Towards a better Jordan

By: Qwaider

On:Saturday, April 28, 2007 7:26:59 PM
In:Thoughts
Viewed: (5861) times

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How many of you have lost something for Wasta? A well deserved scholarship? A job? A promotion? An educational seat in Jordan government universities? etc...

I give you my simplistic solution here... Challenge it!

(Wasta: Arabic word that means abuse of authority by influencing the officials based on their tribal or social relations and affinities. Aka, mixing business with family!)

Challenge it.. I mean it. Challenge it.

Whenever you're dealt a nasty hand, someone else got preferential treatment. Someone was picked ahead of someone more qualified. Someone who got an undeserving seat, scholarship ...etc We need to start challenging it...

The first step is to find out who is the butt-on-the-line (aka person responsible) and sue them for their actions. We as citizens have a right to demand a transparent process that is honored by all parties, including officials.

If these are private ventures, then MAYBE it would be acceptable (although it shouldn't, if someone is given preferential treatment, other people are entitled to be be compensated because this is discrimination) discrimination of a different type. Based on your connections.

I'm telling you, All it takes is ONE honest Jordanian to set a precedent in the courts and the media to completely expose the corruption. Not only that, it will continue to proliferate into other bodies and positions that will practically make it impossible for someone to dare mention the word Wasta

Some error happened, which means, someone didn't do their job. This is of course if we presume that everything is kosher, and there is no additional manipulation. But if someone manages to prove that someone have in fact manipulated the conditions in favor of one of the applicants then further action is warranted...

First step would be to fix the error, the record needs to be set straight. The person(s) who felt the injustice need to be compensated and evildoers? well .. dealt with. The least is getting them dismissed from their post. Because they're OBVIOUSLY abusing their authority.

It doesn't matter if the corrupt official is the prime minister himself. No public servant is above the law, and anyone engaging in these methods of corruption are harming the national interests on the long run. And Jordan as a nation will suffer because of these mistakes.

A deep and through investigation need to be done to capture everyone participating or engaging in this form of corruption. Do you think a small employee will defend the bigger official if he felt that his job and possibly his freedom is on the line?! Do you think people would accept this form of corruption from their friends, relatives and far members of the family if they felt that they're going to pay dearly for it? I think not. The little employee will refuse. Because if he ever got caught he's not going to take the heat for the bigger corrupt official and WILL point fingers! As for family... I guess he will have the nerve to tell them to .... well "go away" in much less polite words

I have no doubt, that we as citizens will achieve much by challenging this corrupt system, while doing it LEGALLY. We should take them to court, ask the hard questions like. "what was the decision based on?", "Why?", "What were the alternatives?", "Why weren't these considered?". We must make all these processes transparent and put evil doers where they belong - Completely OFF our progress map!

That's my simplistic first step towards eradicating wasta! And making Jordan a better place

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« It's the weekend already in Amman

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Memories....

#1
أنونيموس
Said
On: 4/28/2007 7:32:47 PM

You've been in WA too long :)

#2
hamede
Said
On: 4/28/2007 8:50:27 PM

Ya challenge it.

#3
Mohanned
Said
On: 4/28/2007 9:04:10 PM

Thanks bro, But as anon said you've been in WA tooooo long! Challenge who? If the heads are corrupt! It is a mafia, they are everywhere...
O zay ma begooloha:"7okkeli ta a7okkelak". You do me one favor I will do you one, and here we get lost in this corrupt loop! Thank god we have enough resources to fund me, but what about other people who can't afford to eat? How can they develop themselves in this corrupt system? How many people did Jordan loose because of that?
Maybe by me moving a bigger was6a everything will change, maybe! I called my family and they will try, maybe they will be able to "mobilize" more was6as and maybe not! Maybe you will say he is a hypocrite, talking about was6a and at the same time using it, but what can I do! This how it is done, if there was no was6a at all then I would get the fund easily instead of it going to one of those sheep that can't speak English!!

#4
Qwaider
Said
On: 4/28/2007 9:23:21 PM

Mohannad,
You're blessed with resources.... why didn't you USE THEM to fight this corruption? Maybe because you're beneficiary of it? Because even though you got 94 and very good and 4.0 there was someone who got a 97, Excellence and 4.0 with honours and he wasn't taken because some dude mobilized his wasta to take it. Unfortunately, that dude didn't have the resources to continue and was forced into a clerical job in the municipality of Mafraq

YES we might lose some of the benefits, but this is one that we must take, for the greater good! It will NEVER HAPPEN until people MANDATE it by challenging it!

If we don't challenge it, then we're accepting it, and we're no better than those corrupt officials. In fact, we deserve to be treated like that. Because we chose to treat more deserving others that way

Yes, I might have lived long enough in the West to be able to see the issue as it really is ... Corruption!

#5
Mohanned
Said
On: 4/28/2007 9:37:30 PM

Qwaider,
My point of getting the fund is not the money, it is the commitment that I am looking for, I am the kind of guy that has to be attached physicaly to anything, I LOVE JORDAN, I want to change , I have dreams, but I need something to keep me connected because if not I will never go back, I know myself, I will get better offers to stay here but with this commitment I know that it is not my choice, I have to go and do my part..Lets say I did my thing on my own with no fund and decided to go back to jordan will they hire me?Hell no because there will be another ma3ez already applying for the same job and he will be taken!!I am all for challenging the corrupt system, thats my ultimte goal, by getting this fund I know I will have a position that will help me climb the ladder to a higer position and from there I will start my role that you are talking about, but just talking from the outside will not change anything, the fighting should come from the core, when you have a fever you take cold water showers(the outside) but to kill the virus you must take antibiotics that will fight from the inside..

#6
Qwaider
Said
On: 4/28/2007 9:49:34 PM

Antibiotics don't kill viruses :)

Look, the ultimate goal is the prosperity for ALL, social justice is a pit-stop along that way. And there will be no social justice without taking care of favoritism, and corruption. It should start with people with enough resources to challenge the system and still be able to sustain themselves

#7
Mariam Ayyash
Said
On: 4/28/2007 10:19:18 PM

i think the problem we are trying to say is, challenge who? really? its not that easy because we DO NOT SEE the enemy! ya3ni i got a problem, i call the police, elli (not all bad) they take my statement, then they advice me: let us take those guys in, give them kafien w mafee da3eet to press charges?! it always works that way
but i tell u what we can do, challenging the authority is one way, but we got to be smarter than that, why not become the new service providers (any service) with the sole purpose of giving excellent services without wasta, that needs a lot of hard heart to do, and dont tell me its harder, or its impossible, i dont respond to such terms!

as for using wasta to fight wasta, the purpose NEVER justifies the means, and just as much: u cannot change the world, u can change urself, so do it.

#8
Qwaider
Said
On: 4/28/2007 10:31:56 PM

Yes Mariam, we can open a private government and provide excellent service! LOL! :)

The idea is not to resort to the police station, the issues are higher and finer that that!
The idea is to resort to the judicial system and conduct an investigation that will catch the eyes and the hearts of people as it also gets exposed in the media.

There are people who are acting outside of their capacity and that needs to stop. The way to do it, is by challenging their actions.

There's a huge difference between challenging the authority, and challenging people who are actually, breaking the law. Yes, that's why we need to get it into the courts and make people aware that these things will no longer be tolerated. Regardless if I benefit from it or not as a person. It's harming the whole economy, and the nation for generations to come

#9
Mohanned
Said
On: 4/28/2007 10:45:28 PM

Talking about private government,
I think outsourcing the government in jordan will be good, they will provide better service, justice, but what company will take on this challenge:)
off course by outsourcing I don't mean offshore..

#10
أنونيموس
Said
On: 4/28/2007 11:30:56 PM

Well, even I think that the government is not entirely to blame on this one. WE do it all the time. WE hire our less qualified cousins. WE try to find niches where we can use the fact that someone owes us something to use them to employ that less qualified cousin. Favorism, Nepotism, you name it, WE do nothing but promote it!
It's a really tough issue to address though. It's even a problem here in the US, to some extent. Ofcourse they give you all that stuff on equal opportunity, but they still have those little ethnic background boxes for you to tick. That's still a form of discrimination, and on many levels, reverse discrimination as well.
I think people just think that if I do the right thing and hire the most qualified person rather than my cousin, well, he will starve; because everyone else is going to hire their cousins and not the most qualified person for the job, so I might as well do it anyway.
So until everyone realizes that they're doing it for the better good, we're going to be stuck hiring our second cousin twice removed to please his mother in law who happens to be your aunt :)

#11
hamede
Said
On: 4/29/2007 12:20:32 AM

You can challenge it by electing the right representative.
You can challenge it by campaign.
Also you can challenge it take it to the street.

#12
7aki Fadi
Said
On: 4/29/2007 2:15:28 AM

"Antibiotics don't kill viruses :)"

Lol Qwadier.

#14
secratea
Said
On: 4/29/2007 5:48:50 AM

I lost some job opportunity I was qualified for back in Jordan for wasta, but guess what?? I am happy I lost that opportunity because it made me go for another one in my life; going for graduate school in the States, and this really is wayyyyy better than what i have lost.. so in some way, wasta, though on the surface level killed an opportunity for me, opened my eyes towards going for something else..hehehe :D :D

P.S: I was joking about wasta having a brighter side.. it is BAD! It is what ruines our Jordan.

#15
secratea
Said
On: 4/29/2007 6:02:18 AM

Hey Q: this wasta post brought back some memories i had when i was in Jordan living with my parents..lol. By the time of final exams at the university my dad teaches at, we become bombarded by calls from everywhere in Jordan, and even sometimes, students' relatives from America,Germany, Norway, U.A.E.. you call it, asking for wasta for some student. the only way we survive those annoying calls, that went on day and night, is to turn off the phone ringer.. walla!
Not just that, all of a sudden, without prior call, knock knock knock on the door.. who is it??? Men with thoubs and abaya's want dad.. loooooooooool. "dad isn't here".. "ok, what about your mom?" believe me, they would not give up.. they really want to see mom.. maybe she has an influence on dad, hehehe ;). The problem they don't know is that she did have influence on him regarding everything in the world except the wasta thing :D

#16
Saned
Said
On: 4/29/2007 9:18:50 AM

Some was6at are needed for the society to move on. Especially in Jordan. y3ni, you want some formalities to be processes, bas ela5 is lazy/doesn't have any work ethics, lazem ykoon 3ndak was6a shan tmasheeha...:S

#17
Mariam Ayyash
Said
On: 4/29/2007 9:47:12 AM

see? faqed el shay2 la yo3teeh, so if someone wins away something by wasta, ghannee be3ebbak! they are not going to go far with it no matter how much it looks like it...
kol el 7akee elli en7aka mazboot! lenno feesh lalwaste gheir wijih wa7ad

#19
Qwaider
Said
On: 4/29/2007 12:24:25 PM

Mohannad
I would love to see an outsourced government. I pick up the phone call the new government hot line. Ragu answers the phone. Welcome to the Jordanian government hot line, my Name is Ragu Kralamanrakalrthosron. Tell me what's wrong with your DVD player. Oops, wrong script, where would you like the intelligence department to pick you up today?

انونيموس
Beneficiaries are going to be going always want the status quo to continue as is because they're the ones benefiting. Now what I'm saying is directed to people who didn't have that luxury

Hamede
yes, there are many ways to challenge. The first, is to know the rights. And take the evildoers to court!

7aki
bas haik? :) Shaklek tal3a 3ala Canada bil wasta :)

Whisperer.
You're always welcome. And I'm glad you found this post related to your life experience.

Secratea
I guess it was best for you not to get that job. And I'm really sorry to hear about the awkward position your father seems to find himself into so frequently. I commend his approach not to support these social problems

Saned
If everyone is doing their job, no wastat are needed ever!

Mariam
You're absolutely right, people benefiting from this system will not want anything to change

#20
7aki Fadi
Said
On: 4/29/2007 2:53:06 PM

How did you know? :p

Believe it or not Qwaider I never used wasta in my life, I think it's just kinda demeaning to ask for a favor you are not entitled to.

Now the other side of the coin, networking is very important even in North America, the more people you know and network with the more you can do, the first job I got here I got because my Husbands boss knew the boss hiring, he put a good word in for me and I got the job (a 2 month IT consultant contract) but retained it (my contract was renewed for another 6 years) because of my skills, everybody would be lying if they said they never used their contacts to achieve something, this is not considered wasta, mish?

#21
حكيم
Said
On: 4/29/2007 5:38:30 PM

"An educational seat in Jordan government universities?"
You can never lose a seat in a university because of wasta, other people might get one with wasta, but the rules are very clear in this area, what you score will or will not get you into the university.

#22
Qwaider
Said
On: 4/29/2007 8:43:35 PM

7aki... I have the sight :)
Networking is a different thing. Yes, it might introduce you, But YOU Will have to go through an interview loop just like everyone else.
I like it how businesses here pride themselves on being "equal opportunity employer" it glows with positive image and how they support diversity. If that's not positive PR, I don't know what is!

حكيم
I'm sorry, but that's not completely accurate. There are many ways the system have been manipulated in favor of a specific person. By allowing ONE of those in, you denied a deserving person from that seat! It's pure, ugly and simple

#23
حكيم
Said
On: 4/30/2007 7:48:33 AM

Exactly if the system simply runs this way, what do you want people to challenge, you are confusing wasta with an unjust system.

#24
Tamara
Said
On: 4/30/2007 8:13:59 AM

I so agree with you, to add to the argument Wasta is " HARAM" it can only be accepted if you are getting a right of yours and you are not taking anything away from any one else! meaning no wasta for Jobs and so because you will defiantly take the place of someone else.

I don't know about the law suite though, I don't know what the Jordanian law says about that.