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Glorious Bangladesh |
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| Its only natural
for a person to glorify his country.. but the feelings
is overwhelming when someone from a distant land does
the same. I felt the same way when I read the article
published in the editorial of daily The New Nation
by H.E Matsushiro Horiguchi, the Japanese Ambassador
to Bangladesh. Special attention is drawn to the 2nd
para where he highlights the contribution of the Armed
Forces in the uplifting the image of the country international
forum by perticipating in Peace Keeping Operations
(PKO) under the UN umbrella. |
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The glorious achievements of Bangladesh
By Matsushiro Horiguchi, Japanese Ambassador
Fri, 17 Feb 2006, 09:29:00
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I
would like to take this opportunity to introduce
you some world-class achievements and important
actors that Bangladesh has realised and produced
through 35 years since its independence. |
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First |
is Bangladeshi Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs),
which lead other NGOs in the world. The contributions
made by BRAC, the world's biggest NGO, and micro-credit
concept developed by Dr. Muhammad Yunus of Grameen
Bank are among the biggest achievements. |
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Second |
is the Bangladeshi personnel who have won honor
for Bangladesh in the international society through
their peace-keeping operations (PKO) under the umbrella
of the United Nations. The number of Bangladeshi
PKO personnel currently amounts to 9758, bigger
than any other country, and their high standard
of discipline and capabilities have gained full
credibility of local peoples in African countries
and elsewhere where they have been dispatched. |
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Third |
is the ICDDR,B (Centre for Health and Population
Research) which invented the world renowned oral
rehydration saline (ORS), silver bullet to eliminate
diarrhea including cholera. |
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Fourth |
is women working in the ready-made garment (RMG)
industry, which accounts for three quarters of the
total Bangladesh exports. |
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Fifth |
is the Bangladeshi expatriates sending remittances
worth US$4 billion, which amounts to the half of
the total exports. |
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Sixth |
Then come the architects. Mr. Fazlur Rahman Khan,
who designed tallest skyscrapers in Chicago expressing
Bengali richness and American vigor, and Mr. Muzharul
Islam, who started from zero to achieve the development
of the current Bangladeshi architecture are a couple
of illustrious examples. |
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Seventh |
is the entrepreneurs of the private sector, who
support remarkable growth of the Bangladeshi economy.
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Eighth |
is the folklore musicians, painters, and dancers
who transmit and develop Bengali spirit and cultural
richness. |
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The
victories and achievements that Bangladesh has realized
since its independence and should be proud of as
a nation. Bangladeshi people are losing their self-confidence,
because they have been suffering from predicaments
such as famine, floods and corruption. This endeavor
is very significant for following reasons: |
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First |
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pride and self-confidence will motivate further
development. More achievements in the fields that are
mentioned in the special edition and new feats in
other fields can be also facilitated. |
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Second |
Further
development will enhance national confidence and can
trigger a movement towards national unity for a
better country. |
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Third |
Such
a movement can bring about a national determination
to take action in order to overcome confrontational
politics and eradicate corruption. Though they have
been blamed for hindering Bangladeshi development,
few concrete actions has been taken so far. |
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Fourth |
The portrayal of their national pride and
self-confidence to the outer world will make people
in other countries reevaluate Bangladesh and improve
their perception which has generally been unfairly
negative. |
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Conclusion |
Thus,
the campaign to cultivate national pride and self-confidence
of Bangladeshi people will bring further development
of Bangladesh. I hope that the Bangladeshi government
and its people in unity make utmost efforts to continue
the campaign to reach the ultimate goal of success.
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Campaign
for the next year's general election has started
already. I believe that a party is highly likely
to win if that party could send a positive message
to the people like: "Let's restore national
pride and self-confidence as Bangladeshis. Let's
make Bangladesh a country deserving such pride and
self-confidence. We thus propose such-and-such policies
and procedures to realize this." I believe
that such a constructive competition should greatly
contribute to a free and fair election. |
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I
hope that Bangladeshi people become affluent within
ten to twenty years and remember this campaign as
an important turning point towards the development
of the country. |
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©
Copyright 2003 by The New Nation |
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Winner
of Novel Peace Prize, Dr. Mohammed Yunus, Managing
Director, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh, said
information technology, renewable energy and micro
credit put together produce synergy and elaborated
the use of micro-credit to fund rural solar and
solar-powered mobile phones. He stressed the need
for research and development to lower costs of solar
technology and make wind energy viable. |
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step
with the abounding vitality of the time, structural
engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan (1929 — 1982)
ushered in a renaissance in skyscraper construction
during the second half of the 20th century. Fazlur
Khan was a pragmatic visionary: the series of progressive
ideas that he brought forth for efficient high-rise
construction in the 1960s and ‘70s were validated
in his own work, notably his efficient designs for
Chicago’s 100-story John Hancock Center and
110-story Sears Tower (the tallest building in the
United States since its completion in 1974). |
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One
of the foremost structural engineers of the 20th
century, Fazlur Khan epitomized both structural
engineering achievement and creative collaborative
effort between architect and engineer. Only when
architectural design is grounded in structural realities,
he believed — thus celebrating architecture's
nature as a constructive art, rooted in the earth
— can "the resulting aesthetics …
have a transcendental value and quality." |
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History
