UAE | Media
Website remark on 'Mother Teresa of Dubai' not objective, says official
Some foreign media have the habit of taking up trivial issues and blowing them up which raises the question of objectivity, said a senior official.
- By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:05 April 7, 2008
- Image Credit: Gulf News
- A website has described Sharla Musabah as 'Mother Teresa of Dubai'.
Dubai: Some foreign media have the habit of taking up trivial issues and blowing them up which raises the question of objectivity, said a senior official.
Ebrahim Al Abed, Director General of the National Media Council, was reacting to a foreign website which describes Sharla Musabah, owner of a villa called City of Hope, as "Mother Teresa of Dubai".
Al Abed told Gulf News nobody can put restrictions on foreign media as such but what has been published on the website is not objective. "If we pay too much attention to them we are falling into their trap and that means we are considering them important, which is not true," he said.
He said those who try to harm others in one way or the other is driven by jealousy. "We are trying to make our views clear, be objective and stick to the truth," Al Abed said.
He said the UAE is a famous and successful country, but some people try to raise trivial issues and blow them up to tarnish the name of UAE.
Al Abed said the UAE is a great story of success and everyone is proud of that success.
He said it is an open world and no one can control what is sometimes published in foreign media. "We are an open country if anyone has any comment about us we are ready to listen. However, some lack of objectivity," he said.
Al Abed said most international media publications are trying to be fair and rightful in airing news.
The Indian community members said they cannot accept the fact that Sharla is being described as 'Mother Teresa of Dubai'. Y.A. Rahim, President of the Sharjah Indian Association, said no one can be Mother Teresa and nobody can reach her noble status.
"The Indian community in the UAE and in the world denies this rubbish," he said. "If Sharla is claiming that she is doing social work, she cannot even reach one per cent of Mother Teresa. We are not accepting that at all."
Rahim said if the international media want to describe Sharla as a social worker, if she is really doing real social work, then they can, but she is no Mother Teresa.
"Mother Teresa was a great woman who dedicated her life to serve poor people and the community. No one can reach mother Teresa, she is a woman who cannot be compared to anyone," he said.
He said that some people like Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King are unique and cannot be compared to anyone.
Helmi No'man, an IT strategist, said the comments on the website are not objective and are biased.
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