Bangladeshis of whom we can be proud
Thursday, 21 January 2010
MANY among us who steal the country blind or thereabouts send their money abroad. Of course they claim that their relatives (who stay abroad) became fabulously rich because admirers from over there as well as here send them money because they want them to be super rich and so on. No one believes that nonsense. We know better. They have also been caught and cases have been brought against them. However, for reasons never really explained satisfactorily they are let off because the judges decide that they have been wrongly blamed.
But there is another type of Bangladeshis. These are people who make us proud. They work from the lowly positions to the prestigious levels and are known for their sincerity, integrity, hard work and honesty. And they don't have to steal.
Asadauzzaman Mukul, a 28-year old Bangladeshi cab driver in New York City, found $10,000 in his taxi outside Penn Station in downtown Manhattan left behind by an elderly passenger on Christmas Eve. Instead of pocketing the money as a gift from Santa, Mukul started hunting the owner of that money. He drove around the city for hours and in the end his perseverance paid off and he found the forgetful passenger, 72 year-old Felicia Littieri, an Italian grandma, who was on a visit to relatives in the big city.
Equally unbelievable, Mukul, a pre-med student from Queens who drives a cab to pay for his tuition and living expenses, turned down Mrs Littierriâ's offer of a reward. He said when he was five years old, his mother told him to be honest and work hard and he would be very successful.
Mukul's honesty echoes another incident also involving a Bangladeshi cabbie and also took place in New York City. Three years, the now famous Osman Chowdhury returned a bag with $500,000 worth of diamond rings to their rightful owner.
Rashed Chowdhury
Wari, Dhaka
But there is another type of Bangladeshis. These are people who make us proud. They work from the lowly positions to the prestigious levels and are known for their sincerity, integrity, hard work and honesty. And they don't have to steal.
Asadauzzaman Mukul, a 28-year old Bangladeshi cab driver in New York City, found $10,000 in his taxi outside Penn Station in downtown Manhattan left behind by an elderly passenger on Christmas Eve. Instead of pocketing the money as a gift from Santa, Mukul started hunting the owner of that money. He drove around the city for hours and in the end his perseverance paid off and he found the forgetful passenger, 72 year-old Felicia Littieri, an Italian grandma, who was on a visit to relatives in the big city.
Equally unbelievable, Mukul, a pre-med student from Queens who drives a cab to pay for his tuition and living expenses, turned down Mrs Littierriâ's offer of a reward. He said when he was five years old, his mother told him to be honest and work hard and he would be very successful.
Mukul's honesty echoes another incident also involving a Bangladeshi cabbie and also took place in New York City. Three years, the now famous Osman Chowdhury returned a bag with $500,000 worth of diamond rings to their rightful owner.
Rashed Chowdhury
Wari, Dhaka