Daily Lessons from Life 29-30 January 2011 - Cricket World Cup?

I missed yesterday blog as I was accidentally locked out. So, I will provide 2 commentaries in today's blog. :-)

"Bangladesh beggars to be 'paid' during World Cup - Sun, Jan 30, 2011 AFP

DHAKA – The mayor of Chittagong city in southern Bangladesh said Sunday that he would pay hundreds of beggars a daily wage to keep them off the streets during the cricket World Cup.

Manzur Alam said that about 300 disabled beggars would be given 150 taka (two dollars) a day after the tournament's opening ceremony on February 17 to compensate them for loss of earnings.

"We want to keep them off the streets at least for two months during the World Cup. Bangladesh is a host of the prestigious event. A lot of tourists will be here and they don't like to see beggars," he told AFP."

Cool. Practical solution to an almost insolvable issue?

Lessons for me are:

1. be truthful. 2. be pragmatic. 3. better not to let the outsiders know your domestic issue is the best policy - for some.

"Sun, Jan 30, 2011 AsiaOne - Unmanly to abide by traffic laws in Emirates

IF IN the future you happen to be driving in the Emirates, be especially careful and alert of other Emirati drivers because road recklessness run in their blood.

Such behaviour is socially accepted, often goes unpunished and even praised, the report said. On the other hand it is unmanly or cowardly - and the mark of an unskilled driver - to abide by traffic laws.

A survey conducted by the UAE University's College of Humanities and Social Sciences revealed that more than half of male Emirati admitted to dangerous driving behaviour. They drove in the wrong direction down one-way streets, did not wear a seatbelt and talked on their mobile phones while driving.

More than a quarter of young Emirati males also admitted to reckless driving behaviours such as speeding, tailgating and illegally overtaking other drivers. 2.6 per cent of the respondents also admitted to consistently jumping red lights."

Another cool thing to learn about culture. Unmanly to observe traffic rules!

Lessons for me are:

1. hopefully not all of them are like that though the survey results seems to reveal a large proportion of them are like that;

2. the only hope that it will change is IF the people concerned are aware of the need to change without reservation. It is easy to find excuses like: it is peer pressure, it is not traditional, this is not how we win respect from others, etc;

3. however if you are rich, you can be stupid though crashing your cars doing the MANLY thing will not necessarily meat you will not get injured or killed. The sad part is some other 'cowardly' drivers and passengers became collateral damages!

May the UAE folks work to keep this portion of the population to a low %!! LOL!!!