Viral: Young Jordanian Gets a BA in Accountancy While Dusting The Streets

Published June 11th, 2022 - 07:49 GMT
Mohammad Al Asmar
Before and after: Mohammad Al Asmar (twitter)

ALBAWABA - Trending is a local story from Jordan about the waste-collector - unfortunately and still commonly in the West as the garbageman, dustman and binman. In Jordan they are loosely termed as "a nation's worker' as a politically-correct word to use. 

Everyone is talking about Mohammad Al Asmar, a young man who has managed to break the "culture of shame" in Jordan and get a first class degree in accountancy from one of the Kingdom's universities in the historical city of Jarash. 

Al-Asmar has been working to earn his keep as "a nation's worker" and he is proud of it as evidenced from the hashtags and pictures about him in the green 'rubbish-collecting' uniform and him in his graduation suit, ties and clock.

He is not making any secret of the fact that this is the work he has been doing while study for his university degree in accountancy which is quite tough. 

The leading Lebanese daily Annahar wrote a full profile on Al Asmar, the appreciation of the degree he has and the admiration of different bloggers for his tenacity and determination to continue to work and study in two directions that are the exact opposite: Menial and professional, but this is work! 

It shows however also Jordanian society is re-examining its work ethic. Whereas before the "shame culture" may have  dominated such menial work, Al Asmar proves this is today changing and there is nothing better than good hard work of whatever kind it is.