Hosts and Guests

Hosts and Guests

The role of a host and its guests is one of the basic things we learn in our up bringing, maybe some more than others. The role of a host is to welcome its guests with open arms, make them feel comfortable and relaxed. The guest’s job is to be a perfect guest by following the host’s rules and helping out whenever they can. Although this is common sense and almost everyone around the world know it, they neglect to apply it in their daily life. I am not talking about visiting your friends’ house or neighbors. Looking at it in a broader perspective, when someone visits a different country the same rules apply, you are a guest and the country is a host.

It saddens me to see some foreigners here in the UAE neglecting to apply what they learned growing up when they would gladly apply those rules visiting a friend or a neighbors house

The UAE has been and will be a great host, since the becoming of the United Arab Emirates the open door policy was very clear, everyone is welcome in this land whether its for a long term stay or a short vacation. The United Arab Emirates through its people are big in hospitality, it is part of our culture to be nice to guests to welcome them with open arms and hearts and make their stay as comfortable as possible. This openness and generosity unfortunately was not always understood that it comes with the guest’s ability or willingness to respect the laws, regulation and the people of this country.

The UAE is very tolerant when it comes to different cultures and religions. But in return we need to feel that this tolerance is appreciated. The lack of respect from certain foreigners towards the culture and religion of the UAE seems to be expanding. They break the law knowingly and expect to get away with it. When they are caught and brought to court, they start playing the victim role and complaining about injustice.

Lets take the infamous British couple that were caught by the beach for indecency. They were breaking the law - back in Britain what they did was against the law – yet the policemen were nice enough to let them go with a warning assuming they weren’t aware of their act. They then out of arrogance kept on breaking the law and therefore were arrested following international standards in police work.  The next few weeks the whole of Britain’s newspapers, magazines and tabloids had only one story. How they were victims of a strict unforgiving country. How is this fair?

Another example of being a bad guest and disrespecting culture and religion is the constant complain of the call for prayers. Claiming that it is loud and disruptive. The call for prayers is one of the things that wont change. In some parts of Europe the church bells are audible during weekends early morning yet no one complained about them.

Another thing that bothers me sometimes is the constant reference to how life is better back home. The water is better, the food is better, the weather is better, the traffic is better, the laws are better and so it goes. I understand the fact that they are probably home sick, and it is hard to be away from your home for a long time. However, out of respect to the host you don’t complain about everything they do, if there is something really wrong then you can point it out politely without being rude.

A host cannot be a gracious host if the guest is obnoxious, a host cannot be welcoming if the guest is disrespectful in order for everyone to be happy both parties should follow the etiquette of being a host and a guest. For it always takes two to tango.

Empowering women in the UAE

Empowering women in the UAE

Nashwa Hamad (At Home) / 29 July 2013

The UAE has an excellent record in empowering its female citizens

When I hear the phrase, “Empowering women in the UAE”, I cringe. I’m against using this sentence whenever anyone is talking about empowering women in the UAE. I do believe, however, that empowering women in some parts of the world is a must. Before you go ahead and come up with a conclusion as to why am I a double standard person let me explain.
The definition of empowering is to invest with power, especially legal power or official authority. It also means to equip or supply with ability. The main points of women empowerment are gender equality, equal opportunities, nondiscrimination, health, safety, freedom from violence and education.
I get the call for women empowerment where women are unlucky and do not have any opportunity for a fair life. However, here in the UAE it is totally different. When the United Arab Emirates was first established, women were in need for empowerment. The UAE leaders were successful in all aspects when it comes to women. They introduced education to women and made it obligatory. They paid attention to women’s health, and last but not the least encouraged women to get into the workforce and work hand in hand with men for the better of 
our nation.
The success rate of their women empowerment effort is very obvious that it would be almost impossible to lay them all in one article, but to sum up those achievements lets start with education. There is no need to talk about the first 12 years of education since I’ve already established that it is mandatory. In 2011, 70 per cent of federal higher education institutes in the UAE consisted of women. This further proves the stress on the importance of education to female citizens.
The importance and benefits of women joining the workforce is clear and doesn’t require any explanation. In some parts of the world, gender in-equality and ceiling exists. This, however, is not evident in the UAE. Males and females have the exact and same opportunities and pays. The only part of the whole work law that isn’t equal is maternity leave and this is in favour of women.
Women play an important role in the bringing up of the new generations and the future builders of the country. Therefore, being healthy has and always will be important. Health care, including pre and post natal is part of the deal, flexible working hours after birth is also one of the most important advantages women here get. Not only will this give her more time to make sure her kids are healthy but also give her more time to raise them up in a proper way — making them better citizens. I believe that we have passed that era when the call for women empowerment was required, and its time to reap the benefits of what our nation has given us.
The writer is an Emirati

OUR CANVAS OUR PAINTING

OUR CANVAS OUR PAINTING

A beautiful painting is hanging on the wall. A group of art students stop by it, admiring the creativity and brilliance of the artist.  A couple walk by, the wife explains to her husband how a painting could lift up the mood of their living room urging him to buy it. The gallery owner stands by the front door with the artist inviting people in with a smile and refreshments. All is good until…
A tall man wearing a smart suite, sleek hair and well groomed. The glasses resting on his nose emits the essence of an educated person. He walks in ignores the smile and grabs a glass of lemonade, takes a sip disgusted by the way it tasted he banged it on the waiters tray. The tall man walks in, stops in front of the painting hanging on the wall. He looks at it in disgust and says the strokes are reckless, the colors are incoherent. the man  leaves the gallery. Next day news headline reads “Critic finds mistake in famous painting”. The focus of the town then shifted from admiring the painting to looking closely and with major effort for any mistakes to be in the front page of the towns’ media coverage.
This story made me think of the UAE, the constant negative coverage by a group of people, they complain about everything, but neglect to see the big picture, they neglect to see the beautiful picture.
The basic needs of any human being are Shelter, food, health and security. The UAE has provided this to everyone by different housing programs, free basic foods, and free medical benefits.
Education is also important and the leaders of the UAE have recognized the need for free education from primary level all the way to university, this has never been seen in any other place around the globe.
Security is another main need for any human being, security for yourself and your family. Fortunately for us in the UAE, this has been a priority to our leaders and only through security can a nation state flourish.
Co-existence and tolerance is a word we hear a lot around us, we listen to people talk about being tolerant and accepting others. Take a walk anywhere in the UAE and this is exactly what you will see.  People from over 200 countries are all here living, working and “co-existing”.  Different people, means different culture and different religion. Although the UAE is a Muslim Nation State it has never denied the foreigners from engaging in any cultural event that they have participated in, neither denied them the right to choose and practice their own belief as long as there is no harm in their practice.

The above mentioned are just some of the points that we should think about, the list goes longer but stopping and thinking of the basics is the best way to fully understand the bliss that we are in. The UAE is our canvas, the leaders and we the people have been painting it since 1971, it is a work in progress and will still be, only through collective efforts we will be able to eliminate haters and enjoy the beauty that lays within this special ongoing art project.

To Interfere in weeping Syria or not?

I am from the UAE and I strongly believe that internal affairs and domestic problems in any Nation-State should be resolved domestically with respect to the UN Charter independence declaration with no interference from other Nation-States. However Lately on the news we have been hearing a lot of the killings in Syria. Who is the hero and who is the evil nemesis is a point that can be up for debate but we can all agree on the fact that killing innocent civilian is WRONG and ethically violates every sense of humanity. The souls and life of civilian is so cheap that killing off thousands without differentiation to whether they are involved in the pity combat to power is wildly spread. The lately Houla Massacre just proves the point where the Assad regime Killed more than 90 people, including 32 children. I can’t seem to get a believable excuse to why were the 32 children killed, it’s far likely that any of them were attacking the Alawites in power, kids don’t really care about power, money and religion, all they care about is love, food and playtime.

A chorus of international NGO’S as well as international organizations and Nation-States have all condemned the attacks and killing of civilians and children, however condemning alone will never solve this civil war in Syria. The whole complication is hard to comprehend for we foreigners to the State of Syria do not understand their deeply rooted heritage, belief systems and culture. Therefore taking sides is not doing them justice as the whole fight is a result of political power struggle. As brothers in humanity however something needs to be done to stop these killings without interfering in the internal affairs of the Syrian politics.

 That being said is it possible to really stop the killing in Syria using international force without interfering in Syria’s internal affair?? For from previous experiences this has never happened and any international interference has always brought in more complications to whether who benefits their Nation-State leaving the best interest of the Land and its inhabitant as the least important point when making decisions on an international level.