Wanted: A good leader

Current Status: the Begums are gone (at least we hope so; but then again, some of us are missing them). The caretaker government has its hands full with inflation, unpaid wages, and a power crisis; our leaders in khaki are pacing back and forth; we pushed away a Nobel laureate -- now what do we do? I propose a solution -- we advertise for a leader. We need a leader who will fulfill all our specifications and fearlessly run in the elections and win.

Read the requirements below, perhaps you or a friend or relative may qualify (remember, as Tagore eloquently put it: "Aamra shobai raja amaderi rajar rojjott").


Job Title: Democratically elected leader of a promising nation.

Job Requirements
Integrity/Honesty

• Must be "clean."


• Only work with "clean" people.


• Must promise not to hire any unqualified relatives.


• Will not be influenced by the existing evils of dirty politics.


• Will not be influenced by the temptations of ill sourced wealth.

Creativity

• Can mobilize others to work.


• Overcome gender, race and religion barriers.


• Able to make us Bengalis optimistic (this will be the most difficult task).


• Show us a government and society without corruption.

Courage

• To stand up to the evils of our society.


• To stand up to our other so-called political leaders.


• If need be, to make some unpopular decisions for the ultimate good of the country.


• To change Bangladesh's image in the global community (this one should be easy: the image currently is so low that it can only go upward).


• To bring the Foreign-Direct-Investment that the country needs without being labeled a "foreign/MNC dalal."


• To withstand a deluge of criticism (criticizing, is after all, our favorite past time).

Vision

• Dare to make every citizen dream.


• Rid our country out of chronic poverty and the curse of illiteracy.


• Provide basic health care and economic opportunity.


• Bring unprecedented economic growth.


• Encourage entrepreneurship.


• Upgrade infrastructure.


• Create public-private partnerships.


• Establish a place for Bangladesh in the international community.

Communication

• Distill the message/goals of the country for all the citizens.


• Inspire people to think beyond bi-partisan politics.


• Communicate in ways other than hartals, strikes or name calling.


• Preferably a "non-screamer."


• Convince every citizen (here and aboard) to do their share in rebuilding the nation.


• Effectively communicate Bangladesh's position in the international arena.


• Establish fruitful dialogue with other foreign leaders (without being labeled a foreign agent).

Motivator

• Get the young, the old, the disenchanted and the pessimistic to follow you.


• Surround yourself with good leaders.


• Make your immediate team better than yourself.


• Motivate your underlings with the pride of serving the nation but pay them well enough so there will be no excuse for corruption.


• Rally the international community to assist Bangladesh in the meeting the challenges of global warming.

Charisma

• Either you have it or you don't.


• If you don't have it, then make up for it with passion.

Good Health

• To withstand the physical and mental rigors before, during and after the election.

Education

• At least a university degree with good, coherent communication skills in both Bengali and English.

Relevant Past Experience

• Led a large public or private "civilian" organization with representation all over Bangladesh.


• Daughter or wife (or for that matter, son, husband, mother, father, second cousin, or any other relative) of a past leader does not count towards relevant experience.

Reference

• At least 17,000 citizens who will write in and ask you to "run for election."


• Vote of confidence from international community is a plus not a minus

Compensation

• Upon winning the election, salary of a prime minister (sorry, no other financial "bonus").


• Government housing, car and security.


• The priceless pride, joy and agony of turning a nation around.

If you are still reading this, that means you know of someone who will fit the role. If you do, please do get the person to come forward. I cannot guarantee that some of our countrymen will not tear him/her apart. However, I can guarantee that if the person fits the rigorous requirements above, enough of us will support his/her candidacy. We will throw all in and support the person through victory in the election, through five years of clean, effective government, all the way until he/she hands over a new thriving country to his/her legitimate, elected successor.


Durreen Shahnaz is the Managing Director of a regional media company based in Singapore.

This article was published in Daily Star on May 06, 2007

In 10 years Bangladesh will be where ____ is today...

It is time for us Bangaldeshis to have a common goal -- a goal every citizen can relate to, every citizen can remember, and every citizen can boast to the international community about. In simple marketing words, we need a tag line, and we need it now.

In the last few months, the country has gone through a lot of spring cleaning and drama. Now, it's time to step back and focus on the next step -- rebuilding the country. Number one task on hand in rebuilding the nation is finding a common achievable goal (or two). This goal will be an idea/concept/reality that every citizen can aspire to and the leaders of the country can work towards.
Hokey as this may sound, it worked for a country like Singapore, and I ask: why can't it work for us? Singapore is a good example of how a solid goal and good tag line can unify the people and give purpose to everything a government does. It brings back national pride, and right now Bangladesh can do with some unified national pride. Let us not shed any more tears for the Begums or wait for the caretaker government or Prof. Muhammad Yunus to tell us what to do. Let us for a change tell them where we want the country to be in 10 years, what their task is in reaching this goal and what we as citizens can do to bring it there.

For the past three years I have been living in the island city state of Singapore. This city on the surface seems like the grown-up version of Disneyland. There is no garbage on the street, subways (MRT as it is known here) are clean and arrive on time, everyone looks healthy and happy and of course we cannot buy chewing gum (actually a little secret -- one can buy it in the pharmacy section of the drug store after giving all your personal information -- including passport number and stating in writing that you are trying to quit smoking!). Despite all the fun poked at this country, I often marvel at the fact that this country was basically a swamp land in the 1960s and it is today wealthier than its former colonizer -- the United Kingdom.

Forty years ago when Singapore separated from Malaysia, it was a country that Lee Kwan Yew (founder and first prime minister of Singapore) said would be built on meritocracy and a "clean" government. It managed to do both and more. The government built the nation on its strategic location as a trading post, it focused on making itself the "hub" for several vital industries (e.g. aviation, financial institutions, bio technology) -- list of which evolved over the years. This "hub" concept was the main economic "goal" for the country.

My fascination with Singapore's success goes back to my university days. In the 1980s as an economics student, I remember studying about the "Asian Tigers" -- Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, and South Korea over and over again. These economies were the darlings of IMF, and all the economics experts and institutions used them as the examples of what every emerging economy should emulate. We studied the exponential growth of these economies from many different angles -- economic development, prudent fiscal policies, free trade, and the list goes. I of course have forgotten almost everything I learned back then.

However, I do remember one observation a professor of mine made when he visited Singapore in the early 1980s. He said he was astonished that every person he asked how the country was doing gave him the same answer: "By the turn of the century we will be where Switzerland is today." He said it was rather eerie (yes, to get the "unified" message across, the media here does a bit of brain-washing) that everyone gave him the same answer. Well, eerie as it may be, it worked. Two decades on, Singapore is where Switzerland is -- with a thriving private banking business and on its way to becoming one of the world's leading financial hubs.

I say we can and need to do this for Bangladesh. We need to give every citizen of this country the option of playing a part in nation building. Every citizen should "buy into" the goal and help promote it. And we don't need to wait for a figurehead to give us that. I embrace Prof. Yunus bestowing some "Grameen magic" on the rest of Bangladesh (and I hope we let him do it), but till that happens, let's all do our part and chip in.

So, for my part, here is what I believe Bangladesh will be in 10 years:

• Asia's new Economic Tiger.


• A country with 100% literacy rate.


• A country with double digit growth.


• The country with the highest number of new businesses every year.


• The IT hub for Asia.


• The most successful turn around story of this century.


• An exemplary democratic state.

The list will go on ... and feel free to add to it. I would expect our chosen leader to sift through it and pick one or two goals, and make them happen.
You will say: "Easier said than done" (our usual famous Bengali immediate negative reaction). I will say: we have to start somewhere and we need to have a goal to strive for. Now, it is the job of a charismatic leader to lead us through the treacherous path to get to the goal. As we have already seen, it will not be easy, but let us tell our future leader what we want and then give that person the support to make it happen. Let us be selfish and dream that we can make this country more than just the nation of strikes, political feuds and crises.

Thus, my request to our chosen, charismatic, action oriented, future leader: Stand up and lead us ... we are anxiously waiting ... because we want to begin the journey with you to take "Bangladesh where Singapore is today ..."

Durreen Shahnaz is a Managing Director for a regional media company based in Singapore.

This article was published in Daily Star on April 29, 2007