The "I'm so cool with the way I talk" anchor asked a young lady whether she concurs with Mostafa Kamel's famous quote, "If I weren't an Egyptian, I'd have loved to be an Egyptian". Regardless of the fake display of patriotism from all of the respondents, this particular lady dazzled me with this:
"I think Egypt is great, I don't think I have anything negative to say about it, it even has the best mega malls that competes with the ones in the foreign countries, I think the ones we have are even bigger and better"
The link between wanting to be an Egyptian at any cost and Egyptian mega malls is a perplexity waiting to be analyzed.
I'm too drained to even start to analyze this crap, I just felt on posting a sample of:
1- Egyptians production of silly TV programs.
2- Egyptians apparent talent of expressing themselves, especially in front of a camera lens.
3- Egyptians irrelevant responses and their tendency to speak out than shut up.
4- Egyptian fascination with City Stars "The King of Mega Malls"
Out of like 15 participants, two responded that they would rather "be" another nationality. The inevitable question of "what nationality and why" followed and I kept waiting to hear –with much anticipation I may add- for keywords like Production; Efficiency; Keen on development and learning; Research; Analytical thinking, and Objectivity, Sadly my anticipation was in vain. A respondent vaguely mentioned discipline but inside a context of how foreigners abide by traffic laws.
I'm glad to be an Egyptian; At least I can shop at Spinneys and eat Mac-Tasty in the food court.
.
5 comments:
strange that being an Egyptian is now associated with malls :)
Seriously if i wasn't an Egyptian, i dont know which nationality i would be? mmm for i don't consider myself Egyptian aslan .. i am Egyptian, African, Arabian ... moreover consider Egypt's long history of enslavement and the multi nationalities that left their marks on our culture and faces ???
i am a hybrid so i cant even specify to which i belong .. and philosophically speaking .. i don't believe in belonging to one place ... i belong to earth, and where my family dwell
mm no reason to be an Egyptian, and no reason not to be an Egyptian ... i just feel comfortable here, maybe cause it is where i grew up? or maybe cause i got use of the place... 3eshra... ta3awod ...maybe
hard to answer question dear momen !! very hard indeed
Actually malls sound like a pretty good reason to be an Egyptian! Can anyone in today's world survive in a country that doesn't have a mega mall? It is realistic, honest, and makes much sense. I'd buy that.
But what about the one who wants to have the nationality of a country where people follow traffic laws? Probably this is someone who can't find a place to park his car. Does that deserve changing one's nationality nowadays?
Interesting post.. Will forward the question to my friends and see what they have to say.
I have had discussions with many young Egyptians living abroad. Most of them call me Egyptian as a way to insult me. As in their eyes, this nationality is associated with ignorance, superficiality, supression ... etc.
I never really saw it their way, but I feel that more younger people everyday hate the Egyptian nationality. They would rather belong to a small island middle of no where than being Egyptians.
For me Egypt is just home. How can I deny home?
walahy ham yeda7ak we ham yebaky :)
Dear Miss "Egyptiana"
Why the nick name then if you still confused about who you are?
My home is where my hat is...that's how I see it
Check this link out for more perspective on Egyptian identity; notice the quotes by
Historians H. S. Deighton and P. J. Vatikiotis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt#Identity
Fantasia,
I'll assume that your joking because the lady's answer reflects utter stupidity, self centerness, and lack of comprehension rather than .. Honesty and realism.
The fact that a citizen has to suffer to go home; fearning the agony of finding a place to park or to get there in the first place is definitely something to consider when comparing the pros and cons of "wanting" to be an Egyptian.
Shaimaa,
I guess we both have different definitions for the word "Home", but I can follow your logic, and the new generations think Egypt is crap despite the fact that crap is generated by the Egyptians .. They just want an excuse to travel out of the country and a solid answer to the "why did you leave Egypt?" question
"It's Crap"; is their standard reply.
I would have rather belonged to any other country but egypt and the middle-east region or any sore spot in the world, simply because as an Egyptian, I feel that Egyptians are treated as enemey of state number one all over the world especially in egypt so untill we can live on Mars, I would like to be from Trinidad and Tobago.
Post a Comment