Blogger : Nida Syed

Topic : Double standards

Description:  Is our hate towards the criminals, the corrupt and the fraudulent hypocritical? Why punish the smaller crooks for theft when we leave and allow the high powered influential to loot away our money by misusing our tax, steal away from our resource and sell away our land?

Language : English

In this world there are different types of religions. And these religions have all sorts of monuments and sculptures. People make these kinds of objects to show their own religions perspectives. But who respects them? Who is taking care of these beautiful art works?

Let me give a recent example of destroying property of Chinese monuments. There was a shoot that took place in China and in it was a part where the crew used a Ferrari to drift and screech around the monument during their shoot. It was an ancient place of the Chinese. And these advertising companies just can’t respect others’ religions and caused damage to the monument, by making screech marks on top in the roof.

This isn’t only an issue in China; it is in around the globe. People can’t take care of the countries’ monuments. For example in Pakistan, people are disrespectful to many historical memorials. Many have stolen artifacts to make money. Is this the reason why the monuments are there – to make money out of them like this?

Who is responsible for taking care of them – the government or the citizens?

Show: Ladies’ Club

Host: Sadia Abid

Topic: Why does the Pakistani youth want to go abroad?

Description: The youngsters in Pakistan want to go abroad immediately after their studies or even before that. They have an urge in them to do so. What charm does the world outside have?  Why are kids so keen to fly out of the country?

Language: Urdu

Show: The Infamous Five

Participants:

Topic: Cricket, Indian Premier League and corruption in it

Description: Have you ever wondered abou the idea behind the Indian Premier League? How politicians, bureaucrats, and celebrities are involved in buying players and making them play? People say that all the matches played in this tournament are always fixed. It’s as if they are the WWF wrestlers – everything’s set from the start.

Do you think this is true? Has cricket been turned into a corrupted institution?

Language: Urdu

Written by: Omair Alavi

We are a nation that came into being after a lot of bloodshed yet we managed to survive because our ancestors had belief in their leaders, and they wanted to have a prosperous future for us. The leaders were the ones who instilled confidence and trust into those who were hesitating to migrate, and it is because of them that we are now living in a free country.

Sadly, the current generation is in no way on the path the ancestors wanted them to be, and the main reason is the absence of honest leaders. Leaders don’t mean politicians at all. In fact those who have the ability to lead us in the right direction are the ones, I believe, the leaders. They can be the owners of a large firm, members of the community with a vision, as well as teachers and administrators in the colleges and schools of the country. But being influential doesn’t mean one can use the powers to their own agenda … and that’s what I would like to talk about today.

The population of Pakistan is increasing day by day, yet we don’t seem to agree on any one thing in particular. There are Shias and Sunnis in the country, there are those who want to be known as Sindhis, Punjabis etc rather than Pakistanis, and then there are the elite as well as those who aren’t. The only thing Pakistanis agree to agree upon is the National Anthem, as it unifies them all under one umbrella. This is no simple achievement and we should all respect that, and bathe in the influence of the great anthem.

Yet some of the schools where the elites send their children think otherwise. They believe that going ‘the American way’ is the best way to study, and their kids should not ‘waste’ the 90 seconds daily in the assembly singing the national anthem, as it doesn’t make them proficient in anything. They have the administrators on their side who believe that the anthem is in difficult Urdu and shouldn’t be sung as it’s a burden to the students.

Is it the best thing to do on behalf of both the parents and administrators? No, I don’t agree with them. I do admit that the anthem is difficult but that’s because it is in Persian language. Only one word ‘Ka‘ is in Urdu, and that’s why it seems difficult. The administrators wouldn’t know much about the anthem because they never checked, and why would they when they have a school to run, and the only ones who can afford to pay their hefty fees are the elites, and their kids.

Sadly, the issue wasn’t raised by the media because I am sure that the kids of these media moguls would be attending the schools that have banned the practice of singing the national anthem. For a change, the politicians and ministers took the matter in their hand and took serious notice of the issue, and expressed extreme displeasure at the institutions. They were right in claiming this set of attitude as a joke of national identity and have instructed all institutions to make singing national anthem mandatory.

In these elite schools, the students stay back and play games after hours – is it not a waste of time and resources? The students go to tuition centres despite being taught at school by the same teacher – is it not a waste of time? The children hang out with friends all day and night, talk to them on phone as well as chat with them despite meeting every day, but that doesn’t seem like a waste of time to the administrators or parents, whoever has the control over the territory. I think that blaming the national anthem for less productivity is a waste of time, and instead of debating on this issue, we should find the root cause and rid of it once and for all.

Written By: Omair Alavi

Dr. Khaleel Chishti enjoys his wife’s cooking…. Meera refers to Reema as aunty on twitter… Opener Nasir Jamshed got injured during the camp … These are a few one-liner stories that were aired as breaking news on different TV channels during the past 3 days, making those who hate media, loathe it. Do we really care whether Dr. Chishti likes his wife’s cooking, do we really want to know what Meera posted on twitter or do we really know who is Nasir Jamshed? No, we don’t, but thanks to the media, we are made to know of these happenings as Breaking News.

Before there was TV, there was the print media and believe me, the above-mentioned stories wouldn’t have been featured in more than a 4-line box item, that too on the back page. In those days, breaking news was made known to public via special numbers of newspapers like Awaam and Public, and people didn’t take them seriously because they were not meant to be taken that way. But thanks to electronic media, every news item is now a breaking news item, and the news channels take it as their responsibility to make people know what they think they should know.

Who cares amongst the general public of Pakistan what Nicolas Sarkozy’s wife Carla Bruni is going through as her husband is about to be ousted as the French President, who wants to be informed of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s fracture which he attained during a football match or whether Jaya Bachchan has assets more than her superstar husband Amitabh! These news items were aired in the ‘During a Prime Time’ bulletins of the country’s best news channels, yet they could have been avoided as well.

During a recent interview of film actor Mustafa Qureshi, I asked him how he saw the news channels in Pakistan. The soft-spoken thespian minced no words in criticizing the media, terming them pro-India and anti-Pakistani. He said that we celebrate the birthday of Katrina Kaif by airing it as a news, yet we don’t do justice to our artists who are living in poor conditions without any support from the government. And I agree that he had a point that we all should think about.

In a country where prices of everyday items are increasing day by day, where people don’t get to eat twice a day, where the rich and getting richer with the passage of time, what good can the breaking news be for the public. They are simply ploys to increase the ratings of TV channels, and nothing else. If the media is really interested in making a difference, they should ditch their ‘me-first’ attitude and come out with investigative reports, something that made Kamran Khan the idol of young journalists in the country. They would be surprised to find out that there are many issues out there that need their attention, and solving them can make things better for Pakistanis in general, and Pakistan in particular.

How do you become a nursery teacher in Pakistan? Easy: Here are the requirements: A matriculation, intermediate or a bachelor’s degree. That’s it. And voila! You are all ready to become a teacher who can teach pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students. Oh… am I missing out on something? If you’re going to remind me of something called, “experience and qualification”, that doesn’t count.

Ever since I stepped out of the house, to earn money, I’ve seen people working for companies, institutions and even schools. I myself had applied to a school too, not exactly teach but to be a part of the administration side even it was to be on the front desk. Honestly speaking, teaching kids for me was a huge responsibility and I couldn’t take it on me. But people here don’t take that seriously.

The montessori where I did apply to, accepted me in the administration side (which wasn’t easy at all). I saw that the teachers who were handling kids were mostly 20 years-olds and even younger. One of them was only seventeen – yes that is true. She was only seventeen. Those female teachers had to handle kids of all types. Whether they were crying, misbehaving, jumping around, etc., they had to take care of them.

The teachers are not qualified enough to teach the little students or handle them. It seems as if there the school administration hires girls who would agree to work on a low pay. They are told that they are inexperienced and need to be trained. Once the girls accept the job, they realize what they will have to go through. Yet, they still put up with it for the money I guess.

I do however, want to ask those young teachers, how they feel when they’re not able to handle or teach the students? Don’t they think they’re not fit for the job and should first learn how to tackle students and the entire process that works behind being trained. I’ll ignore the age of the teacher too. But the point is they have to know how to deal with kids. If they think they’re not the right person to teach or they are unable to, they should leave or learn and then return.

The students’ future shouldn’t be jeopardized. They should not be learning anything that they shouln’t be. A degree is not the only thing that counts. It’s the training and personality that goes together to complete a good nursery teacher.

Why does the school administration accept inexperienced teachers in the first place? What do you think about the inexperienced nursery teachers?

Show: Economic Views

Host: Zeeshan Mukhtar

Topic: Upcoming Federal Budget of Pakistan

Description: This year’s budget will be the last budget of the so called democratically elected budget. What expenses will the government of Pakistan include in the upcoming budget? How will the tax targets, that have been set for next year, be achieved? Will new taxes be levied in this new budget?

How will the government be able to collect a tax revenue summing up to Rs. 2300 billion next year when it hasn’t been able to collect Rs. 1900 billion this year?

Language: Urdu

Show: Aik Minute

Host: Shiroy Mansoor Ali

Topic: Who is corrupting Pakistan – government or citizens?

Description: People are always complaining about the corruption of the government. Question is: Where does the government come from? The government is also made of the same humans who are the citizens of the country.

In your opinion, who is corrupting Pakistan – the government or citizens?

Language: Urdu and English

Show: Pakistani Profiles

Host: Ayesha Tajwar

Guest: Danish Qasim

Description: The youth in Pakistan is ambitious and energetic. Danish Qasim, a student from Iqra University, is a film director who along with his colleagues produced a short-film that has won the Audience Award for the best movie in the National Film Festival for Talented Youth 2012. The Other Side is a reality based short-film that tells the story of a boy who becomes a prey of terrorists in Pakistan.

What encouraged Danish and his friends to create this film? How did they afford to make it? What hurdles did he face? Danish tells about his adventure and experience in this episode of Pakistani Profiles.

Language: Urdu