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Often we get overwhelmed by all that is wrong around us and we feel that we cannot make any difference.
The recent November inferno in a Hong Kong high-rise cluster which led to the death of 160 people had barely died out when a tragic fire in a Goa nightclub claimed the lives of more than 25 revellers who had simply expected a fun time.
And, it was not too long ago that we shared the pain of the Grenfell Tower Fire in London (2017) that took the lives and dreams of 72 families.
Stitched into this tapestry of pain is the knowledge that the law and authorities have simply not kept up with the changing conditions that make domestic and industrial fires more common these days.
For one thing, there is an increasing use of extremely flammable material in household goods – bed and sofa mattresses made of polyurethane foam, curtains, blankets and home linen made of polyester which is flammable, everyday items which we take for granted such as aerosol sprays, hand sanitisers and even the design of modern homes where space is at a premium, leading to poor ventilation.
It is a fact that in most of the cases the worst-hit by safety lapses are the most vulnerable. In Bahrain, a fire in an illegal Gudaibiya worker accommodation in July 2006 took 16 lives and proved to be a turning point of sorts. The kingdom tightened fire safety rules, inspections and cracked down on the practice of repurposing ordinary two- and three-bedroom flats into worker dorms by using plywood partitions and renting it out to 15 to 20 people.
In the same year, Bahrain dismantled the sponsorship system and established the LMRA, paving the way for humane and decent workplace conditions across the board.
Sadly, nearly two decades after the incident, compensation for the Gudaibiya fire victims’ families has been only meagre handouts through donations and court-ordered awards and no real compensation.
The point I’m making is that without tracing it attentively, we have lived through many improvements. Today, Bahrain’s domestic workers have legally mandated rights, including suitable housing, food, healthcare, rest days, privacy and timely wages, enforced by the LMRA and supported by contracts – we hear less and less of the abusive excesses of the earlier days, although even one case of suffering is too many.
We have witnessed the dismantling and upgrading of Bahrain’s labour market, the global improvement and standards enforced upon the garment industry, the fact that child labour is an offence – these are the result of movements that you and I felt deeply about and causes we espoused.
Just as we are capable of utter and thoughtless cruelty, we are capable also of positive change – of harnessing our compassion and our minds to initiate new ways of living together, of thinking and sustaining each other.
Raising our voices for the good of others is not a hopeless task. Let us continue to be aware of our power to heal the world.
meeraresponse@gmail.com
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