The New Nation - Internet Edition

Md. Masum Billah

As a regular reader of English dailies and being a development worker of Brac central education programme any article regarding social, political or education development hardly escapes my atention and they receive my atentive reading unless I am seriously preoccupied with some other important business. Zaraf Sobhan, the assistant editor of the Daily Star has narrated his visit to two Chinese cities namely Kunming and Dalian and indicated the lessons Bangladesh can learn from China. My visit to Kunming and Beijing in 2005 leads me to endorse the views expressed by Mr. Sobhan. Really Kunming is a city lying only two hours plane journey from Dhaka but gives an impression of lying it many hours away from Dhaka. Sparkling clean, soundless and planned and non-crowded roads will definitely draw the atention of any city dwellers of Dhaka who is constantly bothered about sound pollution and plagued with troublesome and nasty traffic jam. Really a quite changed scenario appeared before our eyes on the way to our hotel from Kuning airport almost western style boys and girls closing each other but nobody bother about them along the city streets which proclaim their specially enhanced beauty with highbred roses and other flowers. Your ear will be pleased to hear the comfortable sounds, not a least bothering or noise will make you disturbed. Hundreds of cars and vehicles run along the city streets but no shrill cry. How is it possible? Cannot the city of Dhaka or our other city metropolitan traffic police follow the device they use? Kunming is nor Europe, precisely Asian part Even then, how they expose so much sophisticated traffic and health-friendly environment? Our environmentalists and police officials, I believe receive training and practical demonstration and visiting opportunities to these health friendly cities. Why don't they try to introduce their device in our cities?

Another thing caught my atention in Kunming that is almost all the houses have been brought under solar energy system. This networking saves the city from experiencing the troublesome and boring load shedding like Dhaka city. I visited one of the biggest banks in Kunming but no crowd came to my sight As soon as we went there to endorse the dollar, immediately it was completed. Not only that, many counters were waiting to offer help. The same thing I witnessed in Beijing as well. The bigger banks with lesser crowd was seen due to their excellent banking system. What about our state owned bank? Waiting hour after hour to make a fifty taka exchange or a bank draft How slow and incompetent banking service they offer even in this age of computer makes us really tired and disgusting. I remember in a state owned bank at Farmagate I went to make a pay order of one hundred taka but I had to wait more than one hour and when I asked them about the cause of their being so slow, the officer in charge felt complacent and told me that I was lucky enough to get this service in this branch in one hour and thirty minutes here. I would have to spend more time to do the same thing in another branch. How strange! Our private banks have started giving some commendable service which is still not up to world standard. Besides, we are bound to go to state owned banks for paying our utility service bills which kills much of our valuable time every month. No authority gives a litle thought to this mater. They never think of changing this age old ineffective and the most unscientific system. We can learn these things from China.

I traveled to Stone Park probably 250 kilometers north of Kuning city crossing through Chinese villages and hilly areas which gave me a brief idea about the agricultural development of China. Another thing drew my atention that the village road or rail-crossings also see over-bridges to avoid any traffic jam and save time. These things pose the sign of development and road to development

Over exercise of democracy sometimes causes blockade to economic development China enjoys one step further opportunity. Our democracy showed 'opposition for the sake of opposition'. No genuine or reasonable protest we could show in our practice of democracy. The writer wants to give a hint that Chinese development can be atributed partly to their one-party state though he not fully appreciates it He says, "Certainly there advantages to a one-party state with limited rights to oppose the government Sure it must be nice to be able to draw a line between two points and say: go build a road hue." Mr. Sobhan seems to speak in favour of the present political system of China. His language goes, "Democracy, as it is commonly understood, may take time to establish itself. But the culture of questioning and argument and dissent is alive and well." I think the culture they have established does not go far away from the practice of democracy.

The culture which enhances and encourages the development and country go ahead faster than usual pace does not show room for severe criticism. Of course, the Tienanmen Squre tragedy of 1989 reminds us the robbing of human rights. We do believe China has by this time proved more reasonable in showing human rights. My visiting the Tienanmen Squire reminded me the sad incident took place there but the humming of people gave me the quite normal and changed view of the Square. "But it should not be overlooked that parts of China that are doing the best are precisely those which have the greatest autonomy and not just economic autonomy but political autonomy too.

The parts of China those are most open to the outside world and receptive to new and foreign ideas. The parts where the old style communist social and economic order is being swept aside." I fully endorse this views of the writer.

The writer hints moderate democracy or socialism stands as the prerequisite to economic and social development which the developed states or parts of China witness. The old style socialism or the democracy we embraced stand in the way of progress and development The ugly shape of democracy or leading it to wrong direction brings miseries for the country which we practiced and exercised for so long years. We must learn a lot from these developed parts of China how miracles happened in their economic and social sectors being a huge populated country.