New timing
The letter by Rumi Ahmed "Torturous timing" is a very timely one.
I want to add some points:
1. Ours being a hot and humid country people have adjusted to evening marketing in towns and villages since time immemorial.
2.In Europe, North America, even in the foot hills of Himalayas Indian, Nepalese and Pakistani towns and villages where evenings are cold round the year, people try to get inside home with the sunset.
3. In the USA, the government and business community become very concerned whenever retail sell takes a downward trend.
4. Dhaka city alone boasts of one crore and 20 lakh population out of 15 core total population of Bangladesh.
5. Spending power is mainly restricted to city and town people in Bangladesh. Besides well- to- do, even a daily labourer and rickshaw puller's spending is important for our cottage and small industries. If they are forced to become spendthrifts, the market driven force in economy will suffer. When every government the world over is trying to rejuvenate the retail market we are doing just the opposite.
6. The meagre amount of electricity saved in desperation by closing the market at sunset and other measures like daylight saving hours have not appreciably improved the load shedding. May be we only make our judgment by statistics and theory on papers inside air-conditioned rooms and do not look into the practical and social aspects of people.
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