Letters
The New Star
This Friday morning when I opened the Star I was pleasantly surprised to see the makeover it has gone through. I loved all the new additions— Mad genius, 1 minute, Science and Remembrance. Way to go Star!
Sobhan Ali
Mohammmadpur, Dhaka
Faces of Independent Films
Independent filmmakers of Bangladesh have come a long way since Zahir Raihan's Stop Genocide (1971), considered by many the first independent film in Bangladesh. Despite facing so many obstacles in terms of finances and technology, they are making films that are getting noticed by international critics and audiences alike. The government and producers should encourage these young filmmakers to continue their journey of making films that are at once entertaining and artistic.
Seema Rahman
Via email
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I am sure this feature will give many independent filmmakers a much needed moral boost. A lot needs to be done to help the independent and commercial film industry in Bangladesh. More universities should start offering courses and degrees in film studies, producers should be willing to finance projects by new filmmakers and there should be more theatres for showing films. Joining the film industry as actors is seen as a 'low class' profession by the educated middle and upper class. This attitude needs to change. Considering the economic crisis that paralised the economies of the US and much of Europe, Bangladesh film industry has done rather well in the last few years. For example, in 2009, Bangladesh produced 64 films which was the 19th highest in the world.
Mohammad Ramzan Ali
Mirpur 11, Dhaka
Beauty on Water
Despite being a travel piece it gives the reader an idea about the socio economic conditions of Sweden. The writer is right about pointing out the fact that Sweden has been economically successful due to its policies of social welfare. Sweden's guiding principle is that a successful social welfare society must be fiscally conservative and administratively efficient. Sweden's economic growth has been much higher than that of the rest of Western Europe, or the United States, since 2006. It has one of the lowest inflation rates in Europe; it runs a budget surplus every year; and it spends more on research and development, as a share of its economy, than the Americans do. Sweden regularly ranks in the top of the Human Development Index which is a composite measure of health, education and income. The rest of the world has much to learn from the Swedish model of development.
Fazlul Karim
University of Gothenburg,
Sweden
Majestic Mezban
I did not know such a wonderful tradition exists in our country! The custom of having an open house for all who walk in and offering them free food speaks of the broad mindedness and hospitality of the people of Chittagong. I want to thank the Star for publishing such entertaining stories about life in other cities.
Last month's story on Batighar, the new mega book shop in Chittagong was appreciated by a lot of readers I know.
Keramat Jahangir
Seattle
The Sacrificial Instinct
As a student of psychology, I found this essay on human compassion very interesting as the writer tries to make the case that compassion is deeply rooted in our brain and heart. . Social psychologist Daniel Batoson, mentioned in the article, in an experiment, Batson examined whether people feeling compassion would help someone in distress, even when their acts were completely anonymous. In this study female participants exchanged written notes with another person, who quickly expressed feeling lonely and an interest in spending time with the participant. Those participants feeling compassion volunteered to spend significant time with the other person, even when no one else would know about their sacrifice.
Developmental psychologists have said that parenting styles greatly influence developing compassion in children. By nurturing the basic tools of compassion—an appreciation of others' suffering and a desire to remedy the suffering, children can grow a sense of responsibility to others.
Sultana Karim Shompa
Via Email
University of Oklahoma, USA
Science
I would like to thank the Star for publishing a wonderful section on Science. It was entertaining as well as informative. We hope the Star continues with this section as there is a great demand among many readers like me for articles on scientific topics.
Badiuzzaman Babu, Shafiqul Alam, Uttam Kumar Das
University of Dhaka
Star Diary
This has reference to A Heartless Employer published in the Star Diary on 11 October, 2013. My heart goes out to Aduri and her family. In our society, it is OK to torture domestic workers physically and mentally. According to a study conducted last year surveying 849 domestic child workers of three wards of Dhanmondi, Mirpur and Mohammadpur, about 17 percent of the child domestic workers are abused sexually while 83 percent physically by the family members of their employers. About 567 child workers alleged of being abused in several ways while only about 93 employers admitted it. Though 144 children complained that they were abused sexually, only nine employers admitted it, says the study. We cannot claim to be civilised people if we treat the poor of the society this way.
Shamsuzzaman Lavlu
Lalmatia, Dhaka
Beauty on Water
Despite being a travel piece it gives the reader an idea about the socio economic conditions of Sweden. The writer is right about pointing out the fact that Sweden has been economically successful due to its policies of social welfare. Sweden's guiding principle is that a successful social welfare society must be fiscally conservative and administratively efficient. Sweden's economic growth has been much higher than that of the rest of Western Europe, or the United States, since 2006. It has one of the lowest inflation rates in Europe; it runs a budget surplus every year; and it spends more on research and development, as a share of its economy, than the Americans do. Sweden regularly ranks in the top of the Human Development Index which is a composite measure of health, education and income. The rest of the world has much to learn from the Swedish model of development.
Fazlul Karim
University of Gothenburg,
Sweden
Majestic Mezban
I did not know such a wonderful tradition exists in our country! The custom of having an open house for all who walk in and offering them free food speaks of the broad mindedness and hospitality of the people of Chittagong. I want to thank the Star for publishing such entertaining stories about life in other cities.
Last month's story on Batighar, the new mega book shop in Chittagong was appreciated by a lot of readers I know.
Keramat Jahangir
Seattle
The Sacrificial Instinct
As a student of psychology, I found this essay on human compassion very interesting as the writer tries to make the case that compassion is deeply rooted in our brain and heart. . Social psychologist Daniel Batoson, mentioned in the article, in an experiment, Batson examined whether people feeling compassion would help someone in distress, even when their acts were completely anonymous. In this study female participants exchanged written notes with another person, who quickly expressed feeling lonely and an interest in spending time with the participant. Those participants feeling compassion volunteered to spend significant time with the other person, even when no one else would know about their sacrifice.
Developmental psychologists have said that parenting styles greatly influence developing compassion in children. By nurturing the basic tools of compassion—an appreciation of others' suffering and a desire to remedy the suffering, children can grow a sense of responsibility to others.
Sultana Karim Shompa
Via Email
University of Oklahoma, USA
Science
I would like to thank the Star for publishing a wonderful section on Science. It was entertaining as well as informative. We hope the Star continues with this section as there is a great demand among many readers like me for articles on scientific topics.
Badiuzzaman Babu, Shafiqul Alam, Uttam Kumar Das
University of Dhaka
Star Diary
This has reference to A Heartless Employer published in the Star Diary on 11 October, 2013. My heart goes out to Aduri and her family. In our society, it is OK to torture domestic workers physically and mentally. According to a study conducted last year surveying 849 domestic child workers of three wards of Dhanmondi, Mirpur and Mohammadpur, about 17 percent of the child domestic workers are abused sexually while 83 percent physically by the family members of their employers. About 567 child workers alleged of being abused in several ways while only about 93 employers admitted it. Though 144 children complained that they were abused sexually, only nine employers admitted it, says the study. We cannot claim to be civilised people if we treat the poor of the society this way.
Shamsuzzaman Lavlu
Lalmatia, Dhaka
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