Waiting Lines - Fazaia Housing Scheme

Was quite interested when I heard about the PAF Housing complex, as a person who missed out on the Bahria and DHA bonanza, this was the time to cash-in on the project. The whole enthusiasm went in vain, when I saw some 200 people lineup at HBL bank for the Rs.1,000 forms. I don’t have that much time and energy, to stand all day in line for just the form. I initially thought of dropping the idea altogether, but just the next day someone called me for the forms, why me?

Oh Shit! I have a close relative at HBL head office, I am ‘THE’ person to contact for forms. I called up my relative to request for some forms. In return he told me that if I get hold of some, get him a couple, What!. The story was that PAF Fazaia Housing Scheme picked up the unsold forms from HBL as there was some news of mismanagement and even rioting, also that forms were sold in black, fetching 10k-15k per form. PAF intends to sell the forms at their own booths. Next day someone informed me that the booths were torn-off at PAF museum and the PAF staff fled the scene (with the forms L) not before a baton charge to the people queuing for the forms. 

Does the people know anything about the queue management, it’s a whole science. But as before, in Pakistan people feel proud when they see hundreds of people queuing up for something that they have. A very simple approach would have been to upload the form on a website and ask them to deposit the Rs.1,000 fees along with any other amount, when they were depositing the forms. Infact, it would have been further simplified if the amount was also deposited electronically, there are 10s of methods available these days.

For me, this time again I would be let to the helms of brokers who would either sell the file or eventually the plots on a premium. There is one important finding from the project, Karachiites are hungry for good investment and they are not comfortable with financial investments i.e. stocks or bonds. Trust has been shifted to Property Developers.

Corporate Attire

I may be stepping over some nice toes here but I felt like talking on the issue. Having experienced seven years of Corporate life in Karachi, I have always seen men dressing in an uptight suiting or at least a dress pant and proper tucked in shirt, shorts are not acceptable even on casual fridays. While women can dress as they like, skirts will also do, exposing some extra skin is very acceptable, even preferred by many. While I believe in personal space and freedom, this does not fall in the personal domain, it creates conflict in admirers minds, distracts him or her from the goals of the business and society blames them on what is followed.

This does not stop here, pretty news casters are equally to blame for inciting viewers, yes I notice them, I am a guy. Their job is to deliver news not modeling, we have models & actors for that. Many organizations prefer keeping such beauty in house, as it helps accomplishing stretched goals, especially in the sales function. On the other side many companies are just too scared on touching this sensitive topic, as it  could label them as extremist, fundamentalist or even terrorist, a word coined to undermine others. Many organizations have gone out of their way to chalk down instructions in their manuals that limits individuals freedom in dressing, implementing that policy however is difficult task, you cannot ask a beautiful person wearing a low cut blouse to go cover it up-just too rude!.

The advent of sexual harassment laws have made this issue of an urgent nature, they are pushing victims of sexual harassment to report incidents to a special committee, which may result in prosecution, whether the committee realizes that the victim was also at fault is a question we would like answers for. But the issue is not of harassment, as offenders will be active even if proper dress code is followed. The implementers of the law are asking organization to train their employees in Sexual Harassment laws & how to report incidents, this presents a good opportunity to inform the participants on their own responsibility, on controlling the incidents, to wear decently. While my experience is limited to Karachi, the matter is of globally nature (I am talking about accomplishing corporate goals here). You can find several articles on corporate dress codes in the US, where it seems that they have risen to make clear policy guidelines & recommendations on corporate attire.