World Service - World Have Your Say homepage

Hi Nuala here, just wanted to drop you a note about the shows Tim and
I had the pleasure of working on last week at 1100GMT. World Have Your Say wanted to give a snapshot of what five countries are talking about right now after their tumultuous year, so we turned to you our listeners and asked you. Your conversations were illuminating.

We also got some of you to present the show! Ayesha, Matthaios, Pakinam, Yoshi, Hadil and Maysam not only presented but also helped edit the show by highlighting discussions taking place in their country and identifying people who would be interesting to hear. So many of you participated as a guest or by tweeting us your comments using the hashtag #mywhys. Thank you for your input you really enhanced the global conversation.

So, we began the week with Ayesha Tammy Haq in Pakistan, she led the conversation about how Pakistan is trying to figure out how to interact with the world going forward. Did you know it's considering allying with China and turning away from the West?

We then visited Greece on Tuesday with Matthaios Tsimitakis, though Greek's economic future is bleak, the discussion was rich and varied as our participants told us what they thought should happen next. We'll continue to follow their progress.

Wednesday we eavesdropped on Egypt. Pakinam Amer guided the debate about whether the protesters are actually the problem, and whether the revolution is over.

Then, we swept across the globe to Japan with Yoshi Tomiyama on Thursday. We remember the videos of devastation after the tsunami and earthquake there we heard that some Japanese appear to have forgotten what they said was unforgettable. That's Yoshi in the photo above wearing the baseball cap.

And then to Friday, Hadil Krekshi and Maysam Shebani surprised us with what Libyan chat is about now. Yes they'd like to move on from the revolution and yes they'd like to get a job but Katy Perry and Bieber fever are also part of a new normal in Tripoli!

So thanks for all your help making really special programmes, hope you have a wonderful New Year.

But, while correspondents make their best guesses about what the major stories will be in 2012, already know what one of the very biggest will be - the Olympics, being held here in London.

For two weeks in August, the world's attention will be almost exclusively focused on the UK capital as the world's biggest sporting event unfolds. Although of course many Londoners have reservations about the Games, nevertheless it's a hugely exciting time in Europe's largest city. (Personally speaking, I can hardly wait).

And with World Have Your Say planning on being an essential part of your experience of the Games, we thought it was only right to have a bit of a celebration of our own.

Which is why, if you're listening to World Service between 2300 and 0100 GMT on New Year's Eve, you'll hear something rather special.

We're going to be live on the roof of Bush House - the home of the World Service in central London since the 1930s - with some of the people who will be making the Olympics so special for London, and London so special for the Olympics.

Ros will be live with athletes, performers and protesters from across London to give us their guide and perspective on the city from eight stories up. We'll also be joined by John the Cabbie - who you may have heard on our shows about the London riots - and some of the Occupy London protesters.

We'll even have live music from some of the people who have written songs and scores for the Olympics themselves.

2012 is also the year that the BBC World Service will leave Bush House for our new home at Broadcasting House, just off Oxford Street, only a few weeks before the Olympics begin. So what better way to see out the year - and the building - than by joining us for our 2012 celebrations?

Hi I'm Hadil Krekshi (on the right) and I'm an international business administration student in Tripoli. I love travel and I'm really looking forward to the New Year. I'm Maysam Shebani, (yes, on the left), I'm studying graphic design here and I want to be fashion designer but for today we are both the presenters of World Have Your Say, broacasting from the center of Tripoli.

It's the last Friday morning of this life-changing year, for us and everyone else here in Libya. 2011 has been a year a year filled with emotion, a year of following our dreams, the year of working as hard as we can, the year of unity, the year of speaking out, the year of believing, the year of togetherness, the year of patriotism, the year of the long-awaited revolution. The year Muammar Gaddafi ended, and Libyans began. The Libyan uprising has been a major turning point for all of our lives. For the first time in 42 years Libyans are able to talk freely and express their feelings, are able to sing their national anthem and pay tribute to their flag they have been banned from for over 4 decades.

Now that 2012 is around the corner, what is next for Libya? We're done with the revolution and are now looking forward to working together to rebuilding Libya, the country for the first time we feel is ours. Freedom Fighters are returning their weapons and getting rid of their military uniform. Citizens of all ages are out hunting for jobs, doing whatever they can to make money to go out and shop for new outfits for the new year. Some of the graffiti on the wall is being painted over, It's not all about seeing the Libyan flag on every street anymore. And of course, everyones editing their playlists and cleaning up their iTunes, theres more to music than the revolutionary songs that we all memorized over the past 10 months or so.

It's the New Year, a new start for Libya. Life is getting back to normal, and will hopefully be better than normal in the near future. No more weapons and freedom fighters, just normal civilians with their phones, laptops, books, and work equipment!

If you'd like to ask us about life here now, tweet us using the hashtag #mywhys
Looking forward to reading your tweets!

Hi, I'm Yoshi Tomiyama and I am excited to be presenting World Have Your
Say from Tokyo, Japan.

I am a stand-up comedian here in Tokyo, and at the same time, a chairman of an NGO, supporting the lives of people affected by tsunami and earthqake. I used to play baseball quite often during a week as a hobby, but after the earthquake hit northeast of Japan, I was motivated to drive over to those devastated regions, bringing and distributing foods, water, and all those needed items for the people living in the devastated cities and towns.

Now, 9 months had been passed since the earthquake and big tsunami hit the northeast region of Japan, but basically nothing had been changed. People are living in cheap temporary houses constructed by the Japanese government, but they will be forced to leave those houses in a year and half because the Japanese law has set an expiration date for ending the housing support.

Nothing seems to be improving. The people living there are mostly the elderly, so they cannot drive cars for shopping nor for hospitals. Also, since cities and the towns are wiped out by Ttunami and earthquake, and because the lands are sunk, the reconstruction of the cites are not carried out: no governors nor bureaucrats know how to rebuild the cities, and they have no clue to bring any industries to raise the employment levels. People lost their families, houses, jobs and everything, and the situation stays the same at this moment, although 9 months had been passed since the disaster.

Also, we are facing in danger of nuclear radiation, but most of the Japanese seem to be ignorant about the danger of the nuclear radiation, because of the lack of the information, which is strictly controlled by the Japanese government. Especially, the people living in Fukushima are still exposed to danger living there, but there is no actions taken among the residents nor on the government sides.

About 500,000 people residing in the northeast region of Japan are severely affected by the big natural disaster, but the people living in urban areas like Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka are forgetting the tragedy, although they definitely had thought they would never forget such a tragedy......

You can post your questions for me and our Japanese guests here or at facebook.com/worldhaveyoursay and do call during the show, it will be 8pm in Tokyo. We also have a special hashtag for those of you who love to tweet #mywhys

Hi I'm Pakinam Amer and I'm very happy to be here today at World Have Your Say at 1100GMT broadcasting from Cairo, Egypt.

I am a journalist who's passionate about investigations, current affairs, travel and positive psychology and quite recently our very own Tahrir square, and where it has taken Egypt. Personally my love for this country has been renewed there during the 18 days of the first revolt, but since then, quite frankly it has been a roller coaster of emotions.

The joy at toppling a dictator that has been ruling by an iron fist for almost three decades has given way to hope, that soon became muddled by fear and doubt as political forces and even voices on the streets became divided, and as the military rulers who took over following former President Hosni Mubarak overstayed their welcome. Many of the ideals that the revolution have called for -- freedom and dignity -- have not been realized. And the utopia that Tahrir has brought was short-lived.

If anything, voices of dissent were stifled, more men and women were beaten up and even killed for demonstrating for legitimate demands in Tahrir square, female protesters were sexually assaulted, and some political groups, like the Islamists, have broken ranks with the revolutionaries and chose to play politics instead, wavering between positions sometimes, and abandoning Tahrir at others.

The future is as uncertain as ever. The layman, who can barely make ends meet in a country where over half the population is drenched in poverty, has become disenchanted with a revolution that has seemingly threatened security and dragged on far longer than anticipated. The revolutionaries want their basic human rights and want to keep protesting, while many Egyptians just want food on the table and things to go back to "normal."

The road ahead is full of possibility but also fear. What is happening to our revolution? Is it failing? Has Tahrir lost its power? Could it be salvaged? What do you think Egypt should do at this sensitive juncture? What actually can be achieved? You can post here or at facebook.com/worldhaveyoursay and do call during the show country code plus 44 20 70 83 72 72 and we have set up a special hashtag for this week #mywhys