Loud Thinking

Author Archive

“Be fearless. Have the courage to take risks. Go where there are no guarantees. Get out of your comfort zone even if it means being uncomfortable. The road less traveled is sometimes fraught with barricades bumps and uncharted terrain. But it is on that road where your character is truly tested. And have the courage to accept that you’re not perfect nothing is and no one is — and that’s OK.”

Katie Couric (born 1957);
American journalist

No Country After Death..!

After sixty six years, Pakistan is a more fragmented society than our forefathers could have ever imagined. The schism is so intense that if immediate corrective steps are not taken, God forbid, this country may see even more turbulent times.

Writing on the wall is clear for all to read. The decadence of Pakistani society, in every sphere of life, be it political, economical, educational, industrial, agricultural, religious, law and order or any other segment worth naming, is abysmal, to say the least. Hardly, any day passes without reports of suicides committed by the poor due to the economic hardships. Children are dying in scores due to the Measles out break and strangely enough, no soul has moved and not even a single person has been held accountable.

May be, we have one last chance to stem the rot, to unite the people and to give them a prescription, to rise again and build the nation from the ashes, because for the overwhelming majority, a time is coming that they will be forced to think “no life no nation”.

All stakeholders must wake up, as the nation is moving towards destruction; our survival is directly linked with the existence of our nationhood. Nationhood means “The state or quality of having a status as separate and independent nation”.

Hence, for all the Pakistanis, failure is NOT an option. But success is also not automatically guaranteed, as well.

In this regard, I would like to suggest that, let us formulate a new social contract (specially designed for the 95 percent have-nots; specially, NOT like the budget planned for 2013-14 which failed to tax the super rich on one pretext or the other) for the common people of Pakistan, who always pay 100 percent bills and taxes and never default on their bank loans. Let us make a new Pakistan, which is redesigned to practically cater to the needs of the exploited masses.

Changes must be made in the constitution to block corrupt land owners and power hungry charlatans from contesting the elections. The election system should also be changed, so that the whole country directly votes for a President or a PM. However, before the voting, the candidates of all the political parties for this post, must notify a list of their MPA’s, MNA’s and Senators, who will be automatically considered elected, according to the percentage of votes cast, in favour of the main candidate, for the top post of the country.

The decision for Pakistan’s charter of development for building dams and mega projects for the next fifty years, should also be finalised, on which later on, no politics should be allowed. In other words, the entire representatives of the nation should decide NOW, where they would like to see Pakistan, in each and every field of life, after 5×10 = 50 years. The development goals must be clearly defined for 10 five year plans.

In order to decentralise and empower maximum number of people, to enjoy the fruits of self rule, we should convert every division of Pakistan into a province. This will also work as a panacea for the eradication of linguistic and any other type of frictions; and doubts about hegemony of people, of certain big areas, over the people of other smaller areas. In fact, it will work wonders, in the speedy development and unity of Pakistan and kill instantly, any secessionist or separatist activities currently prevailing in some parts of the country.

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad

Lahore – Pakistan

Sent from my iPad3 4G LTE

Lessen the Damage from the Inevitable Cultural Faux Pas

When working in a foreign setting with different norms and rules, you’re likely to make cultural mistakes. But you can lessen their impact by engendering people’s trust in the first place.

Make sure your foreign counterparts believe you care enough to try to learn about their culture, even if you haven’t fully mastered the rules.

Work hard to show genuine interest, curiosity, and respect. But, you also need to be authentic.

Don’t fake an interest in Indian food, for example, if you could care less about culinary arts.

Find a pursuit that genuinely appeals to you and explore that. Otherwise, it will be clear to your colleagues that you’re trying to ingratiate yourself, not learn about the ins and outs of their culture.

Today’s Management Tip was adapted from “Preparing for Inevitable Cultural Faux Pas” by Andy Molinsky.

“Living each day as it if were our last, rather than
converting us into hedonists, will make us appreciate how
wonderful it is that we are alive and have the opportunity to
fill this day with activity. This in turn will make us less
likely to squander our days. As we think about and plan for
tomorrow, remember to appreciate today.”

— William B. Irvine

Well played India.
India has won the ICC Cricket Champions Trophy semi final by defeating Sri Lanka in style. It was a truly professional and surgical performance. Perhaps, we are watching best ever Indian cricket team in history. Best of luck for the finals to be played on Sunday 2.30PM PST.

Mentoring is to support and encourage others to become better.

“Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.”

Donald Miller (born 1971);
Author

Write a Better Business Memo

It may feel like all work is done via quick email these days but there is still a need for longer memos and reports to get people up to speed on an issue, to induce action, or both.

With longer writing it’s critical to be well organized and structured, and to respect your reader’s time.

This means making it immediately clear what you want readers to learn about or do.

Start by choosing a concise title or subject line that tells them the topic and why they should care.

Begin your document by summarizing your main points and outlining the issue, your solution, and the reasoning behind it.

Refer to this summary when drafting the body of the message.

When you’re done, check the summary one more time to make sure it reflects how the rest of the memo has evolved.

Today’s Management Tip was adapted from the HBR Guide to Better Business Writing.

“Approach life knowing there will be plenty to go around. Be
generous.”

— Frank McKinney

IMF and the West are treating Pakistan like a conquered country.

An Urgent Open Letter to the PM Pakistan

H’able Mian Nawaz Sharif Sahab

Salaam.

As has been reported in the media, now a days, an IMF delegation is visiting Pakistan to offer fresh loan of $5 billion, to be mostly utilised by Pakistan, for the repayment of old IMF loan.

It is very surprising that your government is NOT working on the lines, to ask the IMF to have a heart and be patient with our loan repayments, considering the fact that Pakistan has been totally destroyed, during the last 15 years of war on terror, jointly fighting with 49 NATO countries, as a major non NATO ally. Moreover, this war has inflicted more men and material losses on Pakistan than the combined losses of the 49 NATO countries. As such, Pakistan has a right to be given some moratorium in its repayment of IMF loan. Even otherwise, Pakistan has already repaid more than the entire amount of the loan by partnering the West in its WOT; and also by not demanding any penny from the NATO for the military overflights to and from Afghanistan.

Mr. Prime Minister, every student of economics knows that never to use good money to recover bad money. Hence, there is no logic in seeking fresh loan to repay the old loan. This is a sure shot recipe for disaster. IMF should be clearly told that Pakistan was well within its rights, to have asked for the write off, of the remaining unpaid amount of their loan. However, what we are seeking is just a moratorium.

Pakistan can not afford to pay IMF’s remaining loan, over the peril of its economic demise.

In this regard, you may also order the foreign office to contact all the 49 NATO governments, to extend moral and financial support to Pakistan, so that we are also able to strongly look after their interests, in providing all the necessary facilities to their troops in Afghanistan. The USA and the NATO should also be reminded that Pakistan is not charging a penny for their military overflights, for which they offered $20 billion to Turkey, during the last Iraq war.

As such, Pakistan’s whole hearted cooperation in the WOT, deserves matching reciprocal response, in the shape of using their influence in IMF, to facilitate Pakistan, by way of at least 20 years moratorium, in the IMF loan repayments.

Just for your information, I am reproducing below my 6 questions to the then finance minister of Pakistan, which remained un-replied till date, but are an eye opener, that how Pakistan was plundered by the past government.

Sir, I apprehend that Pakistan is being forced to pay back the loan with PENALTIES for NOT utilising the sanctioned amount of $11.3 billion IMF loan.
Remember, we got only $7.6 billion from the sanctioned amount. As such, IMF and the West are treating Pakistan like a conquered country, rather than a major non-NATO ally in the world war on terror (WWOT).

My un-replied email of 14 October, 2012

Subject: Mr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh Sahib Kindly Provide the Information About IMF Loan & Etisalat Overdue Payment

1. Pakistan is repaying $7.6 billion to the IMF. Did we receive exactly this much amount or the total sum was less than this figure?

2. How much amount of interest Pakistan will be paying over the principle sum of this loan of $7.6 billion from the IMF? Or the IMF will be charging interest on the whole sanctioned amount of $11.3billion?

3. Did Pakistan pay and what was the total bill for the traveling, boarding and lodging of IMF delegations’s recent visit to UAE, for discussions with our economic team?

4. Besides the interest, how much service, handlers commission and or other charges were deducted by the IMF, on its loan of $7.6 billion to Pakistan? V V important question.

5. How much service charges or penalty was charged by the IMF to Pakistan, for not utilizing or obtaining the remaining $3.7 billion amount, from the originally sanctioned loan amount of $11.3 billion; because Pakistan got only $7.6 billion from IMF?

6. When will Pakistan get its overdue payment of $800 million from the Etisalat Telecom, which is controlling the whole PTCL management and other affairs, with a minority share holding?

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Mr. Prime Minister, while concluding, I must say that as a statesman, you have to keep in mind, the impact of your current decisions and actions, on the future generations of Pakistan; so that the posterity remembers you as leader, who pulled this country from the abyss, like Mao tse tung and Kemal Ataturk, rescued their nations from much worse situations.

Wishing you Godspeed in your endeavours to serve Pakistan, in a befitting manner, so that you will be remembered in the annuls of history, as a saviour of Pakistan.

With Best Wishes and Kind Regards,

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad
Lahore.

Sent from my iPad3 4G LTE