Lives affected
The report on the youngest couple [in Syria] is really strange and odd in today’s modern and educated society (“Five-year-old Khalid pops the question to Hala, three”, Gulf News, October 21). Though there was a time in India almost 30 to 40 years ago when child marriages used to take place with the consent of both families. But, this was then stopped by the government. I am sure as this youngest couple grows up, their actions are likely going to affect their lifestyles as they will never be able to experience life living as singles or teenagers.
From Ms Gurpreet Singh
Dubai
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Big responsibility
I think it is a form of abuse, letting these children get engaged at such a young age! This is not a game and it has consequences that will ring out even in these children’s teenage years. If the parents do not want their children to have relationships, they could instill those values in their children and trust them enough to know how to behave. How can they possibly think the responsibility of such a decision can rest easy on those tiny shoulders?
From Ms Salma Ali
Sharjah
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Pay attention
Childhood days are those of frolic and fun. Parents should focus their attention on developing innate abilities in their children and not infuse these thoughts [of marriage] in their minds.
From Ms Claude Fernandes
Abu Dhabi
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Fun and games
Which child hasn’t played ‘house’? It is just fun and game to them. They don’t know right from wrong yet. You give a child a companion to play with — they will obviously be happy. If you take them away they will want them to come back and play some more. The parents should know better.
From Mr Saeed Mohammad Wazed
Dubai
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Innocence destroyed
Children are cute and I hope that God protects them. But, this is ridiculous, unrealistic and unhealthy. What does a five-year-old and a three-year-old know about anything in life, let alone marriage? I need not say more.
From Mr Swed
Abu Dhabi
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Protecting animals
I was shocked to read a recent community report on animal cruelty (“Who can be cruel to these helpless animals”, Gulf News, October 21). The puppies were left abandoned on their property by their owners for months, which left them crippled! It is only logical that if one cannot take care for anybody or anything, or does not have interest in taking proper care of animals, then he or she should not take one home. Those people must be more emotionally deprived than those puppies. Otherwise I can’t understand how they could have done such a thing! There are many cases of animal abuse in the world, but authorities are trying to help protect animals — which can’t of course protect themselves. Perpetrators are punished. Such a law should be implemented in the Gulf countries, too.
From Ms Maria Kanukova
UAE
Give them attention
I refer to the news of Indian football team’s visit to train in Dubai (“India team to train in Dubai for a month”, Gulf News, October 20). It is an opportunity to promote the game by regional associations and interested corporate bodies, who could think outside cricket as the only commercially viable marketing option. This visit should therefore be utilised to give necessary support and encouragement to the Indian football team during the time they are in the UAE. This will be inspiring for them, for the game and for all non-cricket playing athletes. Let us hope that it will gain bigger momentum in India and benefit all track and field sports personnel who deserve more attention and pampering.
From Mr Ramesh Menon
Abu Dhabi
Unnecessary comments
He [news analyst Juan Williams] has received what he really deserved for such a statement (“US radio fires analyst after remark about Muslims”, Gulf News, October 22). These kind of words are shameful coming from a journalist. He is promoting a wrong picture of Islam and nobody has the right to say such a thing [the fact that he gets nervous when he sees people in Muslim attire on an aeroplane] against any religion.
From Mr Shah Alam
Abu Dhabi
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More research
How pathetic. I don’t expect a man [Juan Williams] who is educated to actually generalise things like this. He needs to do more research on this matter before he makes silly and racist comments.
From Ms Mariam
Dubai
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Schools lack fervour
High schools are not prepared to start deploying more effective programmes. The increasing fees are not balanced with better quality studies — even though there is potential. There is a gap between theoretical studies and practical ones. University students are [expected to] prepare fundamental research papers. However, when they were high school students they had never taken such a mission into account. No one [in school] will consider plagiarism as a serious matter and enforce laws [against it]. However, plagiarism at university is considered a very serious issue and that is what makes [universities in] UAE of higher academic standard in the region when compared to other countries.
From Mr Mahmoud
Dubai
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Entrance exams
I think [schools] should grade students with what they truly deserve to help them assess their capabilities. I noticed that there is no entrance exam for some universities. [Students] can go to any private university and submit their IELTS [International English Language Testing System] or Toefl [Test of English as a Foreign Language] results, which are sometimes not reliable. I think to improve this, universities should set an entrance exam that would inform them of who is really ready to join university.
From a reader
Abu Dhabi
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