Dr Samia Khan, Karachi, referring to a recent Pakistan Railways advertisement appearing in the national press reading "massage of public interest", instead of "message of public interest", wonders if it was a proofreading mistake or the Pakistan Railways was officially offering "massage" services.
I am sure this was not any proofreading mistake, as many of our government organisations, today, are trying to expand their wings in different directions. For example, the Pakistan Railways recently showed its intent to build and run big hotels, as if its own dinning car system was at par in excellence.
The Karachi City Local Government has not left any stone unturned in turning Karachi into another Hong Kong. But the real Karachi, where people used to shop even at midnight, is now a memory. People, like the highly learned Dr Samia, should not waste time and energy wondering over worthless things, like the importance of proofreading error. As, today, we have 12 billion foreign exchange and stand in the list of the top honoured nations.
As such, none of us should even doubt anything that is written or drafted by our functionaries, appointed on transparent merit. If Dr Samia, or myself, find "massage" instead of "message", we should cast doubt on our own knowledge and ability. Proofreading was the practice of foolish elders like me, when we worked with manual typewriters and were appointed on safarish.
Today's people work on computers and are recruited on pure merit, hence their ability is above proofreading. The above reference by Dr Samia is just from an advertisement. Two years back I filed a formal complaint with the Federal Ombudsman that one of senior official, in his Secretariat, had got his D.O. official letterhead printed with the wrong contact details, which, too, was a serious matter.
An incorrect contact results in defective service of notice/communication, which can deprive a person of his due right. I prayed that since the official letterheads are printed at the expense of the national exchequer, to which every one of us contributed, hence getting the letterhead printed, without "proofreading" was an act of maladministration.
As such, I prayed that the whole cost of printing be recovered from the one who gave the approval for the final print. As is usual with us, since it was a matter of home accountability, my formal complaint was not entertained. However, I got a short two-line response that it was an error which is regretted.
Comments
Comments are closed.