Factory of Cheaters [Part 3]

Here we go again. This time I would like to expose some of the private language schools; specifically, the highly expensive ones which welcome the children of the nouveau riche. What I'm about to say can be stranger than fiction, but every single word of it is true.

Those schools are actually no more than a social club, where kids go to get even more spoiled and receive a certificate in the end of the year. It is a kind of new service for the rich, which aims to satisfy the customer to be able to keep his money flowing to them. Therefore, if you ever happen to go there, you will find fancy stuff which have absolutely nothing to do with education or its quality, merely for marketing. Like the full option cars, these schools have got luxurious buildings, swimming pools, tennis courts, horse tracks, cafeterias, conference halls …etc. They want to dazzle those rich parents and assure them that their loved ones will receive 5 stars treatment.

As you can guess, such a club is built to entertain. Something as serious as education will ruin the fun atmosphere, and they don't want to scare their customers away. If the kid goes home and complains to his parents, even on a false basis, the parent might then switch to another shop.. I mean school. That's why they make sure that the little angels will have their best time and in the way get whatever education they can through the day. Those students will have the chance to go on as many as 15 trips during the academic year! Their teachers aren't allowed to punish them in any way, even if it is by asking about their homework. Oh, how rude would that be! How can a teacher ask the student whose parents provide his/her paycheck? And what if this student was rude in class? What's the big deal, he's just a kid. And what if he didn't bring his schoolbag? It is his bag not your, he is free to bring it or not. And what if he doesn't attend your class? He has the right to walk about instead of sitting the whole day. It is his school, not yours. You have no authority over him whatsoever.

Now what about exams? Well, we trust them, we don't need to distract them by moving around while they are kind enough to take the exam. But even this is not enough, for none of them can help anyone else with any answers. What can be done? Then comes your role as a teacher. What are you paid for? Your job is to make sure all those students pass, and with high grades. Yes, believe it or not, that's a teacher's job at those schools. You have to make sure that every student has a report which will draw a smile on our dear customers' faces.

What about nationwide exams? Now we really got a problem here. Errr, how will those students pass their thanawya 3amma exams for example? The teachers who supervise those exams are outsiders, as well as those who grade the sheets. Can a business like that allow anything to jeopardize its profits? Of course they have everything carefully planned. I am sorry to say, that the teachers assigned by the educational zones to supervise exams at such schools are very... I don't know which adjective to use here. Excuse me, but I have to say this.. very poor and low-profiled. What happens is that those teachers will be generously hosted by the school, if you know what I mean. They have croissant and canapés for breakfast, and soft drinks and hot drinks during their supervision. Now, you can guess how they pay back for this hospitality.

And the student, you might wonder, what will they do after graduation? They will get promoted to bigger supermarkets; namely, private institutes or universities. How considerate of you. Well, don't worry. They either work in the family business or use dad's connections to find a job. If you want something that is truly worthy of worrying about, it is the future of this country.

Thought I was an Angel

How evil are you?

I tag everyone who reads this post!

Where do we go from here?

The Egyptian Mufti: "It was common to seek blessing by drinking the Prophet's urine. And anyone who finds this idea to be repulsive has doubts concerning his faith." Click here to read >>

Where are we heading people? Isn't it enough that Egypt which used to lead the development in the region and rose the torch of culture for others to follow, is now allowing itself to be dragged in the course of countries of less civilization and retarded thought? Are we now seeking to prove we can go way backwards further than them or what? Do we aim to dig our own way down to the bottom? What's that?! I can't get it!

The Mufti is supposed to be the spiritual compass for Muslims in our country. Now he writes a book that says that drinking Prophet Muhammad's urine was a source for blessing and that his sweat, blood, hair (in short anything which dagaleen consider as attar) are blessed and can be used for this purpose!

Of course many sheikhs have attempted to object to this, saying that they can't find anything in Islamic history of sunnah to backup those claims. But what actually makes me pose those previous questions was that the Mufti's fatwa is not an isolated incident or single attempt. When put in context, we'll find out that what we're really facing here is a process of turning the prophet into a deity (dropping off his human quality).

Before you accuse me of any exaggeration, please take a few minutes to review some recent tendencies which are very smoothly sneaking into our modern Islamic thought and which were never mentioned before. Let's take a look at the qualities that modern sheikhs are attributing to the Prophet. The insistence that Muhammad was a "Man of Miracles" is being stressed by many nowadays.

As any other Muslim, the only miracle that I know of Muhammad delivering to his people was the Qur'an. If anybody knows of something else, please enlighten me. But what we've been hearing recently is that the Prophet could read the future (misinterpretations of stories when the Prophet gave advice and then turned out that he was right. Like the woman who came to ask his advice as to which of her suitors to marry. The Prophet then told her that both her suitors were not good for her and he recommended a third man whom she didn't like. He then insisted that she would reconsider, and when she married him she said she found all the good in him. Such stories aren't originally intended to make us think that the Prophet could foretell the future. He was just a wise man giving sincere advice. But the way such stories are being used nowadays imply that he had supernatural powers.), heal the sick (the unjustified persistence to make Muhammad a doctor is so big nowadays. What is known to be Alteb Alnabawy and curing illnesses using cattle urine is bogus. You find hundreds of books talking about how the Prophet prescribed cures for various illnesses. There are swindlers who make use of this, selling what they claim to be Islamic cures. Many people have died out of such practices and we still can't learn that the Prophet wasn't a doctor. Again, he was just giving advice to sick people at a time where there were no scientific solutions. If I tell you to tie up your head when you have a headache and it worked, does this make me a doctor? He only told people about coventional methods used and tried at this time. If we stopped brushing our teeth and used the wooden brush (sewak) does this protect us against cavities?), exorcise evil spirits (Again this is used by swindlers to claim that a person can be possessed and those who heal by Qur'an. The Prophet used to say certain prayers in order to seek the blessing of God during his day. These prayers were also used to pacify people who face a crisis or who want to remember God in order not to be deviated by the devil. It was a way of bringing peace to those in distress or those who suffer psychologically or mentally.), being holy. (This is the part which the Mufti drew upon. By claiming that anything that happened to be in contact with the Prophet is blessed, he and others are bestowing a holy nature on Muhammad, seeking to elevate him from the human condition. The danger of this notion will be witnessed when it becomes common among the illiterate masses, who went as far as seeking blessing from a tree.)

Finally, attacking the faith of those who find the idea of drinking the urine of the Prophet to be disgusting is a method of terrorism, which aims to stop people from even questioning the ideas that those "respectful" sheikhs are delivering. I honestly don't think this can bring about any good to our nation which is already suffering enough. Terrorizing people in such a way, deforming a religion which is based on logic to make it supernatural, and seeking to remove the human quality off our Prophet, will cause us to enter deeper into our dark ages. But unlike the European dark ages, this will be even fiercer and will witness more victims. My prayer to God is to spare us all that.

Depressed

A student dies while waiting to salute the Minister of Education. Click here to read>>

This is better left without any comment from my side. But ever since I heard about this tragedy, I felt that if I don't let out my rage I could explode at any moment, or even get a heart attack. So, please allow me to use this post to pour out the pain that is tearing my heart since yesterday, when I first learned about the death of Amira, the 11 year old student from Qenna. May she rest in peace, away from the burning sun which took her life in mercy maybe. It's enough what Amira has already suffered from this rotten educational system, that the visit of the minister finally comes to put an end to it all.

Usually when you know about such tragedies it is the official comments which makes you even more furious. That's how I felt while listening to Mr. Medhat Ahmed, Deputy of the ministry of education in Qenna, as he enthusiastically struggles to defend his excellency the minister and seeking to prove that his visit had nothing to do with the death of Amira. His first sentence was "His excellency's plane landed in Qenna at 9:00 am. It took him then 30 mins to reach the school afterwards. The students didn't wait that long, and this girl was already sick and had high temperature." Yaaaaaaaaaaaah.. How can a person be that thick-skinned? How can a human being reach this degree of heartlessness that he doesn't even express any kind of sorrow at the lost innocent soul? How can hypocrisy take over to such extent?

Ba2a kedda? It was the girl's fault? As if she chose to rush out of her school to stand in the sun while she is sick to salute the minister? The only important thing is that his excellency's hands are clean. He didn't kill anyone.

Wallahi if God chose to ease Amira from this life at this moment, then she was murdered once again by this man, who only cares about keeping his chair and proving his loyalty to his minister. And although I don't believe in ghosts, I pray that her ghost will haunt him all his life. As to the minister, he is already murdering our children every day by insisting to be received with qeues of hailers every time his highness decides to visit a school. 3ala ra2y Mr. Medhat Ahmed, "He's not less than his excellency the Governor who has similar receptions every time he visits a town." How can those people sleep at night? I wonder.

After hearing this man speak, the only thing that popped into my mind was Adel Imam saying, "Shafakom allah w3afakom ya ostaz Medhat." As long as people like you exist, we can never have hope in a better future.

Against Sexual Harassment

Please take part in this big event to help make our streets safe again. If you're a female, I don't need to tell you how important your participation will be. If you are a male, go for the sake of your mother, sister, wife, or daughter. We need to raise awareness about this critical issue and break the silence which encourages sexual predators to go on with their shameful acts. Come to Sakiat El Sawy on Friday, May 18th at 4:00 pm and speak out against sexual harassment.

Here is the announcement for the event and all the information you need in order to take part:

About 2 years ago ECWR started receiving complaints from women that sexual harassment on our streets was becoming more of a problem – more frequent and more extreme – and no one was doing anything about it. So we held some focus groups with women and with men, started collecting stories from women using a survey, and put together a plan.

Part of what we learned was that:

- Women have nowhere to turn because “blaming the victim” puts us at risk.

- There is no stigma attached to harassing and men face no consequences

– not from their friends, not from police, not from their families, not from other people on the street, and sometimes not even from their victims.

- There is no law that mentions sexual harassment specifically, little awareness about the 3 laws that can apply, and no enforcement.

As part of the campaign we developed with volunteers (which includes raising public awareness, advocacy and outreach to schools) Let’s Sit & Talk is meant to stimulate conversation, break the silence and welcome women and men to share their experiences and take action against sexual harassment.

Let’s Sit & Talk will feature:

- Presentations on the final results of our survey, sexual harassment in the law, the role of the media, psychological and sociological impacts of sexual harassment

- Films

- An introduction to self-defense course

- Bands: Tamara Yousry & Mariam Ali, The Babians, Bikya, Forgotten Notes, Bad Apple (ft. vocalcurse), Ressala, Vybe

Entry is free before 6:30. After 6:30, tickets will be 5 le.

Sponsors include Nile and Nugoom FM, Filbalad.com, The Croc, Masrawy.com, EIDHR, Art Review Magazine, Marketing Markets, and Titan Advertising.

OUR THANKS TO ALL THE ARTISTS, VOLUNTEERS AND SPONSORS WHO ARE MAKING THIS DAY HAPPEN!!!

Get involved - suggestions and volunteers are welcome!

Email Rebecca at ecwr@link.net, or just show up early on the 18th to help set up.

Puppets and Puppeteers

Once again I find myself compelled to have a look on the ugly social scene we're witnessing nowadays. This time I'll be talking about art and artists. Call it "Modern Islamic Business Productions" if you want.

I wanna start off with the bizarre actresses who have suddenly chosen to resume their acting careers after they had denounced the job altogether and believed that quitting it was the only right thing to do. Some of them even went as far as announcing that the money they had earned from acting was dirty money, and they engaged into a sort of "money laundry", if I may call it so, by having businesses in Islamic clothing or merely restaurants. Now, they come back one after one to act again on TV series but with their hijab on!

I remember when the CD of Sohair AlBably (the famous Egyptian comedian) launched at the Cairo International Book Fair several years ago. Thousands were gathered in front of computer screens displaying the former actress as she talks about how devilish acting was, and how she was misled throughout her life. She claimed that nothing was better than the humble life away from fame and away from displeasing God (meaning through art). As if 7ad sharabha 7aga asfara 3alashan tmasel! Why can't these people have the courage to own what they did?

Out of nowhere, what was considered haram (blasphemous) yesterday is considered halal today. Just because their sheikhs had a change of heart (or so we're made to believe) they came back as if nothing was said or done. However, they made it clear that they're back with their own conditions. Those conditions had to do with the money of course, which should be good enough for a returning star, and then with the scenes they will act. They will keep wearing the hijab in all their scenes, even if they are domestic ones with members of the family. Ya3ni she will wake up with hijab, prepare breakfast for her family with hijab and talk to her husband with hijab. Ok, no problem as long as the drama producers don't care about the quality of art they're delivering. But what's really amazing, is that away from those scenes, you'll find a very normal T.V. series.

I remember the ridiculous series of Sohair Ramzy (an actress who was known for her seductive roles and lack of talent) with her clownish attire, which is supposed to be sharia outfit, talking to a semi-naked girl in one of her scenes. Is that the kind of art that her sheikh approved? As long as she is covered up, it is ok that people will look at the bodies of the actresses sharing the same scenes with her? I seriously can't figure it out! Please help me here.
I'm not against her hijab. I'm not against her coming back to act. I'm not against her sharing scenes with the flirty chick. But what has religion got to do with that? After all she is supposed to be a leader among this group of "purged actresses". Tayeb why do this?!

It is not a coincidence that all of those actresses had no talent whatsoever. They got their fame either from their hot movie scenes or from announcing that they will quit acting for religious reasons. (I don't understand why the media makes this huge propaganda whenever an actress decides to wear the hijab! It's a head scarf for God's sake! Everybody's free to dress the way they like.) Those actresses can not name even a single important role they had played during their whole careers. Their roles with hijab likewise have never added, nor will ever add, anything to art. They are just there for promoting the new look.

I must mention here that opposed to this group, there are wonderful actresses who chose to wear hijab without condemning their jobs or expressing shame of the roles they had acted. There are two excellent examples here: Shadya and Huda Sultan. After a lifelong brilliant acting and singing career, Egyptian star Shadya, had decided to quit and since then she had never spoken to the media or denounced her past career. Whereas, the late star Huda Sultan chose to resume her acting career with her hijab. In all her interviews she refused to be pushed into regretting her past roles. As a matter of fact, she didn't have any ridiculous conditions, and she actually acted some of best roles with the hijab. Her excellent performances in Al Wattad and Arabesque are a clear example. Until her death, Sultan resumed her career with dignity and dedication.

These women of real talent had nothing to be ashamed of cause what they offered was true art. I remember Shadya's song "Take my Hand" (7'od b2eedy) which was a religious song. The sincerity by which she sang it makes you feel she was out of this world, with her beautiful golden hair swaying by her face. Nobody saw anything wrong in it. On the contrary, it was considered one of the most beautiful and touching songs. Now, with fanaticism on the rise, and with the Islamic songs turning into a kind of fashion in modern Arabic music, I can't find a single song as touching as hers. I believe it isn't a coincidence. Using religion as a kind of marketing can never result in anything sincere, no matter how dazzling the outer appearance is. Religion needs a genuine spirit to shine through. But this wave of actresses and singers who are mere puppets in the hands of their puppeteers, whether they be sheikhs or business people, can never accomplish any lasting glory. They will have their time on the screen but time will sweep them as easily as they change their minds.

Factory of Cheaters [Part 2]

I've talked in part 1 about how the Ministry of Education has turned into a "Factory of Cheaters" selling the lie of education, while in fact inserting the germs of cheating into our youth.

Allow me to tell you more about this here, as I reveal a lot from my past experience in teaching. Through the years during which I had worked as a teacher, I realized how there was lack of any real educational system. As a matter of fact, the system was there to make sure there would never be a system (sounds like a riddle I know). But it is all a bunch of nonsense. Our role as teachers was in fact to keep the chain of cheating going. How? Let's see..

First, we cheat ourselves into believing that we are teaching or educating, while in fact we are just there to fill a gap in a class full of students (ya3ni akeed class and students, yeb2a lazem teacher wala eih?). Then, we cheat the students and make them believe that they are being educated. Next, we cheat the parents by keeping their kids occupied by homework, making them believe that their children are receiving an education. And then we cheat the whole world by examining the students and giving them grades when they already had had the answers before the exam.

Bad enough? Well, that's not all. But let me first explain that teachers are not the evil guys here. The process actually starts from above. Yeah, ma3lesh, I'll once again refer to "the factory". See, the problem is that the curriculum itself is carefully made in a way to be too long, too complicated, too fragmented, too incoherent, that it cheats everybody. Once you lie your eyes upon the curriculum, you'll think "Wow, that's really difficult and full." Oh yeah, it is full, but full of rubbish.

For example, if you teach English at a language school, you have to teach not one curriculum, but two. Aywa wallahi two! There is the advanced level of the language school (cause students there learn English since KG1) and there is the curriculum taught at governmental schools. Now, to teach both curricula is absolutely impossible, not only because it is time consuming and pointless, but also because I'll make a jerk out of myself in class. Yesterday I am teaching Shakespeare and today I am teaching "My name is Om Luji"!

Those who used to come from the ministry for inspection basically cared about the ministry's curriculum. They are all 100% sure that we don't teach it, yet they also like to cheat us and ourselves into thinking that they are doing their jobs. There is a separate preparation book for this curriculum where all the lesson plans should be listed with the dates when they were given. There are also samples of notebooks and workbooks where the students answer its exercises. All these are a hoax. They know I know they know it is a hoax, yet we should all pretend that it's not so. We should cheat ourselves before we cheat everybody else. That's how the system works.

Let's move on to the process of examination. You may wonder what I meant by saying that students receive the answers before the questions. Hey, haven't you heard about the wonderful invention of "model answers"? Ahuh.. Yes, for every question there is a model answer that the students are given to memorize in order to write it back onto their answer sheets. It's that simple. And then we grade our own answers, the ones we wrote for the students to memorize. Teftekro momken 2a2ool el2egaba bta3ty we7sha? ady nafsy sefr maslan? Of course our answers are the perfect ones, so all the students do great. Except those who aren't careful enough with spelling or have a weak memory, those might get a bit less. But for sure everybody passes. Wkol sana wento taybeen. W2alf mabrouk. W3o2bal elsana elgayya.

*To be continued bardo..