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Good morning, Tahrir Square!

Anil Netto
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The spirit of the protesters at Tahrir Square is just amazing. The latest is that striking doctors and 3,000 staff from a key Cairo hospital along with 3,000 lawyers have joined the protests.

A newly appointed Cabinet Minister for Culture has also resigned. According to Aljazeera, “the NDP Secretary General Hossam Badrawi says he expects Mubarak to respond to the demands of the people before Friday. An official statement from the military is imminent”. Is this the end of the road for Mubarak and his regime?

Nice to see tanks being put to good use as shelter for the weary - Photo credit: SherineT


“The great tragedy is Obama chose not to hold out his hand”: Robert Fisk on the gap between US rhetoric and action in the Egyptian uprising

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Who gave the order?

Anil Netto
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When it comes to the question of the chain of command in political matters, I am reminded of the 12th century story of Thomas Becket.

Authoritarian leaders of nations these days don’t like to get their hands dirty. Instead, they tend to surround themselves with sycophants who can almost read their minds and then go out of their way to fulfil what they believe to be the leaders’ desires.

So when some dirty deed is done, the head honcho can then say, “I didn’t order it, it wasn’t me; it was the army or the police who fired at the crowd/tortured dissidents/detained political opponents without trial, etc.”

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Second bridge ready by Nov 2013, but…

Anil Netto
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The second Penang bridge is expected to be completed by November 2013, barring delays. The big question now is how are the roads on the island going to cope with all that traffic?

My main disappointment is that planners never thought of building an inter-city rail link to the island instead. That would have eased inter-city traffic on the existing bridge. Without a rail link, the traffic pouring into Penang will reach nightmarish proportions. Anyone who was in Penang Island over the Lunar New Year holidays will have got a taste of things to come (in terms of traffic congestion).

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Meet CikShidaDariParit, mime singer

Anil Netto
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Meet C.S.D.P. @ CikShidaDariParit, a 38-year-old school-teacher and mime artiste from Perak, who is breaking out of the mould of what society expects of her.

“I’m not a professional artist. I have no basics in acting, singing or dancing and I’m not an IT expert also. I’m just an ordinary woman and a teacher. I do all the videos by myself from recording, make up till the editing and I’m only using used materials,” she says.

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Hey, does this sound familiar?

Anil Netto
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A friend sent me this news commentary and I thought I would share it with you. Does it ring a bell by any chance?

Under sweeping privatisation policies, they appropriated profitable public enterprises and vast areas of state-owned lands. A small group of businessmen seized public assets and acquired monopoly positions in strategic commodity markets … While crony capitalism flourished, local industries that were once the backbone of the economy were left to decline. At the same time, private sector industries making environmentally hazardous products … have expanded without effective regulation at a great cost to the health of the population.

A tiny economic elite controlling consumption-geared production and imports has accumulated great wealth. This elite includes representatives of foreign companies with exclusive import rights in … automobiles. It also includes real estate developers who created a construction boom in gated communities and resorts for the super-rich. Much of this development is on public land acquired at very low prices, with no proper tendering or bidding.

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Penang’s risky beach activities

Anil Netto
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Why is it that we always have to wait for tragedy to strike before we implement safety measures?

These photos above were taken on 2 January 2011, just a couple of days after a beach accident involving a seven-year-old Japanese girl. They show beach buggies on the sand, parasailing activities and water scooters all on the same stretch of beach where toddlers and young children are playing, blissfully unaware of the danger lurking all around them. Notice the buggy wheel tracks across the beach.

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Egypt: Christians, Muslims for freedom

Anil Netto
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More images and accounts have emerged of the Muslim-Christian understanding on the streets calling for a new dawn in Egypt.

A Muslim holds aloft a Qur'an while a Christian carries a cross in a mark of Muslim-Christian solidarity in Tahrir Square - Photo credit: Huffington Post

See another picture here. And see this Reuters video.

This is an except from an Irish Times report:

MUSLIMS PRAYED with Christians yesterday in Tahrir Square at the heart of Cairo. A priest from Egypt’s ancient Coptic rite held high a cross, read verses from the Bible and in a deep, sonorous voice led hymn singing. The mostly Muslim throng joined in, familiar with the Arabic phrases the faiths share.

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Muslim-Christian solidarity in Tahrir Sq

Anil Netto
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Muslims prayed while Christians protected them. And today, Muslims returned the favour as they stood guard around Christians participating in a Sunday service. Tahrir Square continues to witness remarkable scenes of inter-religious solidarity in the struggle for freedom and justice.

Visual of the day: Father Fawzi Khalil holding the Bible standing next to an Imam holding the Qur'an.

See another picture here. And see this Reuters video.

Remember this renewed solidarity is happening in a land where a Coptic Church in Alexandria was attacked on 1 January 2011 in a suicide bombing, killing 23 and injuring 97.

thedailynewsegypt.com reports:

CAIRO: Christians and Muslims recited in unison the “Our Father” prayer in Tahrir on Sunday, a day intended to commemorate those killed in pro-democracy protests since Jan. 25.

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Mubarak family’s wealth “could reach RM213bn”

Anil Netto
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“Mubarak family fortune could reach $70bn, say experts – Egyptian president has cash in British and Swiss banks plus UK and US property”.

That’s the headline of a Guardian report.

I can’t say I am surprised. He joins the ‘illustrious’ ranks of US-backed dictators such as Suharto, the Shah of Iran, and Marcos, who enjoyed fabulous wealth while their people suffered from poverty and repression. That’s also what happens when the political elite mix business with politics and engage in lots of corporate wheeling and dealing.

Here’s an excerpt from the Guardian report:

President Hosni Mubarak’s family fortune could be as much as $70bn (£43.5bn) according to analysis by Middle East experts, with much of his wealth in British and Swiss banks or tied up in real estate in London, New York, Los Angeles and along expensive tracts of the Red Sea coast.

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Egypt: Where does US aid end up?

Anil Netto
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We know that the United States provides military aid to the Mubarak regime. But where does much of the money actually end up (leaving aside the ‘commissions’)?

According to Amy Goodman of truthdig.com:

… Mostly to U.S. corporations. I asked William Hartung of the New America Foundation to explain:

“It’s a form of corporate welfare for companies like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, because it goes to Egypt, then it comes back for F-16 aircraft, for M-1 tanks, for aircraft engines, for all kinds of missiles, for guns, for tear-gas canisters [from] a company called Combined Systems International, which actually has its name on the side of the canisters that have been found on the streets there.”

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