July 9, 2007

Don't penalise
This is with respect to British chef Gordon Ramsay's comment that parents should be penalised ("Penalise parents of obese children" Gulf News, July 5).

This comment is partly right and partly unacceptable. He was right that some parents are indulging their children's wishes irrespective of its impact.

It is their responsibility to educate their children of the effects of unhealthy eating and lack of exercise.

Taking privileges from children as a punishment, if they don't listen is the right step.

However, if the obesity is hereditary or related to disease, it is unjustifiable making the parent's life more miserable.
From Ms Shemi Kanayamkandi
Dubai

Obesity problems
The obesity problem is spiralling out of control ("Penalise parents of obese children" Gulf News, July 5).

This is a problem that will only be reversed if people get back into habits of fixed meal-times, family eating together and everyone seeing food preparation as an essential part of daily life.

Making parents responsible for the health of their children is required.

Easy availability of tasty, inexpensive junk food has gripped the imagination of the people with generations growing up not knowing what nutrition and good health means.
From Mr V. Mittal
Muqabah, Bahrain
Full name withheld by request

Air Arabia
I purchased my Air Arabia ticket from Abu Dhabi, travelling from Sharjah to Chennai, India.

After purchasing the necessary bus fare, I travelled in their bus to Sharjah airport, which is a very good service.

However, upon arrival the driver just opens the luggage van and vanishes.

The passengers started offloading the luggage. Why can't Air Arabia arrange some ground staff at the airport to off-load the luggage for the comfort of the passengers?
From Mr T. K. Sekar
Abu Dhabi
Full name withheld by request

Air Arabia replies: Air Arabia is committed to providing its customers with the best service possible. We are grateful to have been informed of this passenger's concern.

We would like to point out that Sharjah International Airport employs baggage handlers, who are on hand to move passengers' luggage into the airport.

Air Arabia aims to maintain the highest standards in convenience and comfort. The coach service between Abu Dhabi and Sharjah is a reflection of that commitment.

Where do I go?
I would like to get some information about attestation of tenancy contracts for people staying in Sharjah.

This is with respect to the new law No. 2 of 2007 - regulating the relations between landlords and tenants in the emirate - issued recently by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah.

Where does a person have to go to attest it?
From Ms Sapna
Sharjah
Full name withheld by request

Editor's note: The tenancy contracts, if they are commercial or residential, must be attested and authorised by the Sharjah Municipality.

The concerned person should visit the Tenancy Section at the Sharjah Municipality headquarters in order to register their contract.

Harsher penalties
I believe that rapists should face the death penalty ("Three men face trial for gang-raping runaway girl" Gulf News, July 4). They should be shown no mercy.

As for raping a woman, it is a very serious, traumatic and unforgivable crime. The focus should be on punishing such people.
From Mr Mohammad Hamza
Dubai

Picture was needed
Although I almost fainted after seeing the picture of the dog that was hanged, I am thankful to Gulf News for publishing it ("Death by hanging for a dog in Satwa" Gulf News, July 2).

If they had not done this, the public would be unaware of uncivilised treatment of animals. There are a lot of animal lovers all over the world.

The authorities should enforce stricter and harsher punishment to those who commit such crimes.
From Ms Dorothy Severino
Dubai

Issue the law
Laws must be set sooner rather than later, to punish people who inflict such pain on animals ("Law preventing cruelty to animals likely soon", Gulf News, July 4).

Animals feel pain just as we do. Physiological studies have shown that people who take pleasure in harming animals are more likely to do so to humans as well.

So don't waste time, act quickly.
From Ms Nadine
Dubai
Full name withheld by request

Man is cruel
We have come across many kinds of violence and abuse ("Hanged dog's body left for 12 hours" Gulf News, July 3).

But this is the first time I have seen such extreme animal cruelty. This incident signifies that no animal can be as cruel as man.

Whoever killed this animal could have gotten rid of the body.

To have gone beyond that, and do what they did with the body is unimaginable and indicates how ill people could be.

These people need immediate mental treatment.
From Ms Jishitha Kader
Dubai

What about humans?
While so much concern is being shown towards animal cruelty, do we even think about what goes on in Iraq/Afghanistan/Palestine?

Humans are being subject to torture and death on a daily basis. We hardly express any emotions in the daily news that states hundreds of children, women and men being either killed or maimed.

This is an example of how hypocritical humans can be towards expression of kindness and empathy.

You can take time to express condemnation for a dog and not even bother about the human suffering.
From A Reader
Ontario, Canada
Name withheld by request

Taxi expenses, too!
I am residing in Al Nahda, Sharjah. We recently wanted to travel from our home to Dubai. We waited for two hours for a taxi but they all refused to go to Dubai.

We had to take a private taxi to travel to Dubai. The private taxi driver asked for Dh45 and we had no other choice but to pay him double the amount as compared to other taxis.

We are already feeling the burden of escalating expenses - now this travel expense, too. Is there anybody listening to our plea for help?
From Mr Muzzammil Aijaz
Sharjah

In the shadows
There is a stretch of large trees on the road between Rydges Plaza and Ramada Hotel.

In the evening, you can see people walking onto the road suddenly, from the dense shadows under the tree.

This catches the driver totally off guard and can easily lead to fatal accidents. I hope the authorities will light up this area.
From Ms Indu Lakhani
Dubai

Now see the results of your poll about Orkut. Do you still believe that, you have done the right thing?

I agree that some of the communities on Orkut have immoral content. You should have advised the authorities to ban such communities instead of banning the Orkut site.

Etisalat has done this type of banning against yahoo groups. If you are taking the poll result in spirit, please try to convince the authorities to do the same for Orkut.
From Mr Anil
Abu Dhabi
Full name withheld by request

The decision to block Orkut is indeed disturbing. It is justified on the grounds of being an offensive community.

By the same standards, all social networking sites (like yahoo, YouTube, etc) should be banned.

And while we are at it, let's ban yahoo messenger too, because the kind of chat that goes on in various chat rooms is definitely not in line with the values of our society.

But the moot question is, will this really protect values? Or will better education? The answer is obvious.
From Mr Diptendu
Dubai

I agree with most of the readers here. Orkut is a great way to get in touch with old friends and banning the site is no solution to the problem.

There are millions of sites on the Internet full of obscene matter.

Is there a way to have a control and block all of those? It makes a lot more sense to use the filtering option rather the blocking a great networking site.
From A Reader
Dubai
Name withheld by request

I thank the Gulf News for highlighting the community's concerns and the prompt action of Etisalat and TRA for banning Orkut.

It contains explicit material that can corrupt the minds of the youth and students. It was a serious issue and such websites can damage the ethics of society.
From A Reader
Abu Dhabi
Name withheld by request

I think it was a great decision to ban Orkut in the UAE. Many people for cheap, vulgar thrills and as and outlet for expressing their sexual desires and dreams were using it.
From Dr Suresh Menon
Sharjah

Genius. Let's blame online content (or any content for that matter) for bad values and let's disregard proper parenting and family values as the true sources for raising our children.
From A Reader
Texas
Name withheld by request

Banning Orkut is just not the solution. I am a frequent user of Orkut and I think those pages that contain immoral activities should be banned.

For people who do such activities, it isn't difficult to find another site. Another solution would be to screen the picture when they are uploaded. That way the site could be monitored. T

he emails also contain inappropriate stuff and they are still delivered. Nothing is being done about that.

I would like to suggest that Etisalat revises their decision of banning Orkut.
From A Reader
Abu Dhabi
Name withheld by request

I am a distressed mother who has been totally disgusted after going through this particular site that was accessible to my teenager.

Why does UAE allow such sites to be open in the country? If people want freedom of expression, they should take into account the social and moral values of this country.

Google says that those who don't want to see such obscene pictures should avoid accessing those particular areas.

But, how many of our youngsters have this self-control? It is the moral duty of each adult in this country to protest loudly so that the authorities will block all such sites completely.

Want to trace old friends? Not at the expense of our teenagers, please!
From A Reader
Abu Dhabi
Name withheld by request

Orkut is a really informative social networking website. Through Orkut we can stay in touch with our colleagues and relatives.

I am sure everyone knows there are tons of websites out there specifically promoting so-called “evil'' in our society that are yet to be banned.

Then again it's a website, and the web is really hard to control since new sites are blooming every minute.
From Mr Khurram Nawaz
Dubai

I would like to suggest that banning Orkut is not the solution. If someone has created an obscene community, thousands of people shouldn't be punished for their mistake.

As it has been done with Youtube.com, it is possible to filter certain words and block them.

The UAE is a technologically advanced nation and it shouldn't be a big deal for them to filter/disable certain content.

I request TRA to refine/filter the inappropriate content and restart the website. I am sure thousands of people like me have found their lot friends through this wonderful site.

I am confident they will restart Orkut again, and I am looking forward to it.
From Mr Avinash Singh Rajpurohit
UAE

I am an Orkut user and through Orkut I got a chance to meet long lost friends and it helped me keep in touch with them.

There are a lot of good communities on Orkut, but everything can't be a blessing. Blocking Orkut is not going to make any difference.

People who use such sites for rubbish will always find some place for it, and if it is not this then it will be somewhere else. On Orkut there is an option to 'report abuse'.

I use it, and I think that anyone who thinks there is something really bad in a community or profile then he/she should use this feature.

Small actions can make a big difference.
From Ms Chaya Liza Jacob
Dubai

The ban on my favourite site Orkut came as a big disappointment as it was a connection to my college life.

I was in touch with friends that I had lost contact with for more than a decade.

Of course there are some filthy minds that used Orkut as a forum to indulge in their porn passion, and we pay a hefty price because of them.

Is there not a way that etisalat can just block up these indecent profiles and ban their group/sites instead of blocking the entire website?

Of course, it involves a lot of hard work for etisalat but at least the vast majority of people who use Orkut for genuine social networking do not suffer for the behaviour of a very small minority.
From Mr Sheeja Velayudhan-Ashok
Dubai