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Tabraiz Feham's Blog

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Mustafa Kamal keeps it rolling...

Totay I articulated an email containing news picks in my close circle on onging development in Karachi. You can have a look at the clippings on the link below:

http://www.tabraiz.net/bimages/dec_5_karachi_developments.gif

The email got interesting replies.. so posting it on the blog. If you would like to add your throughts please click on the comments and post.

Would like to clarify that I pass these email to keep posted my friends & close one's about the latest developments in the city. I am in any way not associated with any political party and my views (may be baised) but are independent.

My Other posts for Karachi:

Futuristic Karachi

Karachi Photos by Tabraiz

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Mr. Zeeshan Zaidi writes:

Any updates on the fallen bridge`s investigation and also the enquiry into the hundereds of sub standard and illegal boards that were installed all over Karachi by the local governments? :) Thanks

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Tabraiz Writes:

well sir... Northen Bypass project is a mega project and involves giants like NHA, NLC & ECIL (ECIL is one of the largest private sector consulting companies in Pakistan operating since 1959)... city district govt. had a meager role to play then the govt. itself. And for the fact the bridge didn't fall due to sub-standard material.. but due to a design flaw, even a foreign consulting firm was hired to oversee & correct the design -- don't know what happened then... may be here corruption took the charge and recommendations were neglected or not incorporated in totality or whatever, which no doubt is bad and has been a dilemma for the nation for the last 60 years. BUT this doesn't mean that it is the end of the world...

- they have given this city more than a dozen bridges & underpasses in a very short span of time (seemed impossible a few years back) so if there is a bad incident does this white washes all that has been achieved?

- my proud on this city touches heights when I see those widespread & small parks all over the city... where children can play, people can walk and talk.. and can breath in a relatively cleaner air.

- I see the improvement in drainage & sewerage system, I see the roads a whole lot improved.. and i see it all in my very own area and on the very roads that i happen to pass every morning & every night which makes a big difference for me

- I can get my problems to the area in-charge by meeting seeing him physically and if this doesn't soothe.. I can get my complains directly through... thanks to the 24/7 operating CDGK call center

- I see the difference in passport office, difference in license office and difference when I have to pay the bills

- I see my job... OHHHH working for an American company.. being paid good money Al-humdulillah, thanks to the city's growing economy that despite all the BULL-SHIT about Pakistan all over the world, people still are attracted to it.

This all is what matters most for a common man like ME... it matters not if Musharraf is doffing off his wardi or not, miyaan sahab & mohtarma playing jaloos jaloos & ehtajaj ehtajaj all over Pakistan (after having blatantly looted & plundered this country off), Mr. Altaf posing like a panjandrum scholar giving his telephonic lessons on Islam & extremism... ehhhh ..to them all I would say SHUT UP!

The problem is that we just keep on complaining.. we need to learn to see the glass half full - not half empty, give the credit right wherever needed and point out & criticize the weaknesses positively. YES there is a major room for improvement, a LOT LOT is still to be done, there are hundreds of things that need attention - and correction and I am sure its gonna get better and better as the time goes by.

May Allah bless us all

Tabraiz

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Mr. Zeeshan Zaidi writes:

So basically no news yet? ok now then... :)

I appreciate your optimism and I always have and preach them same and have quite often still fights with people here and there over the image of Pakistan and its people, but I cant take or understand the point of campaigning for Mustafa Kamal on email. Frankly its a bit amusing :). Sending the headlines around.

On one hand you care so much for your country and on the other you dont care who rules it and how. What a dichotomy ?, No offence I do feel your profound attachment to MQM and Altaf lot probably due to family backgound of migration at partition I assume which I share as well, and I respect that. I do not have any particular affection to any one of them although I have met them mostly all and havent been impressed as such.

Glass full or half empty :) .. well I would rather advocate attempts to fill the rest of the glass and over flow it for my fellow countrymen. Do not take away your or anybody else`s right to think freely please and do not stop criticism and debate because doing that will take away the very hope of any optimism in future and progress.

Working for an American company and saying AlhamdolilAllah :D ? hahaha just kidding.. I mean we victimised GEO over that recently. :)

I am glad that you see the differences, relatively do not take your eyes off the things that matter as well. criticize the weaknesses positively ? :) I didnt use a BULL-SHIT and SHUT UP in any of my statements yet. My attempts are to point to the horrors looming Pakistan and the internal problems we have usually then to go out on a superficial witch hunt. Positive :) .. ah well ok, right!!!.

I am not asking people to kill each other but to have open ears and eyes, I would rather be the voice of dissent rather then resorting to conformity and pacifism as it is in the best of our interest than to merely hope and pray.

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Imran Aleem writes:

I am on the side of tabraiz and his comments, also to add that fallen bridge was not constructed by the hands of Mustafa Kamal or MQM, it was project done by NLC. We should remember the past where our city was under darkness where there was no street lights not even on main shara-e-faisal, no proper roads and much more under other governments. We should give credit to whatever they have done good and obviously no one perfect................

Also to add that in these 5 years we have faced two natural disasters one is heavey rain which caused demage to these constructions as well as one heavey storm which also did same but still they are busy to build their city even after these two big demages and with diffrent kind of political pressures.. . . . . .. . . . . .i am also not at the side of Altaf Hussain but admire to one who does good............ rest we all know tht we are also not good ourself . . . . .. . . . . . we can't change the system untill we change ourself . . . . .. . . .

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Zeeshan Zaidi writes:

The sign boards incident by predicted by me way back because i could see the licenses being issued recklessly without any checks, infact it was a kind of favour because earning from each average sized roadside board can go in hudereds of thousands annually. And the storm that day. Same has been with the construction of bridges it has been questionable ever since but the fall of one bridge (doesnt matter the jurisdiction it was being built under) raises the concerns ten folds.

I think its my failure and nobody else`s if I fail to bring others to see my point of view from the point I see it. Perhaps I have not put enough effort depending too much on the intelligence of the reader. Clear and transparent accountability for everyone is mandatory. As you say Imran we have to change ourselves ? then how do we change ourselves buddy ? start praying stricting five times a day, not miss fajar ? don`t get me wrong but thats not exactly and only way we have to change ourselves, we have to change the point of view we have over things.

Can I point of certain fallacies we fell victim to in the recent debates ?

- Worship of hereos beyond accountability

- Justification of one wrong with another

- Ignorance (is a bliss indeed)

Side of Altaf hussain, benazir, nawaz sharif, mushy mush or kala chor whatever. When a question is raised please consider the question rather then trying take apart the motives of the person asking if he/she is a pessimist ignoring all the good and focusing on the bad. That my dear bretheren is ignorance.

I told the same to my british executive colleagues, sufi saint sitting in a cave in remote desert mountains of Pakistan, the christain priest who was trying to convert me and few of the so called luminaries and intellectuals of our time.

Pardon me for taking so much of your time but I on one hand do encourage conversation and debate over matters, so keep in touch.

thanks for the privilege of reading my words,

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Geo TV Banned! Rightly so........

It seems President Musharraf has unknowingly & un-intentionally served a good cause while grinding his own axe. We never know what Allah has in it for us... to me its a clear omen for all of us to set our vices straight.

Tabraiz










Thursday, November 08, 2007

Ant & Grasshopper

Older Version

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

Modern Version

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

Geo TV, BBC, ARY, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Asma Jahangir stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.

Imran Khan goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.

Amnesty International and Chief Justice Iftikhar criticize the Pakistan Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance).
Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Islamic parties call for "Hartal" in Frontier and Baluchistan demanding a Judicial Enquiry.

MQM Coalition in Sindh immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.

Sheikh Rasheed allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Pakistan Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Shalimar'.

Finally, the President drafts an ordinance ' Anti State Terrorism against Grasshoppers Act' [ASTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter. Mobilizes state agencies.

Punjab Govt. makes ' Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.

The Ant is fined for failing to comply with ASTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes; its home is confiscated by the NAB and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by PTV.

Nawaz Sharief calls it ' A Triumph of Justice '.
Benazir calls it ' Democratic Justice '.
MQM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden'
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz invites the Grasshopper to address the National Assembly.
Many years later...

The Ants have since migrated to the US, Canada, UK and Middle East, have worked harder then they did before set up a multi-million dollar business.

100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in Pakistan ...
As a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the Grasshoppers, Pakistan is still a developing country!!!


(Received in email.. really thoughtful...)

Monday, April 16, 2007

Karachiites Say No to Extremism!

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in sizzling heat of Karachi to condemn and raise their voice against extremism and what they call it Danda Bardaar Shariyat. This is a sheer display and warning for a mere 2% minority of extremists to correct their vices... This is not Afghanistan, Welcome to Pakistan.

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Thursday, March 29, 2007

Karachi in the Near Future


to look like in the near future

specially compiled in the love of my city

Tabraiz

Destination Pakistan 2007






This year its all happening here....


Celebrating


"VISIT PAKISTAN 2007"


Official Website

Ministry of Tourism Website

Calendar of Events



Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Blogspot Unblocked..... Finally!

A happy day for bloggers in Pakistan as blogspot was finally unblocked by PTCL (Pakistan Telecommunication Ltd), so we can now start blogging again.

What should I say for those pathetic and fickle minded officials at PTCL and PEMRA (Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority), who banned Blogger last year in connection with Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) blaspheme by the Swedish newspaper. Instead of blocking only those few blogs with profane content, they blocked the entire blogspot domain... thus depriving hundreds of thousands of Pakistani bloggers from their right to advocate and spread their voice against that stupid act. This was the time when the young guns in Pakistan were starting to understand the concept of blogging.. and were vigorously involved in publishing content. But this sudden imbroglio has set the bloggers in Pakistan a year back (Myspace, Typepad, LiveJournal etc are not popular here in Pakistan).

Let's see if we could bring that pace again.

Tabraiz Feham

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Saturday, May 06, 2006

Microsoft Windows Vista Wallpapers & Screen Shots (Part II)

Here goes the part II of Vista wallpapers collection!



Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Cartoon controversy - what we can do?

The least we can do is to condemn it. SO
Condemn it here!

Sign the petition

=====================

A Danish newspaper published humiliating and derogatory caricatures of
our Prophet Muhammad (SAW) which were republished in several
newspapers throughout Europe.


Please do sign the following petition AND forward it to those whom you know.

http://www.petitiononline.com/moh12345/petition.html


Regards,
Hafsa

======================

Thanks hina for forwarding it.

Tabraiz

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Google Hacker's Version

While searching for something I discovered Hacker's version of Google!
Can't figure out the purpose, but still interesting if you can endeavor reading it :)


http://www.google.com/intl/xx-hacker/

Tabraiz

Friday, January 20, 2006

Hi-Tec Giants - View from the Top

Headquarters of world's top hi-tec giants from Google Earth's eye

Visit Images Here...

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Evolution - A Photoshoppery

The idea just came out of the blue... and I smashed it on Photoshop.
Please view larger for details.


View Larger



Tabraiz Feham

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

The Word "POLITICS"

The word 'politics' is derived from the word 'poly', meaning 'many', and the word 'ticks', meaning 'blood sucking parasites'.
Larry Hardiman

Friday, December 02, 2005

I'll miss you a lot........... my K300i :(

Yesterday night as I walked out of my office and marched a few yards, 3 guys on a bike stopped a few meters beside me and one of them came running towards me, loaded his gun aggressively, pointed towards my feet and asked for my mobile and wallet...... I had to no option but to acknowledge them.. I tried but in vain to take out my dual sim (Mobilink & Telenor), but nevertheless I was able to negotiate :) the copy of my NIC & a bundle of few cards (fortunately my ATM card was among those)... and this all happened in not more than 4 seconds.

I would miss my mobile a lot because of the content that I managed to gather over the past several months, I would miss those lovely messages from friends & family, I would miss those small java applications that I downloaded after quite a lot of searching & effort on WAP. I would miss those lovely little games specially Reversi, Bowling & Checkers. I would miss my ringtones collection, not to mentions those serene wallpapers & images that I sized specially to fit on the screen.

hhhhhhh....... I end this post with a request :) ..... "if you happen to be the one using the mobile later on.. please give it a bit of care & respect. Thanks :)"

Tabraiz Feham