Thalassaemia Awareness Walk

As you may know that Thalassaemia Day is observed throughout the world in the month of May. To commemorate this Day, Thalassaemia Awareness Walk is being organized by Thalassaemia Federation of Pakistan – Sindh Chapter in collaboration with KITCC and 6 other organizations. The purpose of this walk is to increase awareness in general public and media about causes and prevention of the disease.

You are therefore, requested to join us in the walk. Details are as follows:

Date: Sunday, May 20, 2012
Venue: Seaview, Karachi, Pakistan (Start point: Floating Ship)
Timmings: 5.00 pm onwards

We look forward to see you there. If you are unable to attend then please forward this to your contacts who might be interested and help us in spreading awareness.

For further details:

Kashif Iqbal Thalassaemia Care Centre (KITCC)
Phones: +92-21-34981190, +92-21-34987202, +92-21- 34814418
E-mail: info@kashifiqbal.com
Fax: +92-21-34814652
Website: kashifiqbal.com
Visit our Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/kitcc
Visit our Facebook Fan Page: facebook.com/kitcc.trust
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/#!/thal_kitcc

Advertisement

A letter to the editor Time Magazine – By Mr. Tony Lazaro

Dear Followers,

This is in continuation to my previous post “A disturbing article in Time magazine – “Karachi is doomed. Karachi is indestructible”.

I am pleased to reproduce a letter to the Editor, Time Magazine written by Mr. Tony Lazaro who is the Managing Director of Rising Stars Management Group after his kind permission, for that I am very thankful to him.

This letter has not been published by Time Magazine so far (I didn’t find it in its issue of 30-Jan-12), but I found it worthy of posting on to my blog while thinking that we must show the world the positive side of Karachi as well as our country, Pakistan, because unfortunately, every media be it foreign or local is trying to bully us and showing only negativity about Pakistan or maybe they have got only one eye that sees negativity all around but nothing else.

I am reproducing below the letter with a request to you all to please send your comments and feedback, thanks:

The Editor, Time Magazine
Dear Editor,

I recently returned from a charitable trip to Pakistan, whereby I visited both Karachi and Islamabad. I spoke with several universities, key businesses, prominent business leaders and several religious people from all generations….

On the day I returned to the office, someone had placed your magazine (January 16, 2012), on my desk. I read with interest your article on Karachi and the city in doom. For a person to have just returned from the very same place that your magazine described was somewhat bizarre, so I read with great detail your writer (Andrew Marshall’s) account.

Let me begin by saying that I often flick through your magazine and find the articles of great interest, but on this particular day and this particular article, I found certain comments to be both one sided and indeed very negative. I say that because I saw a different Pakistan to what was portrayed in your article. I do not and will not comment on the political or religious problems that the country faces, but I will go so far as to say that not everything is as bad as the image that your magazine paints.

Sure there are deaths in the cities. Please show me a city in the world, that is free from political fighting and unrest.

Sure there are differences in the political party opinions. Please show me a country in the world where the political parties agree.

Sure the innocent are suffering. Please show me a country in the world where wealth and power is equal and the innocent don’t suffer.

Sure corruption is in Pakistan. Please show me a country in the world that is corruption free.

My list could go on, but my point is that Pakistan does have problems…but so does every other country in the world in some way or another. However, in the case of ALL other nations, there are often good things to report and the media goes out of its way to promote these good things across the globe, whenever possible. The ridiculous amount of shootings in the USA are balanced off by the success of Google, Microsoft and Apple. The financial dilemmas of Greece are lost in the marketing of the Greek Islands as a holiday destination of choice. The child slave industry of India, is brushed under the carpet in favour of the nation’s growth in the global software boom. What I am trying to say, is that someone needs to look further into Pakistan and see that there are millions of great stories to write about, which would portray the country in a different light, to that what is being portrayed by your article.

When I was in Pakistan, I visited a towel manufacturing company (Alkaram Towels). They produced some $60million in export in 2011 and are aiming at $85million in 2012. A substantial increase in sales…in a recession I would remind you. The company was started by the current Chairman, Mr. Mehtab Chawla, at the tender age of nine, after his father passed away. Today the very man employs 3000 staff. Now that’s a story.

I visited universities of NED, Hamdard, Karachi, Szabist and NUST. The students are unbelievably intelligent. They spend their spare time developing APPS for android and apple. They are involved in cutting edge technology and no one in the world knows this. Why not send a reporter to Pakistan to look into this. Why not research good things in this nation, rather than just the bad things. At NUST (National Institution for Science and Technology – Islamabad)) there were 38,000 applications for medicine. There are only 83 seats for the medicine course on offer. The competition is unbelievable. In short it pushes the best to be even better. But the world doesn’t know this. Why ? Because no one wants to report on it, or no one knows about it…or both !!

Please do not get me wrong. I understand that news is news, but it is high time that the western world stopped promoting these terrorists and political wars in Pakistan and started to write something that would help the nation. Something positive. If we really care about global partnerships and economic growth, then I suggest we try and give Pakistan a helping hand. There are 180 million people in Pakistan, 65% are under the age of 25. The youth of Pakistan is its strength.. it is like a sleeping giant. If you think that India is a booming nation. I suggest you stop a second and look at Pakistan. Given a little help from the western world, Pakistan can become a dominant economy. She doesn’t want aid and she doesn’t need money… she just wants the chance to be seen in a different light. I believe we have a fundamental obligation to assist. The only question is, who will reach out first.

Warmest regards,

Tony Lazaro
Managing Director
Rising Stars Management Group
Tel: 02 8824 7000
Fax: 02 8824 7766
http://www.risingstars.com.au

A disturbing article in Time magazine – “Karachi is doomed. Karachi is indestructible”

I am a subscriber of Time magazine and have been reading it regularly for the past quite a few years. Last week, when I received my copy of January 16, 2012, I literally got shocked to see the cover page that reads, “Pakistan’s Dark Heart – Karachi is dangerous, chaotic, ungovernable — and essential to global economy” By Andrew Marshall.

The article started with a heading, “Karachi is doomed. Karachi is indestructible”. I stopped reading the article at once as the starting few NEGATIVE words of the article about Karachi freaked me out and then the first thing that came into my mind was that as to how to contact Mr. Marshall and talk to him one on one about his views on Karachi and how to show him the positive side of Karachi and even the entire country, Pakistan. But then I started looking at different ways as to how to involve someone not from Karachi but have visited Karachi to write something about the city, so that my writing something about Karachi, being the Karachiite does not look at all a biased viewpoint to him. So I am looking forward to sending a counter article with all positive aspects about Karachi and the entire country, Pakistan by someone very soon as in my view the writer of that article, Mr. Andrew Marshall has got the eye that has seen only the negativity about Karachi but nothing else.

Your views, comments, feedback will help me a lot in preparing my article and I desperately am looking forward to it.

PTI JALSA – 25 Dec, 2011 (Via PIECEMEAL)

Courtesy: PIECEMEAL

Thanks to PTI for arranging jalsa on Sunday, on Quaid’s birthday and in an enclosed area across Mazar-e-Quaid. People were there for the love of Imran Khan. Youngsters were very excited and the public stayed there until the end of the show. After a long time, it felt like a city free to walk around and talk without fear. No heavy traffic jam especially around Mazar-e-Quaid.

I am not blaming Imran Khan but this was a successful effort of PTI for those who are used to the typical type of political public gatherings, for those who don’t care about dust, sand and pollution, for those who don’t care about discipline. So far nothing different except a true public involvement in Karachi after a long time.
Revolution comes through people. What kind of revolution can people of Pakistan bring? Have they prepared themselves to bring any revolution or will rely on the promises made by PTI and wait for them to bring a change?

I think Imran Khan announced this gathering a month ago. I would have called this the start of a true revolution for a New Pakistan if they had reserved at least twenty thousand out of sixty thousand chairs for women on one side of the ground and a gate for their entrance. Thirty thousand chairs should have been allotted to old men so they can sit and enjoy the show. Men from other provinces and interior need every-second-guidance for which way to walk, where to enter from, to walk in line, leave space for others etc. They don’t have a concept of “others too have a right of way even as a pedestrian”. People with flags should stand on side or all the way in the back or at least sit down so they don’t block the view of others.

It was really hard to breathe due to sand everywhere and people sneezed openly on others without covering their nostrils. A month or two was enough time to maintain that venue. Can’t they grow grass there, make it look pleasant?

By the way, why a crowd has to be on the stage and get tired by standing, moving, spinning, squeezing and leaning?

Change comes through people. Do people have courage to raise their voice against corruption at homes, against their beloved fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, uncles, cousins, in-laws, friends, colleagues and employers?

Imran Khan is right, corruption is easier than to reduce illiteracy. Only if people promise no more fake fake birth certificates, fake medical certificates, fake land documents, fake any kind of official documents, traffic violations, no more dowry, no more show off, no more breaking roads to celebrate their weddings, birthdays, majalis, milad, aqiqa ceremonies and death anniversaries. No more selling marks and positions in exams, no more telling exam syllabus to favourite (useful) students, no more occupying side-walks, no more throwing garbage out of balconies and windows and on streets, no more SPITTING around. No more wall chalking or spraying for publicity, putting banners and pasting flyer on poles, roads, bus stops and roundabouts. No more cheating in selling rotten, damaged, spoiled and expired products and goods.

Imran Khan may lead a successful rally against Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, Altaf Hussain and other political evils. But how would he convince common Pakistanis to end corruption at home?

Common Pakistanis are used to one-man show, they don’t like to talk about boring things like responsibilities of good citizens, duties of good Muslims, importance of rules and laws in a society, etc.
They are still saying that Imran Khan will bring the change. They haven’t said they will change themselves to work with Imran Khan??????????????????????????????