It's
been over 50 years since the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1960s.
Race relations have improved significantly as has the ability of
non-whites to improve their social condition. To be sure,
institutionalized racism remains stubbornly embedded in some
instances but it takes a film like “The Liberation of LB Jones”
to remind us how bad things were, especially in the American deep
south.
The
1969 film delves into the racial dynamics of a small town in
Tennessee. In the process, the movie sheds light on the deep-seated
prejudices and tensions that permeate the community. Through the main
character LB Jones, an African American man, much is revealed about
the social condition of African Americans. That the film is inspired
by real events is not surprising.
The film exposes the
intricacies of systemic racism and social norms of the time. The film
skillfully weaves together individual stories which provide diverse
perspectives on race relations. The dominant themes of discrimination
and social justicerun through the plot. They remind us of not only of
what has been achieved in the last five decades but also what remains
to be done.
"The Liberation of LB Jones" is
an insightful film. The movie is as complex as the viewer wishes it
to be for at its core the film is simply about human dignity and
social justice.
PS –
At the time of writing the entire movie is available for viewing on
YouTube.
I
am a Singapore based Tour Guide with a special interest in arts and
history. I have lived and worked in several countries during my
career as an international banker. I enjoy traveling, especially by
train, as a way to feed my curiosity about the world and nurture my
interest in photography. I am available on twitter (@grandmoofti);
Instagram(@imranahmedsg) and can be contacted at
imran.ahmed.sg@gmail.com.
Wednesday, 15 November 2023
I am a global citizen.
OK, I understand being an international citizen is not unusual anymore. There are many of us around. Nonetheless, stay with me and perhaps I can bring out some of my ‘uniqueness.’
Quantifying my life on earth is as good a starting point as any. (Despite being an investment manager who routinely plays with numbers, this is the first time I have broken down my mortal life in this way.)
Below is my life in numbers. Albeit without the significant time I spent spent traveking since I started my banking career in 1988. Perhaps as much as 15–20% of my life has been spent traveling.
Oh, in case you are wondering, at the time of writing I am 57 years old.
My life in numbers
Interpreted differently, my time can also be represented as follows:
The percentage of my life lived in societies based on the respective country’s dominant religion
Even if they do not lie, numbers don’t always tell the full story.
For example, digging deeper one learns that the bulk of my formative years, from the teenage age of fifteen until young adulthood at twenty-two, were spent in two Anglo-Saxon Western Christian societies, i.e. the UK and US.
Does my time in these two countries suggest I am steeped in the values of capitalism, democracy, freedom and the rights of the individual? Or have the first fifteen years of my life residing in two Muslim and Arab — there is a distinction between the two — infused me with a combination of Islamic, Arab and South Asian values?
Human psyche is not so simple that it can be dissected into black and white neatly. Indeed, a shrink may have a field day trying to figure out what makes me tick.
To me, many things just depend on the day. Music is a good example.
On some days, it’s classical music — Rachmaninoff and Mozart are among my two favorite composers. Notwithstanding my fondness for attending concerts of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, rock tunes by Black Sabbath, Motorhead and Def Leppard (I prefer the late 1970s, early 80s tunes!) are among the most played songs on my YouTube account. Last but by no means least, is 1970s Elvis with his unique musical style amalgamating country, rock and soft ballads.
Music, mood even cherry picking my heritage? It simply depends on the day.
Values, however, define the man. On this subject, it’s easy to write the politically correct stuff and claim ‘woke’ perfection. Nonetheless, that will be patently false as humans are simply not perfect.
(Did I just type some lines of religious morality? Or a philosophical view of morality? After all, I was a student of Philosophy as an undergraduate student!)
The best way to get to know me and my values is through my writing. My personality shines through — mostly unfiltered — into my my articles so please stay tuned!
NB - this story was first published on Medium here.
I am a Singapore based Tour Guide with a special interest in arts and history. I have lived and worked in several countries during my career as an international banker. I enjoy traveling, especially by train, as a way to feed my curiosity about the world and nurture my interest in photography. I am available on twitter (@grandmoofti); Instagram(@imranahmedsg) and can be contacted at imran.ahmed.sg@gmail.com.
Is it
just me or is there a clear dichotomy in the rescue attempts
surrounding the Titanic
submersible vessel versus the refugee
boat tragedy off the Greek coast.
It
seems like rescuing a handful of wealthy people – no matter what
their individual merit – generates more robust endeavours than
saving scores of poor lives.
Photo
by Pixabay:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/hard-cash-on-a-briefcase-259027/
A
small submarine used by a handful megawealthy individuals to satisfy
a 'bucket list' adventure goes missing and an army – or in this
case a navy – of assets to locate the submarine is immediately
activated with great fanfare.
Meanwhile,
there remains considerable
uncertainty about what steps were taken by European Union
national coast guards to save the few hundred souls desperately
seeking to escape poverty at home.
Photo
by Ahmed akacha:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/smiling-little-ethnic-girl-looking-out-of-window-in-tent-5524147/
To be
sure, this is not an indictment of wealth or the need to save all
persons in distress. On the contrary, all people – rich, poor,
straight, gay, black, white, etc. - deserve every humanly effort
possible to be rescued.
A
death is a tragedy, there's no denying that. Everyone is missed by
someone. However, as recounted countless times in the annals of
history, the voice of the poor is hardly audible over that of the
rich and powerful.
Indeed,
these two incidents coming close on the heels of each other
demonstrate that wealth and privilege matter while poor lives are
cheap and expendable.
I know
we've seen all this before in different settings. After all, the
world is hardly ever fair. I'm not even sure why I'm bothering to
write about it.
But if
I can get just one reader to express more empathy with the plight of
'ordinary' sufferers then it's worthwhile. I hope.
________________________________________________
I
am a Singapore based Tour Guide with a special interest in arts and
history. I have lived and worked in several countries during my
career as an international banker. I enjoy traveling, especially by
train, as a way to feed my curiosity about the world and nurture my
interest in photography. I am available on twitter (@grandmoofti);
Instagram(@imranahmedsg) and can be contacted at
imran.ahmed.sg@gmail.com.
Virtual
tours became a thing during the pandemic. I was a late adopter of
this new and innovative form of delivering tours to a global
audience. Nonetheless, after entering the
world of virtual tours I enjoyed the experience.
I
have conversations with travelers from all over the world – time
zones notwithstanding. I experiment live streaming from places which
a physical audience may hesitate to visit for various reasons, e.g.
weather (it's hot in Singapore), inability to travel, etc.
I have
started to upload recordings of my live, virtual tours on my
YouTube channel.
The
tours are generally 40- 60 minutes long. Though, since it's YouTube,
you can break each video into bite size 'episodes' or even skip the
bits you don't enjoy (not recommende!!) ... Even mute the sound if
you don't want to hear me drone on about the marvels of Thian Hock
Keng temple!
Below
is the link to my walkabout around Singapore's beautiful Thian Hock
Keng temple ... please watch.
If you
like what you see, please subscribe to get notified as I upload more
recordings of other tours delivered live from Singapore, Malaysia,
Thailand and Turkey.
Surface
travel, i.e. rail, road and sea, are my preferred travel modes.
Anyone can travel by air between two cities but few take the time and
effort to soak in the landscape (or urbanscape / seascape) as you
whiz towards your destination say by train.
So
when it came to planning our journey to Northern Cyprus I naturally
gravitated towards a ferry journey from mainland Turkey. Indeed, I
chose to ignore some warning signs from a Turkish friend who
mentioned that during the low season – March is considered low
season – regular passenger ferries are suspended. Instead,
passengers are given passage on freighters plying the busy route
between Mersin, Turkey and Famagusta (Gazimagusa in Turkish),
Northern Cyprus.
The freighter being loaded with cargo - and humans - at Mersin port, Turkey
(Photo: Imran Ahmed. All Rights Reserved.)
A
second hint of possible trouble arose when the travel agent informed
us the journey was at night and the ship only offered seats, no
sleepers. (A cargo ship with sleepers for passengers would have been
weird, right?)
For
someone who wished to spend several weeks on a containership
traveling between Singapore and Istanbul – unfortunately, our
passage was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic – I thought a
ferry crossing across of 8-10 hours across the Mediterranean couldn't
be too bad, right?
So
off we went on our scheduled nine hour long crossing of the
Mediterranean Sea. It was not the most comfortable of journeys but we
made the best of it by sleeping on our hard seats most of the trip.
Early morning views of the Mediterranean Sea
(Photo: Imran Ahmed. All Rights Reserved.)
Early
morning views of the sea were amazing and we reached Cyprus (only!) a
few hours later than scheduled. (I'm used to traveling on Pakistan
Railways (PR) sleeper trains. A 4-5 hour delay on PR intercity trains
is 'baked into' the schedule perforce!)
On
arrival our baggage was bused to the terminal on tractor trolley
while passengers were driven there in a bus suitable for a 1970s
Turkish movie prop. The terminal was too far to walk from our ship's
pier. The customs and immigration process at Famagusta was
rudimentary.
Famagusta
town was nice. More on that in a separate post.
Gluttons
for punishment, we took a freighter ship back to Mersin for our
return journey to mainland Turkey. That is where it got brutal for
us.
The
ship anchored outside Mersin Port early morning. Seeing the mainland
we assumed it was only a matter of half an hour or so before the ship
docked. Indeed, the freighter was so close we felt we could swim to
port in the clear blue Mediterranean Sea.
Mersin port was so close to our anchor point we could swim there!
(Photo by author: Imran Ahmed. All Rights Reserved.)
Outside
Mersin we waited. And waited. And waited some more.
Finally,
after waiting about 4-5 hours anchored at sea tantalizingly close, we
finally entered Mersin and disembarked.
The
sea journey was an experience. It adds a painful notch to our
'seasoned travelers' totem pole. Undoubtedly, on our next trip to
Northern Cyprus we'll either fly into Larnaca airport or travel by
regular passenger ferry services. Lesson learnt.
The author’s Northern Cyprus visa document.
(Photo by author: Imran Ahmed. All Rights Reserved.)
The
upside? We got Famagusta and back safely; met a few interesting (and
helpful) passengers along the way; and got ourselves a nice piece of
paper – the Northern Cyprus visa – along the way!
I
am a Singapore based Tour Guide with a special interest in arts and
history. I have lived and worked in several countries during my
career as an international banker. I enjoy traveling, especially by
train, as a way to feed y curiosity about the world and nurture my
interest in photography. I am available on twitter (@grandmoofti);
Instagram(@imranahmedsg) and can be contacted at
imran.ahmed.sg@gmail.com.
I visited a traditional
handicraft shop in Karachi, Pakistan a few days ago. It was a typical
upmarket "ethnic' handicraft shop one may find in many cities
around the world. However, there was a rhythmic clanging noise coming
from downstairs - the shop had a basement - which intrigued me. The
sounds were like a lullaby made by some sort of wooden instrument.
I went downstairs to investigate
and see for myself.
Video by Imran Ahmed (author). All Rights Reserved.
Adjacent to the staircase was a
large wooden hand loom - at least that is what I think it was - on
which a man was weaving cloth. The man was dressed in a dark tee
shirt and a shalwar - the baggy pants traditionally worn by many
Pakistanis.
His hair stood out. Well, there wasn't
that much of it really. What little was left was dyed orange using
henna.
Henna is often used as a hair dye in Islamic countries,
especially by religiously conservative men, as it is a natural hair
dye. Moreover, henna hair dye is presumed not to be vain (vanity
being a sin) in contrast with chemical hair dye.
The room was full of hanging
shawls, including traditional Sindhi ajrak shawls, which had been block
printed by hand. As I looked around, I realized that these
handicrafts are quietly disappearing from Pakistan. Suddenly, the
room felt more like a funeral parlour than a workspace.
Within a few decades we may only
see such items and traditional crafts people in museums or similar
heritage sites.
There are many advantages to
living in a global village but the disappearance of unique customs
and practices only to be replaced by a global 'jeans and tee shirt'
culture is a genuine threat to the world.
______________________________
I am a Singapore based Tour Guide with a special interest in arts and history. I have lived and worked in several countries during my career as an international banker. I enjoy traveling, especially by train, as a way to feed y curiosity about the world and nurture my interest in photography. I am available on twitter (@grandmoofti); Instagram(@imranahmedsg) and can be contacted at imran.ahmed.sg@gmail.com.
Not
many people in their right mind have the desire (or privilege!) of
spending ten weeks playing in a foreign country. But spending ten
weeks twice traveling in the same country, does that border on
insanity?
Alright,
so call me crazy but we're back in Turkey to explore a different part
of this vast and massive country!
It's
not that the COVID-19 pandemic is over (is it really?), no, it's
simply that Turkey fascinates me on so many different levels. From
the Kemalist legacy to the more recent attempt to fuse with Islam
with modernity by Erdogan and his Islamist party; from the beauty of
Mount Ararat – the landing place of Noah's arl - to the magnificent
Van Lake near the Iran border.
Van Lake in eastern Turkey
(Photo
by Leyla Helvaci:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/lake-van-coast-turkey-9793024/)
Our
previous travels took us east deep into the Kurdish heartlands and
within a heartbeat of Turkey's borders with Iran, Georgia and Syria.
(If you wish to read about my previous extended visit in 2019 please
click here.)
On
this visit, the plan is to travel east – if you start in Istanbul
then there is no choice but to go east! - subsequently heading south
towards Cyprus (hopefully taking in both the Greek and Turkish
sectors!). After Cyprus we will hug the Meditarranean Sea coast and
head back towards Istanbul.
At
least, that's the general plan. The final itinerary is 'TBD' subject
to logistics, accomodation and the enjoyability of any particular
city along the way. That is, if we enjoy any particular city we may
extend our stay ... a flexible travel plan has its benefits.
So
what's with the fascination for Turkey? Two distinct reasons,
although a discussion on the subject will be never ending.
(Photo
by Kübra Arslaner:
https://www.pexels.com/photo/crop-person-showing-postcard-with-photography-of-old-city-7790175/)
Firstly,
the Ottoman Empire in all its forms. From the many Ottoman monuments
found across the country to the indelible legacy left by an Empire
that controlled territories in three continents for five centuries.
(As an amateur historian, the Ottoman Empire and particularly its
later ceturies from the 1800s onwards are one of my areas of
interest.)
Secondly,
Ataturk and the establishment of the modern Turkish Republic in 1923.
The decline and ultimate dissolution of the Ottoman Empire led to a
radical experiment in modernization led by staunch secularist and
reformer Mustafa Kemal.
Ataturk's
policies, often referred to as Kemalism, laid the foundation for
today's Turkey. To be sure, much has changed in the one hundred years
since Ataturk proclaimed the Republic. Headscarves have made a
comeback and political Islam is no longer the taboo it was as
recently as the 1990s. Indeed, a headscarf wearing first lady, Mrs
Erdogan, now hosts foreign diginitaries at the presidential palace on
behalf of the Turkish state. (A headscarf in the presidential palace?
Blasphemous thinking until a few decades ago!)
Mustafa Kemal 'Ataturk'
(Photo by Imran Ahmed. All rights reserved.)
To
have a front seat to watch the incredible social changes and economic
transformation of Turkey has been enthralling. And watching while
criss crossing the country taking in the sights and gorging on
delicious kebabs is an experience like no other.
I
am a Singapore based Tour Guide with a special interest in arts and
history. I have lived and worked in several countries during my
career as an international banker. I enjoy traveling, especially by
train, as a way to feed y curiosity about the world and nurture my
interest in photography. I am available on twitter (@grandmoofti);
Instagram(@imranahmedsg) and can be contacted at
imran.ahmed.sg@gmail.com.
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