Letters
On Che Guevara
The cover on Che Guevara (October 5, 2007) was a really refreshing change ever since I started reading the SWM. I am far from being a Marxist but have always felt the need for social change. And for that young people must have values and beliefs and more importantly a dream to improve their own lives and the society. The SWM, I must say was very courageous to deal with such an unconventional subject. Che -- whether we believe in his ideals or not -- has indeed been an icon and a catalyst for change in a difficult world. He is perhaps one of the last revolutionaries, although more a romanticist and an idealist who yearned for social transformation.
I suppose the youth of the world today is poorer not because they lack ideological values but because they lack someone committed to change or willing to take risks to look up to as a guide.
Anwarul Haq
Dhaka
Congrats and Hats Off
The special gift for the whole nation on the eve of Eid and Puja festivals has been brought by our Special Olympic team this year. Their achievement is one of honour and pride for our country. They got the champion trophy in cricket. Despite being mentally disabled they have proved how important their role was during the tournament and showed their patriotism for the country. We are undoubtedly very proud of them and pay our heartfelt tribute to them. I think our country has been glorified by their achievement.
But the frustrating thing is that this achievement has not been highlighted and hyped up as it should have been. We must not forget that their effort and success are no less than that of other tournaments. We have many things to learn from this success. This is a lesson for us as well. If they can bring success for their country while they are mentally disabled then so can others in their own ways.
I think the Special Olympic team should be honoured from each respective area properly and they should get exposure and opportunities to inspire them to do more in the next event.
Hats off to all members of the team. Let's celebrate this success with all, nationwide.
Mahbub
Narayanganj
Thought-provoking Chintito
No article has been as thought-provoking, evocative, emotive and appealing as Chintito's column. The last one "Quote, Quote, Unquote" (October 5, 2007) was, to say the least, hugely readable. I wonder how he can write so well, column after column, week after week. No break, no interlude in chinta! When will Chintito emerge from the shadows with his real identity and refrain from writing incognito?
He who speaks so clearly must do so loudly, and by himself and in his own name. Why not? Food for thought indeed!
Rumi Haq
By email
SIM Re-registration
A certain section of cell phone users are abusing this technology. To combat it the present government and the concerned authorities have declared compulsory re-registration to preserve the personal information of the users. But this step is only for the SIM cards that have been activated before February 2006. But what about the ones that were activated after that? Even a few months ago some telecom companies were selling SIM cards very cheaply and without any registration. Pedestrians were buying SIM cards without maintaining the rules and regulations which actually paved the way for such abuse.
The concerned authorities should bring the users who have bought SIM cards after February 2006 under the scheme of re-registration along with the old users.
Abdullah-al-Mamun
Department of English, DU
Police Reforms
The cover story 'Making the Police People Friendly' (September 28, 2007) was thought provoking and informative. One of my friend's brothers who has been staying with us for a few days is a policeman and read the story with a lot of interest. He agrees that unless adequate facilities are provided for the police, the country will not get the desired outcome from them.
Special thanks to SWM for publishing this enlightening cover story.
Mohammad Tarik Ali Chowdhury
Department of English,
Leading University, Sylhet
Menace!
It seems that anyone who can buy a loudspeaker can go ahead and broadcast whatever they want into our ears without our consent, any time, day or night. As in every civilised society, there needs to be some degree of control over public miking and noise pollution. Loud music, random chatting and political messages are often played on the microphone over the years, sometimes for hours at a time, even at night.
There needs to be some control over the permissible noise level, especially at night. The government needs to regulate what is being announced over the microphone, and whether it is disturbing the peace of the environment and the people.
Bilal
Dhaka
The Importance of Pre-school
The Education column 'How important is pre-school?' is a very important guideline for guardians and teachers about how they can prepare a child before school.
Our education system is a very limited one where a child cannot express his/her opinion and are restricted to the influence set mostly by the family and surroundings. He deserves to have opportunities to develop his thoughts and views. So the world has been changing but the habits and attitudes are nearly the same in the dark cage of a person's mind.
Besides being curious, a child learns how to socialise with other people, to share and co-operate and gradually grow to be independent and self-confident, to control their feelings and to express them, to get in a group and take their own ideas and run with them. It is an excellent procedure by which the teachers can also be trained on how to explore and develop the natural talent and capability of a child, and build new skills.
Amit Abdullah
Dept. of Finance, DU
Higher Education and the Job Market
The people of our country always seem to be pointing out the drawbacks of our country and how Bangladesh is lagging behind while the rest of the world is advancing at a tremendous pace. What we all fail to realise is that criticising won't help our country to develop at all. We have to find solutions to all our problems methodically and rationally. We have to work together in harmony instead of pointing fingers at one another.
Last week in SWM I enjoyed reading the letter by Mokaddes Ahmed on 'Higher Education in Bangladesh'. It is evident that most of the public and private universities of our country have failed to maintain the quality of education at the international level. The fresh graduates coming out from various universities each year have high aspirations to pursue higher education abroad so that they can become competitive in the job market. But they overlook that their hopes of achievement depend on the foundation of the education they have attained in their country.
Obviously, since the education they are provided with, lack the elements that would make them eligible for the jobs offered both locally and internationally, they end up frustrated and hopeless. There is also the problem of graduates appearing in abundance and all of them cannot be employed at a time because of limited number of businesses that can employ them.
Only by acquiring mere certificates and so-called degrees will not contribute towards getting lucrative jobs -- we have to have hands-on training in our chosen field of expertise. We need to frequently update ourselves with the upcoming changes in education so that we could be needed in the international job market as well as transfer our credits equivalently to the universities abroad.
Naome Syed
Mohammadpur
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