That seem’s to be the dominant theme here, according to our latest poll (with 40%). However, it brings up an interesting question. Who is the candidate?

From the previous discussion we’ve had on why wont you vote, it appears the ‘candidate’ is the leader on top of each political party. However, i ask you this. Who *is* the actual candidate? The leader on top might go ahead to be Prime Minister and make decisions for the functioning of this country, but s/he is not determined by you. They do not represent you, they do not even know you exist for the large part, and they are not the ones asking for your vote.

You vote for your local candidate. The one who’ll be representing your constituency, the one who’ll be fighting for or against laws which directly affect the people in their area, so that they can get another term. They will have an agenda, which i agree largely follows the party agenda which is nothing currently but ‘continue the policies set forth by the previous government’ in most cases, but still, there’s is a more localized one. Your local candidate is the one who ‘should’ care about you, should care about getting your vote and should care about getting your voice heard in the assembly. They will not do it, unless you make them realize that your vote is not free, and they’ll have to work towards it.

To all the readers, i put forth this one question, which constituency do you belong to? And who are your candidates?

This post in part of a series of posts to understand the current apathy the KMB visitors feel towards elections and democracy.

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I have often read in comments, people inquisitive about the lifestyle in Karachi, the events that disturb and make them re-think about moving from abroad to their homeland.
And then I know people keen to move out of this city for a better life, the gleam of foreign currency blinding them. (Although money might not be the only reason)

During 1992-1995 when Karachi was a city where a dead body could be found anywhere in sacks or in the bushes and ladies used to be worried when the males went to pray in the mosques, many families opted to move to the US.
Still, life in Karachi is as unpredictable as the supply of electricity in the city. Anything can happen in the middle of nowhere and life might come to a halt.
May12th , October 18th and not to forget the very recent December 28th, when Karachi seemed a ghost town.
Under circumstances when the Karachiites (many of them) think of migrating to some land where at least security is ensured and when very recently the city has gained so much “fame” someone from USA shows interest in migrating to the city along with children. A single person might be adventurous to do so but moving with a family in a city like Karachi??
It came to me as a shock when someone, an American born and raised (and not a Pakistani born in America) showed interest in moving to Karachi, Pakistan.

Since I was asked for opinion, I felt speechless. I did not know where to start from? The insecurity, load shedding, law enforcement agencies and the fear that runs down the spine on feel of a gun pointed on your forehead! Or a bunch of stupid people who would destroy the city by breaking the signals, igniting buses, tires and what ever come their way or a hand full of people who love the city and want to have a peaceful and healthy environment.
I knew and I said so that these were the problems faced by any big metropolitan, where as deep inside I knew the situation was worst. America sure has a crime rate with no match but as I was gathering excuses for other reasons I felt myself stuck at the point of explaining how police responds to a mishap and how “comforting” they could be.
Frankly speaking, I did not have the courage to speak the truth and I did not have the guts to let someone who trusted me, let come in the city and later curse me for misguiding.

So this is what I came up with: Public decision. Many of the readers are from USA but have their roots in Pakistan. They might be able to help me out of this situation by sharing their views.

This is about someone with two daughters, a converted Muslim who wants to come and settle in Karachi along with the kids and let them grow up and study here. Now: “How’s Karachi as a city to settle down what are the good and bad?”

Zeeshan Ahmed is a young engineer who is actively working on an interesting machine translation project called PakTranslations. Self described as a die hard Karachiwala, Zeeshan is a graudate engineer from GIKI

KMB has conducted an email interview with Zeeshan on this project and what he expects out of it in the coming days. In a time when we have a tough fight between the forces of gloom and that of hope, let us do every bit possible to side with the positive forces.

Interview with PakTranslations follows.
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The FTC Flyover is being closed for the day due to some maintenance work – For people wishing to commute between Defence and the Airport routes, please take the Baloch Colony Bridge. If you’re at home, the television channels will hopefully keep you updated with routes, else if you’re stuck in the car, Apna Karachi Fm107 and Fm105 try and put out traffic updates as and when they get updates.

I asked what were the reasons you will not vote in the upcoming elections. The following four were the most cited. Now, i open up the floor to everyone to rate which reason is most important to you.

This post in part of a series of posts to understand the current apathy the KMB visitors feel towards elections and democracy.

Seems like a nice match is going on in National Stadium at the moment. It must have been nice to watch the first innings. I am sure the pictures will appear on flickr in few days, but if you happened to see the game in the stadium, care to tell us how was the experience?

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Banks and account opening issues have been discussed in the past here as well, but this an incident that took place today which I wish to share. If there is anyone that can influence the policy dept in banks, please please please ask them to think about consumer convenince, instead of making an attempt to sound like idiots by making things difficult for customers.

I joined a new workplace in the end of Dec 2007 and decided to open my bank account today, since the month is drawing to an end, the company will need a means to deposit my salary.

It turns out that I am dealing with MCB Bank, and after filling out the requisite paperwork and doing a million and 25 signatures at obscure places, I was informed that my account will be opened tomorrow…i.e. the next working day.

Why I asked, and I was informed that my NIC will be required to be verified from NADRA (the issuing authority here). Seems logical, only it has already been verified a gazillion times. (I thought I saw the branch said “online” outside).

Plus, I need to pay 10,500 as a minimum deposit amount and when I told them I already had a relationship with their branch in clifton, they tell me they don’t really care and that all info will have to be re-verified and I will still need 10,500 minimum.

Why on earth? Would the person who makes these banking policies please atleast keep consumer convenience in view?

Oh did I mention? I need to pay 250 to close the account too if I wish to. (which might be needed because I dont’t see the point in keeping floating balances to the tune of 10,000 in each account just to meet their conditions).

What madness!

MMB posted this story about Mumbai Marathon. I wish something similar for KHI as well. Karachi is full of lack of activities especially for women. Whatever there is, its not enough for 15 million souls & some good options are too expensive for common man. In general people have very few options: Eating out, going to the same seaside (even that’s in danger in future), nearby park which present more an Afghan-war look than a refresher, are just few options. Cinema seems a DEAD idea. Theater is lost & so are the local sport events. Development is not just about piling up concrete blocks, or is it ?

Karachiites are desperate for such opportunities, trust me. They have hardly a chance to enjoy their life beside their home or the occasional visit to/by aunt/cousins etc. I recently saw few parks (Gulshan & Jail Chowrangi) renovated & the neighborhood immediately flocked with their children.This can prove quite effective in helping building city image. How about an annual (government level + private partnership) ARTs competition. A big festival for entertainment industry or something similar to what Mumbai did ? [Image A. Hamza]

I have it on good authority that a certain person was stopped by a man in a suit asking for directions to an imambargah. The person in question, heading the same way, gave a lift to the guy. Half way though the journey, the man’s coat slipped open and inside the person saw his chest was lined with explosives! The guy, realizing his jig was up, took out a gun and told the person that he was lucky and about to be shaheed and shouldn’t do anything stupid or he’ll just shoot him. Needless to say, the person was terrified.

Upon nearing the imambargah, the guy saw a number of security personnel at the entrance, panicked and told the person to take the car round back. There, seeing even more police presence, the guy ditched the car, with the comment “you’re very unlucky, u lost your chance at shahadat”. The person, terrified out of his wits, drove back home.

This brings me to an interesting question, what would you do in such a situation? This person had credible information about a real live potential suicide bomber, yet didn’t alert the authorities instead chose to go back home,leaving hundreds of others in the imambargah at risk. Take the poll and let us know what would you do in such a situation?

P.S. This incident took place today. So far, the bomber hasn’t struck. I pray for all our shia brothers and sisters, who are at their majlises to be safe tonight. On another note, Upto 5 terrorists armed with what were called ‘cyanide cans’ including two suicide bombers were caught. These guys were planning on mixing the cyanide with the drinks offered at various stalls. Cyanide kills within seconds of coming in contact with the human body.