So to speak: Out to make a quick buck

We all agree that Oman has come a long way in terms of development. Thousands of accolades have been showered on the country, but it is time we stopped in our tracks to look deeper.
Thin cracks begin to show on the gold bowl we live in. Moral issues are no longer important. Almost everybody is looking for an easy way, perhaps to make a quick buck or even break all the ethical codes to get things done. From individuals to big businesses, when the opportunity prevails, only few saintly souls can walk away from the temptations of filling their pockets from unmerited cash. But the rest walk on crooked paths strewn with greed, and they sink deeper on every step they take. There is hard evidence everywhere.
Just the other day, a butcher at a leading regional supermarket was busy shoving meat through the grinder. It looked good as the minced meat dropped on the platter, until I took a closer look. What he was stuffing down the chopper was shocking. All the parts of the cow you would normally throw away if you cut up the beef in your own kitchen. He put a protective hand over the top to prevent me from seeing the rest. It was impossible for me to keep my mouth shut. I complained about it, but he shrugged his shoulders and said nothing. The beef was nicely packed in a presentable fashion and labelled ‘lean mince’. The unsuspecting customer would have no idea that he was buying junk meat.
In a food stall, a supermarket would return everything in the freezer, defrost them the second day and sell them as ‘fresh.’ The same story with the thawed out fish or chicken. All this calls for independent regulatory bodies to monitor the retail trade. There are none here in Oman. You can buy microwave ovens or bathroom heaters that would explode on your face because nobody bothers to check the authenticity of the parts used to build them. Believe it or not, some of these electric appliances are assembled right here in the country. These incidents happen all the time, and the people responsible get away with it because they are not reported. Or perhaps, we feel that if we report them, little action would be taken against the offenders.
You can overlook occasional tinned food that stays on the shelves beyond their expiry dates. These are genuine mistakes, and they are easily detected by observant eyes. What you cannot spot with a casual look is when they take you for an expensive ride that you cannot afford.
What amazes me is that it never worries their conscience. The lure of easy money overcomes their sense of right and wrong. It will continue to be so for a long time unless the authorities set up watchdogs to monitor business ethics. It should not be an eyewash when it happens. Regulatory bodies must have enough power to force changes.
If development has got rid of little corner shops or butchers that guaranteed fresh food, then it should make sure bigger chains operating in Oman abide by international norms.
In Europe or in the US, they cannot afford to be careless with their products. But here, they know the media is largely toothless when it comes to scrutiny of trade standards. Such incidents only travel by word of mouth. Large franchise chains receive a hundred thousand shoppers a week, according to their own released records. Word-of-mouth warnings are not fast enough to cover graft of this magnitude. That’s why we will continue to have occasional diarrhoea after some meals or buy an electric item that won’t work properly.