US MAIL

Fri, 02, 18

Imagine a life without sweepers; can you keep garbage in your house even for a day?

Locking horns

Every job matters

Imagine a life without sweepers; can you keep garbage in your house even for a day? Somebody has to be out there who would take away your garbage and dump it properly. Sadly, despite being aware of the importance of sweepers, maids, etc. in our lives, we call their jobs “minor”, “dirty” and “odd”.

Doctors, engineers, fashion designers are important people so are sweepers, maids and peons. All jobs are equal in terms of prestige they carry. And to think of a job as superior or inferior to other is discrimination.

For announcing a financial aid programme, I must applaud LUMS for being supportive to students who need financial assistance. More and more institutes should follow their lead and give back to the society. The only issue is with the image used in the ad of this financial aid programme. Since everybody around the globe is talking about discriminatory laws, traditions and practices, an image implying that a fruit-seller is inferior to a white collar worker makes you cringe.

Everybody enjoys a certain position in the social hierarchy. Not everyone can do the same thing; for example, do a white collar job. Even in the West where technology is being used quite effectively, somebody has to go down in the sewers to operate the machines and clean up.

Obviously, you can’t underestimate the value of education; an educated person is well-informed, and can live a better life but it doesn’t mean an uneducated person should feel inferior and bad about himself/herself. Everyone deserves to be respected. We can encourage people to get education, but we can’t tell them that their jobs are useless and they should quit and start dreaming “big”. And also, why should we assume a person who sells fruits is poor?

A simple picture of a young man/woman who doesn’t have money but is dreaming of starting up a business or becoming a CEO could have served the purpose.

Jamila Hussain

Not an elitist ad

I have a problem with all those individuals who have a problem with the LUMS ad. The only “flaw” is the ad is in English; this is not to say that English is the language of elitists only, but only to stress the point that Urdu is our national language and could cater to more people this way.

The ad is in no way offensive. In fact, if people take time to read the caption, it’s clearly stated that money doesn’t matter at LUMS at all! The thing is that “success” and “dream big” are abstract concepts; for our society - or any society for that matter - they are signified (unfortunately) by board rooms and operation theatres and art galleries. Even the formal suits are a symbol of how successful a person is in a society! We are the ones who’ve set those standards, there’s no denying it. So, to say, that LUMS went too far with this ad is not right. I think it’s a trend these days to create a fuss and to perceive everything negatively. Drawing the attention of the masses away from the main point to some silly aspect would do more harm than good! Imagine if LUMS decide to end its financial aid programme if it’s “hurting people so much”. How would you react to it?

Tabassum Zubairi