Letters
Want a cover story on power outage
I am an avid reader of Star Weekend Magazine. I like many of your regular features like Chintito, Slice of Life, Mita to name a few as well as most of your cover stories. I also like to read the Newsnotes page where recent topics are written on in a very interesting manner. But I think you sometimes miss some very important issues. I think you could have done a cover story on the power crisis. I do not remember seeing a similar power situation ever before. There is power outage at least three to five times every day and on every occasion power remains off from 20 minutes to 1.30 hours on an average. And there is no schedule for loadshedding as we have seen in the past. There is no peak hour or off peak, electricity can go off any minute -- at 3 am or 5 pm. If this is the situation in the city, the situation in the rural areas must be unimaginable. I'm sure there are many others like myself who would like to see a cover story on the power situation.
Shakeel Ali
Patla Khan Lane
The lost glamour of cinemas
The cinema savvy write-up of Syed Maqsud Jamil was an absorbing piece which stirred up many old memories. In fact in the fifties and sixties the cinemas were the main source of our entertainment. In his profound knowledge about cinema halls and their owners Jamil left out the favourite of my student days. Rupmahal, near the bank of the river Buriganga used to show good Bangla films and was frequented by students. Although not so popular, he also left out Tajmahal in Chowbazar.
I remember, in my pre-school days in 1944 my dad and uncle took me to see "Kashinath" at Manashi. In the sixties we saw many good films of Zeba-Mohd Ali at Modhumita. In fact, Modhumita was set up in 1967 and in no time overtook Gulistan as the prime cinema hall of the then Dacca.
Sakhawat
Gulshan
What courtesy!
The two outgoing election commissioners left the commission on April after completing their five-year tenure without being bestowed a farewell ceremony. They were even denied a courtesy call on the president and CEC before their departure. It is not a mandatory duty to accept the courtesy but it has vast moral value. This kind of behaviour is not acceptable from someone in such an authoritative position.
Md.Mufazzol Hossen
DU
Necessary bus counter
Square Centre, situated near Mohakhali flyover is one of the busiest roads in Dhaka city. There are universities and some big organisations located near this centre.
Unfortunately there are no bus counters here. People have to walk quite a long distance to catch a bus. It's really tiring to walk such a distance after completing classes or work. I hope the respective authority will set up a bus counter at this crucial centre as soon as possible.
Adnan Saifullah
MBA student
East West University
Crisis in the air
A survey revealed that there have been 44 deaths so far in flight crashes of the air force and they are still clueless about how half of them took place which indicates a terrible "flaw" in the system.
We have to address this recurring national loss immediately. The most important step to take is for the government to stop the controversial purchases of planes. I don't understand why we bring man-made disasters on ourselves. We already have a lot of natural ones to think about.
Rafiqul Islam Rime
Agrabad, Chittagong
No gas, no electricity, no water
When there is a lack of electricity, water or gas we just start blaming our irresponsible government. But if we did our bit to save the natural resources there wouldn't be such a scarcity.
For example, many people leave their stoves on, although they might not have to cook again for a few hours. Leaving the tap running while shaving or brushing is also a very bad habit many people have. Also, many people forget to turn off their lights and fans when they leave the room. We wouldn't have to complain so much if we could just get rid of these few bad habits of ours.
Niharika Jahan
Palatable Novels? Au Contraire!
I take serious exception to the featuring of "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life" by Kaavya Viswanathan. The writer in question has been accused of plagiarism and had issued an apology for copying many paragraphs from another novel. It is regrettable that SWM should feature such a controversial and unethical practitioner of fiction.
Yahya Pramanic
US
The state postal department in distress
Bangladesh has a state-owned postal department that is extremely ineffective. I am a citizen of the crowded Rampura area. We are suffering the consequences of this lazy department.
My elder brother is working at Bangladesh Open University but getting this job was a dramatic story. He received his appointment letter after joining. The appointment letter reached our house two days after the scheduled joining date. If we didn't have a telephone connected he might not have got the job at all.
My younger brother was an applicant for Bangladesh Rural Development Board. The examination was held on February 24, 2006 but the interview card reached our house two days later.
Is there any solution to these missed opportunities? Will the government ever take the necessary steps to reform this lazy department?
Md Mehedee Hasan
Department of Arabic
University of Dhaka
Smoking in public places
As a citizen of the country I think public transportation should be made smoke-free by introducing a law and implementing them on all types of public transport. The awareness of the passengers and the conductors is very important. If anyone breaks the law there should be a provision to impose a fine. Otherwise the indifference of the smokers can cause serious health hazards to the common public.
Md Asikur Rahman
CEPZ, Zone Services Officer
Halishar, Chittagong
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