OPINION

Unsustainable rhetoric

Re: "BCG communique ready," (BP, Nov 17).

How many times do we have to keep hearing about the need for sustainable economic growth and sustainable development?

I doubt the advocates of these policies, who rely on English translators, understand what sustainable really means.

Mind you, that could equally apply to some of their Caucasian counterparts. They just chuck the words in willy-nilly looking grave and sincere while translators struggle verbally to convey their dubious commitment.

These tired old mantras are churned out repeatedly, not just at Apec but COP27 and G20 summits every year -- along with empty rhetoric and broken promises until the next annual excuse for wasting millions of dollars on such binges, which are really just as national propaganda affairs.

Perhaps in this context, Covid-19 was conveying a grim message about the need for frugality and how the Earth can only recover when humans have accepted their vulnerabilities, especially as the population has now reached 8 billion, forsooth. But nobody listens.

Trust is earned

Re: "Pattani gets female governor," (BP, Nov 17).

Heartiest congratulations to Pattani governor Pateemoh Sadeeyamu! After being deputy governor of Narathiwat and Yala, and with a solid academic background, she's well qualified, and her appointment is welcomed by the locals.

But we're decades overdue for nationwide elections of provincial governors. Having all but one appointed by Bangkok mandarins makes a mockery of our claim to be a democracy, especially when voting for Bangkok's governors has gone quite smoothly. If we want locals in the provinces to trust us, we've got to show that we trust them and deserve their trust.

Let's elect provincial governors nationwide in our 2023 polls.

A tragic cost

Re: "Going for goals" (Sport, Nov 19).

So, here we are, on the eve of another football World Cup. In a month, the famous Fifa Trophy will be lifted above the heads of the victorious team.

The sculpture, depicting two human figures holding up the Earth, is unusually small at 37cm, but it is made from 18 karat solid gold, making it surprisingly heavy at 6kg.

This time, however, it is weighed down by the corpses of an estimated 6,500 people who died in building the infrastructure needed to allow Qatar to host the event.

Thus, its golden lustre is masked by a sheen of human blood.

Why a medieval-minded, non-footballing tract of desert the size of Yorkshire was ever awarded the honour of hosting this extravaganza is both obvious and a matter of history, so all I have to say is to please remember that more poor people were endangered, starved and or not even paid than there are kicks of the ball in the whole tournament.

For the sake of the game

Re: "Going for goals" (Sport, Nov 19).

The awarding of the football World Cup championship to Qatar has to be the biggest abomination in the history of the beautiful game.

The people who are responsible for this enormous cock-up, aka Sep Blatter, who "allegedly" took enormous bribes to award the championship to this desert country, which knows nothing about football and human rights, should be put between the goal posts and the best penalty shooters in the beautiful game told to kick the ball directly at their shameful faces.

Prosecute Sep Blatter and his co-conspirators.

Bring it back where it belongs, as a searing hot desert is not comparable to a well-kept lawn used in a real stadium.

Baffling decision

This past Thursday afternoon, I dragged this 77-year-old body up the two flights of stairs to the Ratchaprasong skywalk at Amarin Plaza.

Imagine my surprise when we found the entrance to the walk itself barricaded.

There was not a soul on the elevated walkway as far as the eye could see; the CentralWorld and Gaysorn entrances were also closed.

I remember reading about the MRT station at Queen Sirikit being closed but nothing about this.

While I, a poor 14-year resident farang, am not one to question the decisions made by upper-level management I think it might have been smarter to close the entrances at street level and stop the escalators rather than make people climb the stairs only to have to turn around and go back down.