Monday, July 03, 2006

They insult us...

Today I came across a really funny article in Gulf News (Page 10) - "They insult us in freedom's name" (by Ayesha Sultan, a UAE columnist). It was basically a report on how the English newspapers in the UAE "insult" UAE nationals by carrying provocative reports and letters in their pages against the nationals. Just a few quotes from the article:

"Recently, an English language newspaper published letters from their readers that carried comments against the policies of the Labour Minister Dr Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi with reference to his latest decisions concerning the emiratisation of human resources and personnel managers and secretaries in the private sector."

"The newspaper has encouraged its expatriate readers to dare the country's laws and citizens, implying that it is not the UAE's right to issue such rules."

No, it was simply implying that the expatriates (which make up more than 70% of the total population) should have at least a small say in the matter.

"Even worse, it carried letters that insulted UAE nationals and referred to them as the 4-wheel drive citizens ? !"

How terrible... they missed out the bit about the blacked-out BMWs, Mercedes' and Bentleys.

"In a letter, a reader said the UAE citizens cannot work in such positions or handle their jobs properly because they are lazy and cannot shoulder the responsibility and work around difficulties."

Right on! That is sooo true I would bet my Visa on it!

"This has gone too far and reached unbearable limits. Therefore, I believe a high-level official resolution must be issued to prevent the audacity of such newspapers."

That isn't already happening? It's called 'censoring' in English. Perhaps that should ring some bells.

"Foreign workers are treated with respect and nicely as long as they do not cause any harm to the country and its standard policies."

Yeah well, what can we do if EXISTING is causing harm to the country and its standard policies.

"Strangers should always be polite and this is the dominant golden rule followed everywhere in the world."

Oh, so now we're strangers? Who built your country while you were watching the World Cup over some Shisha?

The article can also be found here.

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