 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 25 - 31 March 1999 Issue No. 422 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
 |
 |
|
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 25 - 31 March 1999 Issue No. 422
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
|
|
One good rule
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Profile Features Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Sir- We are all suffering from the traffic chaos in the streets of Cairo. We welcome any attempts at improvement. New traffic laws are being enforced. My comments are the following:
- We don't need new laws. We need to apply strictly the old simple laws. Red: stop. Green: go. Yellow: wait.
- We need older, better trained policemen, not the 15-year-olds who are confused and confuse the drivers. You stop at the red light, and they motion you to go!
- The wheel lock applied to cars parked in a second row blocks cars that are properly parked. This is ridiculous.
- Law enforcement is a must, but cruelty should be forbidden. I personally have seen an officer order his policeman to remove a number plate from a microbus, then fold it out of shape. Another example: in Messaha Square about two weeks ago, some people at Goethe Institute left their car keys to the parking attendant. The officer in the police tow truck took all the keys from the attendant and, before disappearing with them, treated him violently, after screaming insults that we could hear from a distance. This behaviour from the police makes people sympathise with law breakers, and this is wrong.
- For pedestrians, crossing roads is a major hazard! What help are the newly painted zebra lines on major roads, when cars never even slow down?
Having said that, I would like to mention two things:
1- The phenomenon of the fat cats telling policeman who are trying to enforce the law: "How dare you tell me such a thing, don't you know who I am?" should stop.
2- One good policeman can work wonders! I live near the Balloon Theatre. We have a wonderful policeman, who stands at a difficult crossing near the British Council, where traffic is always dense and busy. I don't know his name, but with a smile, and quietly, he orchestrates the traffic, helps school children cross safely, holds old people's hands and guides them to their destination. I was passing by in a taxi one day, and pointed him out to the driver, who said: "We all like him. He enforces the law, we respect him. He has never hurt anybody." Is that not how it should be?
Reine Naggar
Cairo
Food for the soul
Sir- I am a classical music lover and, due to the dearth of classical CDs in Cairo, I am forced to have them air-mailed to me monthly from the UK at horrendous cost. CDs today cost between LE24 and LE96, depending on the label. If one adds the cost of packaging and postage, the cost becomes -- ouch! -- prohibitive.
To add insult to injury, the post office charges me LE10 per CD! It seems the trouble started around 20 years ago when an over-zealous minister of the economy decided to add classical music to peacock meat and exotic goldfish on a list of "unnecessary luxuries" not really needed by the good people of Egypt and therefore to be heavily taxed!
Classical music is NOT an "unnecessary luxury". It is just what is needed to soothe the ruffled souls of my countrymen in these difficult times.
I wonder if Culture Minister Farouk Hosni would be kind enough to step in and use his considerable influence to put right what can only be called "an error in judgement" by another minister, now long gone. Play on, Bach!
Mamdouh El-Dakhakhni
Alexandria
All readers' contributions and comments should be addressed to The Editor. Fax: +202 578 6089
E-mail: weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg
E-mail correspondents are asked to give postal address. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.
