No money for social expenses
Too many people don’t even have toilets in their homes, let alone a means for internet (‘Facebook debate: Internet as a basic necessity’, Gulf News, October 4). The “dollar-a-day” standard of living is real. There are no health facilities and in most of the rural areas, people starve because of food shortages. The governments spend trillions on defence, but they are hesitant to increase education and health budgets. More over, peasants are living the worst life, which is evident from the global reports on Indian farmers committing suicide. Mark Zuckerberg is ignorant on these core issues.
From Mr Saad Yamaan
Mardan, Pakistan
Facebook comment
Surviving with knowledge
Facebook connects one to his family and loved ones. Besides, it’s an avenue to share knowledge, values and business. With knowledge alone, anyone who wishes to survive will survive.
From Mr Diego Amor Eleanor
UAE
Facebook comment
No place for Facebook
When it comes to basic necessities and the internet, we can never give equal value to the internet. A basic necessity is water. Facebook has nothing to do with it. We are just passing and wasting our time on it.
From Mr Waqas Romeo
UAE
Facebook comment
Takes more than internet
How about providing food, potable water, electricity and education? This makes a lot of difference to the world. There are more than a dozen countries in Africa alone where people don’t get a single meal in a day. Their children die due to malnutrition and acute poverty. They don’t get the medical attention they need. At least, we all can make a difference by donating our used clothes to them.
From Mr Mohammad Khan
UAE
Facebook comment
Education is key
In my opinion, the internet has become a necessity because, according to reality, the main problem is education. If everyone is educated, then all other problems will disappear.
From Mr Aamir Ishfaq
UAE
Facebook comment
Advance farming first
You need farming! Draught lands neither grow nor yield crops. Let us have a practical way to get rid of draught by using advanced water reservoir techniques. Without all these things, who cares about internet?
From Mr Shamir Ahmad
UAE
Facebook comment
We need the basics!
I wish in India that instead of spending millions on foreign meetings, no matter how important they are, that even if a fifth of that expenditure would be directed towards agriculture or providing just the basic amenities to its citizens, then India would be at the top. We don’t need rocket science. Any man can understand this equation. We need to wake up because we are being taken for a jolly good ride.
From Ms Sahaara Asif
UAE
Facebook comment
People need money
Invest that money in the people so that they will find a living. Availing internet all around is not going to change their poverty or need for bread.
From Mr Haseeb Saheer
UAE
Facebook comment
With what means?
If someone cannot afford food for himself, how will he buy a smartphone or get internet access?
From Mr Abu Saad
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Facebook comment
Makes life easier
Opening up internet access to everyone will bring up loads of ease to life, to everyday tasks, it will bring more awareness to lots of people, businesses, situations and plights. The competition will also help bring down prices and increase service levels for customers. The educational potential through the internet is very high.
From Ms Purvi Gokani Rupareliya
Abu Dhabi
Eating takes priority
Although the internet has become a necessity these days, it is not essential to survival. People who cannot afford to have two decent meals a day or do not have access to clean drinking water will not be bothered if they have internet or not. Their main concern is food, water and shelter. Internet has become a basic necessity in developed countries where people have all amenities, unlike in poor nations where each day is a struggle.
From Ms Fatima Suhail
Sharjah
A tool for manipulation
I couldn’t agree more. Zuckerberg saying that the internet is becoming a priority in the developing world is not right when the internet is a modern tool to manipulate a population. Our search history, likes, everything are compromised. They have all control over them and after a few decades when technology takes over, these so-called developed nations will be their very first victim.
From Mr Krishna Bhujel
Kathmandu, Nepal
Thinking about tenants
I am thinking about the tenants’ personal belongings that were all burnt in the fire in Nasser Tower, in Sharjah, last week (‘Tower blaze: 250 families evacuated’, Gulf News, October 2). They bought all those things using their hard earned money from their own blood, sweat and tears and now it’s all burnt to ashes. Thankfully no one has lost their life, since that is more important than material things.
From Ms Maitha Al Khalifa Abineheet
Dubai
Facebook comment
Take care of tenants
May God help the people who are suffering because of this fire. I hope that all the tenants will be shifted to some decent place until the damage is settled. Whatever the reason was for the fire, the first step is to take care of the people who lived there.
From Ms Ameera Agha
UAE
Facebook comment
Owner responsibility
The municipality should step in and either take over the 18-storey building that has no elevator or force the owner to do something (‘Residents of 18-storey building spend days without elevator’, Gulf News, October 1). Owning a building has responsibilities and is not a case of taking the rents and running! It’s a two-way street to provide services to tenants as well. They should lose the right to own a building if they do not accept that.
From Mr John Turnbull
UAE
Website comment
Study is logical
Well, of course children are more likely to die in Syrian government controlled areas because of the gas cylinder bombs fired by Daesh (‘High rate of civilian deaths in Syria fuelling refugee crisis — study’, Gulf News, October 1). The terrorist movement is more likely to bomb innocent Syrians than the government, so it sadly makes sense.
From Mr Qasim Akbar
UAE
Facebook comment
At last finding Nefertiti!
The possibility of finding the tomb of Nefertiti makes sense considering when we look at the majority of the things in Tutankhamun’s chamber, it seems like they were made for someone else - a woman (‘Are we going to finally see Nefertiti’s tomb?’, Gulf News, October 1). My theory is that the tomb was supposed to be for Nefertiti, but when Tutankhamun died earlier than expected without the time for his own tomb, they just put him in. When Nefertiti died, they didn’t want to build a second one, they put her in the same tomb while making sure that no one knew about the double occupancy. Such a mystery! I hope we uncover it soon!
From Ms Haiti Uchina
UAE
Facebook comment
A noble initiative
I appreciate the Indian consul general and the Swatantara volunteer group’s initiative for launching a smartphone SOS app to help workers fight substance addictions (‘Indian mission launches SOS app for workers’, Gulf News, October 2). These are the evils of life. In distress and homesick, they start these bad habits and become addicted to them. To come out of that state, they need some assistance and these noble initiatives are indeed going to help them a lot.
From Mr Yash Khator
Dubai
Fighting gun culture
The shooting incident that took place in Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, US and killed 10 injured was a sad read (‘10 killed in US school massacre’, Gulf News, October 3). The cause of this incident is not understood, however this shooting is condemned. Shootings are a common feature in the US and US President Barack Obama’s administration is fighting against the gun culture. The US government should act immediately so that in future these type of incidents can be avoided. I pray for the victims.
From Mr K. Ragavan
Bengaluru, India
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