::: Star Insight :::

Editor's Note

“Star Insight” will enlighten and enliven us all

A perennial challenge for an English language newspaper is how to involve writers from outside the urban centres into the mainstream activities of the paper. Forming “The Daily Star” readers clubs all over the country and encouraging its members to write is a way we have thought of to face this challenge.

To facilitate this process we are proud to launch a special fortnightly publication, the “Star Insight”, exclusively for writers from outside Dhaka. Through this effort we are hoping to bring to national focus some talented writers from all over the country and also to encourage others to improve their English language skills. Who knows what potential talents we may discover in the near future.

For Bangladesh to really move forward in the present competitive world knowledge and usage of English will have to spread all over the country. Just as we strengthen the use of Bangla through mass education and universal literacy, so also we must strengthen our global competitiveness through greater proficiency in the only true international language of the day-English.

The readers clubs have been formed to facilitate learning and practice of English among its members. The launching of “Star Insight” whose aim is to publish write-ups of the best among them will, we hope, contribute to the process of further spreading English language skills throughout the country. This we hope will strengthen our links with the international world.

I would like to congratulate all those first time writers from all over the country who have written in our first issue. My special thanks go to the team, led by the advisory editor Shaheen Kabir and Readers' Club Co-ordinator and Star Insight in charge Rafi Hossain , who have so diligently prepared this issue.

We hope that this new effort to serve our readers better, will be to their liking. Please let us know your reactions as to how we can improve this further.
God speed to “Star Insight”

Mahfuz Anam
Editor-Publisher

Welcome to Star Insight. You may know that The Daily Star now has its Readers' Club almost all over the country.

The Club offers its members an opportunity to express themselves, to share their ideas and views or argue with one another in English through its Debating and Language Club activities.

But, what if they want their ideas to reach someone who is far away from them and can't hear them? Then they will have to write them down.

So, here we are with the Star Insight, a Daily Star Readers' Club magazine. We are happy to see how promptly the members have welcomed this opportunity to communicate in English. We have already received a good number of writings from members of the Readers' Clubs, all of which exist outside Dhaka.

This may need an explanation. We have decided to start with forming the clubs outside Dhaka as we felt that the people outside the capital city get the least exposure to the use of English for actual communication in various situations and therefore should be given a chance to do so.

We sincerely believe that in today's world knowing a language that will help to connect us with the rest of the world is no longer a privilege but a right to power.

The Star Insight, a fortnightly magazine, has surely set itself a challenging task. Except for the Learners' Club and, in some cases, the Short Story and Do You Know sections, all the sections will be made up of the writings of the Readers' Club members.

Almost all the writers are beginners and publishing for the first time. But then it's this very challenge that justifies the launching of Star Insight which seeks not just to contribute to the development of English studies in the country but also to create a more informed people.

We are confident that we've made a right decision and a timely move. In Bangladesh we are now being increasingly aware of the need of learning other languages, especially English. We must, of course, do all that we can to enrich our mother tongue Bangla and Bangla literature, but English is our gateway to the world in affairs of business, industry and services of all kinds. We must try to bring as large a section of our people as we can, from both rural and urban areas, into the network of English learning.

We invite our members to get started with their writings right away.

Good-luck! Like a magician who with his tricks pulls a rabbit out of a hat, use your own tricks and start doing your own magic with words now.

Shaheen Kabir
Advisory Editor, Star Insight