By Nabil Es Shaimi
By Nabil Es Shaimi
Morocco World News
Casablanca, April 16, 2012
The TEDx “Technology, Entertainment, Design” organized an event that was prepared by the ENSIAS, “Ecole Nationale Supérieure D’informatique et D’analyses des systems” on the premises of the “Fondation Mohamed VI de Promotion des Oeuvres Sociales de L’éducation-Formation”. The speakers wanted to convey through events and stories that happened throughout their careers that we as members of society have to contribute positively in the development of the community.
Mr. Omar Balafrej, director of Technopark in Casablanca, argued that the state shouldn’t seek superficial development and he gave the example of Morocco’s TGV or the High Speed Train. He argued that the state would be wasting money for such a huge project, which the country does not currently need; since there are other priorities that the state should be investing money in, namely health and education, without which a country can never be developed. He gave the example of Spain and Brazil which delayed their TGV projects, saying that it’s not bad to go back on ones decision if it appears to be not for the benefit of the community.
Mr Aziz Rebbah, the minister of transportation, argued that every Moroccan should become engaged and serve his or her country as best as possible, through community service. He noted that if the educated don’t get involved then ignorant people surely will. And they will obtain the country’s goods for themselves and leave the poor and needy ones to face the harsh realities of life. At that moment I remembered the African-American leader, Malcom X, who said in the early 60s, while urging his fellows to get engaged in the political system to assure equality and human rights for all citizens: “we should control the politics and politicians in our own community…we have to carry on a program, a political program, of re-education to open our people’s eyes, make us become more politically conscious, politically mature, and then we will – whenever we get to cast our ballot, that ballot will be cast for a man of the community who has the good of the community.”
The idea of raising people’s awareness regarding the importance of being involved in politics will take a very long time because people have developed a negative view of politicians who promise things they can never realize. Unfortunately, and in most cases, they are not wrong. The idea to remedy this fact is to implement a system of checks and balances. This principle that we can find in the US government, is really what we need in this country. People should check their politicians and see if they are doing their work properly. Because, some of whom we elect, try to profit as much as possible from their positions to gain a personal fortune and to afford work only for their relatives, since they know they won’t stay in office for their entire lives. So, instead of working to satisfy their community, which elected them, they work to satisfy themselves.
On his part, Mr. Hicham Bouzekri, told a very funny story of the guy who wanted to win the lottery, and prayed to God as hard as he could to fulfill his wish. But years gone by and he never won. He was still praying to win and one night he saw a vision where an angel came to him and said: “play first the lottery”. What I got from this story is that people complain a lot from different issues in life, but the question we should be asking ourselves is: “what did I do to solve my problems?”
It is just annoying to find people sitting in cafes without a job and cursing the government for not giving them the chance to work, or protesting in front of the parliament and burning themselves to death. I ask those people: “have you tried to look for a job elsewhere, instead of waiting for a miracle?” A job in the public sector is not heaven, I’ve tried both public and private sector. They’re alike; except that in the private sector I’ve had a better salary. Youngsters shouldn’t be wasting time waiting to win the jackpot as they sit back and wait for the state to knock at their doors and ask them ‘please come to work for us.’ The job market offers opportunities only for job seekers and not café sitters.
Mr. Simohammed Zaari Jabiri a doctor at CHU in Rabat shocked the public with a moving story from his own experience. Mr. Jabiri told us the story of a nightshift at the hospital where he works as a neurosurgeon. Due to the insufficiency of equipment, one night he had to make a hard choice that a person can ever make; the choice of who to let live and who to let die. This event made him write his anger on a website and called that night’s reflection: “A schizophrenic neurosurgeon’s memories”. His reflection yielded positively reaction and pushed some people to donate.
Now after having read his reflection, I ask myself: “how can a state think of making a high speed train while its citizens have to pay for surgery items? And most of the time they can’t afford it!” It’s such a hypocrite country that only looks for … I don’t even know what it looks for. The state’s primal priority should be to promote education and health. These are the fundamentals that every country should take care of, if it wants to ride the track of development.
The invincible the fraud that happens every day in our public places, administrations, schools and hospitals is frustrating. There are many things that should be corrected in this “happy” country, but we should first change mentalities. To do so, we need years, if not decades. Every citizen should be an active member in society instead of just being a spectator. You are not watching a reality show program. You are living a real life, so take it seriously and strive to make it better.
Teacher of English at a secondary school in Ain Harrouda, near Casablanca. He obtained a Bachelor of Art in English Literature at the University of Mohammed V, Rabat. He has TEFL certificate from The Regional Pedagogical Center of Tangier.([email protected])
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Morocco World News’ editorial policy.
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