10.08.2017 Views

Weekend-5-16

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Dhaka Tribune<br />

vol 5 Issue <strong>16</strong> | friDAY, august 11, 2017<br />

12 Migration <strong>16</strong><br />

Shelter for<br />

17 the homeless<br />

Waterlogging


CONTENTS<br />

Volume 5 | Issue <strong>16</strong> | August 11, 2017<br />

Editor<br />

Zafar Sobhan<br />

Features Editor<br />

Sabrina Fatma Ahmad<br />

Magazine Editor<br />

Farina Noireet<br />

Deputy Magazine Editors<br />

Khan N Moushumi<br />

Shuprova Tasneem<br />

<strong>Weekend</strong> Tribune Team<br />

Saudia Afrin<br />

Mahmood Hossain<br />

Moumita Ahmed<br />

Tasfia Huda<br />

Baizid Haque Joarder<br />

Saqib Sarker<br />

Mahmood Sadi<br />

Sabiha Akond Rupa<br />

Contributors<br />

Minaal Choudhury<br />

Naushad Ali Husein<br />

Farzana Romine<br />

Editor’s note<br />

Dear Readers,<br />

While the monsoon season is known to<br />

bring out the poet in many a romantic,<br />

the current bout of rainfall does little to<br />

uplift the mood of Dhaka’s inhabitants,<br />

as it floods our streets and make daily<br />

commutes a nightmare, turning life for<br />

many into utter chaos.<br />

As the heat and humidity continues<br />

despite the rainfall, this week, we<br />

bring our readers a couple of articles<br />

on two very current issues – one on<br />

waterlogging, the current state of<br />

News<br />

2 News<br />

3 Meanwhile<br />

the city’s drainage system and the<br />

authorities responsible for it, and the<br />

other, on the state of the homeless<br />

people on Dhaka’s streets.<br />

This week, we also begin with the<br />

first of a series of articles on the coffee<br />

scene in Dhaka and how new and<br />

trendy cafes have become a regular<br />

stomping ground for the cities young<br />

and old.<br />

Wishing our readers a pleasant<br />

weekend.<br />

Farina Noireet<br />

On the cover<br />

Cartoons<br />

Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy<br />

Priyo<br />

Graphics<br />

Md Mahbub Alam<br />

Alamgir Hossain<br />

Shahadat Hossain<br />

Colour Specialist<br />

Shekhar Mondal<br />

Advertisement<br />

Shahin Ahsan<br />

Production<br />

Masum Billah<br />

Circulation<br />

Masud Kabir Pavel<br />

Website<br />

dhakatribune.com/weekend<br />

facebook.com/<strong>Weekend</strong>Trib<br />

Email your letters to:<br />

weekend@dhakatribune.com<br />

Features<br />

4 Tailored | Men’s fashion<br />

5 Tech<br />

6 Cook your own way | Kitchen<br />

chronicles<br />

8 Cafe society | Review<br />

9 Diet | Green groceries<br />

10 Photo Story | Indigenous rights<br />

12 Special feature | Migration<br />

15 Interview | Edward Kim<br />

<strong>16</strong> Issue | Shelter for the homeless<br />

17 Issue | Waterlogging<br />

19 Biz info<br />

20 Decor | Green interiors<br />

Regulars<br />

18 Stay in<br />

Photo: Nguyen<br />

Nguyen<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017<br />

1


News | world at a glance This week<br />

Donald Trump vows to answer<br />

North Korea nuclear threats<br />

with ‘fire and fury’<br />

Last week, Donald Trump vowed to respond to<br />

North Korea with “fire and fury” if it makes any<br />

more threats to attack the United States.<br />

Trump’s comments came after Pyongyang<br />

threatened “physical” retaliation for new<br />

United Nations sanctions – and on a day<br />

when fresh evidence emerged that the North<br />

Koreans have overcome one of the last major<br />

technical obstacles to being able to hit the<br />

US or western Europe with nuclear-armed<br />

missiles.<br />

“North Korea best not make any<br />

more threats to the United States,”<br />

Trump told journalists at his club<br />

in Bedminster, New Jersey. “They<br />

will be met with fire and the fury<br />

like the world has never seen.”<br />

Experts on North Korea<br />

have warned that aggressive<br />

rhetoric could backfire on Trump,<br />

convincing Kim Jong-un that his<br />

regime is in imminent jeopardy<br />

and triggering what he sees as a<br />

pre-emptive attack.<br />

“It is dangerous and reckless and<br />

counterproductive for Donald Trump to<br />

threaten the annihilation of North Korea,” said<br />

Daryl Kimball, the head of the Washingtonbased<br />

Arms Control Association. “What we<br />

need is a dialogue to reduce tension and avoid<br />

catastrophic miscalculation. We are currently<br />

on the road to a conflict and we have to get to<br />

the off-ramp.”<br />

Photo: AFP<br />

Iranian president’s cabinet cuts<br />

Guard from defence ministry<br />

After decisively winning re-election almost three<br />

months ago, Iran’s president on last Tuesday<br />

proposed a new Cabinet for his second term<br />

that cuts out the hard-line Revolutionary Guard<br />

from controlling the Defense Ministry for the<br />

first time in nearly 25 years.<br />

However, Hassan Rouhani’s Cabinet for<br />

now also fails to include women and his<br />

pick for the Justice Ministry is on a European<br />

Union sanctions list over human rights abuse<br />

allegations.<br />

The Cabinet selection shows Rouhani, a<br />

cleric whose stances are moderate compared<br />

to others in the Islamic Republic, remains<br />

pragmatic about how far he can push his<br />

administration that is under the ultimate<br />

control of Supreme Leader Ayatollah.<br />

Photo: AFP<br />

Local<br />

Khaleda gets<br />

permanent<br />

bail in Zia<br />

Orphanage<br />

graft case<br />

The High Court has granted permanent<br />

bail to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia<br />

in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption<br />

case.<br />

The bench of Justice M Enayetur<br />

Rahim and Justice Shahidul Karim<br />

passed the order on Wednesday after<br />

holding the final hearing on a ruling<br />

issued by the High Court in 2008.<br />

The court in 2008 issued a rule<br />

asking the government to explain why<br />

the BNP chief should not be granted<br />

regular bail in the case.<br />

The court said if Khaleda misuses<br />

the bail, the trial court concerned may<br />

scrap her bail.<br />

The Anti-Corruption Commission<br />

(ACC) filed the case in 2008 against<br />

six people, including Khaleda and<br />

her eldest son Tarique Rahman, for<br />

allegedly misusing Tk2.1 crore from the<br />

funds of the Zia Orphanage Trust.<br />

In addition, in 2011, the ACC<br />

accused the BNP chief and three others<br />

of misappropriating Tk3.15 crore from<br />

the Zia Charitable Trust Fund.<br />

The orphanage case is under trial at<br />

the Dhaka Special Judges Court 3. •<br />

News: Dhaka Tribune<br />

‘El Chapo’ moves to hire top-flight NY mafia defender<br />

Drug kingpin<br />

Joaquin “El Chapo”<br />

Guzman wants to<br />

dump his US public<br />

defenders for a<br />

quartet of top-flight<br />

criminal defense<br />

lawyers, including<br />

attorneys who got an infamous New York<br />

mafia boss out of prison.<br />

Guzman, one of the world’s most notorious<br />

criminals who twice escaped<br />

prison in his native Mexico, has<br />

moved to hire Jeffrey Lichtman,<br />

Marc Fernich, Eduardo Balarezo<br />

and William Purpura, three of the<br />

lawyers confirmed to AFP.<br />

But there is a sticking point:<br />

the quartet want a guarantee that<br />

US prosecutors will not seize their legal fees<br />

as part of the $14 billion forfeiture they are<br />

seeking of Guzman’s alleged drug profits.<br />

That issue will be discussed at the next court<br />

hearing scheduled August 14, which Fernich<br />

said the private lawyers would attend only as<br />

observers.<br />

“I’ll represent him along with the other three<br />

provided this fee issue is resolved. I expect that<br />

to happen,” Fernich told AFP.<br />

“We are confident we see him vindicated<br />

provided all these preliminary wrangling works<br />

out, we’ll fight the case very hard,” he said.<br />

Photo: AFP<br />

2<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017


. . . Meanwhile<br />

Photo<br />

of<br />

the week<br />

Say what<br />

Internet freaks out over 19thcentury<br />

books featuring boy<br />

named ‘Baron Trump’<br />

The internet tends to trump things up, but<br />

even this boggles the mind: A series of books<br />

from the late 1800s depicts a character named<br />

Baron Trump. The boy is aided in his quest by<br />

a man named Don.<br />

Reddit users have been discussing the<br />

books, along with a number of other Trumprelated<br />

conspiracy theories.<br />

The books are credited to Ingersoll<br />

Lockwood, a lawyer who dabbled in fantasy<br />

fiction.<br />

Newsweek also wrote about the books,<br />

noting that the coincidences go beyond the<br />

lead character’s name ― which is just one<br />

letter off from the name of President Donald<br />

Trump’s youngest child, Barron.<br />

In Baron Trump’s Marvellous Underground<br />

Journey, Baron is a wealthy young man living<br />

in a place called Castle Trump, but his real<br />

adventures begin when Don, the “Master of<br />

all Masters,” inspires him to travel to Russia,<br />

where he finds a portal that allows him to<br />

travel to other lands.<br />

Considering all the hoaxes that appear on<br />

The rainy season is the busiest time of the year<br />

for boat-makers. This photo was taken at Aatghor,<br />

Kuriana, Pirojpur, Barisal.<br />

Photo: Noor Ahmed Gilal<br />

sites like Reddit and 4chan, it’s understandable<br />

that this all sounds like some elaborate prank.<br />

However, the books are all listed in<br />

WorldCat, and some can be found on the<br />

Library of Congress website, in addition to<br />

Google Books and Amazon.•<br />

News and photo: Huffington Post<br />

Aries (Mar21-Apr19): Changes could be in<br />

the cards early this week, and they could<br />

affect the social groups or people you hang<br />

out with. Certain friends may leave your<br />

circle, but others will join over time.<br />

Taurus (Apr20-May20): You might need<br />

to make a radical decision concerning your<br />

job. It’s also possible that events could<br />

alter your plans, and new opportunities<br />

may become available as a result.<br />

Gemini (May21-June20): This week,<br />

feelings could reach a peak and be a<br />

cause of intense discussion. If you and<br />

another can’t see eye to eye, matters could<br />

intensify, with the possibility of a falling<br />

out.<br />

Cancer (June21-Jul22): A financial matter<br />

may need attention, particularly if it’s<br />

something you’ve so far avoided. You<br />

might need to make a swift decision or<br />

action to settle a key matter.<br />

Leo (Jul23-Aug22): Your relationships<br />

could go through a period of instability.<br />

Feelings that have been held back may<br />

come out into the open, and this could<br />

encourage you or another to make a key<br />

decision.<br />

Virgo (Aug23-Sep22): Something may need<br />

to change. It could be your routines, habits,<br />

and daily schedule that need to alter.<br />

Libra (Sep23-Oct22): You may be looking<br />

to move in new circles, make new friends,<br />

or involve yourself in activities that can<br />

harness your creative potential. You might<br />

need to move away from situations that no<br />

longer serve you.<br />

Scorpio (Oct23-Nov21): It may be decision<br />

time this week, and this could involve<br />

tension with family members concerning<br />

career plans. It might have been beneath<br />

the surface for some time, but now it could<br />

come out into the open.<br />

Sagittarius (Nov22-Dec21): If a certain<br />

matter has brought up objections in the<br />

past, these could intensify over the coming<br />

week.<br />

Capricorn (Dec22-Jan19): At the start of<br />

the week, you may sense that something<br />

needs to change. Over the coming days,<br />

this urge could grow stronger and possibly<br />

encourage you to take action.<br />

Aquarius (Jan20-Feb18): If one<br />

relationship has been under pressure for<br />

some time, this is when things could come<br />

to a head. Your feelings could erupt and<br />

lead you to make an impulsive decision.<br />

Pisces (Feb19-Mar20): A wellness issue or<br />

the sense that something needs to change<br />

regarding your overall health could act as a<br />

catalyst. You’ll want to feel as positive and<br />

energised as possible going forward. •<br />

horoscopes<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017 3


tailored | Men's Fashion<br />

If you got it, flaunt it<br />

There are some shirts that will help you show off those guns<br />

Mahmood Hossain<br />

When the weather isn’t being a petulant child, and the sun is on full-assault, there are a few summer shirts that will enhance your outfit<br />

and that fit body you’ve been maintaining. Some may hate or hint to body shaming, but what actual laws are you breaking by looking<br />

fit and healthy? None. Okay, maybe harness in those weapons of mass destruction from time to time, and never wear anything that<br />

resembles George Clooney’s nipple-suit in Batman & Robin.<br />

The following flattering shirts cannot be worn by every man, which is the unfortunate truth. Yes, you actually have to be in shape and<br />

maintain your overall look. And we cannot go without mentioning how important grooming is before you decide to swap shirts either.<br />

When all is said and done, your summer body will thank you for these options.<br />

Crew neck tee<br />

The most comfortable and casual of the lot, a slim-fitted crew neck tee is the<br />

perfect off-hours option to show off. The fit with these kinds of tee shirts will<br />

have a snug fit around the shoulders and chest, which gives more exposure for<br />

your sculpted arms. The sleeves will lay in a flush manner and end right where<br />

the bicep meets the armpit.<br />

Depending on the colour, you can style this tee shirt with contrasting fitted<br />

chinos or dark-wash jeans. And of course, a pair of sneakers of your choice.<br />

The entire look is a minimal approach, you want to look as light as possible and<br />

let your biceps do the rest.<br />

Knit polo<br />

Ah, yes, we take things to a more sophisticated note. You can already tell<br />

this type of shirt goes best in a semi-formal setting or simply on a night out.<br />

More specifically, look for a knit polo that have cuffs designed on them. The<br />

reason for this little characteristic is to draw more attention to your defined<br />

arms. Here is another shirt that will hug your body rather than squeeze it.<br />

Remember, no Batman & Robin nipples. These will contour your shape more<br />

than the pique version of the polo.<br />

The knit polo will also go well with fitted chinos or dressy jeans to look its<br />

best. While sneakers aren’t completely out of the equation, loafers will be ideal<br />

in this kind of look. And this is also an occasion to add more accessories to the<br />

look, be it a wristwatch or a couple of woven leather bracelets.<br />

Short-sleeve button down<br />

There is no doubting the class a fitted short-sleeve button down shirt can<br />

bring into a joint. You can always opt for a high-quality fabric that has plenty<br />

of sheen, but a closer-to-formal short sleeve shirt works too. It’s especially<br />

at an advantage if you can combine this kind of shirt with dress pants or suit<br />

trousers.<br />

Out of the three styles, this gels in perfectly for a fancy night out or event<br />

that requires some classic lace-ups on your feet. The beauty of the entire look<br />

is that it seems everything is tailor made. It’s almost as if you went out of your<br />

way to make the entire look custom-made just because it’s summer, and just<br />

because you felt like it. Swagger, gentlemen. This shirt will do exactly that. It<br />

will bring plenty of sophistication and a completely different look you usually<br />

don’t see around often. In fact, not many men will dare to attempt this look. Go<br />

forth, gentlemen, and let the commoners enjoy the gun show. •<br />

4<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017


Tech<br />

Snapchat for your browser<br />

You read that right; Mozilla’s new Send is a page out of the social media app<br />

Mahmood Hossain<br />

Mozilla, the developers of Firefox, have<br />

recently launched a new website called Send.<br />

In the most basic terms, the website allows<br />

one person to send a file to another. Once<br />

the receiver has downloaded the file, the file<br />

disappears forever. Well, that’s if you don’t<br />

decide to upload the same file again.<br />

You might wonder, “Well, what’s the big<br />

deal? Why will I need this service?” Sure, it<br />

may seem like a gimmick but it’s meant for<br />

a quick and private transaction between<br />

two people. It’s definitely for those who are<br />

seeking a service closer to Dropbox. Mozilla<br />

Send’s files are encrypted and will disappear<br />

after one download or wait until it has been<br />

up for 24 hours.<br />

The website<br />

supports files up to<br />

1GB. Once the file has<br />

been uploaded, it will<br />

provide you a link that<br />

you can send to the<br />

person you are trying<br />

to reach.<br />

The whole system<br />

is simple and easy<br />

to use but for now,<br />

the company is simply keeping this on<br />

a temporary basis. It might not even be<br />

around for too long, unless of course, it<br />

catches on and more users visit the site<br />

frequently. Head on over to http://send.<br />

firefox.com and give it a try. •<br />

Red in the palm of your hands<br />

The brand that is known to have the best filming cameras around now take a<br />

shot at being a smartphone<br />

Mahmood Hossain<br />

For those who aren’t familiar with a Red<br />

camera, you’ve possibly seen its incredible<br />

video quality on YouTube or in theatres.<br />

Red cameras have been used in films like<br />

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, The Martian and<br />

the most recent, Transformers instalment. In<br />

fact, any quality, big-budget Netflix project has<br />

used Red cameras too.<br />

They are that damn<br />

popular and that<br />

damn good.<br />

Although only a<br />

handful of YouTubers<br />

have access to Red’s<br />

equipment, the brand<br />

will be releasing their<br />

first ever phone, the<br />

Red Hydrogen, next<br />

year. And yes, as<br />

expected, this phone<br />

is not going to be<br />

cheap. Just like its<br />

line of cameras, the<br />

Hydrogen will cost<br />

nearly $1,600 for the<br />

all titanium build. The aluminium alloy version<br />

will cost around $1,195. However, there is<br />

obviously a legitimate reason for the build and<br />

its pricing.<br />

Red is promising certain features you might<br />

not find anywhere else. The phone apparently<br />

has a revolutionary tech called a “holographic”<br />

display that is known as 4-View. It not only<br />

provides for a glasses-free 3D image but it will<br />

let you take a look around and behind objects<br />

by projecting multiple angles or perspectives<br />

on whatever you are watching.<br />

Apart from what looks like to be the most<br />

advanced display around, the specs are quite<br />

impressive too. The phone will run the most<br />

recent version of Android with front and<br />

back cameras. It’ll have a 5.7-inch screen with<br />

nanotechnology that can seamlessly switch<br />

between 2D, stereo 3D and 4-View holographic<br />

display modes. It also supports modular<br />

attachments, including an upgraded camera<br />

module. Obviously. There’s also a headphone<br />

jack (which people still want on their phones),<br />

a MicroSD card slot for more storage and<br />

charges through a USB-C port. Another<br />

advantage for Red camera users is being able<br />

to use this phone as a touchscreen monitor.<br />

The design of it is also like no other. It’s a<br />

tad bulky with plenty of grip and sturdy design<br />

features. As it should be, with specs and parts<br />

of that quality, you’ll want to protect this very<br />

expensive investment.<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017 5


Cook your own way | Kitchen chronicles<br />

Breakfast duos<br />

Farzana Romine<br />

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I like to indulge in some of my favorite breakfast treats once in a while, specially on weekends.<br />

However, of the many breakfast treats I love, these two definitely take the cake(pun intended) – almond croissants and crepes.<br />

You can make your own croissants or you can buy croissants from a store and turn them into sweet almond ones in less than an<br />

hour. Crepes are also super easy to make, both the sweet and the savoury versions.<br />

Crepes<br />

You will need:<br />

• 1 cup flour<br />

• 3/4 cup milk<br />

• 1/2 cup water<br />

• 2 eggs<br />

• 2 tbsp butter, melted<br />

• 1/4 tsp salt<br />

• 1 tsp vanilla (for sweet crêpes)<br />

• 1/4 tsp black pepper and other herbs<br />

preferred (for savoury crêpes)<br />

Directions<br />

• Mix the salt with flour.<br />

• Make a well in the middle. Add all the<br />

liquid ingredients and with a whisk, mix it<br />

well. Make sure there are no lumps. You<br />

can do this in a blender too.<br />

• If you do use a blender, let it rest for 30<br />

minutes so that all the air bubbles can<br />

subside.<br />

• Heat a small non-stick frying pan over<br />

medium heat. Add a little butter and<br />

swirl, so that it coats the pan well.<br />

• Add 1/4 cup batter and swirl the pan<br />

so that it spreads evenly. Cook for 30<br />

seconds. Flip and cook the other side for<br />

another 15 seconds.<br />

• Continue with the rest of the batter. This<br />

amount makes around 10 small crêpes.<br />

• Sweet crêpes can be served with fresh<br />

fruit, jam, nutella, whipped cream,<br />

chocolate sauce or anything you like.<br />

• I like the savoury ones with sour cream<br />

or cream cheese, sautéed mushroom,<br />

spinach, smoked salmon or whatever else<br />

you prefer.<br />

6<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017<br />

Photos: Farzana Romine


Almond<br />

croissants<br />

You will need:<br />

• 6 plain croissants<br />

For the almond cream (Frangipane)<br />

• 1 cup ground almond<br />

• 1 egg<br />

• 1/2 cup soft butter<br />

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar<br />

• 1 tsp vanilla extract<br />

• 3 tbsp flour<br />

• pinch of salt<br />

• 1/2 cup flaked almond<br />

Directions<br />

• To make the almond cream, beat the<br />

butter and then add the sugar. Beat until<br />

light and fluffy. Then, add the egg and<br />

vanilla extract. Beat it well.<br />

• Then add the flour, almond meal and salt.<br />

Mix it well. You can use it right away or<br />

you can keep it in the fridge for two-three<br />

days.<br />

• Preheat your oven to 350F/180C.<br />

• Slice the croissants in half. Fill the<br />

croissants with the almond mixture. I use<br />

about two tablespoons for each croissant.<br />

Sprinkle some flaked almonds inside and<br />

close the croissants.<br />

• Spread one tablespoon of the almond<br />

cream on top of each croissant and<br />

sprinkle some almonds on.<br />

• Bake them for 15-20 minutes, until the the<br />

almond cream is set and little brown.<br />

• Take them out of the oven and let them<br />

cool down on a wired rack.<br />

• Serve with coffee or tea.<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017 7


Café Society | Review<br />

Caffeine-fuelled conversations<br />

Three meals at CBTL<br />

Sabrina Fatma Ahmad<br />

For a nation of hardcore cha-samosa enthusiasts, the coffee culture is a relatively new one in Dhaka, and the idea of a café as separate<br />

from a diner or restaurant is still something that’s taking time to catch up in some areas, but we can finally boast a range of fine coffee<br />

franchises and local joints. In this new series, we review the experience of some of our favourites.<br />

warm tones and casual seating, with the giant<br />

TV on in one corner, gives the place a feeling<br />

of intimacy, like we’re all sitting in someone’s<br />

living room.<br />

Our meal of choice is the Caesar Salad, and<br />

we both opt for added chicken in ours. I’m<br />

getting my usual dark chocolate latte, while he<br />

takes a regular sized daily brew. CBTL’s coffee<br />

is mainly premium roasted Arabica, and the<br />

aromatic dark roasted brew in particular has<br />

an intense flavour with a pleasantly tart finish.<br />

The salad is a medley of romaine lettuce, hard<br />

boiled eggs, croutons, caesar dressing and<br />

parmesan cheese shavings, and of course,<br />

for us, chunks of grilled chicken, all tumbled<br />

together to provide texture and taste.<br />

From traffic jams to water shortages,<br />

there’s so much your average Dhakaite<br />

has to deal with on a daily basis, that<br />

when you find a favourite café near your<br />

place, which provides not only great coffee,<br />

but an ambience that can simultaneously<br />

accommodate quiet work time, and casual<br />

conversation, you consider it cash well spent<br />

to be able to frequent it. Coffee Bean and<br />

Tea Leaf, a popular franchise from sunny<br />

California, is definitely one of those.<br />

What makes this place a favourite? In the<br />

spirit of “research”, I sat down with three<br />

regulars over three separate visits at the joint<br />

to share their go-to orders.<br />

Brunch with the bestie<br />

It’s bright sunny Saturday midday, and I’m<br />

already late for my brunch meeting with my<br />

best friend Diya. When I finally scramble up<br />

the stairs, I find her waiting in the airy patio<br />

area, immaculate in an indigo Aranya sari,<br />

nursing an Earl Grey tea and a long-suffering<br />

expression.<br />

We make a show of perusing the menu,<br />

but really, we both know what we’re going to<br />

have: the Eggs Benedict. Everyone does their<br />

Benny a little different, and CBTL’s one sits on<br />

Photo: Courtesy<br />

rosemary foccacia bread, and is topped with<br />

cheese, turkey ham, drizzled liberally with a<br />

hollandaise sauce. Served with a side garden<br />

salad, it’s the perfect choice for brunch. While<br />

Diya asks for another Earl Grey, my staple is<br />

the dark chocolate latte, which combines a<br />

freshly pulled shot of espresso with a velvety<br />

kiss of chocolate and a splash of milk – the<br />

perfect choice for someone who’s not a<br />

habitual coffee drinker.<br />

This time of the day, somewhere between<br />

high noon and the afternoon, it’s quiet, and<br />

sitting out here, in the sun-dappled patio,<br />

munching away on a meal made for quiet<br />

gossip, it’s a recipe for serenity, and worth the<br />

splurge.<br />

Dinner with the hubs<br />

Sunday night, and I’m back in with my favourite<br />

partner in crime. As the doors swish open, we<br />

can tell it’s a lively evening, but even then, the<br />

baristas greet us with broad smiles and their<br />

signature singsong “Welcome to Coffee Bean”,<br />

which for some, is a reason for repeat visits.<br />

As luck would have it, we do manage to<br />

snag a window seat, so have a clear view of<br />

the road outside as we get comfortable. All the<br />

other tables around us are occupied, and the<br />

Late night coffee with the crew<br />

It’s a rainy Friday night, and this time, I’m<br />

putting my favourite café to a sort of litmus<br />

test. Tomal and Reeti are friends who just got<br />

back from LA, the birthplace of Coffee Bean<br />

and Tea Leaf. I’m curious to know how ours<br />

compare to the OG outlets, hence the meet up.<br />

It’s an hour from closing time, and we’re in<br />

the mood for something sweet. Sidling up into<br />

one of the red booths in the area behind the<br />

coffee counter, we can see we’re not the only<br />

ones. The place is abuzz with nyctophiles on a<br />

coffee high. The servers whiz past us, loaded<br />

trays in hand.<br />

Tomal takes an Americano, while Reeti<br />

opts out of coffee. We decide to split two<br />

cheesecakes among us, so we get a Blueberry<br />

Cheesecake, and a Chicago Cheesecake. For<br />

fans of the no-bake cheesecake, this is a pretty<br />

decent choice. Our forks sink into a bed of<br />

creamy sweet cheese till it hits the delightfully<br />

crumbly crust. The blueberry adds a piquant<br />

counterpoint to the sweetness of the dessert,<br />

while the Chicago cheesecake is perhaps a<br />

bigger hit for those with a sweet tooth.<br />

I’m eyeballing the pair over my latte as they<br />

take everything in. Finally, with a nod, they<br />

acknowledge that the spacious, yet cosy<br />

settings, the friendly staff, and the quality<br />

food have all met, and even exceeded their<br />

expectations. Test passed, the caffeine-fuelled<br />

conversations continue. •<br />

8<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017


Diet | GREEN GROCERIES<br />

Five foods to boost<br />

your immunity<br />

Minaal Choudhury<br />

With Chikunguniya running amok across the city, it is important that we take care to boost our health in addition to avoiding mosquitoes as much as<br />

possible. An easy boost? Watch what you eat. A few healthy additions to your regular diet will give you the much needed boost you need to fight off<br />

any illnesses and in case you are already sick, it will help you recover.<br />

Limes<br />

Limes are packed with Vitamin C and<br />

antioxidants. It is a regular at any<br />

household. Have the juice of a whole lime<br />

and it will give you an added boost. This<br />

also helps with weight loss.<br />

Guavas<br />

Guavas are also filled with Vitamin C and<br />

are rich in antioxidants. Considered a super<br />

fruit, guavas are rich in manganese that<br />

helps absorb nutrients from other food<br />

or supplements that we take. Guavas also<br />

have high magnesium content that helps<br />

with relaxing the muscles and nerves of the<br />

body. Guavas help to combat the physical<br />

stress that accompanies pain and fatigue.<br />

Pomegranates<br />

Pomegranates have been hailed as a<br />

miracle fruit since ancient times and<br />

the tales are true. This incredible fruit is<br />

beneficial in maintaining effective blood<br />

circulation that helps in regaining strength<br />

after a long illness. In addition, it helps to<br />

reduce the inflammation in the body that<br />

will also help relieve body pains that many<br />

experience during and even after recovering<br />

from Chikunguniya.<br />

Pineapples<br />

Pineapples are delightfully sweet and<br />

beneficial. Pineapples contain high amounts<br />

of manganese, and also contain high<br />

amounts of thiamin, a B vitamin that is<br />

involved in energy production. Who doesn’t<br />

need a boost after surviving traffic?<br />

Fresh Leafy Greens<br />

Consume a lot of vegetables. They are<br />

packed with nutrients including potassium,<br />

fibre, folate (folic acid) and vitamins A, E<br />

and C. Options like spinach, tomtoes and<br />

garlic provide additional benefits, making<br />

them a superfood. In addition to that –<br />

fresh veggies taste great!<br />

These are a few and very simple<br />

ways to help boost your body’s immune<br />

system to fight off fatigue and other<br />

illnesses. However, it is important that<br />

your fruits and vegetables are fresh<br />

and safe. Bangladesh still continues to<br />

have food adulteration issues, so please<br />

make sure you know your source. Direct<br />

Fresh is a brand that stands against food<br />

adulteration and has their own farms<br />

to grow fresh, chemical free, safe fruits<br />

and vegetables that are safe for you and<br />

your family to consume. In addition, take<br />

care in storing your vegetables and try<br />

to buy in smaller quantities of fruits and<br />

veggies, so they are consumed fresh.<br />

They taste better and you will get the<br />

most nutritional value. Now you armed<br />

against the monsoon maladies! Enjoy the<br />

weather! •<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017 9


Photo Story | Indigenous rights<br />

International<br />

Day of the<br />

World’s<br />

Indigenous<br />

On the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the<br />

Rights of the Indigenous Peoples, indigenous groups from different<br />

parts of Bangladesh celebrated and demonstrated at the Shaheed<br />

Minar in Dhaka on August 9. This is also the International Day of the<br />

World’s Indigenous, meant to commemorate the UN declaration.<br />

Dressed in their traditional outfits and armed with musical<br />

instruments, the people gathered performed traditional dances and<br />

held up signs. Artwork depicting the suffering in the recent Langadu<br />

tragedy were seen and signs protesting encroachments in their<br />

native lands were displayed, which gave the colourful celebrations an<br />

ominous undertone. Photos: Mehedi Hasan, Mahmud Hossain Opu<br />

Mahmud Hossain Opu<br />

10 WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017


Mehedi Hasan<br />

Mehedi Hasan<br />

Mehedi Hasan<br />

Mahmud Hossain Opu<br />

Mehedi Hasan<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017 11


special feature | migration<br />

Escape to the promised<br />

Why Bangladeshis are risking everything to get to Europe<br />

Naushad Ali Husein<br />

Jillur Rahaman bet all he had, and lost, for a<br />

simple dream: a ‘paka’ house, made of bricks<br />

and concrete. The plan was to work abroad for<br />

a number of years, and return to his wife and<br />

two children with enough money to build it.<br />

He had sold all of his land and used up his<br />

savings to pay an agent 5.5 lakh taka for his<br />

passage to Libya. After flying to Khartoum,<br />

Sudan, on a 15-day tourist visa, he was passed<br />

from agent to dubious agent on a road journey<br />

to Libya through the Sahara.<br />

From Libya, he had to gather $500 to pay<br />

for a passage across the Mediterranean to Italy<br />

on an inflatable rubber dinghy crammed with<br />

people. Had things gone according to plan,<br />

Italy would throw open the doors to Europe<br />

and prosperity.<br />

Italy has been overwhelmed with migrants<br />

arriving at its shores from across the<br />

Mediterranean. More than 82,000 have arrived<br />

so far this year. Most European Union nations<br />

have refused Italy’s appeal to accept their<br />

share of immigrants, preferring to pressure<br />

North African states to take them back. Some<br />

EU leaders have advocated accepting only<br />

those fleeing war and persecution, and turning<br />

back those seeking economic opportunity.<br />

Bangladeshis make up the second largest<br />

nationality among the cross-Mediterranean<br />

migrants entering Italy and represent the<br />

“economic migrants.”<br />

If economic growth is any indication,<br />

Bangladesh should be flourishing with<br />

opportunity. Bangladesh has achieved a<br />

sustained growth rate of over six per cent since<br />

2000. Then why are people so desperate as<br />

to attempt the most lethal sea voyage in the<br />

world to escape to Europe?<br />

of Manda. The nearest college is several<br />

kilometres away, and expensive to attend.<br />

Kamal comments on the few two-story<br />

houses as we pass them. Most belong to<br />

families with members living abroad.<br />

The same is for larger businesses. “This<br />

chicken farm is owned by three partners, one<br />

of whom lives abroad.” says Kamal. “They can<br />

invest because they have the means.”<br />

But Kamal, an agricultural labourer, can just<br />

about scrape up day-to-day expenses for his<br />

family of three. With limited cash available, he<br />

I would not say that<br />

migration is due to our<br />

economy being particularly<br />

weak,” says Dr. Siddiqui.<br />

“Our overall political and<br />

socioeconomic reality is<br />

that from within the system,<br />

there is no way to reach<br />

the top. You have to have<br />

political connections<br />

and did not prevent them from sliding back<br />

into poverty.<br />

“In our district just about every household<br />

has people who have attempted to go abroad,”<br />

says Jillur.“Most of them try for Italy. Saudi and<br />

Dubai are also popular.”<br />

“If you can make it to Europe, then you’re<br />

pretty much settled,” says Kamal. Ten years<br />

ago Kamal sold all his land to get to Libya<br />

with a placement as an office helper. He sent<br />

between Tk.12,000 and 15,000 home every<br />

‘Everyone has a dream of<br />

going abroad’<br />

Jillur’s village, Manda is some 10 km from<br />

Shariatpur town. The paved road passes at<br />

a distance from the village. A five foot road<br />

leading in is only now being constructed.<br />

A muddy trail winds through paddy fields,<br />

ponds and corrugated iron houses. School<br />

children dodge the puddles and leave us far<br />

behind.<br />

Very few of them will get beyond secondary<br />

education, says Kamal Sheikh, a resident<br />

is hesitant to invest in livestock or poultry.<br />

A World Bank study on rural poverty in<br />

Bangladesh indicates that the economic<br />

success of migrant workers has been crucial<br />

for drastic and long-lasting social mobility.<br />

Rural households who moved out of extreme<br />

poverty to incomes above 1.5 times the<br />

poverty level between 2000 and 2008 said<br />

migrant family members contributed most of<br />

the additional income.<br />

Income from trade, business and services<br />

contributed modestly to increases in income,<br />

Jillur Rahaman, back at home<br />

12<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017


land<br />

If we had not been lying<br />

down, we should surely have<br />

been shot. The walls were<br />

completely pockmarked<br />

month until the civil war that would overthrow<br />

Gaddafi broke out.<br />

Kamal found himself trapped in a lawless<br />

state. At one point he was kidnapped and<br />

thrown in a freight container with no windows.<br />

His kidnappers gave him a cell phone to<br />

procure his own ransom, and a 250ml bottle of<br />

water. For three days he suffocated in the heat<br />

with nothing else to eat or drink.<br />

After getting free, Kamal attempted to flee<br />

to Italy by boat but got arrested off the coast<br />

of Malta and was voluntarily repatriated. “We<br />

paid off some family debts. Most of the money<br />

I sent back went into day-to-day expenses. On<br />

the whole, it would have been better not to<br />

have gone at all.”<br />

Photo: Courtesy<br />

Presently we are joined by a Kamal’s friend<br />

and a random passer-by, both of whom have<br />

migration stories to share.<br />

Neither hunger nor depravity drove the<br />

people to emigrate. But Manda offered little<br />

opportunity to change the circumstances they<br />

were born into. Their families would only ever<br />

have better homes or a higher education if<br />

they went abroad.<br />

This might be because economic growth has<br />

been largely concentrated in urban centres.<br />

Even so, most of those seeking to enter Europe<br />

are from semi-urban backgrounds.<br />

Jillur, for example, broke out of his rural<br />

economy by obtaining a driver’s license and<br />

finding employment with the founders of the<br />

Refugee and Migratory Movements Research<br />

Unit (RMMRU) in Dhaka. But to fulfil his<br />

aspirations, he would have to use his driver’s<br />

license to get work abroad.<br />

“I applied to go to Algeria, then Qatar, then<br />

Malaysia,” says Jillur. “None of them worked.<br />

After trying and failing for over two years I got<br />

frustrated.” He settled on the illegal route to<br />

Italy.<br />

“Everyone has a dream of going abroad,”<br />

says Dr Tasneem Siddiqui founder and director<br />

of RMMRU, “They feel that it will result in a<br />

holistic change, [a promotion in] class, which as<br />

it is, is not possible in Bangladesh.”<br />

His second child was born just before he<br />

left. Jillur was earning about Tk.12,000 per<br />

month at the time. If he wanted to give his<br />

new born daughter a different life, he had no<br />

choice.<br />

“Here, at the very best, I could earn Tk20,000<br />

to 30,000 a month,” says Jillur. “How many<br />

years would it take to save enough to even<br />

begin to build a house with that? [In France],<br />

once I get citizenship, earning more than one<br />

lakh taka a month is no big deal for a person<br />

like me.”<br />

The chances of that kind of success are<br />

slim. Thousands of deaths are recorded each<br />

year in the Mediterranean, and many more<br />

go unreported. Many irregular migrants are<br />

apprehended by Libyan forces before they can<br />

reach Italian waters.<br />

“It’s a risky game,” says Dr Siddiqui. “But for<br />

some people, it has worked out very well.” Dr<br />

Siddiqui says she met a Bangladeshi migrant<br />

who earned the equivalent of three lakh taka<br />

a month in 2010 doing heavy labour work.<br />

But most people have to struggle for years<br />

before they can establish themselves and start<br />

sending money back home.<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017<br />

13


special feature | migration<br />

In hindsight, Jillur feels he shouldn't have left at all<br />

Opportunities for the wellconnected<br />

Sadmanur Rahman’s oldest brother went to<br />

the UK in 2002, and easily found irregular<br />

work at a restaurant. He would send Tk40,000<br />

to 50,000 back home every month after<br />

comfortably meeting his expenses, and even<br />

putting away some savings.<br />

Over the years, the family paid off their<br />

loans, dug a pond (for fish farming), got one<br />

son married and bought land adjacent to their<br />

village home in Kulaura in Moulvibazar. The<br />

house itself, formerly a four-bedroom home<br />

with one bathroom, was expanded so that it<br />

now has 10 rooms and four bathrooms.<br />

Despite the added income, Sadman feels<br />

that his prospects in Bangladesh are bleak.<br />

“To get a [government] job [in Bangladesh]<br />

you have to pay a bribe. You have to have a<br />

‘big brother’ who will recommend you for a<br />

post.” The bachelor’s degree he just completed<br />

thus holds little value.<br />

Sadman says his fellow graduates have<br />

the same problem. “My peer who has a 4/4<br />

average, is earning in France, he has given up<br />

studying altogether.”<br />

Studies show that a relatively small portion<br />

of income from migrant family members is<br />

invested in business. Political corruption is<br />

a major deterrent. “Before starting anything<br />

locally one has to think, do I have any political<br />

support?” says Sadman.“Otherwise you have<br />

to pay bribes to local political leaders and<br />

bureaucrats until there’s nothing left.”<br />

“I would not say that migration is due<br />

to our economy being particularly weak,”<br />

says Dr Siddiqui. “Our overall political and<br />

socioeconomic reality is that from within the<br />

system, there is no way to reach the top. You<br />

have to have political connections.”<br />

Which leaves those who don’t have any such<br />

connections, like Jillur, Sadman, and Kamal,<br />

short of options.<br />

Tough luck<br />

Jillur’s upbeat demeanour belies his enormous<br />

disappointment.<br />

He says he knew well what the risks<br />

were, having had many friends who had<br />

attempted to get to Europe and a few who had<br />

succeeded.<br />

“Everyone has to die someday. This way if<br />

they succeed, they become heroes; if they die,<br />

they become martyrs.”<br />

“The agents always tell you that it’s going<br />

to be very comfortable. They told me an airconditioned<br />

bus would take me across the<br />

desert.”<br />

Instead, for three days he was crammed<br />

with over a hundred people from Bangladesh<br />

and various African countries in the back of<br />

a truck. “There was one person beneath me<br />

and another person on my lap. It was difficult<br />

to breathe.” With the sun beating down, two<br />

Bengalis and two North Africans died of heat<br />

and exhaustion on that trip.<br />

Upon entering Libya, Jillur found himself<br />

trapped in a lawless country embroiled in<br />

Photo: Courtesy<br />

civil strife between countless armed factions.<br />

“Twelve and 13-year-old kids roam around<br />

with guns. There is no justice if they kill you.”<br />

Friends he made were abducted by armed<br />

factions or miscreants seeking ransoms.<br />

Finding work in Libya was the easy part.<br />

“There’s a lot of work to be done,” says Jillur.<br />

“But you never knew if and when you were<br />

going to get paid.”<br />

“There is no functional justice system so<br />

there was nothing we could do if we didn’t get<br />

paid.”<br />

Eventually Jillur gathered up enough money<br />

to pay for his passage to Italy. But he lost it all<br />

in a robbery. Attackers kicked in the door to<br />

his apartment and sprayed it with bullets. “If<br />

we had not been lying down, we should surely<br />

have been shot. The walls were completely<br />

pockmarked.” Then they looted the apartment<br />

and took everything.<br />

Afraid and penniless, Jillur called his former<br />

employer who lent him 1.5 lakh to get on a<br />

plane back to Bangladesh.<br />

Jillur now works for his former employer for<br />

a better wage than he had before. He supports<br />

his wife and two children, and chips away<br />

slowly at his debt.<br />

“I can tell you my story, but nobody will<br />

understand my pain.” says Jillur, “To this day, I<br />

think about my debt before buying fish. I often<br />

forego meat for daal or spinach.”<br />

“My dream house has remained a dream.”•<br />

14<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017


Interview | Edward Kim<br />

LG plans big for<br />

Bangladeshi market<br />

A conversation with Edward Kim, MD of LG Bangladesh<br />

Mahmood Sadi<br />

A small session with Edward Kim, the Managing Director of LG Bangladesh would give you a hint<br />

about why he is given the charge of representing a brand that has the tagline – ‘Life is Good’.<br />

This convivial Korean will patiently answer all of your questions, no matter how many you have<br />

asked, and he does that with a smile.<br />

<strong>Weekend</strong> Tribune recently went to his office and talked about LG’s operations in Bangladesh.<br />

Before you took charge of the operations of<br />

LG in Bangladesh, where else did you work?<br />

Bangladesh is my third overseas assignment<br />

from LG. Before, I worked in LG’s Thailand and<br />

Singapore operation.<br />

What is your impression about the<br />

electronic market of Bangladesh?<br />

The first impression that I had while working<br />

here is that the electronic applications market<br />

has a lot of potential. Every morning when I<br />

take a look in the newspaper, I can see many<br />

initiatives taken here in Bangladesh and<br />

this opens up and increases people’s need<br />

for electronic appliances. I believe that the<br />

Bangladeshi market can achieve recognition<br />

like that of the Indian market within a few<br />

years.<br />

There are a lot of electronic brands today<br />

in Bangladesh, so why will people be<br />

interested to buy your product?<br />

We have already become one of the most<br />

trustworthy brands across the world. In<br />

Bangladesh, it is no different. When people<br />

see the brand name of LG, they feel a sense<br />

of trust here. This is because we provide a<br />

warranty of 10 years for our products.<br />

We have also customised some of our<br />

products for the Bangladeshi market. One<br />

such product is the mosquito-repelling<br />

air conditioning system. In Bangladesh,<br />

mosquitoes are a big problem and our airconditioners<br />

will make homes mosquito-free.<br />

The air-conditioner can generate inaudible<br />

ultrasonic waves at a specific frequency of over<br />

30kHz that repels mosquitoes.<br />

Who do you consider your fiercest<br />

competitor in the market?<br />

I will give you the answer in a different manner.<br />

Basically there are two types of competitors<br />

- the collaborating brands and the local<br />

manufacturers. Among all the collaborating<br />

brands, I consider LG to be number one in the<br />

field of electronics here in Bangladesh.<br />

Among the local brands, you have Walton,<br />

Singer and some other newcomers. Although<br />

globally we are in the number one position,<br />

yet we have to compete against local brands<br />

in the local market. In Bangladesh, the local<br />

brands are mostly targeting low and medium<br />

Our prices are competitive<br />

and I think a large number of<br />

customers who want quality,<br />

long lasting products are<br />

opting to buying our products<br />

segments. However they are increasingly<br />

targeting the high segments as well.<br />

Some might think that LG is a global brand<br />

and therefore they are selling the most<br />

expensive products. Yes, we target the high<br />

segments but that does not mean we simply<br />

focus on premium customers. Our prices<br />

are competitive and I think a large number<br />

of customers who want quality, long lasting<br />

products are opting to buying our products.<br />

When I think about LG, I think about its<br />

refrigerators, TVs and air conditioners.<br />

But you also have other products like<br />

smartphones and laptops which are not<br />

that popular in our country. So are you<br />

taking any initiatives to make these<br />

products popular?<br />

Yes, we have other products like laptops, water<br />

purifiers, air cleaners, etc, and their demands<br />

Photo: Arifur Rahman Riad<br />

are increasing in an emerging market like<br />

Bangladesh. We plan to do more promotions<br />

about those product lines. About our<br />

smartphones, I can say that entering into the<br />

smartphone market will not be easy because<br />

of the huge competition prevailing there.<br />

But this year onwards, we have big plans for<br />

increasing our smartphone market share.<br />

Many Chinese electronic products are sold<br />

here at cheap prices and people do have<br />

the idea that electronic products won’t last<br />

long or new models will arrive so there is<br />

no point of buying a high-end product from<br />

LG or other brands instead of the cheaper<br />

Chinese products. How do you deal with<br />

that sort of mindset?<br />

People might like buying cheap products but<br />

the question is whether they are getting any<br />

long term satisfaction by using those products.<br />

I don’t think so. For example, a laptop company<br />

told me to use their product which weighs<br />

around 99gm. It was very expensive but since I<br />

am visiting abroad quite a lot, I took it despite<br />

the high price and I am completely happy<br />

about it. So as long as I can satisfy customers<br />

and serve their needs, I think I will not lose my<br />

segment of customers.<br />

Also as I told you earlier, the customers who<br />

want quality products, will know the difference<br />

between cheap Chinese products and those<br />

from LG.<br />

LG has a partnership with JAAGO<br />

foundation. Why? What sort of activities it<br />

is doing with JAAGO?<br />

LG is based on the idea “Think globally and<br />

act locally”. To facilitate ICT education for<br />

underprivileged children, LG Electronics<br />

Bangladesh and JAAGO Foundation have<br />

jointly established LG IT Academy, where<br />

underprivileged children are given quality<br />

education through the usage of technology<br />

that they would otherwise have no access to.•<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017 15


Issue | shelter for the homeless<br />

Rain-soaked, sleepless nights<br />

How do the homeless sleep in the rain?<br />

Saqib Sarker<br />

In the past few weeks, Dhaka and the entire<br />

country has experienced heavy rainfall. The<br />

landslide in the hilly areas claimed lives and<br />

damaged properties. Dhaka’s waterlogging<br />

problem once again rendered the city even<br />

more motionless than it usually is from<br />

constant gridlock. While everyone suffered<br />

in one way or another, the most devastating<br />

effect must have been on those who do not<br />

have a roof over their heads. In an already<br />

crisis-ridden city like Dhaka, the situation<br />

is immensely exacerbated when there is a<br />

spell of incessant rain for four or five days,<br />

sometimes longer.<br />

The homeless are ever-present in Dhaka.<br />

They are so common that you hardly notice<br />

them. But where do they go when torrential<br />

rain and thunderstorms make people shut<br />

their windows extra tight? How do they<br />

sleep in relentless rain that literally doesn’t<br />

stop for days, as we have experienced in the<br />

past few weeks?<br />

When all you can do is<br />

endure<br />

Dilu lives on the footpath adjacent to the<br />

Taqwa mosque at Dhanmondi 12/A. A young<br />

woman in her 20s, Dilu is quite indifferent<br />

to the problem, appearing to find the<br />

question of where she sleeps when it rains<br />

quite pointless. “You have to find shelter<br />

somewhere,” she says simply. She refuses<br />

to be specific about where exactly she goes.<br />

“Do you find shelter on shopping mall stairs,<br />

late at night?” Dilu laughs and nods, thinking<br />

it’s a silly question. “Listen, sir,” she said,<br />

“you can write all you want in the newspaper<br />

but no one will give us a home.”<br />

In an elaborate and methodical study<br />

by Research and Evaluation Division<br />

Photo: Mahmud Hossain Opu<br />

(RED) of BRAC, published in March 2011,<br />

the researchers found 36 percent of the<br />

homeless live on footpaths, 14 percent at<br />

rail stations and 13 percent in stadiums,<br />

and move to places having some kind of<br />

cover during the rainy season. The survey<br />

interviews a total of 2,264 street dwellers<br />

from 20 spots in Dhaka city.<br />

“Don’t take pictures,” said Khayrul, Dilu’s<br />

disapproving brother. Khayrul works as a<br />

labourer during the day, six days a week.<br />

He shares that they just have to resort to<br />

polythene sheets and they actually don’t<br />

always find shelter. Even the little spaces<br />

underneath shopping mall shades are too<br />

difficult to come by sometimes. They also<br />

don’t want to leave the place they usually<br />

sleep in. In retrospect, it seems that they may<br />

have found it undignified to admit that they<br />

just clench their teeth and endure the rain.<br />

The RED study found that sleeping on<br />

footpaths on rainy days actually increased<br />

with time among the group that are living in<br />

the streets for more than one year and less<br />

than five years. “In contrast to conventional<br />

wisdom (that what this population needs<br />

most is provision of water and sanitation),<br />

shelter (especially during rain and storms)<br />

and security were found to be the two main<br />

concerns of the street dwellers,” the RED<br />

study read.<br />

From the sample studied in the survey,<br />

during the rainy days 24.6 percent of the<br />

street dwellers slept on footpaths, 15.7<br />

percent in stadiums, 14.8 percent in bazaars,<br />

13.1 percent at railway stations, 11 percent<br />

in slums, 9.1 percent in launch terminals,<br />

4.1 percent at bus stands and 7.7 percent of<br />

the respondents found other miscellaneous<br />

shelters.<br />

No shelter, no sleep<br />

Slightly further away from Dilu and Khayrul,<br />

on the North side of the Dhanmondi 32<br />

bridge, sat Mokhtar Shah, where he begs<br />

during the day and sleeps at night. Aged<br />

over 60 and with a filariasis affected leg,<br />

Mokhtar is more or less immobile. He came<br />

to Dhaka from Nilphamari quite recently.<br />

When asked where he goes during the rain,<br />

he pointed to the other side of the road<br />

where there are dense trees sheltering the<br />

sidewalk, but that is not nearly enough as<br />

protection. When asked how he sleeps, the<br />

elderly man simply said, “No sleep.”<br />

Mokhtar Shah had difficulties speaking<br />

full sentences and sounded exhausted when<br />

he spoke. “I find shelter in buildings too,” he<br />

said. When asked if he gets thrown out from<br />

building premises, he merely stared, unable<br />

to explain his methods.<br />

Mokhtar Shah sitting at his ususal spot<br />

Photo: Saqib Sarker<br />

Like Mokhtar, Dilu and Khayrul, there<br />

are thousands of people in Dhaka who<br />

live without a roof over their heads.<br />

Different studies find different numbers -<br />

one study found the number of footpath<br />

dwellers to be at 15 to 20 thousand, but<br />

these figures are inconclusive because of<br />

a lack of proper, exhaustive studies. The<br />

situation is further complicated by constant<br />

migration into the capital. According to one<br />

estimate, approximately 320,000 migrants<br />

enter Dhaka annually. The RED study<br />

recommended a comprehensive census and<br />

a number of short-term interventions, but<br />

what should clearly take precedence above<br />

all else is providing some form of shelter<br />

where the homeless can stay in the most<br />

turbulent weather. •<br />

<strong>16</strong> WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017


Issue | Waterlogging<br />

Whose fault is it anyway?<br />

Looking into Dhaka’s water-logging crisis that disrupts the lives of millions<br />

every monsoon<br />

Mahmood Sadi<br />

After the scorching heat of summer<br />

comes monsoon as a blessing for<br />

Dhaka’s “drained” citizens.<br />

An insufficient and inefficient drainage<br />

network however, soon turns that blessing<br />

into a curse as the heavy downpours flood<br />

the city, submerging a large part of its roads<br />

and streets in semi-treated murky water and<br />

throwing its already hectic traffic, completely<br />

out of gear.<br />

Water-logging in Dhaka is an outcome<br />

of several seemingly related factors –<br />

infrastructural limitations of respective<br />

authorities, lack of capacity in establishing a<br />

functional sewerage system by the authorities<br />

and their sub-contractors, and collective<br />

unawareness of the citizens who fail to realise<br />

that they have been playing a big part in<br />

choking the city’s drainage network.<br />

Insufficient infrastructure<br />

Data available from the Dhaka Water Supply<br />

and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) shows that the<br />

capital has 370km of storm sewerage network,<br />

and 2,840km long surface drains to discharge<br />

rain water into 22 canals.<br />

At the same time, Dhaka North and South<br />

City corporations collectively maintain over<br />

2,000km of feeder drains (narrow sewer<br />

system) to carry rainwater, and liquid waste<br />

from homes into canals and the wider<br />

diameter storm sewer system.<br />

However, these figures matter little in front<br />

of bigger numbers that represent the capital<br />

city – a population of about 1.7 million, 7,000<br />

tonnes of daily waste generation, and an<br />

annual average rainfall of 1,900mm.<br />

Dr Quazi Azizul Mawla, Professor of<br />

Architecture of BUET, who has done a lot of<br />

research on Dhaka’s sewerage system, said<br />

that one doesn’t need the understanding of<br />

an expert to realise why Dhaka gets deluged<br />

during monsoon.<br />

“The rainwater has to be channelled out<br />

from the city to a lower plain and through<br />

a functional, properly-managed network of<br />

drainage systems, so that rainwater instantly<br />

runs into the low-lying retention areas.”<br />

Now, if rainwater stagnates, it either means<br />

the drainage system is insufficient or it means<br />

the whole system is inefficient, said Prof<br />

Mawla, adding that in Dhaka’s case, it is both.<br />

Dhaka must have at least 20 retention ponds<br />

the size of Hatirjheel, to tackle the storm water.<br />

But the fact is, there is only one Hatirjheel in<br />

Dhaka.<br />

He said that almost all the storm water<br />

drains in Dhaka were designed long ago<br />

and are not capable of handling the excess<br />

rainwater. “Dhaka’s drainage system was<br />

planned back in the early 20th century for a<br />

maximum rainfall of 25mm per hour, assuming<br />

that half the rain would be absorbed by the<br />

soil and only half would flow into the drainage<br />

system.”<br />

However, with the onset of rampant and<br />

indiscriminate urbanisation, most areas are<br />

now paved with concrete or asphalt. As a<br />

result, very little rainwater is absorbed into the<br />

ground. Thus even at one inch per hour, the<br />

drainage system has to cope with almost twice<br />

its intended capacity, he said.<br />

Incapable authorities<br />

Besides, Wasa, the custodian of Dhaka’s storm<br />

water sewerage system, now has the capacity to<br />

drain out 20mm of rainfall through its pumping<br />

facility. That means, if the rainfall is above<br />

30mm, it will take at least two hours to recede.<br />

Meanwhile, Wasa and other respective<br />

authorities meanwhile have engaged in some<br />

sort of blame game to shift the responsibility<br />

on others. They also have very little<br />

coordination amongst them.<br />

During this government’s first tenure, in<br />

September 2012, Dhaka Wasa prepared<br />

a 23-year sewerage master plan involving<br />

US$2 billion to bring the whole city under its<br />

network.<br />

However, in the last five years, the<br />

implementation of the first phase of that<br />

masterplan is going at a snail’s pace.<br />

Kamrul Hasan Chowdhury, Chief Engineer<br />

of Wasa, said the project work under the<br />

masterplan is currently underway. “But you<br />

have to realise that we have the responsibility<br />

to look after the drainage of 39 percent of the<br />

capital.”<br />

He said that the problem is that they carry<br />

out the de-silting of drains once before the<br />

monsoon. “We however want to carry out the<br />

de-silting throughout the year but the budget<br />

to do so is only disbursed in April-May.”<br />

Meanwhile, the capital’s civic agencies<br />

have turned a blind eye to the construction<br />

debris lying unattended near various drains<br />

across the city. The construction work, which<br />

is supposed to give a facelift to the capital, is<br />

simultaneously damaging the city’s drainage<br />

system, said the Wasa Chief Engineer.<br />

Md Mesbah ul Islam, Chief Executive Officer<br />

(CEO) of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC),<br />

said that the duty of looking after whether the<br />

construction debris choke the drain or not falls<br />

on Rajdhani Unnayan Kortipokkho.<br />

The CEO of DNCC said that, from their<br />

part, they have been trying to maintain their<br />

network of feeder drains. “But you have to<br />

understand that narrow drainage networks like<br />

feeder drains will not be sufficient enough to<br />

solve the water logging crisis of Dhaka.”<br />

He also stressed on the importance of<br />

reclaiming Dhaka’s 22 canals from grabbers.<br />

“Without water bodies like canals, you cannot<br />

discharge the rainwater run-off even if you<br />

develop a network of sewerage lines,” he<br />

said. •<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017 17


stay in<br />

Clues<br />

Mini cryptics<br />

ACROSS<br />

1 No return after a group<br />

leave (7)<br />

4 Cat naked in show (7)<br />

6 Rare confusion about lie<br />

before (7)<br />

7 California DNA returns<br />

for country (7)<br />

DOWN<br />

1 Her cars destroyed Cupid<br />

and Eros (7)<br />

2 Resin used by Team<br />

Bermuda (5)<br />

3 Catch sun up on mountain<br />

without artifice (7)<br />

5 Feeling sorry for disrupted<br />

GI run (5)<br />

Sudoku<br />

Use the numbers 1-9 to complete<br />

each of the 3x3 square grids such that<br />

each horizontal and vertical line also<br />

contains all of the digits from 1-9<br />

HOW TO MAKE<br />

YOUR OWN GEL<br />

AIR FRESHENERS<br />

Tasfia Huda<br />

DIY gel air fresheners are easy to<br />

make – you can customise them<br />

with any scent you prefer, and<br />

they are very nice to look at! The<br />

process is so simple, you can easily<br />

diy<br />

make a bunch of air fresheners in<br />

just a few minutes.<br />

Last week’s solutions<br />

Solved it? Email answers to weekend@dhakatribune.com and win one free<br />

month of the Dhaka Tribune.<br />

Last week’s solutions<br />

Ingredients:<br />

• 1 cup water<br />

or 1 cup<br />

liquid potpourri<br />

• 2 individual<br />

envelopes<br />

of<br />

unflavoured gelatin<br />

• 1 tbsp salt<br />

• 20 drops of your favourite<br />

essential oils (only if you’re<br />

using water)<br />

• Heat-safe containers<br />

• Food colouring (optional)<br />

• Silk flowers (optional)<br />

1. In a small saucepan on the<br />

stove, heat 3/4 cups of water<br />

(or liquid pot-pourri) and the<br />

salt. When the salt is completely<br />

dissolved, slowly add the gelatin,<br />

and stir until that is completely<br />

dissolved as well. If you add the<br />

gelatin too quickly, it might get a<br />

little sticky and clumpy, but just<br />

ACROSS<br />

1 The French follow transplanted organ<br />

with cereal (7)<br />

4 Horror writer returns held by fat cat<br />

(7)<br />

6 Turn around same woe to make great<br />

(7)<br />

7 Toss she flipped made party holder (7)<br />

DOWN<br />

1 Hit goal switched for giant<br />

(7)<br />

2 Sounds like a way in to love<br />

(5)<br />

3 Talk to commercial clothing<br />

(7)<br />

5 Adobe mix makes a home(5)<br />

Solved it? Email answers to weekend@dhakatribune.com and<br />

win one free month of the Dhaka Tribune.<br />

keep stirring until it dissolves.<br />

2. Remove the saucepan from the<br />

heat and then add the remaining<br />

liquid. Stir until fully blended,<br />

and pour the mixture into the<br />

containers of your choice.<br />

3. Now add your essential oils<br />

(only if you used water). You can<br />

always add more or less essential<br />

oils based on your preference, and<br />

you can do different oils in each air<br />

freshener!<br />

4. Some silk flowers and a drop or<br />

two of food colouring can make<br />

them look prettier. Now that<br />

your air fresheners are scented,<br />

coloured and decorated, let them<br />

cool to room temperature.<br />

You don’t have to add a lid, but<br />

the gel will dry out a little faster<br />

without a lid. Just a couple of<br />

punches through a standard lid will<br />

work perfectly.•<br />

18 WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017


iz info<br />

A Journey through China with<br />

Shakib Al Hasan<br />

<strong>Weekend</strong> Tribune Desk<br />

This Eid, five lucky fans got a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to tour China from June 29 to July 04 with Shakib Al Hasan, the best cricket allrounder<br />

in the world. Organised by Huawei Consumer Business Group, the tour comprised of visits by Shakib Al Hasan and the fans to stateof-the-art<br />

Huawei facilities as well as historic and modern Chinese sites.<br />

The lucky fans were selected through a contest titled ‘Who Doesn’t Want to Go to China with Shakib’ launched by Huawei Consumer<br />

Business Group. Commenced on June 11, the contest continued till June 23, 2017. The contest involved contestants taking selfies at a Huawei Store<br />

nationwide and posting on Facebook with the hashtag #ShakiberSatheChina, with privacy set at ‘Public’. They then received a quiz consisting of simple<br />

questions on Huawei and Shakib Al Hasan, which they answered. Huawei selected five lucky winners from those participants.<br />

The following are the accounts of a couple of fans on the visit.<br />

Raiyan Kabir<br />

Our journey began on June 29. It was<br />

hard to believe that Shakib Al Hasan, the<br />

best all-rounder in the world, was about<br />

to join us for the tour, till he reached the<br />

airport at noon.<br />

We started the journey together and<br />

had a stopover at Kunming. The flight got<br />

cancelled due to bad weather, which is<br />

why we were taken to a hotel. At around<br />

3pm, we resumed our journey for Beijing<br />

from there. The next morning, just<br />

before moving to the Huawei Exhibition<br />

Center, Shakib himself visited us to get<br />

introduced. It was a memorable moment.<br />

We, along with Shakib got to know<br />

Huawei’s present and future technologies<br />

at the Huawei Exhibition Center. Later,<br />

we walked through the whole campus<br />

area and took some group pictures. We<br />

hung out there for a while with Shakib.<br />

This was probably the best moment of<br />

the tour, where we were able to strike<br />

up a conversation with Shakib. Moving to<br />

the Huawei Research and Development<br />

Center, we observed the processes of<br />

making a handset.<br />

The destination for the<br />

next day was the Great Wall<br />

of China, one of the Seven<br />

Wonders. Shakib with his<br />

wife and daughter joined<br />

us that day. We got tired<br />

climbing up the wall, but it<br />

was fun. We later had lunch<br />

at Burger King and had a<br />

short shopping break.<br />

The next morning, right<br />

after having our breakfast,<br />

we caught our flight for<br />

Shenzhen from Beijing. In<br />

between, we roamed around<br />

Beijing airport. After a long<br />

wait, we reached Shenzhen<br />

at around 12 am.<br />

Huawei Headquarters was our next<br />

destination and like the other days,<br />

Shakib accompanied us. Huawei officials<br />

welcomed us and gave us a detailed brief.<br />

At an interactive session, Shakib also<br />

asked all his fans some questions. Shakib<br />

was given a crest from Huawei and he<br />

presented a signed jersey to Huawei.<br />

We moved to the canteen to have lunch.<br />

Then we went to watch a Chinese cultural<br />

program. The next day, we came back<br />

home to Bangladesh.<br />

I never imagined being in such close<br />

proximity to Shakib Al Hasan in person.<br />

This was truly a wonderful experience<br />

for me. Visiting the Huawei Research<br />

and Development Center and Huawei<br />

Headquarters was an unbelievable<br />

experience for me as well. And Shakib’s<br />

friendly attitude towards us deserves<br />

mention. The amazing hospitality from<br />

Huawei was memorable. I am sure to talk<br />

about this remarkable tour to my next<br />

generation someday.<br />

Fardeen Arafat<br />

The journey through China was undoubtedly the<br />

best Eid gift I could expect, especially because<br />

the exceptional Shakib Al Hasan was among my<br />

companions during the journey. I considered<br />

myself very lucky when I first saw Shakib and his<br />

family in person at the airport on June 29. After<br />

reaching Beijing, at 4.30 in the morning, we were<br />

introduced personally to Shakib and took our first<br />

group photo.<br />

Our first scheduled destination was the Huawei<br />

Exhibition Center, where we witnessed Huawei’s<br />

latest, advanced and incredible technologies. After<br />

that we hung out with Shakib at the lounge where<br />

he shared some of his stories regarding his cricket<br />

journey. The next day was scheduled for a visit to<br />

the Great Wall of China. The experience of visiting<br />

a wonder of the world exceeded my imagination<br />

and expectations. We then moved to another<br />

beautiful city Shenzhen, to attend a conference<br />

at the Huawei Headquarters with the Huawei<br />

technical team. Later, I got Shakib’s autograph, had<br />

traditional Chinese cuisine, and visited the world’s<br />

greatest electronics market named Huaqiangbei,<br />

pronounced huá qiáng běi.<br />

We returned home with a lot of unforgettable<br />

memories. To sum up, this journey was like<br />

Huawei’s motto - ‘Make It Possible.’ Huawei indeed<br />

“Made It Possible.” •<br />

WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017 19


Décor | Green Interiors<br />

Five ways to make your home<br />

décor more in tune with nature<br />

Give these sustainable décor ideas a try<br />

Saudia Afrin<br />

In today’s world, living a healthy life is an everyday struggle, especially in the toxic cityscapes we tend to live in, with very few natural elements and<br />

greenery to soothe the eyes and mind. It can be tiring to breath in polluted air and be surrounded by manufactured things all the time, and adding<br />

natural and organic elements around your home can go a long way in giving it a friendly, more lived-in atmosphere, and giving you some much-needed<br />

peace of mind as well.<br />

Here are a few ways to use natural material and add a modern, eco style to your home décor.<br />

What do you say to Bonsai?<br />

Did you know why the Chinese<br />

keep bonsai trees in their<br />

homes? They believe that it<br />

promotes relaxation and inner<br />

peace. In today’s world, people<br />

can barely open their windows/<br />

doors or spend hours in the<br />

scorching heat outdoors, let<br />

alone stroll about under trees.<br />

A tiny yet adult tree in a corner<br />

can add that green serenity and<br />

purity to your home to make up<br />

for the bleak outside.<br />

For a rug-ged effect<br />

You can bring fresh changes to an old<br />

room by simply throwing in a few rugs to<br />

add some style and colour to your floors<br />

– remember, they are just as important<br />

as what you have on your walls. However,<br />

before doing so, it is essential to consider<br />

choosing the right material, and the best<br />

rug space. If you’re looking for simplicity<br />

and elegance, the sisal rug is a good<br />

organic material based rug to invest in.<br />

Try a honey coloured sisal rug, which<br />

will mostly be made out of sea-grass,<br />

mountain grass and jute. Alternatively,<br />

bamboo rugs or patis spread in different<br />

corners will add a chic, country touch to<br />

your home.<br />

They’re not just for<br />

pandas<br />

Bamboo is eco-friendly, sustainable, and<br />

bound to be chemical-free. And for an<br />

authentic, local look, bamboo furniture<br />

is an apt choice. Instead of exclusive PVC<br />

doors, bamboo is a great alternative<br />

option to use as room dividers. If you want<br />

to create a reading nook or a little private<br />

corner, a creative use of bamboo can<br />

transform your room into a natural haven.<br />

Light up the lanterns<br />

You can now find lanterns in all sorts<br />

of vibrant shades and interesting<br />

geometrical shapes nowadays, made of<br />

jute, cloth, bamboo and other organic<br />

materials. Let the soft and diffused<br />

lighting of lanterns spread its magic to<br />

every corner of your room. Or instead,<br />

cover the lanterns with solid structures<br />

like coconut-shells for added effect.<br />

A few other options<br />

Other natural elements can be incorporated<br />

into your home decor as centerpieces or even<br />

corner-pieces. Tree branches, pebbles, sea<br />

shells and dry flowers in a chunky vase will<br />

compliment your coffee table as well as your<br />

book shelf.<br />

Apart from creating stunning kitchen<br />

accessories, tree stumps also make wonderful<br />

stools. And nowadays stumps are also being<br />

used for wall decorations. Even wooden mirror<br />

frames are making a comeback this season.<br />

A bunch of home decor outlets around town<br />

have some lovely wooden mirror frames in<br />

different shapes and designs.•<br />

20 WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!