So much to discuss this week. We have two different movie recommendations for you (both old ones but both worth a watch), the one man army bringing companies into the tax net, some opinions on cricket, and acts of kindness this Eid. Ariba Shahid brings you all this and more in this week’s social media roundup from Pakistan’s business and economics twitterverse.
For the love of Ryan!
The big short is one of the most important and profound movies of our time.
— D (@Le_Sabre54) July 22, 2021
The Big Short is a movie we recommend all of you to watch not just because of Ryan Gosling, but also because of the introductory course into the financial crisis. It is a few years old at this point, which is why we are sure many of our readers must have seen it already. In case you haven’t and you’re interested in a finance based high-stakes thriller, do watch it. In case you haven’t, rewatching really won’t hurt. Like we’ve said, Ryan Gosling alone is enough reason to watch the movie and then to maybe even rewatch it.
One-man-army
This is how we can be a part of the change. https://t.co/WDe7vWf6VI
— Rants by Naufal 🇵🇰 (@NaufalEsbhani) July 23, 2021
Zubair Ahmed Khan is single handedly doing more to bring more people into the tax net than most of us twitteratis put together. He is lodging complaints against unregistered businesses and getting them registered – so far he is one more short of a half century. Now this is what we call civic duty. What we also love is that the first business he went after was Pak Cuisine – the restaurant owned by ARY ‘anchor’ and professional intruder Iqrar ul Hassan Syed. We are a little sad that no one knocked down his doors and shoved a camera and mic in his face asking him why his restaurant was not registered, but this was still something.
On empathy and kindness
Incidentally when ever I’ve gone to McDonald’s at Seaview I’ve come across a family that’s out on a picnic (over the weekend) and the kids insist on eating more / having their own meal but their parents snub them (can’t afford it), love anonymously buying them meals n leaving
— High (@talkingcurves) July 20, 2021
While this isn’t exactly business and economic related, we feel that considering the Eid season it is important to add this tweet here to remind you all of how McDonald’s is a poor man’s meal in most countries around the world but is beyond the means of the middle class in Pakistan. Empathy and kindness go a long way. Thank you for this idea. We also might need to consider why in Pakistan there are valet services outside McDonald’s branches. We truly can give off a dystopian image at times.
Cancellation charges
I have a feeling @CareemPAK makes more money off cancellation rather than actual service.
— Sophia Hasnain (@sophasnain) July 20, 2021
Is it just me or do cancellation charges and delivery charges annoy you more than actually paying for the product or service? Trust us, your customers are not particularly happy with you. This kind of thing is along the lines of the whole “DM for price” silliness on Instagram.
Really?
Did this just happen @ayaansoulful . Did @UBLDigital just ask u which branch u had an issue with when you commented on the award they won!!! Wonder whose managing the twitter account there 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/UqLhY0btCE
— Grandpafintech (@grandpafintech) July 20, 2021
Some jokes write themselves. We won’t say much but corporate twitter accounts need to be wittier.
Moneyball
Even PSL franchises barring Lahore Qalandars have better planning than our national side which seems so far behind using any data & analytics, need a foreign coach to atleast bring us to play modern cricket, dinosaurs like Misbah/Waqar need to go immediately
— Osama. (@ashaqeens) July 20, 2021
We won’t comment on Misbah and Waqar but we will comment on how robust data analytics is needed to improve decision making in performance in businesses and in sports. For more on how sports, business, and the need for modernisation are connected, read an old Profit cover story:
READ: How to turn the PCB into a lean, mean, business machine
God bless Excel
Excel is the most underrated personal finance tool.
— Neha Puri (@NehaKPuri_) July 20, 2021
We can’t thank Excel enough for its services, it’s intuitiveness and for single handedly holding our government and financial institutions together.
Don’t fire the intern
And I just got blocked by PSX for calling them out on a fake award from one of those award mills. Can’t do much for development of capital markets, might as well start shilling fake awards for some validation — because real work requires more effort than fake awards. pic.twitter.com/22fHV1o3NZ
— Ammar Khan (@rogueonomist) July 21, 2021
Imagine being blocked and unblocked by the PSX within the span of a day. Our only request is to please not fire the intern that did this. Poor guy just didn’t know what to do. Probably going through it right now.
Silly taboos
Airlift packed the sanitary pads like it was chars pic.twitter.com/X26YflZ459
— mayoos meena (@rosabibi_surkh) July 22, 2021
Brown paper bags or double wrapped. Sanitary pads are not something women should be shamed for. While we’re unsure if this is company policy, or if this is more of an individual thing, it is high time we stop blushing vermillion every time the mention of women’s health products comes up.
A note of congrats!
Me, to my team when we got the first big company to agree to a pilot program with us: “We’re like a real company and shit.”
— Farooq Tirmizi (@FarooqTirmizi) July 16, 2021
Everyone loves milestones. Whether it’s your baby’s first steps or if it’s your first major client or breakthrough. It’s a proud moment indeed. First steps matter. Congratulations to our managing editor on becoming a ‘real company’. And we say this without any bias, this is one to look out for. We wish you luck.
Mic drop moment
Question.
If I import 50k dollars worth of let’s say, laptops to sell locally, I fail, and then I send them back ( export) at 45k. Can I claim highest level of laptop exports ??— Ahfaz Mustafa (@ahfazmustaf) July 20, 2021
You didn’t have to mic drop so hard, Ahfaz. Statistically speaking, yes you would. Logically speaking, it shouldn’t count. Oh well!
TikTok in the slammer again
Pakistan’s censorship regime in two tweets: pic.twitter.com/Uu7wiUHZkN
— Reem Khurshid (@ReemKhurshid) July 21, 2021
So they banned Tiktok a day after President Arif Alvi joined. Are they worried about the cringe content the president might put out? Is this preemptive image saving? We have too many questions and no answers. However, digital Pakistan is a joke that keeps on giving.
Maybe do a fact check before writing anything? Or you get a boost from cheap stunts like this?
Trying your level best to create a controversy about the internal structure of an organization to which you absolutely have no rights to talk about. Just ‘Pakistan Today’ thing.
Wow! So much for being a journalist who is supposed to be unbiased. Hopefully you have enjoyed your 2 minutes of fame through this article.