LETTERS TO EDITOR 31-10-1995

Standard Chartered Bank is a household name in Pakistan. Recently, its executives distributed caps and T-shirts emblazoned with the Bank’s logo to young boys who are flower and newspaper vendors.

This may sound a noble gesture, but in effect the Bank is promoting its products thru child labor, since most of the "young boys" are small kids out to supplement the family income. The Bank could instead have done a lot to rid this country from the scourge of child labor, which is really child abuse. It could have announced a fund to educate them and also provide them a stipend so that the loss in income is somewhat compensated. This would have been a truly altruistic gesture and would have given the Bank lot of mileage, more than they will get from massive publicity and free pizzas on Saturdays.

By the way, the Bank could have atleast put in messages like "Peace in Karachi", "Don’t take drugs", "Cleaner Karachi forever", etc., on the T-shirts, rather than self-aggrandizement.

Yours etc :

MIKE BAXTER