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special feature | migration In hindsight, Jillur feels he shouldn't have left at all Opportunities for the wellconnected Sadmanur Rahman’s oldest brother went to the UK in 2002, and easily found irregular work at a restaurant. He would send Tk40,000 to 50,000 back home every month after comfortably meeting his expenses, and even putting away some savings. Over the years, the family paid off their loans, dug a pond (for fish farming), got one son married and bought land adjacent to their village home in Kulaura in Moulvibazar. The house itself, formerly a four-bedroom home with one bathroom, was expanded so that it now has 10 rooms and four bathrooms. Despite the added income, Sadman feels that his prospects in Bangladesh are bleak. “To get a [government] job [in Bangladesh] you have to pay a bribe. You have to have a ‘big brother’ who will recommend you for a post.” The bachelor’s degree he just completed thus holds little value. Sadman says his fellow graduates have the same problem. “My peer who has a 4/4 average, is earning in France, he has given up studying altogether.” Studies show that a relatively small portion of income from migrant family members is invested in business. Political corruption is a major deterrent. “Before starting anything locally one has to think, do I have any political support?” says Sadman.“Otherwise you have to pay bribes to local political leaders and bureaucrats until there’s nothing left.” “I would not say that migration is due to our economy being particularly weak,” says Dr Siddiqui. “Our overall political and socioeconomic reality is that from within the system, there is no way to reach the top. You have to have political connections.” Which leaves those who don’t have any such connections, like Jillur, Sadman, and Kamal, short of options. Tough luck Jillur’s upbeat demeanour belies his enormous disappointment. He says he knew well what the risks were, having had many friends who had attempted to get to Europe and a few who had succeeded. “Everyone has to die someday. This way if they succeed, they become heroes; if they die, they become martyrs.” “The agents always tell you that it’s going to be very comfortable. They told me an airconditioned bus would take me across the desert.” Instead, for three days he was crammed with over a hundred people from Bangladesh and various African countries in the back of a truck. “There was one person beneath me and another person on my lap. It was difficult to breathe.” With the sun beating down, two Bengalis and two North Africans died of heat and exhaustion on that trip. Upon entering Libya, Jillur found himself trapped in a lawless country embroiled in Photo: Courtesy civil strife between countless armed factions. “Twelve and 13-year-old kids roam around with guns. There is no justice if they kill you.” Friends he made were abducted by armed factions or miscreants seeking ransoms. Finding work in Libya was the easy part. “There’s a lot of work to be done,” says Jillur. “But you never knew if and when you were going to get paid.” “There is no functional justice system so there was nothing we could do if we didn’t get paid.” Eventually Jillur gathered up enough money to pay for his passage to Italy. But he lost it all in a robbery. Attackers kicked in the door to his apartment and sprayed it with bullets. “If we had not been lying down, we should surely have been shot. The walls were completely pockmarked.” Then they looted the apartment and took everything. Afraid and penniless, Jillur called his former employer who lent him 1.5 lakh to get on a plane back to Bangladesh. Jillur now works for his former employer for a better wage than he had before. He supports his wife and two children, and chips away slowly at his debt. “I can tell you my story, but nobody will understand my pain.” says Jillur, “To this day, I think about my debt before buying fish. I often forego meat for daal or spinach.” “My dream house has remained a dream.”• 14 WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017
Interview | Edward Kim LG plans big for Bangladeshi market A conversation with Edward Kim, MD of LG Bangladesh Mahmood Sadi A small session with Edward Kim, the Managing Director of LG Bangladesh would give you a hint about why he is given the charge of representing a brand that has the tagline – ‘Life is Good’. This convivial Korean will patiently answer all of your questions, no matter how many you have asked, and he does that with a smile. <strong>Weekend</strong> Tribune recently went to his office and talked about LG’s operations in Bangladesh. Before you took charge of the operations of LG in Bangladesh, where else did you work? Bangladesh is my third overseas assignment from LG. Before, I worked in LG’s Thailand and Singapore operation. What is your impression about the electronic market of Bangladesh? The first impression that I had while working here is that the electronic applications market has a lot of potential. Every morning when I take a look in the newspaper, I can see many initiatives taken here in Bangladesh and this opens up and increases people’s need for electronic appliances. I believe that the Bangladeshi market can achieve recognition like that of the Indian market within a few years. There are a lot of electronic brands today in Bangladesh, so why will people be interested to buy your product? We have already become one of the most trustworthy brands across the world. In Bangladesh, it is no different. When people see the brand name of LG, they feel a sense of trust here. This is because we provide a warranty of 10 years for our products. We have also customised some of our products for the Bangladeshi market. One such product is the mosquito-repelling air conditioning system. In Bangladesh, mosquitoes are a big problem and our airconditioners will make homes mosquito-free. The air-conditioner can generate inaudible ultrasonic waves at a specific frequency of over 30kHz that repels mosquitoes. Who do you consider your fiercest competitor in the market? I will give you the answer in a different manner. Basically there are two types of competitors - the collaborating brands and the local manufacturers. Among all the collaborating brands, I consider LG to be number one in the field of electronics here in Bangladesh. Among the local brands, you have Walton, Singer and some other newcomers. Although globally we are in the number one position, yet we have to compete against local brands in the local market. In Bangladesh, the local brands are mostly targeting low and medium Our prices are competitive and I think a large number of customers who want quality, long lasting products are opting to buying our products segments. However they are increasingly targeting the high segments as well. Some might think that LG is a global brand and therefore they are selling the most expensive products. Yes, we target the high segments but that does not mean we simply focus on premium customers. Our prices are competitive and I think a large number of customers who want quality, long lasting products are opting to buying our products. When I think about LG, I think about its refrigerators, TVs and air conditioners. But you also have other products like smartphones and laptops which are not that popular in our country. So are you taking any initiatives to make these products popular? Yes, we have other products like laptops, water purifiers, air cleaners, etc, and their demands Photo: Arifur Rahman Riad are increasing in an emerging market like Bangladesh. We plan to do more promotions about those product lines. About our smartphones, I can say that entering into the smartphone market will not be easy because of the huge competition prevailing there. But this year onwards, we have big plans for increasing our smartphone market share. Many Chinese electronic products are sold here at cheap prices and people do have the idea that electronic products won’t last long or new models will arrive so there is no point of buying a high-end product from LG or other brands instead of the cheaper Chinese products. How do you deal with that sort of mindset? People might like buying cheap products but the question is whether they are getting any long term satisfaction by using those products. I don’t think so. For example, a laptop company told me to use their product which weighs around 99gm. It was very expensive but since I am visiting abroad quite a lot, I took it despite the high price and I am completely happy about it. So as long as I can satisfy customers and serve their needs, I think I will not lose my segment of customers. Also as I told you earlier, the customers who want quality products, will know the difference between cheap Chinese products and those from LG. LG has a partnership with JAAGO foundation. Why? What sort of activities it is doing with JAAGO? LG is based on the idea “Think globally and act locally”. To facilitate ICT education for underprivileged children, LG Electronics Bangladesh and JAAGO Foundation have jointly established LG IT Academy, where underprivileged children are given quality education through the usage of technology that they would otherwise have no access to.• WEEKEND TRIBUNE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017 15
Page 1: Dhaka Tribune vol 5 Issue 16 | friD
Page 4 and 5: News | world at a glance This week
Page 6 and 7: tailored | Men's Fashion If you got
Page 8 and 9: Cook your own way | Kitchen chronic
Page 10 and 11: Café Society | Review Caffeine-fue
Page 12 and 13: Photo Story | Indigenous rights Int
Page 14 and 15: special feature | migration Escape
Page 18 and 19: Issue | shelter for the homeless Ra
Page 20 and 21: stay in Clues Mini cryptics ACROSS
Page 22: Décor | Green Interiors Five ways

Weekend-5-16

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