Letters
Corruption
It cannot be denied that corruption at all levels has reached a peak in recent years, where no work anywhere, can be expected to be done without greasing all and sundry from top to bottom and back again. Inflated greed, inflation and deflated morals have set a benchmark for the amounts where there is no upper limit, but the lower limit is undoubtedly Tk. 500/- and multiples thereof. Like a lot of 'good' things, gone are the days when a packet/carton of 'phoren' cigarettes usually did the trick.
During our addas, many of my contemporaries (senior citizens, who have retained their sense of morality) and who are still in some sort of vocation like service, pensioners, landlords, contractors, business etc, bemoan having to pay even the minimum amount for every little thing that can facilitate a decent and honest living for them. Many of them have voiced their utter disgust in having to pay bribes with notes carrying the portrait of the “Father of the Nation” whom we all revere.
Fresh notes should be printed with the portrait of the opposition personality, so that those can be used for bribes now. When they come to power next time, as has been the trend over the last 20 years, the present notes can be used for the same purpose, since we can be sure of one thing – there is little chance that there will be a lessening of corruption in Bangladesh.
Sikander Ahmed
Niketon, Dhaka
Primary teacher recruitment system
We are aware of the importance of primary education, and that's why our government has recently changed the primary teacher recruitment policy for the betterment of our nation. According to the new recruitment policy, the candidates will be qualified for employment if they have an honours degree. This is obviously good news for us but probably not for some people who only have their HSC degree. In our society, some meritorious people are deprived from higher education because of poverty, lack of social and financial security, expensive private universities, and the session jam in the public universities. Despite their willingness and dedication, these students fail to get the education they deserve. So we hope, the government will make amendments to the new recruitment policy and consider hiring people who have their HSC degree and also have good teach skills. The government should also consider giving out more scholarships and encourage private universities to do the same.
Subrata Ray
SUST,
Sylhet
Buses for Women
Fifty percent of the commuters in this city are female and only nine reserved seats on each bus are not sufficient for them. The conductors /helpers of the local buses do not like to take in female passengers and hardly ever say anything to the men who unknowingly occupy the seats reserved for women. Often women are refused transportation because there are no reserved seats left etc. The local buses have only one exit for both men and women and disembarking from the bus becomes an unpleasant experience for these women. Women get shoved and pushed and often sexually harassed in bus queues as well as on the bus. I think the solution to this problem would be to allow women to board the bus first so they can be seated comfortably. Also, on double decker buses, women should be allowed to have the lower deck to themselves to make their lives easier.
Jewel Sarkar
University of Dhaka
ATM Hazards
Plastic money is a large part of our lives nowadays. For various reasons we don't carry large amounts of money with us. We use debit and credit cards to meet our needs at any time. However, when we do try to withdraw cash or make a transaction via ATMs, we notice that there is always something wrong with them. We will see signs such as “Machine out of order”, “Machine out of cash”, “paper out” etc posted in ATM booths almost all the time. In some cases money can only be withdrawn from the bank's ATM and no others. Banks should be aware of such issues and should remember that after initiating any service, it's their duty to keep the service running smoothly.
Card users should also be held responsible. A few days ago I found one ATM booth which was out of order. On enquiry, I came to know that, someone had inserted their card with 'chewing-gum' stuck on it into the ATM machine, which ruined the machine.
We live in an age of technology. We appreciate that our banking system has changed to keep up with the latest technology to make our lives easier. But every technology and service quality needs to be supported. We hope our lives are made easier in the future by keeping these things in mind.
Niloy Chaklader
Malibag Railgate, Dhaka
Questions for the BBA Admission Test
BBA and MBA programmes are offered at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in the University of Dhaka. Both the programs are considered as very prestigious at home and abroad. The multinational companies operating in Bangladesh are eager to hire any student with a BBA or MBA degree from IBA. Huge numbers of meritorious students nurture hopes and dreams to earn a degree from IBA. The students who completed HSC from Bangla medium schools and those who completed their O and A levels from English medium schools compete to enroll themselves in the BBA programme at IBA. The HSC level students study in Bangla medium schools and do not speak or write in English. On the other hand, the English medium students are sufficiently fluent in English. It was observed that IBA administrators set questions for the interviews in English, which is problematic for students who come from the Bangla medium background. They get confused when writing in English and end up writing incorrectly even when they know the answers. In Bangladesh there are many examples of scholars who studied in Bangla medium schools and completed their post graduation and even doctorate degrees in English medium universities. It would make the lives of students with a Bangla medium background easier if the questions were set in both Bangla and English and if they were given a choice as to how they want to answer.
Md Ashraf Hossain
8/A, Ramna, Dhaka-1000.
The Unfortunate Jonogon
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Photo: Star File |
It is very unfortunate that in a developing country where the majority of people do not have a decent place or even a roof over their head, we had to waste 12 hours of their precious working hours, just because a so-called people's leader was thrown out of her house built on a 2.72 acre of land on the capital's most posh and secure area. The entire thing becomes a bigger irony when you consider that this leader who is supposedly a public representative, actually has two more houses to go to and is still making so much fuss over one single house. Dressed in a pink chiffon saree and matching pink shawl with gold chains and pearl tops adorning her neck and ears, she cries in public media complaining that the government has evicted her in “one single attire”! I say that our political parties are quite lucky that they have got us as their “jonogon”, as even after all the torture and unfair and insensitive treatment they inflict upon us we keep on voting them to power.
T Ahmed
Berlin, Germany
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