Accidents can lead to safety!
It seems paradoxical, but I agree with Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg’s views in his article, “Could Karachi factory tragedy reform safety measures in Pakistan” (Sept. 23), that accidents can lead to safety. A fall in the bathroom makes us more careful, but unfortunately this only lasts for a while. As time passes and nothing happens we get careless and complacent, then we slip again. We learn by experience, but this can be a slow way to learn. We might better learn from the added experience of others so that we buy a non-slip mat when we have our first accident. We learn a great deal through trial and error. And as the time passes, the errors become fewer with more trials.
The desire of safety and security has existed since the dawn of humanity. Early people had good reason to exercise defensive caution, they feared the natural hazards around them because they did not understand what caused them. They perceived the obvious risks of predatory beasts and were always aware of the comparative strengths of their neighbors. Like the animals they hunted, they developed a keen, innate ability to sense a threat and learned to evaluate the dangers and react protectively. Today we find that our safety is always at stake. Life is becoming more problematic day by day. The safety of each person at home, in transit, at play, in one’s environment, is the common responsibility of the individual, industry, community and government. The chemical and process industries of today have learned a lot from the major disasters such as Opal of Germany, Honkeiko of China, Texas and Cleveland of USA, Calix of Columbia, Flixborough of UK, Chasnala and Bhopal gas tragedy of India. Valuable lessons drawn from the detailed analytical studies of these mishaps and disasters have definitely led to simpler and safer plants. Each accident, when investigated and studied systematically, can and should provide valuable lessons. The best way to increase in-built and attitudinal safety is to both learn and then apply lessons from the accidents that have already occurred. How does one learn from and draw a lesson from an experience? As regards the experience, which may be categorized as one’s own proper conclusion of the causative factors, it should be drawn by systematically and methodically investigating the incident. The lessons learned would teach prevention of recurrence of the incident. Cases based on the experience of others should be studied carefully and investigated thoroughly as if they were one’s own experiences. An in-depth study of accident case histories is very essential. What has happened before may happen again. Hence, mistakes can be corrected and fixed. The only thing that is needed is the will to do so. — Anees Lokhande, Alkhobar
Attack on Islam
In view of the current protests by Muslims demonstrating against a movie which has not only insulted the personality of the Prophet (peace be upon him) but yet once again shown Muslims in a bad light, it is perhaps important to take this opportunity to introspect and also see ourselves from the perspective of the outside world.
So, how bad are we exactly? What is it about us which is so particularly offensive? Why do we believe we are being persecuted and therefore targeted for belonging to a certain faith?
In practice, there couldn›t be a more perfect way of life than ours; according to one expert Muslims live safe lives at all levels; the sanctity of marriage as the cornerstone of the family unit providing protection to the children and females of the family is clearly outlined and has worked out for us through the centuries; teenage pregnancies, extramarital relationships, children born out of wedlock, abortions, old people as destitutes, unwanted children on the streets, wanton murders and rapes are just some of the evils that Muslim societies guard against and have been successful at doing so.
So, why are we in the predicament that we find ourselves in? The first and foremost failing is probably a lack of tolerance for people who do not see our point of view. Islam teaches tolerance and patience but how many of us are sincerely able to put that into practice?
Thousands of Muslims live in non-Muslim countries and have been given citizenship there as well as the freedom to practice their religion. So, why has the veil which has been worn for decades by practicing Muslims suddenly become a bane so much so that a law has been passed to ban it? Is it part of the problem that many Muslim women do not use the veil? Are those with the veil then perceived as more orthodox and therefore a threat to modernity? Perhaps if all women wore the veil, there wouldn›t be so much confusion?
Well this is a general view of how the world probably sees us. And so it takes every opportunity to hurt, insult and defame us. We end up feeling persecuted, angry and humiliated. What we probably need to understand is that Islam is a religion of tolerance. We therefore need to have patience with those who would slander and abuse the name of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). He is too noble and too great a personality to be hurt by any of the nonsense being flung his way. — Ozma Siddiqui, Jeddah
Letters: Accidents can lead to safety!
