gather people's opinions on what the people thought were the most corrupt sectors of country. Through this lawsuit, TIB is being told that they are wrong, and since the TIB report, and subsequently, a portion of the country's people accused mostly government offices of corruption, the government's stance here is that they did, or rather DO, nothing wrong.

Article: TIB officials secure bails

Meanwhile, my last blog about the need for an online account of bribery in the country has led to a reader from India pointing me to this website:
www.ipaidabribe.com! I think This shows a kind of vigilance that is really required in countries where corruption and lawlessness is dangerously a way of life almost!

Posted on Tuesday, February 01, 2011

No comments