Ramadan was the focus, with the worsening economic conditions hitting the headlines Breathless headlines have hailed the spirit of magnanimity and generosity that pervades the holy fasting month of Ramadan. The daily official Al-Ahram ran a headline about the government's preparations. "President Mubarak approves the National Democratic Party's plan to distribute Ramadan bags [packed with basic commodities such as sugar, edible oil, beans, and rice]." The paper reported that "the party will distribute half a million boxes full of foodstuffs among poor families in all governorates." The idea is to make sure that every citizen has access to a square meal during Ramadan. Indeed, in terms of the supply of foodstuffs to the needy, the picture is more mixed. The daily official Al-Akhbar reported that "the government provided 3,000 cattle and 1,000 tonnes of chicken in preparation for the holy month of Ramadan." The public, however, is cynical about the move. They question the reasons behind the distribution of the foodstuffs and doubt that they would actually receive the food. High food prices have created something of a vicious circle by adding to the despondent mood of public discontent. Stocks of most farm commodities remain alarmingly low. It is not as if Egyptian farmers have harvested bumper crops of wheat and rice. A similar story could be told of many other essential commodities. The daily opposition Al-Wafd ran a mind-provoking feature about the economic difficulties facing ordinary Egyptian families in Ramadan. "Ramadan, the school fees, Eid Al-Fitr, all compound the anguish of the long-suffering Egyptian people, 84 per cent of whose limited income ranges from between LE200 and LE750. The cost of a Ramadan Iftar is equivalent to the monthly salary of a low- income Egyptian," the paper lamented. But that does not necessarily presage a collapse in commodity markets. Indeed, most pundits are more reticent about Ramadan blues. And, a good chunk of overall consumption remains in the hands of the authorities, or government officials to be precise. Almost all newspapers were awash with adverts about soap operas and foodstuffs that occupied entire pages. Some newspapers issued supplements showing the timetable of the broadcasting of programmes and soap operas. The addiction of the Egyptian population to soap operas generally, and especially during Ramadan is a characteristic of the population of the country. While during Ramadan the obsession is confined almost exclusively to Egyptian and other Arab soap operas, during the rest of the year public interest is centred on foreign language, mainly Turkish, soap operas. Addressing the president in an op-ed piece in the daily Al-Masry Al-Yom, constitutional jurisprudent Yehia El-Gamal called upon President Hosni Mubarak to outline the political future of Egypt as his fifth term in office will end within less than three years. "Frankly speaking, your son [Gamal], who is being groomed to take over the presidency, might be a cultured, open- mined person who is well aware of the state of affairs in the world. And some people would opine that Gamal's ascent to power could be a good opportunity to move power from military officers to civilians, which is true. However, Gamal does not enjoy any appeal from the public." El-Gamal added, "I'm sure that you will not be happy to [bring] someone to power whom the Egyptian people do not like." El-Gamal proposed that Mubarak "issues a presidential decree forming a constitutional assembly with the purpose of formulating a new constitution based on a basic principle: a civic, democratic state in which all citizens, whomsoever, are equal." The elusive quest for freedom of speech might be at last set for a happy ending. In an interview with the official daily Al-Gomhuriya Minister of Information Anas El-Fiqi said, "the audio and visual [draft] law will not punish journalists, or media people or bloggers. "The marriage of money and media is more dangerous than the marriage of wealth and politics." El-Fiqi argued, "businessmen who are owners of satellite channels are not professional media experts." Their role is restricted to funding mega-projects and not to technical and political aspects of the business about which they do not know anything. The ripple effects of the fire that engulfed the Shura Council building preoccupied the pundits. The official newspapers were awash with news reports about the government's decision to form a committee to protect government buildings from fire. "Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif forms a committee to take measures regarding the protection of governmental and vital buildings as well as monuments", ran the headline of Al-Akhbar. "Comprehensive plans to deal with catastrophes and crises", ran another headline. The sudden interest in taking measures aimed at protection against fire came in the aftermath of the Shura Council fire of last month. The political and social implications of the fire aroused the interest of commentators and in particular why a segment of the population appeared gleeful. In a similar note of collective mass psychology, commentators were keen to explain certain intriguing aspects of the Egyptian national psyche. Ahmed Okasha, head of the International Psychiatry Association, published a study in Al-Masry Al-Yom about the Egyptian personality and what happened to it in the past few decades. "The Egyptian citizen has become an isolated island separated from his nation. He has a strange feeling of alienation and self- centredness and does not have a solution for his problems. "Those [officials] who talk about the importance of [spreading] the sense of loyalty among Egyptian citizens could not care less about the citizens' role in their nation, and they do not address the reasons behind this sense of alienation prevalent among [the majority] of citizens. We have citizens who do not have any say in the course of events in their country." Okasha added, "religious sermons do not provide citizens with a convincing interpretation of the ills of the society. Solutions provided in these sermons are empty slogans and unrealistic talk that is best suited for a community of angels." And, yet another social phenomenon was analysed in some detail. The key question is what do Egyptians fancy on the Internet. In an interesting article published in Al-Ahram, IT expert Gamal Mohamed Ghitas tried to determine what Egyptians search for on the Internet. "Egyptians are interested in song sites, empty chat rooms, football websites, programme downloading, acceleration software, and of course pornography." Ghitas revealed that, "90 per cent of male youth frequenting Internet cafés spend their time chatting with girls and engaging in idle conversation. Meanwhile, children go to Internet cafés to play games, especially FIFA soccer programmes." Ostensibly, what the study reveals is that Egyptian youth do not differ substantially in their whims and cravings than youth in any other country in the world.
