Letters
Uninterrupted Power for World Cup
It is quite astonishing to see that our government is ensuring smooth supply of power while the FIFA World Cup 2006 is going on, where Bangladesh itself is not participating. Hence there are no remarkable and profitable interests for Bangladesh from the game. Even then taking into consideration the public's demand, the government has ensured electricity almost the whole night so that everybody can enjoy the soccer matches. However, a while back, the HSC examinees had to suffer because of the lack of electricity and had literally undergone much misery despite a lot of demonstrations demanding power at night for the examinees. Load shedding at night greatly hampered students from studying. Don't the people in power think education is important? 'Football Mania' will not have much of an impact on the future of the country, but these public exams can obviously influence the future of the country. The government has shown that it has the capacity to guarantee energy in special situations, but obviously they do not have their priorities sorted out.
Shaikhul Akbar Eishan
Chuadanga Govt. College
Request from an SWM worm
I'm a regular reader of the Star Weekend Magazine. To put it correctly I'm an SWM-worm. A couple of months ago there was a segment in the magazine called 'Learn Better English with British Council' which was of great use to us. Needless to say, it used to give us a lot of scope to learn flawless English. But, for four months or so, it's been missing. I would like to make an earnest request to the authority concerned that the aforementioned section should be made an indispensable part of SWM once again.
Kollol.
Dept. of Accounting & Information system. RU
World Cup 2006 and our National Flag
I would like to thank Mr. Ziaur Rahman and Mr. Atiqur Rahman for raising the issue of our own national flag. I was very disappointed to see flags of different countries hoisted in such a manner, which is against the pride of our national flag. Something else that bothered me was the article, World Cup Boon and Blues, written by Shahnoor Wahid where it is mentioned that to be against the hoisting of flags is called 'fatwa'. Is this not the infidelity to the country? Like Ziaur, I also expect the media to play a vital role to raise this awareness and in this regard I believe the Daily Star can lead. Patriotism is something, which should always come first.
"Fake Patriotism"
In last week's edition of SWM, Atiqur Rahman from Jigatola said that flying our national flag alongside other World Cup flags is dishonouring it because flying it after sunset is not allowed. As far as I know, it's only during certain official occasions that we should hoist down the national flag after sunset. There is no law stating that flying our flag is not allowed in non-official occasions. And talking about 'fake patriotism', patriotism is a feeling of love. Some people do tend to be very patriotic only on special days like 21st February and 16th December. I think, we, as Bangladeshis, have every right to be patriotic at any time of the day, at any time of the month, at any time of the year, not just on special occasions like Victory Day or International Mother Language Day. It is not wrong, is it, to show our love and support for our country by flying our national flag besides flying our favourite teams' flags?
Nila
Where there is a will there is a way
The cover story on "Hope on the water" on 16th June was an inspiring one. It is really a praise worthy contribution to provide health care in the remotest island which is devoid of electricity, running water and communication with the next of the country. The Friendship project for relief and rehabilitation, education and cultural preservation is really astonishing. The activities of the project revealed the truth of the saying 'Where there is a will there is a way.'
Nothing can be compared to the sweet smile of a person who has just been cured. The Lifebuoy Friendship floating hospital is really a precious gift to the deprived islanders. Thanks to the organisers as well as the donors for this great humanitarian effort.
Shirin Sharmin Bubly
Dept. of Civil Engineering
BUET
On 'Fair Factor'
Although I consider The Daily Star as one of the best newspapers in Bangladesh, I think the Star Weekend Magazine is apparently biased towards women and has continuously overlooked men even when it would look appropriate to include them. For example, on May 12, 2006 issue, The Star Weekend Magazine published a cover story titled 'Fair Factor' where the authors discussed how our society treats individuals based on their colour of skin. However, as the authors have continuously focused on the impact of 'colour of skin' on our women, they have simply overlooked its impact on our men and boys. Just as there are men in our society who give priority to complexion while selecting their partner, there are also girls in our society whose 'partner-selection' decisions are also influenced by her prospective groom's or boyfriend's colour of skin. Also, just as many newborn dark skinned baby girls become a headache for their parents in some part of our society, many newborn dark skinned baby boys also become a headache for the same group of parents. The authors never acknowledged that in their article.
Regads,
Hussain Touhid
Texas, USA
Submission Guideline:
Letters to the Editor, Dhaka Diary and Write to Mita, with the writer's name and address, should be within 200 words. All articles should be within 1,200 words. A cover letter is not necessary, but every write-up should include the writer's name, phone number and email address (if any). While SWM welcomes unsolicited articles and photographs, it cannot accept the responsibility of their loss or damage. SWM does not return unsolicited articles and photos. Response time for unsolicited write-ups range from three weeks to two months. All articles submitted are subject to editing for reasons of space and clarity.
All materials should be sent to: Star Weekend Magazine, 19 Karwan Bazar, Dhaka-1215, Fax: 880-2-8125155 or emailed to: <starweekendmag@gmail.com>
It is recommended that those submitting work for the first time to the SWM take a look at the sample copy beforehand. Our website is: http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine
Copyright (R) thedailystar.net 2006
