High hopes, small talk: Seoulmates

KARACHI:

Two Pakistani men in the front row were enthusiastically talking to the Korean delegation behind them on the first day of the South Asian Cities Conference on Friday.

One of the men said, “You see, Pakistan has gotten to where it is just because of Afghanistan!”

The Koreans listened quietly. “Our whole country is upside down because of power politics and our people just don’t learn,” said one of the Pakistanis.

The other said, “We always give the example of Korea to our people and say, look how it has gone up in such a short time.”

The first Pakistani added that he felt democracy was the culprit. “The stories of Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and other developed countries tell us that there was no democracy but only work.”

One of the four Koreans said: “Pakistan is very developed, you know.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2014.