Global Voices Online » 2007 » September

Stories

Madagascar: Young and desperate, will emigrate

lingua → pt · zht · zhs · mg · es · jp · fr

An allegedly bogus employment firm is in legal trouble in Madagascar. The firm called, Gateway Global Consultants, and headed by a certain Steve Turmel, an international consultant, who is now facing an interdiction to leave the country, had promised to thousands of Malagasies a job in the Bahamas for the « West Palm Textiles and Garnments» company , under certain conditions : getting vaccinated against hepatitis B and yellow fever, getting a passport and paying the processing fee of 240 000 Ar (roughly $93, a great sum in a country where a great percentage of the population subsists on $1 a day).

Over 3,000 candidates rushed to apply, having sold whatever goods they had (radio, TVs, rice fields) to pay the processing fee. Some got into debt, others quit their jobs. Gateway Global Consultants received their applications in their temporary office located in a school building. The office is now closed. Contacted by the Malagasy government, the Government of the Bahamas siad that there was no « West Palm Textiles and Garnments » company. The Gateway Global Consultants company did not know of a Steve Turmel. But many candidates were still holding hope for a mid September departure.

Blogger Harinjaka calls attention to the situation by linking to Tribune Madagascar, a Malagasy newspapers site.

Jentilisa wonders if this is a testimony to the gullibility of Malagasies desperate for a job and imagining that life is certainly better overseas even under the most dubious conditions.

“Nahoana tokoa moa no aty amin’ny analiny kilaometatra (Salay arivony) no itadiavana mpiasa nefa ny kaontinanta lehibe eo akaiky eo aza be no tsy manana asa ? Ankehitriny vao betsaka no nahasahy niteny fa teo aloha mbola nangina sao voampanga ho mpanatsatso eo.”

“Why would they look for workers from thousands of kilometers away when there are many jobless people from the big continent nearby? Many dare now to voice their opinions because they feared being accused of cynicism if they had spoken earlier.”

“Hany ka na dia nivoaka tsikelikely aza nmarina mbola nisy ny nahasahy niteny fa aleony mijaly any an-tanin’olona fa tsy izy intsony ny fiainana eto.”

“Even when the truth was slowly unveiled there were still those who dared to say that they would rather be miserable in foreigners' countries because their life here was unbearable.”

“Eo no nampanontany tena hoe raha samy hijaly ihany ; mijaly eto an-tanindrazana no azo ihafiana kokoa sa ny mijaly any an-tanin’olona ? Nisy manko ireo nasiaka mihitsy hoe tena fadiranovana loatra ny malagasy eto an-tanindrazana ka izany no mampibabababa azy hitady lalana hivoaka. Moa ny fitaizana natao teto amintsika mihitsy no nampanao paradisa ny any ivelany hany ka be loatra ny manofinofy ny hivoaka na dia ireo tsy mahay teny vahiny akory aza.”

“Here one wonders in equally miserable situations; would it be better to suffer in your own country or in a foreign land? Some said Malagasies were so miserable in their own country and that is why they were so eager to find ways to leave it. And even so because our education has made overseas lands to be paradise and too many dream of leaving, even among those who cannot speak foreign languages.”

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Lebanon: Ramadan Kareem

Moussa Bashir · 20:55

A bountiful and peaceful Ramadan to all.

Ramadan (Ar) is the ninth month of the Islamic (lunar) calendar. It is the month when the Holy Quran was revealed according to Islam. Observant Muslims practice daytime fasting during this month.
‘Kareem’ is Arabic for generous or bountiful. People usually wish each other ‘Ramadan kareem' during this month. At other times, it is ‘Ramadan mubarak' - Mubarak meaning blessed.

The fast, during this month, is intended to be a challenging act taking the believer to a higher level of closeness to God. Some of the expected outcomes are cleansing of the soul by staying away from worldly pleasures, practicing self-discipline, sacrifice, generosity and charity.

Lebanese bloggers posted about this occasion since last week marked the beginning of the month of Ramadan.

Now to the posts.

Why does NightS love Ramadan? Her answer is a typical one among most people, whether they observe the fast or not. She says:

…because it's the only time I eat with my family on the same table at the same time!!

Suzanne Alaywan and Ibn Bint Jbeil commemorated the commencing of this month by painting two different images. The first one below, by Suzanne Alaywan is titled ‘Ramadan Kareem’. It shows a new moon, which is a symbol of the beginning of the new month.
S Alaywan, Ramadan

The second image, below, is by Ibn Bint Jbeil which he titled ‘Ramadan Mubarak’:
M Bazzi, Ramadan

Sietske in Beirut explained how she came to understand the ins and outs of the observance of fasting, not only by Muslims but also by Christians in Lebanon. She managed to reach this understanding only after several years of her stay here. She describes the month of Ramadan as:

the time of the year when you will find totally faded shopkeepers, heads resting on their arms, on top of their counters; too tired to even look at the customer that just entered the store. The time of the year when at 7 o’clock, this part of town is a ghost town; even tumbleweed won’t move.
The time of the year when Lebanese for once organize dinner parties at decent hours; guest are in at 7, and out at 8.
The time of the year when the little drummer man walks the streets at 2 o’clock in the morning, waking up the neighborhood for a last meal with his shouting and his banging.
The time of the year when TV shows are even sillier than usual.

And again, happy Ramadan to all.

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Ramadan Kareem From Kuwait

Abdullatif AlOmar · 15:59

lingua → es

Ramadan Kareem to all from Kuwait. Despite the month of fasting, Kuwaiti bloggers are on the roll this week.

We kick off our weekly round up with Ansam over at Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, who lists all of Kuwait's museums, starting with Part 1.

I have been wanting to write about Kuwaiti museums for long time. True, there aren't many of them but it is useful to know about what we have. I have not found official sites for all of them but provided some links.
I am still gathering more information on the other ones. Feel free to post comments about the other museums you know about so I can post about them in Part II.

The Aggressor at Aggz's Complete Waste of Time talks about an article he read in the local newspaper and his take on what they say.

I was reading this article in the local daily Al Watan about some women traders opinions of the Women's section of the trading hall (actually, a separate second floor of the building) and what I read was a bit unnerving.

Qias at Io81 gives us more insight about what small businesses face in Kuwait.

Many may have noticed that a lot of Kuwaitis are starting up businesses within their homes, and i think it's a great idea. No overhead cost like ovens and stoves perfect for catering business, no monthly rent that will scare you off and many more benefits. Of course if we where in another country these businesses would operate with full legal rights, in Kuwait they do not have any right to be in business.

Bashar from blogAllAlong explains all about Tarsheed, which means conservation in Arabic.

Now, back to the subject. Following the power crisis we had last year, and very often a scheduled power and water cut on citizens was enforced, this year some people did not waste the opportunity and started a silly huge massive campaign called TARSHEED to increase awareness of lower power consumption with the slogan “The solution is with increasing awareness”!.

Amer over at hilaliya talks about what he did on the first day of Ramadan and what he thinks of what people consider a superstar in Kuwait.

The night before Ramadan was mellow…I wrote some emails, sent some SMS's and mentally prepared for the day ahead. Flicking through the channels I caught one of my favorite movies.
Since yesterday was a Thursday (I had the day off), the first day of Ramadan was quite agreable, from a fasting point of view. As for the daily ritual, I like to break the fast with dates and water (it is Sunna from Our Prophet P.B.U.H.) and then have some soup. Following the soup, I pray the Maghbrib (Sunset) prayer and then continue with the Iftar meal (I cannot eat comfortably if I have prayer on my mind; additionally, it's best to pray when you're light and not lumbering and bloated).
Following the meal, there is the post-Futuur ritual for millions of people in Kuwait (and the Arab world) where they swarm around the TV set and watch the programs that are either on KTV, Al-Rai or the other satellite stations. Yesterday, I watched an embarrasing train-wreck in the form of the “The Halima Boland Show” (the exact translation is “The Halima Boland Riddles”).

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Morocco: The King of the Poor?

Jillian York · 14:07

lingua → zht · zhs

As the holy month of Ramadan has just begun, many Muslims around the world are thinking about charity and those less fortunate than themselves. Coincidentally, a report recently released in Forbes Magazine shows that King Mohammed VI of Morocco, often referred to as “the king of the poor” for his initiatives and interest in Morocco's poor, is the 7th richest monarch in the world, leaving Moroccan bloggers to reflect upon the huge discrepancy between their king and their average countryman.

The Morocco Report takes issue with the monarch's spending:

…King Mohammed VI is the 7th richest royal in the world - while I am left here wondering who the first 6 are, the Moroccan monarch’s salary blows my mind, but not as much as the amount he apparently spends daily on clothes and car repairs: $960,000.

King of the poor my left arm.

Referring to the report, Eatbees says:

I remember mentioning a similar report to one of my Moroccan friends while I was still living there. His response was, “I wish him luck getting to number one, because then he might feel he can give some of it back to the rest of us.”

The blogger then adds:

Mohammed VI is popular, professional, and unlike his father, more liked than feared. But I can’t help wondering where all that money came from, whether monopolizing the nation’s economy had anything to do with it, and whether it might be a drain on the nation’s development.

Blogger Hisham from The Moroccan Mirror commented on the above:

I’m glad you’ve mentioned the Forbes piece on MVI: $2 billion man! Isn’t that obscene. I can’t help feeling disgusted by the sheer hypocrisy of this regime. As you’ve suggested: there is a strong attachment to the monarchy as an institution but that’s not guaranteed forever, and is surely not a blank check for the King and his people to keep on with their lavish and extravagant lifestyles.

Of course, with a month of fasting and abstention from vices, Ramadan is a much talked about subject in the blogoma as well (even from those who do not fast).

The Moroccan Vocabulary blog, designed to teach a word of darija (Moroccan Arabic) each day, shares some information on wishing a happy Ramadan in Morocco:

For religious occasions, Moroccans use the expression “3wâshr mbrôka” عواشر مبروكة, which is almost the equivalent of blessed holidays . The answer to this is “3lînâ w 3lîk ” علينا و عليك, for us and for you . Funny enough, I always –wrongly- use the answer “ Allah ibaârk fîk” الله إيبارك فيك, God bless you, which is normally the answer to ”mbrôk” مبروك, congratulations.

Move it or Lose it is frustrated by all the questions she's been asked about her fasting:

I continue to be offended by how often I get asked if I am fasting, following by really? REALLY? Are you sure? When is the last time you ate? What time will you eat again?
Fasting is the invisible pillar. Only God really knows, or is supposed to know if you are doing it or not.
Yesterday evening I was flipping through my du'a book to make sure I had all the biggies memorized, and found the du'a for when someone is bothering you when you're fasting:
“I'm fasting, I'm fasting, I'm fasting!”

The Moroccan Mirror shares a story of what happens when you're caught not fasting (be sure to go and read the whole story!):

I think there is a big hypocrisy attached to this issue: while it's not considered a big deal for someone not to pray; while people who don't pay the Zakat (Muslim alms) are generally ignored, others who don't fast during Ramadan run the risk of being ostracized and stigmatized. I witnessed my self, during my years of study in Casablanca, many instances of that.

Finally, Bill Day from the a la menthe wishes happy holidays to everyone:

Only someone who has experienced Ramadan can appreciate the camaraderie of breaking fast together at the end of the day over harira, dates, and shebekia. And for Jews, today marks the beginning of the New Year, traditionally celebrated with sweets for a “sweet” new year. Ramadan karim, happy Rosh Hashanah, and may we all live more harmoniously together as we celebrate our differences in the coming months and years.

Image Courtesy of Duettographics.com.

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China: Has Crazy English gone crazy?

Bob Chen · 09:08

lingua → pt · mg · jp

Crazy English is a private education agency in which the founder Li Yang advocates a new method to study English; namely, to shout out antiquated English phrases and seize every chance to approach an English speaker for a conversation, all for sweeping the shyness away. Learners should scream deafening English out with all their strength. It has study centers all over China, and is so well-known that millions of English learners have taken its courses in less than a decade since its inception.

However, a picture recently posted on Li Yang’s blog has become a rather controversial topic, receiving everything from condemnation, sarcasm, and even support. The strong reaction in the blogsphere and media have made the story unavoidable.

The picture posted on 4th, September shows that 3000 students kneeled down to their Crazy English teachers. It was taken at an open ceremony of the second Crazy English Training Base in Bao Tou, Inner Mongolia . They are all students in a local high school.

Numbers of furious netizens soon condemned this not an education, but a brainwashing of servility and spinelessness, because in China, kneeling down has historically been a symbol of being slavish to power.

Blogger Tong Wandou(铜豌豆) questioned:

跪拜礼虽表现的是种至尊的礼数，但它更多地代表着王权，凸现着人权的不平等，显然是不适宜当今社会互尊互爱的人际礼仪行为

Though worship on bent knees showed an upmost courtesy, it represents kingship that emphasized more on inequality among people, rather than mutual respect in accordance with modern society.

Xu Xiaoping（徐小平）, the teacher of New Oriental, another agency that helps students crack Toefl and SAT, shed a hail of criticism on Li Yang:

李阳接受学生下跪事件，必将成为2007年教育界最重大标志性事件之一。它标志着中国教育核心价值的缺失达到了怎样严重的地步。而李阳老师对几百学生向他下跪这种骇人听闻的现象公然表示欣赏，说明李阳老师心灵深处还不懂教育的基本价值。

The incident that Li Yang accepted the kneeling of students will have to be remarkable news in education field this year. It signs how seriously the core value has been lost in Chinese education. Li Yang yet showed open appreciation to the shocking bent knees. It demonstrates nothing but that he doesn’t know what education really means at all.

Moreover, some compared Li Yang to a would-be hierarch of evil cult (邪教):

笔者知道，越是神化了自己，李阳的疯狂英语会更加的红火。说到底，这是一种奴化人性的教育，是一种迷惑人的教育。这与民间的装神弄鬼来骗钱的把戏，没有本质上的区别。我不是英语老师，但我知道，学习英语却不必疯狂。难道美国人、英国人学习自己的语言也要通过疯狂的方式？
笔者看武侠小说，那些邪教门派总是通过下跪等方式神化自己，以达到统率的目的。而李阳的某种方式却与之挺像。难道李阳也走火入魔了？谁来拯救他？ ——海峡都市报王军荣

Li Yang enshrined himself to prosper Crazy English, a bewitching education, which has nothing different from a deceitful trick. I am not an English teacher, but I know we don't have to be crazy to study English. Are American and English mad when studying their mother tongue?
In swordsmen fictions, I see those cult (illegal group) leaders always summon giaours to kneel down in order to enshrine themselves and get the regime. Li Yang did quite the same. Is Li Yang insane as well? Who come to save him? By Wang Junrong on Strait Metropolitan Daily

Li Yang’s post received over 270000 clicks and 500 comments in just several days. Obviously, these comments are out of Li Yang’s expectation. But he refused to concede, and in his post on 8th, September, he insisted on his position:

在这里，我要申明我的观点：第一，是我提议学生给他们的老师跪下感恩的；第二，我认为这是普通的、伟大的一跪！

Here, I would have to declare my point; firstly, it was I that suggested students kneeling down to teachers for thanksgiving; secondly, I think this is a common but significant kneel!

He stated what happened that day; he firstly suggested learners bowing down for an appreciation to the teachers, but soon changed to advising them kneeling instead because of the limited space. Students took his proposal, and then did that voluntarily.

In interviews, Li Yang agued that this behavior means deep introspection because we often forget to appreciate those who helped us much, and compared it to that German prime minister kneeled in Poland . He meanwhile criticized Xu Xiaoping’s writing style as like those in Culture revolution, when people maligned and blackened one another.

But most netizens didn't drop their criticisms. Zhang Junyi (张军昱) rebuked in his blog;

让学生学会感恩是正确的，但是采用这样一种差不多已经被历史淘汰的集体极端方式来表达所谓的感恩，本身就是对感恩的一种情感强奸。

Surely nothing is wrong with thanksgiving. However, to apply such a method almost abandoned nowadays is itself an emotional outrage of thanksgiving.

Xu Xunlei doubted Li Yang misunderstands the meaning of education:

教育的核心价值是“立人 ”，如今却是“跪人”。把下跪磕头等同于尊师重教，这根本就不值一驳。教育的奴性与奴性的教育，在反复戕害孩子的心灵。

The essence of education is to foster one’s integrity and independence, not to press one to kneel down. To equal such a behavior to respect of teachers is worth no rebuke.

And some netizens furthermore argued that the students were obliged down because of that oppressing atmosphere built by Li Yang, like in a Nazi congregation.

Though Li Yang is under waves of reprehensions, many still stand with him. In Li Yang’s blog, a fans of Crazy English named Wang Zhijie (王志杰) left a comment:

大成者，大寂寞！

Those who achieve have to taste great solitary!

No one can definitely tell whether Chinese are too sensitive with the past servile age, or it’s just a stunt by BSP Sina.com, or even a trick by Li Yang to catch eyeballs in an unusual way. All in all, in this cross swords of either side, Li Yang, the protagonist under focus, might be the most resolute man clinging to his point. That’s how he summarized the whole thing:

李阳回应：“下跪的照片是真的，我已经习以为常了，学生下跪是对老师的尊重。过几天我还要去成都讲课，相信可以让成都最好中学的全体学生下跪。” 9月10日< 新快报>

The picture is real, and I have been used to this ( kneeling ). It shows the respect to teachers. A couple of days later I am going to have class in Cheng Du, and I believe, I can make the best students there kneel down as well.

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