If you follow Mr. Faisal Qureshi at the Television Networks, I would prefer that you stop reading this post further. If you have been a big fan of his “Youth Responsibility” talks, I would request you to please click the “close” button and navigate away immediately.
Whenever Sir Faisal, Ma’am Reema and Mr. Adnan Maqbool team up for a show in Lahore, I try my best to attend the talk hoping to listen something new. But this
always ends up on not littering, driving lessons and what not.Ok fine, we are uncivilized citizens living in a jungle but is this the only responsibility we have as a nation?
On 23rd October 2008, while sitting on a comfortable chair of the FAST-National University, Lahore Campus’s Faculty Meeting Room at 7:00 p.m. with representatives of 3 top event management companies and one of the socially conscious CEO of our motherland, I was thinking something and wondering if Sir Faisal has ever wondered why people like me come again and again to listen to him. I wish it would be have been great if i would have attended sessions of Ms.Marryam Chaudhry (M.D., Corporate Communications) instead who was just sitting right opposite to me.
People like me know Sir Faisal as C.E.O. of Kolachi Advanced Technologies, Managing Director of Blue Ice Technologies and nonetheless as one of the successful entrepreneurs in Pakistan. We, the engineers, computer scientists and business administration students look up to him as a mentor but he has other issues at his hand to take care of. He wants to tell this educated minority that they have created all the mess and they should be ashamed of it. What about the majority that is creating all the fuss?
I know i am an animal but I do not smoke, I don't eat "PAAN" and we are the minor crime partners in all what he has been blaming us for. We are not the targeted audience. Sir Faisal is lecturing those people who'll eventually leave this country and his efforts and time would go to waste. Perhaps if I come to the point straight, Sir Faisal is also a partner in making people leave the country because being the head of 2 technology companies, he never lectured multinational and his colleagues about the "Corporate Social Responsibility".
Does "Corporate Social Responsibility" only means that you have to donate to Edhi Foundation, fund ads of Fatmid and other NGOs.No Sir No! I don't know Sir Faisal's view point on CSR but all i know is that none of these CEO's have ever done any serious effort in retaining the youth within this country because they too are SELFISH. Though i am exactly half of his age at this moment of time, but i have been through the CSR policies of all major Telcos, Multinationals, Banks, Software Houses and Engineering Firms."Educate A Child" programmes and what not? But what about the people who as per their college or university degree are considered as "educated".
Few reasons that why educated lot moves out of the country and becomes "parasites”. The amount of money these graduate students take home after all the hard work, bills and related taxes is peanuts. Government takes income tax and what not but fails to provide medical and other facilities which are normal outside the Pakistani territory. Same is the case with the corporate sector. These engineers and technicians are offered about $5000-$9000 salary with all other facilities outside the country and thus they move out for a good future because eventually they have to support their existing family members as well as raise their own family.
"Cleaning Walls" would be of what use to most of us? Lets take Pakistan as a wall of height 20 ft..Considering that i am 6 ft. tall, without a ladder I would only be able to reach the max height of 7 ft. At that 15-20 ft. height, our leadership and future leaders who are currently being educated at Cambridge and Oxford would come and would throw paint balls to spoil what i have cleaned. They'll drop black paint from that height and this would eventually affect the wall that i have cleaned up till 7 ft. All of us know that children of these "OWNERS OF PAKISTAN" would come after getting foreign degrees and would be made the Ministers. Pakistanis have been made to understand that these are your limits and we are the land lords. You are peasants so never ever try crossing us if you want to live here else you are welcome to move to the other land.
Why don't these CEOs show some social responsibility in making "Leaders". Making the youth stand against those forces who'll come from outside and start ruling us. Have they ever tried contributing for an Innovation, development of Incubation Centers or Social Services Centre for the nation to contribute back? At least people like us can develop products and solutions in order to make the life better for the people of Pakistan. We can commit 3 hours a day for developing technologies that could help Pakistani public.CAP (Citizens Archive of Pakistan) as he covered in one of his programs is doing a similar job. If this is done, the youth would take ownership of these community projects or I would say one day taking my kids around the city i would say "We developed Traffic Solution for this area which was funded by some ABC Software Solutions and XYZ Engineering Firm and then we eventually gifted it to the Government of Pakistan".
However, if you'll go to these socially responsible organizations and ask for sponsorship in terms of Drama, Concert or Fashion Show, from Brand Managers to Marketing Managers to CEO's everybody would be interested to pour everything for partying. But why they hesitate in contributing to projects that add to the development of society and the young educated lot?
I have been attending Startup Insider sessions of P@SHA and other organizations. I would also like to acknowledge their efforts of developing the entrepreneurial germs inside me. The speakers who are mostly CEOs would encourage you to be entrepreneurs, do something mind blowing but after these sessions whenever some of them are contacted to help in setting up the own company or proper mentoring, they'll show you cold shoulder or would want you to develop the idea for them which they'll eventually sell out as their organization's product. We are producing 8000 engineers a year whereas India is producing 500,000 engineers a year and all the educational institutes and organization there term it as their social responsibility to place these students in the right organizations. Mostly the organizations select their targeted talent in his/her 3rd year at the undergraduate school and start working on them. Here, its been 6 months and most of my batch mates having sound knowledge of Telecom Engineering are helpless and jobless.T hey are ready to work free for organizations but no one wants them to even enter their premises as they don't have any "reference". If they try to do a start up, nobody is there to help them financially and morally. One of my friends who never wanted to leave this country even if he would have got minimal pay, had to move out because of the HR managers of these top multinationals and "socially responsible" organizations. What he said to me before his departure was "Rafaeel! Friend, I always wanted to clean up this whole dirty car (Pakistan) but they didn't even let me wash the tyres. My father has retired and we both have found jobs outside the country and I am relocating just because they don't put faith in me. I would even advise you to relocate because at least they give us the opportunity to earn bread and butter." His words seriously made me weep that day.
All my seniors took education from here and now working in big giants like Microsoft, Google, IBM and what not. Today, i think they made the right decision for themselves, their families and the country because people like Sir Faisal never came to an institute saying
"Son! If you have got that fire and spark inside you, I would mentor you in setting up your own firm and making a difference"
He's a techy guy but his organization perhaps never felt it necessary to take responsibility of few students and develop them as leaders. Here, I would like to appreciate those institute professors like Dr. Umar Saif (SCI) and NUST's Technology Incubation Centre director who are more socially responsible than the CEOs of these Socially Responsible Firms in Pakistan.
Did Ma'am Reema and the other partners from her company ever thought about instructing some FREE courses for the "Management Students"?
Did Adnan Bhai ever open himself to mentor students who want to know about TV Production?
The answer would be perhaps "NO" because all of us seem to be very busy and selfish. We would never ever want a kid of today to bring his/her own firm and enter the competition. This is how much socially responsible we are.
Evelop provides an extensive range of design and development services. An atmosphere of creativity blooms at Evelop where every viewpoint is heard and brainstorming sessions result in innovative perspectives. Every project is tackled on an individual basis from scratch tailored to what the customer requires.
Design Projects are taken from the first step of understanding what the client is looking for the final delivery of design tailored to revised according to what the client is 100% satisfied with. Quick Mocks are a trademark at Evelop where we realize how urgent projects can be and how quickly clients need to make up their mind.
Communication is the core of our business strategy. Whether its IM, Private Messaging Board or Email Communication, we are in contact 24/7 through one medium or another. It is our vision to be a completely client-driven enterprise.
The development services are extensive. With a core strength in Information Systems and Business Process Optimization Software ranging from Customer Relationship Manager, Enterprise Resource Planner to Management Information System, Supply Chain Management System. Our understanding is not just limited to the technical implementation of these software but, as our proposals will showcase, our skills are excellent in the literature based understanding of these platforms making us an excellent firm to opt for. It is this understanding that allows us to be a consultant firm as well, one that can drive you through the whole process of automating your processes, increasing your ROI and optimizing your life cycle.
We thoroughly enjoy Web Projects. Ranging from the simplest implementation of an E-Commerce Solution to complex Web 2.0 Applications, we thrive on providing value to these solutions. Increasing your business intelligence through the provision of high end data mining abilities in your solutions, our services are meant to strengthen your understanding of your future.
* (Every Junior Batch considers their final year the best batch and their first SOFTEC as the "Best SOFTEC".That's a fact)
Batch 2001 and partially 2002 have mentored me to the present "Rafaeel".Tribute to senior batches is over due but that would come on this blog on a later stage.But on a short note, these are the people who taught me how to deal the world and most importantly developed "sense of ownership for the Alma Mater" and contributing back to the institute.
It was early 2005 when Burhan & Nauman Bhai said to me "Roofi, Be Selfish!".Though, I realized the true meanings of these words at a much later stage but i kept wondering
"Why Burhan Bhai said so?". "Isn't he the nice guy that we all know of or he's another politician out there?"
Lets fast forward this story uptil the year 2007.Til now, apart from other stuff i got to know one thing that seniors surely know much more than us.Moreover, some incidents took place during these years which made me firm that i would never contribute back to this institute no matter what.
Perhaps the Ainslie Henderson's song explains all the feelings that i have hidden in there.Frankly, sometimes i act as an optimist and think that every thing happens for good.So after a long struggle, i have now moved on wishing her the very best in her life.I sincerely pray that she gets whatever she wishes in her life :)
Keep Me A Secret
I'm trying not to feel you but you just brushed by and if you dare to cross that line you know my toes will step on fire
ohhh sizzle when its face on face and skin on skin i'm trying to keep you out and i'm trying to keep me in
100 million eyes behind these walls watching ya, hearing ya, knowning ya
keep me a secret, keep me out your arms keep my kisses off your lipstick stop me swallowing your charms keep yourself a secret, lock up all your doors i'll keep you out of my dreams just you keep me out of yours
i needn't not to notice you but you unwrap my eyes and don't let embraces linger try to keep our arms untied see there you go again you're making me mad cos i'm drawn to this danger ohhh and its making me mad
100 million reasons to ignore wanting to be with you
100 million eyes behind these walls watchin ya hearing ya knowing ya
all im asking is for nothing and if nothing is enough for you ohh leave it i said keep me inside your head under your breath
When you have it for the first time, you think you've got what you have always wanted.The feeling is inexpressible.The whole world seems beautiful.But when you are out of it, you roll off like a fish out of the water.Same happened with me.
SOFTEC 2008 Closing Ceremony (Evening, August 31, 2008)
“The winds of change are in the air. The future becomes reality in the blink of an eye, as quickly as the reality of today becomes history. Never before has the pace of technological advancement been so rapid, and never before has it offered so much in so little time.”
Respected faculty, Chief Guest, sponsors, participants, ladies and Gentlemen,
Assalam-o-Alaikum!
I stand before you today as President of SOFTEC 2008, hardened by a thousand tough decisions, having faced hardship, toil, and the constant threat of event cancellation. A long way indeed from how I started out. In 2004 I started as a volunteer in the first international SOFTEC. It was a rigorous and fitting initiation for what was to come later. We volunteers (like these) stood there terrified as a larger than life Belal Hashmi proceeded to drill into us the numerous merits and benefits of being a part of the SOFTEC society. I remember even now that he managed to communicate to us what a privilege and honour it was to serve SOFTEC.
Fast forward four years. I was handed over the team, and I took over with the idealistic belief that things would start getting done automatically as soon as I take charge of the office. I could not have been more wrong. The first piece of news imparted to me as SOFTEC President that Mr. Belal Hashmi, a constant in all the previous SOFTECs and without whose guidance, help and support none of these events would have been possible, would be stepping down as society advisor. It took me the grand total of 72 hours to realize what a huge blow that was to SOFTEC 2008 and the university in general. Hurdles were encountered at every turn, hurdles that were so smoothly handled by Mr. Belal Hashmi with such complete control, were turned into obstacles and obstacles into obstructions. And that was just the beginning. The political situation in the country continued to deteriorate, with security becoming more and more of an issue every day. I think it would be folly to turn a blind eye to events in the country and pretend that they did not affect us. A substantial amount of sponsorship which is provided by the Government of Punjab to SOFTEC was not received this time due to the political instability in the country. A number of other sponsors were also reluctant to be involved. As recently as last Thursday the event was at the threshold of cancellation. But I would like to give special thanks to REDMATH’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr.Raja Akbar Hassan who understood and acknowledged the efforts put in by the students for this largest student run event in Pakistan.He has been a true inspiration.I salute you Sir!
I would also like to thank PTCL’s GM Consumer Services, Mr.Irfan Chaudhry and Manager Mr.Hassan Zafar.Gratitude goes to Mr.Faizan Mubarak and Mr.Shahid Latif at GEO Television Network, Ms.Saadia & Mr.Imran Bhatti of The News and Mr.Sarfraz Niazi of FM91 as well as Mr.Farid Sabri of Sabri Stores without whose help it certainly would not have been possible to hold this event.
Bao Jee is an engineer. Thus, he conducted as many “stress tests” as he could in order to test the capabilities of his product called “THE PRESSEDENT”. Fortunately, I was able to survive most of them.SOFTEC 2008 was planned to give a befitting tribute and farewell to Sir Belal Hashmi but unfortunately due to shortage of funds, I could only implement 35% of my initial plan for the event.I take this opportunity to announce that with the consent of alumni and faculty advisors, SOFTEC’s famous programming competition has been renamed as the “Belal Hashmi Programming Competition” in order to acknowledge the services of this Guardian Angel to the SOFTEC Society for the last 13 years.
SOFTEC Society in collaboration with Student’s Blog is also announcing 3 scholarships of 1500, 1000 and 500 pounds respectively in order to support the higher education of students intending to continue their education in United Kingdom. Lucky draw was conducted for the registered students at the Student’s Blog stall
The lucky students selected after the draw are
1) For 1500 GBP-> Mr. Iftikhar Malik (Lahore School of Economics)
2) For 1000 GBP-> Mr.Salik Nadeem (Garrison)
3) For 500 GBP-> Ms.Maimoona Shehzadi (FAST-Lahore)
I congratulate all the winners of this lucky draw. Student’s Blog Team would contact you shortly.
Managing an event of such magnitude throws pressures of its own. While this pressure is extremely challenging and motivates us all to give our best, there have doubtless been occasions when this pressure might have been taken out on the wrong person or things might have been said that were not meant to be said. I would like to apologize for anything that I might have said or done in the heat of the moment that may have offended anyone. None of it was personally directed towards anyone, and it was all due to the pressures of organizing an event like SOFTEC.
A successful event can never be hosted without a dedicated team working tirelessly behind the scenes. When SOFTEC was originally postponed, much of the final year team resigned. It seemed at the time that canceling the event entirely was a better alternative, seeing that most of the batch would have graduated by the time SOFTEC finally came around. It is at this point that I would like to offer my sincerest thanks to my entire batch mates especially Associate Vice President, Salman Ahmad. Had he not shown the strength of character and determination in the face of disappointment, the whole event would have come down like a house of cards. The Vice Presidents, Bilal Munir, Abeer Hamid and especially Rabia Mohyuddin were instrumental in pulling together all aspects of SOFTEC.
Two sweet batch mates who’ll always remember me as an “animal” for the rest of their lives are the Manager, Marketing & Branding Noaman Azhar and Manager, Software House Enclosure Maria Batool who have been always there for me. Always listened to my crap. Banged their heads in every nook and corner of the region to get the finances for the event. I would like to appreciate what they have done for me and SOFTEC 2008 under such critical circumstances.
Moreover, I would like to personally thank all the volunteers and team members who have done the re-setup of the event 4 times since yesterday afternoon due to the bad weather conditions. Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like you to give a round of applause to these young dedicated volunteers who have spent sleepless nights in preparation for this event and are looking after the security and management of all the respected guests and visitors since last 48 hours.
I would also like to thank my parents especially my mother for being so understanding about my being out of the house for days on end, our Director, Dr. Arshad Hussain for his continued support, our faculty advisor Mr. Aurangzeb, Mr. Agha Ali Raza, and last but definitely not the least, Dr.Imtiaz Tarique, who was the guiding force in the end when all hope had been lost. I would also like to appreciate the efforts of the FAST-National University’s administration for assisting us in hosting this event, and their dedication to the cause was clear the way they fixed the broken underground power line by working day and night to have it repaired in time for the competition.
Many times during this journey, I was pushed and blackmailed on the personal front for taking stand as the SOFTEC President. I thank the Almighty Allah for keeping me steadfast during this course. My believe in the Allah has strengthened in last few months so much so that I am now a firm believer that everything good or bad happens for a reason.
There were some reservations from the junior batch that they would not be given the opportunity to organize SOFTEC. I would like to assure them that they will certainly be hosting SOFTEC, and very soon the new executive body of SOFTEC 2009 will be announced. I sincerely hope that by the time SOFTEC 2009 comes around, the situation in the country would have improved, and the new team will be able to put on an even bigger, better and more well organized event than SOFTEC 2008!
There were lots of RSVP smsz on the event day.Some of the friends were out of the country.Some in different cities of this beloved land and yeah some lot was busy in their daily routine work.Moreover, SOFTEC 2008 team members were also busy organizing their respective events.They were anxious to know what i spoke at the Opening and the Closing Ceremony and whether i fired harsh words at the FAST-NU Administration or not :) .Thus, i am reproducing my opening and closing ceremony speeches for them.
SOFTEC 2008 Opening Ceremony (Morning, August 30, 2008)
“Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time”
Honourable Chief Guest, Director, Faculty, participants, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Assalam-o-Alaikum!
I would like to welcome you all to the 4th international and 13th annual SOFTware Exhibition and Competition, PTCL SOFTEC 2008! Progressing from a small, national competition to mega international event for people of all ages, SOFTEC over the years has evolved into a platform for some of the most creative minds of the country, and in recent years, the world. In this respect, SOFTEC 2008 aims to eclipse previous years’ events by reaching new standards of excellence, creativity and hospitality.
The world today is changing around us. We are dependent on technology in ways we don’t even realize. Machines have pervaded our lives to such an extent that it is impossible to imagine life without them. As the world shrinks around us, information travels around the world at ever increasing rates. The role of Information Technology takes on ever greater significance, and it is fitting that the leading I.T. University in the country plays host to the largest technological event in the country.
When my team and I were handed over the society, work on SOFTEC 2008 began in earnest. Dreams were dreamt, plans were made and a general air of enthusiasm existed which was evident for all to see in the way the entire team set about their tasks with zest. But it is a sign of the fragility of our times that postponements and the threat of cancellation became the norm. Security threats were all around, with a general air of uncertainty existing that hindered attempts to pull the event together. Participants were afraid of traveling, sponsors were being cautious and there was an overall resistance to SOFTEC 2008 being held in such an atmosphere. The future looked dark for SOFTEC.
But it is the hour before dawn that the night seems darkest. And so it was for SOFTEC. Just when it seemed that all hope was lost and cancellation seemed the most likely possibility, decisions were made. Resignations were given, appointments were made, and it was decided that the show must go on. That was the time that team members stood up to be counted. Jobs, commitments and classes – all went along with preparations for SOFTEC, and when I tell you that the campus was only handed over to the management team at 8 P.M. last night, you will soon see for yourself the stupendous effort that has gone into preparing this event.
It is here then that I would like to offer my deepest and sincerest thanks to all those team members who quite literally burned the midnight oil in preparation for this event. I would like to thank our Event Partners [PTCL & PITB] Media Partners [Geo, Jang Group of Newspapers, FM91], Redmath and all other sponsors, the participants, and in particular the administration, without whose support it would not have been possible to organize such an extravaganza.
I am also thankful to the High Commission of Pakistan in India & Bangladesh as well the Embassy of Pakistan in Iran for issuing visas to our student delegates.
A little on the theme for this year’s SOFTEC before I end. Innovation is the heart and soul of every idea, every person that plans to be a success. The need to be something different, to do something totally original, to stray from the beaten track – that is the vision for SOFTEC 2008. Who knows, a decade on it might be one of the ideas you see here that will revolutionize the world. Thus it is not about winning – it is about dreaming, daring to try, that matters here at SOFTEC. Come, join us in inspiring innovation at SOFTEC 2008!
