from spam to questions of self-identification

Inspired by a post I wrote for Sepia Mutiny.

:+:

Some sweeeet justice for those @$$h0!e$ who continue to annoy my spam filter:

A Nigerian court has sentenced a woman to two and half years in jail after she pleaded guilty to fraud charges in the country's biggest e-mail scam case...

Typically fraudsters send out junk e-mails around the world promising recipients a share in a fortune in return for an advance fee. Those who pay never receive the promised windfall.

Take THAT, Amaka Anajemba!  You scammer!  That's what you get for lying about your dead husband/uncle/ferret's secret fortune that you needed my help in claiming.  Sadly, the example you set is too addictive to not emulate:

Scams have become so successful in Nigeria that antisleaze campaigners say swindling is one of the country's main foreign exchange earners after oil, natural gas and cocoa.

Oil, gas, cocoa and email fraud?  Are you kidding me?

Anajemba's sentencing by a Lagos High Court on Friday is the first major conviction since the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was established in 2003 to crack down on Nigeria's thriving networks of e-mail fraudsters.

The agency said in a statement that the judgment was a "landmark achievement by EFCC in the fight against advance fee fraud, corruption and other related crimes."

When they say "thriving" they mean it; 200 junk e-mail/scam suspects have been arrested in the last two years, $200 million worth of loot has been confiscated and ten other people have been convicted.  Here's my main point-- After wading through all of this justice via CNet, I read THIS about Nigeria.  Apparently, it is

Ranked the world's second most corrupt country after Bangladesh by sleaze watchdog Transparency International

What?!  What the hell is Bangladesh doing?  I don't get email scams from any enterprising Bongs.  Why does THIS have to be the one contest Bangladesh wins? Is it because of this?

"Systemic corruption poses a serious challenge to efforts to promote good governance in Bangladesh," said Professor Muzaffer Ahmad, Chief Researcher on a new report published today by Transparency International. Urgent steps are needed to address "the lack of laws on political party finance, poor service conditions and low salary structure for public officials, and the fact that key watchdog agencies lack adequate, well-trained and skilled staff," said Professor Ahmad.

this?

The TI report also points to an urgent need to address extremely high levels of corruption in the police through better training and a more professional career structure and service conditions. The authors call for a strengthening of the independence and professionalism of the lower judiciary. Measures are necessary to ensure "transparency of proceedings, closer supervision, monitoring and evaluation of judges' performance, frequent inspection of the lower courts by the higher courts, and clear guidelines on sanctions for misconduct of court officials".

Perhaps it's THIS:

"Corruption, lack of transparency and accountability in public life continue to be a burden on the economy," states the report. Over the past decade, negative points have included "deterioration of law and order, non-governance, lack of implementation of election pledges, political instability, abuse of governmental power and lack of access for public's redress for human rights violations".

Sigh. 

:+:

Aside:

In the above post, I kept wanting to write the word "we" whenever referring to Bangladesh, i.e. "We suck worse than Nigeria!".  No, I am not Bangladeshi or even Bong for that matter.  The proclivity for "we"-ing was so pronounced, I started to wonder if it was the affinity for Bengali-anything my father fostered from toddler-hood onwards...as sweet as that process was, I don't think it's the explanation for my "we". 

I think it's just because I'm an unrepentant South Asian.  Not that I needed proof of it, but this little post-posting-epiphany provides just that.

Apparently, being born and raised in Amreeka gifts me with a distance which allows me to be "We".  My first-gen peeps abhor such chosen unity, but I am not ashamed or insecure or confused about my interest in/support for Bangladesh.  So yes.  I cringed when I read that Bangladesh is more corrupt than a country full of spam-emailin' swindlers.  It's about as far from Kerala as you can get when it comes to South Asia, but I'm not really affected by that.  Spam?  THAT I'm affected by.

Comments

[ng]

re: post posting epiphany

If the case is that you identify with Bangladesh as a 'we' then by that logic Nigeria should not be 'they'

[A N N A]

the "they" refers to the original article i'm blogging about, it's not some veiled aspersion cast at the "other".

let me attempt to make this clear for the umpteenth time-- just b/c i identify with fellow south asians/those who trace their background to the subcontinent, that does NOT mean that by doing so, i claim the world (not that there's anything wrong with that or that i automatically hate everyone else).

some desis may furiously insist that they have as much in common with bangladeshis as they do with nigerians, they are entitled to their opinion. just as i am entitled to roll my large round eyes.

[ng]

If we go back in history far enough, we are all related to one another one way or the other (if you go by Christianity then we are all descendants of AandE, if by science, then we are all 'out of Africa'). So what is the time threshold when we decide that the 'we' is a certain ethnic group and not another.

Allow me to explain another way. Humans historically (and even now) are at the macro level all the same. But sometime later in history enough distinction arose amongst them. So now South asians are not Oriental, who are not Caucasian, who are not African. Sometime later in history, particularly for south asians, another distinction arose mainly based on restricted geography (gujarati, bengali, kashmiri, etc.) And then 58 years ago another distinction was created, that of Pakistani and Indian and Sri Lankan, and of course more recently, Bangladeshi.

So at what time point do you feel it is fair to draw the appropriate distinction.

[George]

Yeah why stop at Bangladeshis.Anna,..you should feel one with the Eskimos, Bushmen, Germans, Martians,Kling-ons,..

[A N N A]

hilarious.

[ng]

i was only curious. didnt intend any sarcasm

[zimblymallu]

ng,

obviously, she felt at that moment that she was more bangladeshi than nigerian. maybe coz bangladeshis, bongs and mallus all eat so much fish. curry or fried.

i dont think its a question of a point of time at which you distinguish between different groups. its a choice of identity. and so i can be desi, mallu, south asian or indian, nri or fob, depending on who i'm talking to or for...

[Rezwan]

*SARCASM starts* Perhaps the corrupt Bangladeshis are not net savvy thanks to one a big Submarine-cable corruption case setting the country a decade backwards*/SARCASM ends*

I have shed some light on the causes and complexions of corruptions in Bangladesh here.

My suggestions to minimize corruptions in govt. sector were:

* To match the salaries of the government employee with the market
* To computerize much of the administrative and archiving works to reduce unnecessary manpower
* To have a competency assessment of the existing government employees and match their salary accordingly
* Pay increase should reflect performance, rather than seniority
* People should be made aware that giving bribe is also a crime and is punishable

My two cents on India's commendable & effective efforts to curb corruption is:
* PAN and other taxation system
* Computerization of maximum govt. records
* Open and investigative media

So you see technology plays a major role here and India is the leader in this region in this regards.

[Maitri]

Another timely post on the question of ethnic identity, ANNA! I've been pondering the Indian/American and Tamil/Tamilian identity question lately, and have to say that what you refer to yourself as at any given moment is a very localized choice, i.e. it depends on your circumstances, your experience and, quite frankly, what you feel like at that moment.

On SM, someone accused me of not wanting to claim all Tamilians because I spoke for TamBrahms on a certain topic. It's simply not the case -- I am a Tamilian, but honestly cannot represent certain aspects of the all-encompassing Tamilian culture like the varying degrees of religious orthodoxy or cuisine as I'm not familiar with it. Am I any less or more Tamilian for it? No. At that point, my only resort is my experience.

In terms of justice, love, hope, sadness and a basic understanding, yes, we are all humans and can stand to claim Eskimos, Bushmen, Sioux, Hottentos, Romulans and members of tribe that hail from the other side of the planet and/or solar system. But, when it comes to practises, habits and some cultural affiliations, there is a certain comfort level that goes with whom we can speak for and claim.

My bottom-line perspective: If I'm comfortable with who I am and how I inter-relate to people, why should I pass judgment on how you do it as long as you're not being racist or otherwise hurtful?

[DesiDudeInAustin(Bong)]

"enterprising Bongs"

LOL...now THAT's an oxymoron!

[Salam Dhaka]

I am bong and not happy about the fact that we are the most corrupt country in the world. Its that elite class that's eating all the money, mostly development funds from donors and also stealing through government procurement.

come by my bong blog sometime:

http://salamdhaka.blogpost.com