Month: March 2021

This morning, Bambi called her parents in Beirut to check on them. They got their second vaccine dose yesterday after precisely three weeks since their first one. Note that this took place in their destroyed and now partly rebuilt hospital. Thank God and bravo for this inspiring yet not surprising resourcefulness! Indeed, the rest of Bambi’s beloved senior family members are or will also soon be more protected from the coronavirus with a second dose of vaccine. Sadly, this was not the case for too many people, both seniors and younger ones, who lost their lives, even shortly before the availability of vaccines (developed in a record period of time, thanks to the clever scientists of our world). May they all rest in peace.

Isn’t Beirut a strange place? On the Covid-19 battle front, the vaccine distribution seems to be going relatively smoothly (i.e., ironically and apparently, even faster than in Canada)… but on ALL the other fronts, the lives of Lebanese residents have been described by demonstrators as being a “slow death” (original longer part of this English France 24 documentary shown below).

Indeed, and to conclude this post, Bambi would like to thank her friend Joëlle for sharing this brief heartfelt appeal about Beirut by Ms. Sarah El Yaffy. After listening to the latter, Bambi is speechless… there are no words that could be added beyond Ms. El Yaffy’s message to the world, but is anyone listening (starting with the Lebanese politicians themselves!)?

Before going to sleep, Bambi would like to share a quick translation of an article published today in the Journal de Montréal and signed by Dr. Joseph Facal:

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/03/11/cest-une-erreur-de-surproteger-nos-jeunes

For those who do not know this author, he is a highly respected academic (trained in politics and sociology), a journalist, and (a former?) politician in the Belle Province. As you can guess, he has mentored several trainees over his career [École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) de Montréal and Concordia University], in addition to being a devoted father.

Bambi will not spend much time commenting his article. No, not because it is getting late. It is rather because Facal’s column speaks for itself. Whether we agree or disagree with his insights on education in the broadest sense, it is food for thought.

Without further ado, below you can find Dr. Facal’s translated words on how today’s society may be overprotecting its youth to the ironic point of contributing to hinder their growth, as human beings or citizens.

——

“The day before yesterday I wrote that I didn’t like our exhibitionist, whining and hypocritical era.

Meghan Markle’s interview with Prince Harry embodied them to the point of caricature.

I will clarify my thoughts now.

My parents instilled in me, less by their words than by their example, a few fundamental beliefs.

Shift

The trials we face and overcome build character and strengthen us.

Emotions are important, legitimate, but should not take up all the space and should be tempered by reason.

Human beings are complex. We must therefore be sensitive to nuances and not see everything as an apocalyptic confrontation between an absolute Good and an absolute Evil.

What has survived the centuries has proven its strength and, without necessarily approving it, must be treated with respect and with a concern for understanding its raison d’être.

Great artists, great entrepreneurs, great scientists, great political leaders have gone through hardships, fought battles that have forced them to draw on the best of themselves.

They often questioned themselves without giving up their nature or their ambition.

They knew where they came from. When they rejected the past, they knew exactly what they were rejecting and for what reasons.

Now, what do we see today?

Is an exam difficult? We make it easier.

Is a book disturbing? We take it off.

An inconvenient debate? The professor apologizes.

A youth expresses his feelings, his fragility?

You have to bend, adjust your environment, not hijack it, especially not say: hey, that’s fine, stand up and walk off.

If this youngster divides the world into good guys and bad guys, if he sees oppression everywhere, we shouldn’t reframe him, but rather question our own “unconscious biases.”

Perhaps it is he, from the height of his vast life experience, who sees more clearly than we do.

All of this is undoubtedly a consequence of a society in which many children are raised in cozy comfort.

Children who grow up in Africa or in our poor neighbourhoods have little time to probe their souls or censor works.

Don’t misunderstand me: I don’t blame youth.

It is their seniors who decide in the media industry, in education, in social services.

It is also not easy to be 20 years old today: uncertain future, academic competition, toxic social networks, etc.

But it is precisely because their future will be difficult that the way we go about it is bad.

Fault

A relative told me that instead of preparing youth for the road, we prepare the road for them.

Instead of strengthening them, arming them for life, we try to remove the uncertainties, we overprotect them.

A muscle strengthens when it is called upon. If it isn’t, it atrophies.

That goes for character, right?

Sorry, but we’re headed in the wrong direction”.

We learned this week (Le Figaro and AmoMama) that Professor Samuel Patty, who was brutally murdered in France by a young radicalized Islamist, was also the victim of a lie. Yes, a simple lie by a student who accused him of having taken Muslim students out of class to show the Charlie Hebdo cartoons. In fact, it turned out that she was not present on that day:

https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/assassinat-de-samuel-paty-l-adolescente-a-l-origine-de-la-polemique-avoue-avoir-menti-20210307?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1615137392

https://amomama.fr/252660-meurtre-de-samuel-paty-jai-menti-confess.html

While the responsibility clearly and primarily lies with the murderer, it was a somewhat predictable consequence of her lie. This shouldn’t be the case, but unfortunately is in today’s France. As such, there is heightened responsibility for such statements.

This tragedy shows us one more time that facts (= evidence) DO and SHOULD matter in life. As lawyers, researchers, journalists, and as reasonable, logical citizens, this is what we must examine first and foremost in life to be as fair as possible to all.

For all possible reasons, younger or older people may resort to lies (i.e., perhaps in this story, there is a family context. Who knows?). In life, lies can be white or more serious. Regardless, the problem here is not the lie of this student in reality. It’s perhaps more how institutions, companies, communities, or entire countries forget that they have the responsibility to commit to facts and reason/logic… It is only facts that allow us to be as fair as possible to all parties and in challenging situations like this one.

May Mr. Patty rest in peace. May his family members find peace in their hearts… May everyone, young or old, pause to reflect on the consequences of their words or their quick (mis)judgment… The life of innocent people, like Mr. Patty, can be at stake.

“Ma grande” is Bambi’s sister (the latter being her “petite soeur”).

“Ma grande” is inspiring in every way! Not just for Bambi, but for many older and younger fellows!

Happy Birthday to you!! Love you… and miss you, more than you ever imagine!

To conclude this post on a joyful note, Lebanese people have a fun (funny) tradition of congratulating all the loved ones of the beloved family member or friend celebrating his/her birthday (sort of collective joy and gratitude). Well, of course, Bambi did not miss this chance and her loved ones across the world already got their little happy message :).

Here are two songs for you, the first does not need any introduction. It is international! The second one is Bambi’s most favourite Arabic song. It is called “Mabrouk” (= Congratulations). People sing it in birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, closure of happy events… or any successful processes. The singer is called Mr. Ramy Ayash, a Lebanese singer. Please imagine that this is Bambi singing for you today (OK along with your amazing spouse who happens to be Bambi’s brother… OK, we are an incestuous family :). Seriously, these two love each other since age 13… We all grew up, survived war, and immigration together). Look at the pictures carefully and imagine who is also singing with us all :).

First, here is a tweet by Mr. Steven Guilbeault, our Federal Minister of Canadian Heritage, on International Women’s Day:

Why does Mr. Guilbeault insist on making online platforms “safer places”?

Is this related to his new definition of hate in the bill he wants to push forward?

https://www.thetelegram.com/news/canada/new-definition-of-hate-to-be-included-in-liberal-bill-that-might-also-revive-contentious-hate-speech-law-559022/

Is a “safer place” another buzz word to justify more governmental interference in citizens’ lives (a form of more socially acceptable modern censorship)? And if so, why are we doing so?

Despite the noble intentions, is there a potential slippery slope?

Or is Bambi wrong about her concerns about freedom of expression?

How can we preserve tolerance in our society whilst also protecting citizens from evil?

Who gets to decide what is hateful in life?

Is a different opinion hate?

Is a legitimate opposition related to this or that idea hate?

And what about all the shades of different opinions, including a so-called hate speech?

Of course, Bambi is not talking about threats of violence, written or verbal, or violent acts.

She is rather talking about a legitimate different opinion on this or that matter?

With these questions in mind, today Bambi found herself taking a few moments to watch a news documentary about Beirut. She saw a demonstrator who criticized a heavily armed group, in addition to his country’s widespread political corruption. How ironic that, despite excesses, in this tiny, bankrupt, and highly volatile Middle Eastern state, citizens can still criticize powerful groups or their government. They can be vocal on the streets, in the media, and online. Isn’t it therapeutic to (still) be able to call a spade a spade in tiny, bankrupt, starving, volatile… yet somehow still democratic Lebanon?

To conclude this post by re-focusing on Canada, why does our government seem to want to over-sanitize our internet? Is its underlying motivation to protect us from… ourselves? And how does this make our country a safer place?

Bambi’s heart is sad beyond words… She extends her heart to Ms. Jammal’ s family as well as to to her own siblings, cousins, parents, and especially her circle of childhood friends around the world (Lebanon, France, USA, Canada, etc.). Like Bambi, everyone has the UTMOST respect (in addition to friendship) for Professor Nadia Jammal. She is (was and will remain…) a cultural monument and a candle’s light in the darkness of narrow-mindedness, overwhelming Beirut or threatening the whole world…

If Bambi loves the French literature as she does, it is because of this incredibly passionate, talented, knowledgeable, charismatic yet discrete teacher!

Although Bambi left Beirut abruptly in June of 1990, she had the opportunity to re-connect with Ms. Jammal on more than one opportunity in the past 31 years. Perhaps the most unforgettable memory was a group dinner that took place 29 years ago.

Over the years, she kept sending Ms. Jammal warm greetings via friends or relatives (her own dad or even aunt who was her neighbour. Interestingly, both are called Nadia). More than once, when visiting her aunt, Bambi would be lucky to see Ms. Jammal on her balcony. They would engage in warm conversations about Canada, Lebanon, the summer, etc. More recently, perhaps about 1-2 months ago, Bambi was moved to receive Professor Jammal’s warm greetings via her friend Rita (who touched base with her). Bambi wonders if Rita had the time to send her warm regards back…  

Professor Jammal taught Bambi at her school in Beyrouth (Zahrat el Ihsan or ZEI). In addition, she also taught the French literature at the Athénée de Beyrouth. She prepared students to the French as well as the Lebanese baccalaureate. She was also a faculty member at the Faculté des lettres et des sciences humaines et à l’Institut de lettres orientales at the Université Saint-Joseph (USJ) in Lebanon.

Ms. Jammal was brilliant not just in literature and poetry, but also in politics and diplomatic relations. She has inspired MANY men and women… She is a cultural loss to Lebanon, to the “francophonie”, and to humanity in our world!

Now, if she may, Bambi will allow herself to share some of Professor Jammal’s own words, as published in the l’Orient Le Jour in 2009 (article by Ms. Collette Khalaf):

https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/632983/La_langue%252C_terre_de_refuge_ou_d%2527exil_.html

A quick English translation…

“No language is neutral… As soon as there is a creative writing process, there is commitment. By informing it, with our hands like clay, this “raw material” will acquire a density and a particular flavour. A specificity, even an identity. There is no language that is not communication, that is to say signs… The Francophonie is not sectarian. It is an invitation to open up to others in their diversity and likeness. From then on, the other will appear as similar to me in his/her humanism… Nothing that is human is foreign to me … However… each writer, whether Lebanese, Canadian, African or Vietnamese, will bring the specificity of the soul of his people that he/she infuses with turns of writing specific to his/her country. In Lebanon, writers and poets have striven over time to glorify this soul. But what exactly is this Lebanese soul that transcends the limits of the language? Is it as Victor Hugo said when defining the form: “It is the background, which rises to the surface.”

The original French…

[«Aucune langue n’est neutre, commence par dire Jammal. Dès qu’il y a processus créatif d’écriture, il y a engagement. En l’informant, de nos mains comme une terre glaise, cette “materia prima” va acquérir une densité et une saveur particulière. Une spécificité, voire une identité. Il n’y a pas de langue qui ne soit langage, c’est-à-dire signes», observe-t-elle. «La francophonie n’est pas sectaire, ajoute Nadia Jammal. Elle est une invitation à s’ouvrir à l’autre dans sa diversité et sa ressemblance. Dès lors, l’autre apparaîtra comme semblable à moi dans son humanisme et comme « rien de ce qui est humain ne m’est étranger…» Cependant dit-elle, chaque écrivain, qu’il soit libanais, canadien, africain ou vietnamien, apportera la spécificité de l’âme de son peuple qu’il infuse par des tournures d’écritures propres à son pays. Au Liban, écrivains et poètes se sont attelés au fil du temps à glorifier cette âme. Mais qu’est-ce au juste cette âme libanaise qui transcende les limites de la langue? Est-elle comme Victor Hugo l’a dit en définissant la forme: «C’est le fond qui remonte à la surface.»]

To conclude this post, «mille merci Madame Nadia Jammal”. Thanks for whom you have been and for the inspiration to all of us… We all love you and your students feel somehow orphans in their hearts right now. Indeed, you will be missed greatly by many generations of francophiles. To try to make you smile, Bambi will ask if you can kindly say hello to her aunt (your neighbour) Nadia, if you ever bump into her in heaven :). However, more seriously now: May your memory be eternal. May your broken heart over your beloved country find peace… We all beg you to be that little star in the sky that will know how to illuminate your tiny, broken yet culturally rich Lebanon!

May respect, justice, prosperity, love, and happiness truly prevail for ALL women in our country AND… across the world!!

May inspirational artists, like Mr. Enrico Macias, keep singing joyful songs for us all, senior women, younger girls, and… even female deer too :).

These old songs are in French… but genuine respect/appreciation of women knows no boundaries. Enjoy!

Until where can we push the funny excesses of political correctness?

The world is devastated by the tiny yet dangerous coronavirus.

The economy is falling apart… here and there and everywhere.

Everyone is too busy with life, work, school, quarantines, and/or concerns.

Kids need entertainment and continuity in their lives, perhaps now more than ever…

Well, in the name of “inclusiveness” and kindness, even “Monsieur Patate” and “Madame Patate” deserve our respect for their longevity. Instead, the company producing them decided to cancel (or eliminate) them. Of course, ultimately, this decision belongs to this private American company.

More seriously now, many of us played with “Monsieur/Madame Patate” literally around the world and in many languages. Younger toy consumers may be more attached to these characters. Older ones may be torn with mixed feelings (i.e., not caring and sarcastically laughing); like many reporters from Québec, France, and Switzerland. Bambi will spare you these news documentaries as they are all in French.

To conclude this post on a lighter note despite the obituary, Bambi would like to use this fun video to pay tribute to Monsieur/Madame Patate whilst welcoming any new “Potato” character. If she may, she would like to also dedicate this cute kids’ song to her now adult nephews and nieces. Like their aunt, they have a sense of humour, despite any sorrow :).

Long live all the potatoes of the world! They are delicious, with or without titles.

“Vive les patates du monde entier”! Elles sont toutes délicieuses”. Mmm.

Bambi just read that Ms. Ensaf Haidar will be seeking the Bloc Québecois (BQ) nomination in Sherbrooke (Québec). Wow and best wishes to Ms. Haidar!

As for the BQ, this party has been playing an excellent opposition role in Ottawa. Bravo to Mr. Blanchet and his team for standing up for freedom of expression.

Ms. Ensaf Haidar is Mr. Raif’s Badawi’s spouse. The latter is in jail in Saudi Arabia. In an earlier post, Bambi described how he was “sentenced to 1000 lashes, a 10 year sentence, and a fine of 200,000 Saudi Arabian riyals (CAD $69,381). Even if he gets out of jail, he cannot leave his country to join his family in Sherbrooke, PQ, Canada for at least 10 years. His kids are growing up without him nearby. He and his spouse have not seen each other for God knows how long. All this because he was accused of blasphemy“.

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/ensaf-haidar-steps-up-for-nomination-as-bloc-quebecois-candidate-in-sherbrooke-1.5334948

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1775157/ensaf-haidar-badawi-candidate-bloc-quebecois-sherbrookehttps://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1775157/ensaf-haidar-badawi-candidate-bloc-quebecois-sherbrooke

Well, this story is reminding Bambi of Mr. William Sampson who sadly passed away in England in 2012, according to the National Post (https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/william-sampson-dead-canadian-survived-prison-torture-in-saudi-arabia). As per Radio-Canada and many other media (https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/114050/sampson-torture), the BQ helped free Mr. Sampson from jail (along with the UK, as he held the double citizenship). A BQ party member even travelled to Saudi Arabia and met with him in jail. Tragically, Mr. Sampson was accused of false yet very serious accusations. He even suffered from torture, but thankfully he survived his ordeal. He spent the last ten years of his free life clearing his name.

To conclude this post, may Mr. Sampson rest in peace. May the BQ continue to stand up for freedom of expression in Canada. May Ms. Haidar and her children be finally reunited with Mr. Badawi. It is about time for this innocent dad to find himself where he belongs that is with his family, in their beautiful Sherbrooke (Québec) and among us all in Canada.

It has been seven months since the Beirut surrealistic port explosion.

NO accountability yet.

NO (new) government yet.

This week, the Lebanese Lira (or pound) fell to 10,000 to the American dollar. This means that it lost about 85% of its value. If Bambi understands the situation there well, the minimum salary is now worth US$62 per month. Can you imagine the magnitude of this economic tragedy?!

Oh, Bambi almost forgot… there is also the Covid-19 pandemic.

To conclude this post devoted to Beirut, Bambi just came across this moving song (called “Pray for Beirut subtitled in English). It is performed by a Montreal-born singer called Ms. Nicole Arrage (with pianist, Mr. Guillaume Dion). The song is by Mr. Joseph Attieh.

What a beautiful tribute to Beirut… all the way from Canada. Bravo and thank you!