Thanks to Em for alerting me to this fact.
So Bangladesh is no longer no. 1, having fallen to no. 3. While successfully kicking Pakistan and Nigeria's ass, we got beaten by Haiti (No. 1), Myanmar, Iraq and Guinea (joint no. 2). I am talking of the the list of most corrupt countries in the world (hint: scroll to the bottom).
So let's see. In a period where there were 300 bombs, judges were killed, lawyers hit by a suicide bomb (jury still out on that one), political instability where the opposition forced street protests and there was a possibility of a military coup, what did Bangladesh achieve?
We won the Nobel Peace Prize.
And we reduced corruption.
So, um, we are on the, uh, right track?
Tags: Bangladesh
6 comments:
You know I have a problem with this report.
In Bangladesh, you give the telephone guy 25 taka to install a telephone line, or 50 taka to a clerk to move a file, it's "bribery" and "corruption".
Here, if you as a corporation want a law passed, you take the politician out to a hockey game, treat him to good seats and food, or fly him to Florida for golfing. After he retires, you give him a seat on the board of directors of one of your organizations. Or you send his wife and kids expensive gifts. In return, he passes the laws favoring you. And we call this 'wining and dining' or 'lobbying', not "corruption".
Salaam.
hint: scroll to the bottom :D classic.
Farah, are you an academic? This is an area of some active research in political economy. There's too much done on this to really do justice to it in a comment, so I direct you to but one fascinating paper on this that focuses on one aspect of corruption quantification: how easy it is to set up a firm in a country... As for why getting his wife and kids expensive gifts instead of just getting them equivalent cash, that's another exciting area of current research, but this time in behavioral finance :). I can again direct you to a fascinating paper on this.
Mezba, I wholly agree with your skepticism, and a somewhat biased but still one of the better assessments of the last 5 years in the Desh was in the Star Magazine that you might have already read. That said, Alhamdulillah, the catchy statistics are to our favor :). What angers me is that I know the BNP-Jamaat will unabashedly gloat on these as the elections come up *sigh*... Be prepared for more fireworks in the Desh as the election draws closer. I somehow don't think we're quite off of the BBC headlines just yet :(. But Allah never changes the fate of a people until they change it themselves, so let's at least try and be the small change in the micro environment where we can wield some of our influence. Of the 145 million that claim to be Bangladeshis, there must be plenty of decent people with morals and faith. And they (we?) will overcome, they will overcome... someday. Insha Allah.
Yeah, I heard that like an hour ago when I was watching ATN Bangla news just to see stuff about Zidane. Not only did I see Zidane arrive in Bangladesh, but i also got to see the TI results.
All I can say is it's sad. Bangladesh has such great potential yet for a few minority it is completely ruined for the majority.
Also, I have complete faith in the TI report. If their report was actually faulty then people wouldn't make a big deal about the results.
Oh and also, I was thinking the exact same thing as Em. BNP will definitely try to wield this bit of news in their favour.
However, in my opinion, as long as it's the same people involved in politics in Bangladesh, there will be no positive change. I mean, Awami and BNP had their chances and both have failed miserably!
What angers me more is that they are grooming their own fmaily memebrs to continue their despicable legacy.
I'm postive that Sheikh Mujib would've been greatly disappointed by the state of his nation right now. I wish the leaders of the new born Bangladesh were still here. Too bad they all got assassinated....
Hmm ..
if TI says it - it must be true. Agreeing with BFob here.
I am Not a supporter of BNP, however, their inclusion of RAB in our daily life - has really reduced the rate of crimes - like it or not :)
I hope that the stats continue to get better for Bangladesh. I think Bangladesh also needs to address the environmentalism issue.
In my opinino, the environment can only be saved in Bangladesh if there were less people being born! The gov't seriosuly needs to tell people to stop having too many kids! They need the china system. Where every couple can have only one child and farmers can have more because they need help to work their land and whatnot.
Also, if there's less people in Bangladesh then each person will be more valuable. Why do you think ppl die everyday in Bangladesh? It's because they're dispensible. There'll be someone to replace them.
It's just like in economics. Too much supply (ppl) and down goes the price.
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