A hub for tolerance and peace
First I read of land being provided to build another large church in the UAE (“UAE to rebuild Iraqi churches destroyed by Daesh”, Gulf News, October 11). Not only a church but a temple and a mosque in the same complex. Gulf News carried an article titled: “UAE to rebuild churches destroyed by Daesh”. I applaud the Rulers of this land for walking the talk. This truly is tolerance of the highest order. All religions are safe in the UAE.
The UAE is a country where all nationalities and people of all religions are safe and live happily as one global family. This is one reason why so many expats call the UAE their home.
From Mr Michael Guzder
Dubai
Gulf News and impact
For the last 20 years, I have been a daily reader and subscriber with Gulf News (“41 years of creating benchmarks in media and innovation”, Gulf News, September 29). The newspaper has helped me in different ways in my personal life and professional life.
When my career was at a crossroads, one article in the Friday Magazine written by Daniel Aug changed my career path.
In the career section, Aug explained how important it was to prepare an effective resume. I followed his instructions and ended up with a good job. In return, I sent a thank you note to the writer and soon enough, my letter was published in the Friday magazine.
After that, I helped a lot of candidates to prepare their CVs and find better jobs.
In the community report, the newspaper has published some of my articles and appreciated my effort.
Both my children are avid readers and they get this habit by reading Gulf News early morning.
My elder son has also contributed some articles to the community report section of the paper. I am interested in the illustrations published by Gulf News. I have a collection of good articles and caricatures published in the daily. Articles on personal development are very helpful and I used to circulate them to my colleagues and friends.
Gulf News covers almost all the areas of life and keeps improving its content. I wish Gulf News all the very best on their 41st anniversary year.
From Mr Laxman. K
UAE
A dedicated subscriber
While in Dubai, I read about your Gulf News’ 41 Anniversary celebrations, and I would like to congratulate you and the whole team of Gulf News on this achievement.
It is heartening to know and inform you that the undersigned was one of the first correspondents of Gulf News when it was launched fully with a representative office way back in 1989. Still remember the person who gave me my first break as a journalist.
It was a beautiful and enriching experience to pursue my hobby and passion since my school days. It was very rewarding in terms of foray into writing and gave me delight when I was actually paid for my contribution every month. Something I did not expect. My joy from being published came from appearing in the newspaper, and I valued that more than the money.
I had to balance between my own family business and the passion to submit news at the same time.
Thanks to this two-year stint, I never gave up on journalism despite this not being my full time job. It helped me to make many contacts and friends and I went on to contribute to other leading publications. This newspaper also gave me the confidence to start a quarterly in-house club newsletter for the community in Bahrain and gave me a unique identity within our small community.
Thank you Gulf News once again.
From Mr Anil D. Asar
Manama, Bahrain
UAE realises another dream
UAE never fails to surprise. It is one of the top most nations where exciting things consistently happen (“UAE’s Hope Probe ready for vacuum testing”, Gulf News, October 20). Before one comes to terms with something new, another new thing is announced. While residents of UAE are still grappling with the ground-breaking event of Hazza Al Mansoori’s visit to space, they get to hear another equally significant news, that of world’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) university opening in Abu Dhabi.
AI is progressing by leaps and bounds. There’s no way it can be ignored. It is time to accept the reality or perish. From Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface (Siri) to driverless cars, AI’s presence is everywhere. Understanding the need of AI for future growth and development, UAE has taken another giant leap. The AI University in Abu Dhabi will cater to the needs and demands of those students who wish to educate themselves in specialised fields like machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing. While the world is still dreaming, UAE has realised another dream.
From Mr Nasir Zaidi
Dubai
My Diwali edition
My culinary skills begin with pressure cooking lentils to spooning out rice and ends with chopping a few vegetables (“In pictures: Diwali festival around the world”, Gulf News, October 27). Even the pixie fairy won’t be able to help me with my gastronomic abilities. So, deep cleaning of the kitchen is not needed and cooking is simply out of the question. My Diwali day starts by compelling my children to say a one-line prayer and giving sweet boxes to neighbours. The evening is spent decking out in traditional clothes that are comfortable, lighting ‘diyas’ or candles, and binge eating sweets with friends and family. Not to mention, taking selfies, brings to an end the festival of lights celebration. My Diwali version is indeed an effortless affair.
From Ms Chaya Mathew
Dubai
Diwali in Dubai
Diwali is my favourite time of the year. Spending time with friends and family adds to the festive mood. I enjoy eating the different Indian sweets and try my best not to feel too guilty about the calories. It is nice to see people in Dubai decorate their houses, share sweets and dress in their traditional clothes. Visiting areas like Bur Dubai really is a treat as thousands of houses have lights outside. There is a lot of activity taking place during the three-day celebration. It does make you nostalgic to think of one’s home country, and being away from grandparents and close relatives, but Dubai manages to fill that gap. Diwali celebrates the victory of good over evil. I hope everyone had a blessed Diwali.
From Ms S. Sachdev
Dubai
A complaint for many
This is with reference to reader complaints published in Gulf News, I had a similar issue (“UAE: Why can’t the bank release his end of service benefits?”, Gulf News, September 23). However, after a long conversation with the call centre, they have refunded the amount. But I still worry about such service activation without user consent. As per service provider, these services have been activated by a third party. As a user we don’t understand the terminology stated and the third party involved in this issue. Imagine, how many unskilled users have lost their credit, those who don’t know how to contact the service provider or call centre. It is really a unfair practice.
From Mr Mohammad Sadique
UAE
Cinemas bring ‘distraction-free’ screenings
How wonderful is the new ‘distraction free’ screenings that have been initiated in cinemas in the UAE? It is sad how cinemas in malls in Dubai have very crowded theatres. The screening looks more like a zoo, than a civilised cinema premise. Most of the audience will be having their legs up on their front seats, which I find so rude and disgusting. Even if the cinema ushers inform people to politely put their legs down, they will do it reluctantly, for a short time and then go back to their old habit when no one is looking! People talk loudly, comment loudly, and talk on the phones or text, scold unruly children, crying babies and what not. Anyone seriously thinking of enjoying a cinema experience will be having a miserable time. It is about time signs are put outside cinemas that inform people that the cinema is not a zoo or fish market, so people must behave accordingly!
From Mr M. Abbas
UAE
India’s telecom talks
In India, Reliance Jio’s departure from their earlier promise of unlimited calls and data should be treated as a warning sign to Indian telecom customers. The so called IUC (Interconnect Usage Charge) is not a new phenomenon as claimed by Jio. Under the temptation of cheaper data connectivity and unlimited calls, in what we called disruptive growth, the Jio made a substantial customer base in India, which resulted in the survival of rival operators difficult. Imagine a situation in the future where there is only one operator called Jio and they charge customers arbitrarily? The current situation is more likely leading us to that direction. Beware, what we are getting free today will be charged exorbitantly high tomorrow.
From Mr Girish R Edathitta
Dubai
Factually incorrect?
US President Donald Trump is known for his tongue-in-cheek comments (“Jessica Meir and Christa Koch make history with all-women spacewalk”, Gulf News, October 20). He doesn’t think about how worthy his words are. His admiration of two female astronauts who for the first time walked jointly out of International Space Station (ISS) in space became a piece of laughter. On hearing his admiration that congratulations to the first woman who walked in space, astronaut Jessica Meir rebutted that they were not the first women to walk in space. Before them more than 15 women went in and out of the space station.
From Mr Ahmad Bin Hasan Nadapuram
UAE
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