On one insignificant day in Egypt's history

On a seemingly insignificant day in Egypt’s history I stopped believing in their ability to conspire against us ..

There was one day that said it all to me. That one day in Egypt’s history that screamed at me ‘’don’t trust in anything they tell you’’ – ‘’they are so much more incompetent than you would ever believe’’.  This was the day when I stopped believing in the system’s ability to protect us, to improve us, even to plot against us. People would sometimes tell me that are some incredible knowledgeable and cunning institutions in Egypt that know exactly what is going to happen, yet somewhere in the year 2004 I lost all faith in the ability of the system.

This loss of faith was not driven by increasing poverty, or people dying in one of Egypt’s many blunders, not a few ships here and there drowning and taking with them thousands of lives and going unpunished. No, it was something so much more trivial than that.

It was the day Egypt got the first Zero in the history of the world in trying to host the World Cup 2010.  Other countries either realize they will fail and do so more gracefully by pulling out, or they make a good run for it and either win or at least obtain a few votes. Libya belonged to the former, and South Africa belonged to the latter. Imagine the Libyan leadership under Gaddafi being wiser than ours, and realizing it should pull out, while our government did nothing but tell us that we stood a good chance for winning the bid.

Just think about the amount of political capital they put behind it, the amount of money and PR, internal PR, which was made around the qualification only to end in denial and loss. Needless to say the man in charge of the campaign was made Minister and stayed Minister till recently.

This was a smaller and lighter blunder in the system’s history that proves how weak, ill informed, incapable, and unwise it really was. Unless they were plotting to show ultimate inefficiency to the whole world so that nobody would ever suspect something smart coming out of them .. then that at least would have been smart.

z

رسالة الى القائمين على مصر - ومن حضر العفريت فليصرفه

الي السادة القائمين على مصر

بعد التحية

نظراً للفترة الهامة الحرجة التي تمر بها مصر في هذه الآونة ، ونظراً لكوني مجرد مواطن مصري مراقب

: ومهتم بشئون بلادي فسوف أحاول أن أوجز قدر الامكان فيما أطرحه على سيادتكم من أمور رأيت أنها تشغل بال الكثيرين وبعض ملاحظاتي المتواضعة عليها

١- عن الحوار الديني والفوضى

من المثير للإهتمام أنه وبالرغم من الأهمية القصوى للإعلام في مصر هذه الأيام – فتخرج علينا شتى الأطياف الدينية لتسيطر على الساحة بكل قبحها للتأكيد على رغبتها في السيطرة والإفزاع لتغيير كل ما يميز مجتمعنا من سماحة وتناغم

أياً كان فإني لا أتصور أن يخرج علينا قتلة السادات ويفرغ لهم مساحة إعلامية لا يستحقونها – سؤالنا جميعاً هو لماذا؟

كما أنه لا يعقل أن يستطيع أفراد من الشعب السيطرة على المناطق الحيوية لمحافظة قنا احتجاجاً على تعيين محافظ عليه تحفظات تتعدى كونه مسيحياً لتاريخ سياسي غير مقبول لدى الكثيرين، وفي آخر الأمر يتم حل الفوضي بطريقة

تهدد هيبة الدولة في نفس الوقت التي لا تظهر فيه تحركاً جاداً نحو الديمقراطية السليمة

وما يثير دهشة الجماهير هو كيف عمت الفوضى ليصل الموقف لدرجة أن يمنع السلفيون أو أياً كانت الأسماء التي

أطلقوها على أنفسهم – أن يمنعوا إمام مسجد النور وهو ممثل الدولة من إعتلاء المنبر لسابع أسبوع على التوالي؟

أنا على يقين أنكم تدركون مدى خطورة الرسالة التي تصل لكل بيت في مصر وما فيها من تأكيد

على أن البلطجة باسم الدين سوف تبلغ ذروتها في الفترة القادمة

٢- عن الحسم والسرعة

نعرف جميعاً حجم الأعباء على عاتق كل القائمين على حكم مصر إلا أنه بات واضحاً وبالتجربة العملية منذ ٢٥ يناير أن من أكثر ما أضعف وجود النظام السابق هو عدم القدرة على الإستجابة الفعالة والسريعة لمطالب الشعب بشكل مناسب يضمن الحقوق المشروعة للشعب دون زيادة البلبلة –

لذا بدلاً من تعليق عمل المحافظ لمدة ثلاثة أشهر كان من الممكن تفادي هذا الموقف بتوخي الحذر عند إختيار محافظ قبطي ليكون فوق مستوى الشبهات وحتى اذا حدث الخطأ فقد يكون من المفيد ان يتم معه الحسم – الحسم إما في اقصاء المحافظ أو منع استيلاء المتظاهرين من الاستيلاء على المؤسسات الحيوية والتهديد بقطع الخدمات الاساسية أو الاثنين معاً

مهما تكلف الامر فان أكثر ما سوف يضعف هذه الدولة هو عدم الوضوح التي يتم بها التعامل مع مختلف التحديات – فتسمح الدولة للمخبولين بالسيطرة على المنابر الاساسية في الوقت الذي تلقي القبض على اساتذة العلوم السياسية في الجامعات المحترمة والناشطين الأبرياء – مرة أخرى : ما هي الرسالة المراد ايصالها؟

!٣- من حضر العفريت عليه أن يصرفه

قد يكون إطلاق الزمام للمتطرفين غرضه إظهار حجم الخطر الذي من الممكن أن يمثلونه إذا ما لعبوا دوراً أكثر أهمية في الحياة السياسية – فأنا ومن منطلق يقيني من اهتمامكم بهذا الوطن أتمنى أنه اذا كان هذا هو المقصود – أن يكون النظام الحالي قادر على صرف هذا العفريت في الوقت المناسب وقبل أن يعيث فساداً

٤- عن لقمة العيش

جل ما يهم المواطن البسيط والمستنير والغني والفقير هو أن يعيش حياة كريمة فقد تجدون سيادتكم مناسباً أن تشاركونا بمزيد من الشفافية في الخطط المباشرة وتحيطونا بالحقائق الاقتصادية علماً حتى نعرف الى أين نحن متجهين وما هي التوقعات الواقعية للمستقبل القريب والمتوسط والبعيد المدى

٤- الحياة السياسية:

شغلنا جميعاً بما يأكله ويلبسه مسئولو النظام السابق المحتجزون ونسينا الاوليات السياسية التي لابد وأن يتعاطى معها الشعب والقوى الساسية في أقرب وقت ممكن لاهميتها القصوى في تحديد مصير البلاد

أما فيما يتعلق بالمحاكمات فنتمني من الله أن تتسم بالشفافية والحسم والسرعة والحق الذي يقسم عليه القضاء حتى لا ينتهي بنا الأمر وقد استبدلنا عصراً مظلماً بعصر من الغموض الذي سوف يبعث على عظيم القلق على المدى البعيد   ولا اكتب هذا تبرئة لاحد ولا ادانة لهم – فالمدان يدان والبرىء يطلق وكله بالقانون حتى تعلو مصر كدولة القانون ،  

والعدالة بلا أي عبث وبالرغم من حجم الجرائم التي اقترفها الكثيرون في حق مصر فانه اصبح ضرورياً أن نضع إطاراً يحاكم المخطئ بشفافية ويجرم التشهير بالبريء حتى لا نخلق مناخاً يجعل كل أصحاب الأموال يسارعون بالهروب خارج مصر للنجاة من الوقوع كإحدى ضحايا "العدالة الثورية " والتي جعلت  وسائل اعلام رسمية تخرج علينا بين عشية وضحاها منذرة بنفس الظلم والمغالطة المعتادين ولكن بتغيير في الهدف والتوجه السياسي    

الصورة الأشمل

قد تجدون سيادتم جميعاً وضع تصور جاد مع مختلف الأطياف السياسية دون التركيز على مجموعة بعينها لشكل المرحلة المقبلة في تطور مصر السياسي والاقتصادي والاجتماعي، وحتى لا تنقلب التجربة لتدريب فلسفي لسنا في حاجة إليه، فقد ترون أيضا وجوبية أن تساعد المجموعات هذه في وضع تصور للتعامل مع الأزمات نثل هذه التي تواجهنا في الأسابيع الماضية

وختاماً قد يتفق معي البعض او يختلف وما هذه الا آراء موان من ٨٥ مليوم مواطن يهمهم أمر مصر كما يهمكم ويشغل بالكم

مع الشكر والاحترام

مواطن زياد مراد

Letter to Dr. Baradei

Dear Sir,







You have come at a beautiful and turbulent time in my country’s history, and have been given the opportunity to be a great driver of change and hope. You have stepped in with the drive and zeal demonstrated by great leaders, and then slightly retreated with the caution shown too often by diplomats.


Now I know that you definitely have more knowledge, depth, and experience than I could personally ever hope to amass, and that is exactly the reason why I personally put so much hope in you to inject enthusiasm, change, and participation into our political and social engagement.


Let me elaborate a little more on that:
I do not expect you to become the leader, but I would very much welcome your heightened and consistent involvement in the most active of times. Some have argued for and some against your travels, and against the fluctuating rates of your personal involvement in the political sphere, and my personal belief is very clear:
To become a proponent of such dramatic change, Sir, you must be involved to the bone, to the hilt, to have burnt your bridges, and to inspire us all to see that the only way to go is forward.


Dear Sir,


Though this may not be the most fortunate of times on the political scene, it is still your good luck that you are physically able to do what you, and do so in very fertile grounds.


Modern technology has allowed you to remotely address the young and old people of this country and to inspire them, but what they demand of you will be more. They will demand of you to be the commitment and passion that you must be. YouTube is good, but YouStreet will be even better. People will demand and you must be proud when they do.


With respect


Z

Why start a blog?

It is still only fifth posting on my blog, but I already feel like I have something to go back to when I want to make a point about anything. I attach a great deal of importance to my blog regardless of the number of readers I have (but not regardless of some great encouragement by a few friends). My blog allows me to think more deeply about ideas that cross my mind, gives me an excuse to comment on thoughts, events, concepts, public issues, pretty much everything.


Here are a few good ones for why I like blogs:


1. Most writers started out small and then grew because people loved their writing, may be one could be one of them.
2. You can write and assume that the whole world reads you, or eventually will.
3. It gives you a wonderful excuse to say, yes, I did post that on my blog.
4. I like the sound of ‘’my blog’’.

5. My blog

6. Once someone learns about your blog, they may be completely surprised by the number of things about you that surprise them.

7. The best part is that you can start addressing public figures and remote personalities under the pretense that they may be reading you. Using technology to your benefit and linking this social website to the other you might end up being read by someone who actually knows them.

8. My blog

9. The next posting will be a letter addressed to a public figure.
10. Most importantly, it allows me to feel like I can start to actively participate in things that really matter - so without much ado, here is me going on to participate.

Z

Why do I fear the woman at the bank?

I have developed into a pretty outgoing person, who over the years has learned to appreciate the value of being outright, open, and sometimes even a little confrontational. Of course people who have known me for a long time still insist that my ‘’diplomatic’’ nature often takes over, but I call it thinking before I speak.

I confront and demand my rights when I am buying something, when someone is cutting in front me at a queue; I may even interfere physically when I see injustice being inflicted on someone (and end up feeling like a modern day hero), and generally I look at myself as a man with a healthy self-esteem.

But where I am still meek, slightly broken, and overwhelmed by a sense of guilt is when I am dealing with any resemblance of bureaucracy. Be it a license renewal, an ID issuance, military papers, notary, even the bank, anything makes me feel like I am demanding what isn’t mine. I enter the day as if I were about to start a dangerous and excruciating mission, and once I am done I feel victorious and above all, grateful. Grateful to the soldier who gives me the stamp that says I may travel, grateful to that grumpy man who has been kind enough to accept my presence in front of his desk, grateful to that lady who has reluctantly tolerated me on a chair next to her desk despite the fact that there aren’t enough customer chairs at the bank. And, if I am not at the bank, then grateful to those that will indicate they may be willing to accept my tips in return for helping me. You should see how I almost stutter and struggle to keep my voice straight and my request short, concise, polite, respectful, and manage to maintain my self-respect in the process.

Then why, you may ask, do you put up with this? My answer is short and sweet; we have been raised in a bureaucracy to understand that rights should not be demanded, they should be asked, begged, and bribed for. Why they may be granted is supposed to be beyond your comprehension and should not be subject to your evaluation or speculation. It should be considered good fortune that may disappear forever if questioned.

So this is why I fear the woman at the bank, because she has the upper hand and I don’t.

Z

P.S: She turned out to be a very helpful and sweet woman after all, could it be because I was very respectful?

‘’Zeyad Mourad has been wondering about what it is that makes Facebook so attractive to some, and so abhorred by others’’...?

Let me start by talking about what I like about Facebook. When I signed up, I did so to just to take part in the trend and because I was succumbing to peer pressure. But now it all looks pretty different. I actually know in a pretty clear manner what it is that I like and dislike about the whole Facebook thing – which some have managed to turn into a Farce-book as well.

Something says if you are a whiner, a master networker, dull, or if you share too much or too little. I won’t be surprised if TV crime shows start psychologically profiling victims and killers through their Facebook activity – they are probably thinking about it already. I know for a fact that some employers assess potential recruits by checking out what they do on Facebook.
Not a very comforting thought to people who value some privacy, and yet another step to taking Orwell’s “1984” closer to reality (there will be occasional instances where I will ‘’subtly’’ try to impress you with my reading and intellect – mostly it won’t work, but at least I would have tried).



Others simply hate Facebook; they hate it with a passion unparalleled by few, except by my wife’s passionate dislike for both Sushi and Facebook. I think they hate the hype, and sometimes hate what that it hasn’t struck them the right way from the beginning. But I will write another blog on love and hate of little things later on.

But I digress, and I will allow myself to do so because I am not at work. I can digress without any serious consequences, except the reader losing interest. But then at least I would have tried.
And this is what I am all about as I grow older – having tried!. And why do I try? I use it as an insurance against future regrets of deeds left undone for no better reason than laziness or lack of initiative. Basically I am trying to protect myself against regrets a few years from now, and from self-pity that will overcome me if I don’t start doing the things that always linger in the corner of my mind.
So let’s get going, and let me know what you think along the way, because this is just the beginning.

Z

The power of audacity

I was flattered beyond every belief to read the title of Obama’s book “The Audacity of Hope’’ where he decided to point out the concept of audacity on the title which I had always preached to anyone who would listen was one of the most important drivers for success. As if I had owned that idea! Anyways, I never got around to reading it; I think I have hardly read any autobiographies of great people because at the end they are all very personal accounts with little left to pick up on, or so I like to make myself believe. And then happened the improbable, and the nice people in Stockholm really did take the wind out of my sails for the Obama craze. I was initially one of the biggest admirers of his charisma and ability, yet by him receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for having done absolutely nothing at the time except making it to President of the US of A, they sort of took away a lot of spirit and inspiration from this impressive persona.

But now back to the original reason for this piece, which is audacity.
I think it is some people’s overwhelming boldness and audacity, sometimes even ignorance of a better alternative, which allows them to fly to unequalled heights in the different walks of life. This of course applies to the more mediocre geniuses of our time, not the real ground-breaking, earth-shattering intellects and talents of this world that, hate them or love them, you need to respect.

Now let me bring that a little closer to a reader’s mind. Let us take a look at that TV presenter with minimal culture and barely acceptable education and grammar. Now this man/woman throws him/herself at TV stations, at intellectual gatherings, and to top it all off, on audiences and the world. The result? Quite often, if this person persists, and continues to persist, and continues to live that illusion that they are worth the effort, somehow somewhere something will give way and they will make it. Sometimes they will make it big-time.

So what was extraordinary about them? Their language – no, their communication skills – big no, their research methods and extreme wit – I swear again, NO. It was their audacity. Now of course, the ultimate thing to do for them then, is to also carve out a niche for themselves (kindly project that onto your office life) – and thus they become as strong and powerful as their respective audacity. Sometimes we like to glorify their audacity by giving it other names such as persistence in the face of obstacles or determination, but in the end is a good healthy ignorance of their own weaknesses and a belief that they totally have everything it takes that takes them there.

Now excuse my corporate background, but who of us hasn’t seen managers who have shared with the world, not only verbally, but in letters to the entire organization, their insights, reflections, and views on the many facets of business with a confidence that would leave the biggest thinkers and intellectuals of our time feeling humbled.