Clean, spacious and truly tourist-friendly, Oslo is the place to be for the tension-weary
MENTAL peace, low crime rate, no environmental and noise pollution and well managed traffic discipline are enough to fascinate a Pakistani who lands in Oslo especially from the cosmopolitan city like Karachi.
The immaculate view of the city, mainly surrounded by islands and forested hills, is evident from a 40 minute drive to the main city from Oslo Airport.
Walking on the streets, parks, beaches or through the forest, one feels quite safe and doesn’t hesitate to wander around, even after the dark. Perhaps the calm and quietness of Oslo is due to the city’s fairly small population; 525,000 people out of total Norway’s population of 4.5 million live here. As a result of this, everything is well managed and disciplined. In fact, another reason for this serenity seems to the statistic that 99 per cent of the couples in the country, have only two children.
Oslo is considered as a safe haven for trade, industry and cultural enrichment and it the nation’s financial, political and cultural centre. Hinged on a thousand-year-old history, Oslo is a fantastic city of sightseeing because of its varied natural and cultural landscape, interesting buildings and great parks. Surrounded by fjords and forests, you can see them either by foot, car, bus or a boat. The main areas of tourist interests in the city are the Oslo fjord, the forest and Holmenkollen Ski Arena; the city centre with its charming streets and buildings, interesting museums in Bygdoy and Toyen and the bustle of Grunerlokka. The amazing over-200 sculptures of bronze, granite and cast iron in the Vigeland Park is one of the main attractions of Oslo which attracts more than a million visitors every year.
With arguably the highest living standard — Oslo is also considered as a shoppers’ paradise because of a great selection of clothes and garments of designers that can compete with the trends of Milan, London and Copenhagen. But despite 50 to 70 per cent off sales at various stores, the Rs10 to one Norwegian Kroner makes you think twice before you even think of going for something good. And then, there’s also the fact that Oslo is one of the world’s costliest cities.
Around 30,000 Pakistanis make up for the expat community in Norway. Most of them hail from Gujrat, Khanewal, Lala Musa, Karachi and Jhelum. There is also a mini-Karachi in Oslo!
“Pakistanis take utmost care of each other. Majority of them are hard working,” a Pakistani journalist, working in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, Atta M. Ansari says.
He says that Norwegian economy is a prosperous bastion of welfare capitalism, featuring a combination of free market activity. Norway is one of the few countries where graduation and post-graduation including PhD and Research education is free. Various universities offer scholarship, he adds.
Shifted to Oslo in 1976, Atta says journalism is considered a very tough job in Norway after medical studies. Being a welfare state, education and medical is free. No tuition fee is charged from local and foreign students, he says.
“People wear branded clothes as their standard of living is very high,” he says adding the Norway imports a lot of things from various countries.
Oslo is also called the city of tunnels where the majority of European-made cars, especially German, ply on the roads namely BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Volkswagon. A sizable number of people reach their destination through a sophisticated network of Tram service for which people hardly have to wait for more than five minutes. Even at nights, when the offices are closed and passenger movements shrink, the waiting period for trams remains at five minutes, a number of them plying empty.
Norwegians are art lovers and skating crazy. They decorate their homes with paintings and sculptures.
Atta says that the government controls key areas, such as the vital petroleum sector. The country is richly endowed with natural resources - petroleum, hydropower, fish, shipping, wooden works, forests and jungles.
Norwegians are crazy about fish such as salmon, cod, herring and shrimp. High profile restaurants also often serve mutton, chicken, moose and reindeer. No matter what is the taste and price, Oslo offers food from all over the world. A member of the City Council, Liberal Party, Oslo, Tariq Mehmood Shah also runs a restaurant in the city’s centre by the name Mehfel that offers Pakistani food.
One of the most amazing highlights of the five-day visit was the thin security arrangements in the surroundings of the Royal Palace where just one guard stands alert with a big rifle. The Palace Park is always open. The guard does not hesitate in becoming a part of the photograph if a visitor offers for a snap. This shows that the city is free from any lawlessness and anti-state activities. Think of the security measures and extra security measures inside and outside the Prime Minister Secretariat and President Houses here in Pakistan.
Currently, the trade between Pakistan and Norway is very thin but there are ample chances to foster it by entering into more joint ventures. Pakistan exports textile yarn, surgical instruments, sports goods, leather goods and articles of apparels and cloth accessories while Pakistan imports tents, pharmaceutical products, telecom equipments, paper and paper board, pulp and waste paper, inorganic chemicals, iron and steel and machineries.
Clean, spacious and truly tourist-friendly, Oslo is the place to be for the tension-weary 
