“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” – Helen Keller

A welfare state?

It is the utmost obligation of the state to fully take care of underprivileged people of the society and those doing so are known as the welfare states. The idea of a welfare state was imported by Islam, but it is lamentable that our government has forgotten to actually give the homeless people basic shelter. In our country some programmes were launched in the past aimed at building a social safety net, but still we are far away from being called a welfare state and endeavours are required whilst rising above rhetoric to bring visible change in the life of people. It is the responsibility of our state to start a proper welfare project and such programmes that would be helpful for the needy.

Masoom Akhtar,
Karachi

Summers and its power woes

Many people in Pakistan go hours on end without any electricity and this situation does not seem to improve, despite many government changes. Even now, the power can go at any time, without any warnings, and if you do not have a UPS or a generator, then you are doomed to wait for a long time before you can even turn on a fan, which in the current climate, is akin to torture. While the elites stay in power, there seems to be no possible solution to this crisis, as power outages are an issue for the disenfranchised and the forgotten poor population of the country. However, instead of providing people with the relief that they so obviously crave, after years suffering through these terrible conditions, the government and private institutions keep announcing a hike in prices. It seems as power outages grow longer, so does the electricity bills in what world does that make sense?

Saddam Ali,
Karachi

Burdening adolescence with tough academics

Syllabi and textbooks by some private education institutions are apparently being overlooked by the authorities. The specific and very critical area I want to highlight is overburdening the innocent children with heavy syllabus. Resultantly, only some intelligent children, who are usually in limited numbers, can cope with and grasp the difficult syllabus of a higher level, while most average students feel difficulty in understanding it. This also causes different kinds of stresses and complications for them as they fall into complexes vis-à-vis their intelligent class fellows. Educational regulatory bodies need to come forward to address this issue.

Junaid Ali,
Lahore

Beauty dupes

The markets have been bolstered with dupes and low-quality fake copies of makeup products, with many consumers purchasing them knowingly or in a fluke. This is very alarming, because the makeup dupes and low-quality copies have very harmful ingredients in them, which can lead to dreary skin conditions, including skin cancer. Vendors should be banned from selling such makeup products and consumers should be made aware of the repercussions of using such chemical-laden commodities. Makeup brands should also control and restrict the sale of their fake products.

Hamida Batool,
Islamabad