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June 5
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By Daniela Lazarova
Czechs are a dying breed. Birth records date back to 1765 and at no
point since then have Czechs produced so few children, not even in
times of war. Nowadays, the difference between the death and birth
rate is an annual 20,000 people on average . At this rate by the year
2010 the number of Czechs will dip well below 10 million and some
villages with under 200 inhabitants could disappear off our map. Keep
it up and in three hundred years we could be gone. Why are Czechs not
having babies?
Tyden asks in a three page report devoted to the
subject. Simply because young people today stop to ask themselves "Can
we afford to have a baby " and more often than not the answer is no,
the author says. First they need an education, then a good job, to see
the world -and of course a flat. Young people today want to live, not
settle down as their predecessors did. While many industrialized
countries, for instance Sweden, respond to such trends by creating the
right conditions for potential parents - Czech governments have so far
refused to intervene on the grounds that it would be immoral,
unnatural and bring more problems than benefits in the long run .
The mayor of Domousnice, a village of 198 inhabitants, has been
desperate enough to announce a 10,000 crown bonus for every newborn
baby. So far nobody has claimed the benefit - "10,000 crowns today
will get you little more than a baby carriage" one woman laughs at the
idea of such incentive. Mayor Vera Koldova is aware of this, saying
that the bonus was meant to be symbolic.
The financial situation of
young families dependent on one income is really bad, worse than that
of pensioners even she told Kvety. In out of the way places villages
fight over kindergarten and school children so that their school won't
have to be closed down. While most people put the low birth rate down
to social problems - low wages and a flat shortage - psychologist
Karel Jakes blames consumer lifestyle. Family values are seriously
threatened, he says. People no longer see raising children as their
main goal in life, today so many other things come first.
In this election campaign politicians are naturally paying a lot of
lip-service to the problem and making big promises - but one party
leader has the edge over them all. Christian Democrat chairman Josef
Lux does as he preaches. With a brood of 6 to show voters - he needn't
even open his mouth....
Tyden magazine carries the unfortunate tale of the enterprising Czech
ambassador down under. Former ambassador to Australia Suchanek had a
busy time in Sydney. Not happy with what he was making Suchanek
allegedly used embassy property as loan collateral, using the loan to
purchase apartments which he then rented out illegally. There are
further allegations that he backdated bonuses , used embassy finances
to pay private bills and attempted to draw other embassy employees
into his profitable business offering a verbal "gentlemens' agreement"
that they would not loose out by cooperating and keeping their mouths
shut. While embassy personnel sent warning signals to Prague -it was
a deratization of the embassy which was the ambassadors undoing. In
the process someone opened a cupboard and upset a pile of
incriminating papers . In the autumn of 1997 Suchanek was ordered to
return home on the grounds of what the foreign ministry called
"certain inadequacies in his performance". Pressed by Tyden to
elaborate the foreign ministry admitted that "the ambassador had
engaged in diplomatic activities incompatible with state
representation, but not serious enough for it to press charges" .
Meanwhile, the Prague Post reports that while the World Cup has raised
a wave of enthusiasm among soccer fans worldwide it has left most
Czechs cold. Since the Czech national team failed to qualify few fans
will be travelling to France for the event, satisfied to watch the
matches on Czech TV. However not everyone is blind to the
opportunities. The Czech condom company Erco is getting ready to do
big business with a special series of World Cup condoms to be sold
near the game venues in France. In place of the usual tip the rubbers
sport a miniature soccer ball, topped with the national flag of the
buyer's choice. All of them are hand-painted. Erco churns out 600,000
funny condoms a year, with 90% of its production exported to Europe,
the Far East and Australia. The firms management claims the new line
will help drive home a serious message as well as improve business.
With teams from Africa and South America competing in the World Cup
this is an opportunity to crack two important markets and spread AIDS
awareness at the same time, manager Jan Fisher told the weekly.
And finally, whose lot is worse - ex-premier Vaclav Klaus' or the
Dalai Lama's? Klara Kucerova, a film distribution executive has
shocked and amused Czechs by comparing the Dalai Lama's struggle in
Tibet to Vaclav Klaus' forced resignation from the premier's post. She
has taken it upon herself to dedicate the Czech release of the Martin
Scorsese film Kundun to none other than the former prime minister
Vaclav Klaus. I believe I have the right to do this - she told the
weekly, adding - I want to give Klaus back what he gave to this
country.
©
Copyright 1997
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