As vicious as one can get
Words are not enough to condemn this heinous attack at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan, Pakistan (‘72 killed, more than 250 injured as suicide bomber hits Pakistan Sufi shrine’, Gulf News, February 18). An enemy can’t be any more vicious than one that attacks innocent believers who are amidst an inspiring and religiously invigorating Dhamal, which is a traditional Sufi dance. I pray to God to embrace the martyrs and place them in heaven. The people of Pakistan must unite to enable our armed forces to hunt and destroy the masterminds of this terrible attack. They must be eliminated before we all fall victim. We must wake up and confront the enemy head on and wipe them off the face of this Earth. We must stand up and fight for our survival.
From Mr Ammar Mukhtar
UAE
Facebook comment
Helping residents and readers
I applaud and appreciate Gulf News’ real-time service in helping resolve people’s woes against various companies in the UAE (‘Your complaint: Credit shield claim continuously denied’, Gulf News, February 18). I’m referring to the regular column called Your Complaint.
I’m on a visit visa from India and never miss reading Gulf News every morning, as soon as it is delivered. The news is fresh and relevant, and the coverage is highly extensive. Sections like this help the general public, which is the icing on the cake. I am sure lots of Gulf News’ devoted readers much appreciate the paper. Please, do count me as one of the ardent fans and loyal readers.
Thank you for your service to the people of UAE. They are fortunate to have Gulf News to serve their interests. Good luck and God bless.
From Mr Sekar Srinivasan
UAE
A team effort required
Monitoring social media will help immensely in keeping children safe in school (‘Dubai Police for banning social media in schools’, Gulf News, February 17). Teachers, with the help of parents, have stopped young ones from bringing devices to school. Additionally, some teachers will have all the devices set in a basket on the way into class. Children collect them on the way out. If the device is needed for work, then the teacher might allow it for said use.
Parents, too, need to take some responsibility as they may have contributed to helping the child buy the device. Secondly, often we see parents give in and allow the device to be used as a pacifier. A child might be crying, so the parents give the device to the child to keep them quiet without monitoring what the child is playing or looking at on the device.
From Ms Maxene Dodds
UAE
Facebook comment
The right move
It’s a good idea and the authorities should also ban the practice of showing study material on YouTube in classrooms. Those screens could also show inappropriate content.
From Ms Shaheen Ghaznavi
UAE
Facebook comment
This stunt is illegal
As if there wasn’t enough motivation for attention seekers to do what they do (‘Model’s death-defying stunt in Dubai goes viral’, Gulf News, February 17). Attention now generates money as well, so these foolish people feel even more inclined. There’s no way they could have obtained a permit for this. I hope they get prosecuted, so others don’t try to copy this stunt.
From Ms Morvarid Jalali
UAE
Facebook comment
A bad influence
This woman is foolish and such types of stunts shouldn’t be allowed. It invites the youth to risk their lives. One slight mistake and, God forbid, her life could have ended.
From Ms Sana Zubair
UAE
Facebook comment
They had access?
What I don’t understand is how all these people get on the roof of all these buildings. You should need to attain special permission to get up there and you would need to be accompanied by technicians for a specific technical reason you’re going there for. Here, seemingly anyone can just walk into the building and get onto the roof and do whatever they like there. It’s very odd.
From Ms Alex Morgan
Dubai
Facebook comment
Value your life!
They really want to die. It’s like there are no other places in Dubai for photo shoots! While watching the video, my heart could explode. Please, value your life!
From Ms Madina Beyshenbaeva
UAE
Facebook comment
Not safe
Who makes sure that the aluminum panels are strong enough to hold their weight and what about permission from the authorities? It is not good that anyone can go on the roof and do these stunts.
From Mr Arif Rahmani
UAE
Facebook comment
Commendable achievement
Hats off to the Fujairah teacher for winning the Emirates Innovative Teacher’s Award with a Dh1 million prize (‘Fujairah teacher wins Emirates Innovative Teacher’s Award’, Gulf News, Gulf News, February 14). It was given to Mariam Rashid Al Zeyoudi for innovation in teaching the Arabic language. She must be one proud teacher when this award was presented to her during the second day of the World Government Summit.
It’s commendable that the award focuses on the most effective steps to support the education sector that complements the national strategy of 2021. In spite of this massive feat, the teacher still maintained that she feels like any teacher would who has reached a platform of excellence. She has rightfully described the award as one of the biggest honours in the education sector. The teacher also clarified the common misconception that the Arabic language is far from modernisation and innovation. It all boils down to how it is pedagogically taught. It’s teachers like this who do the UAE proud and make our heads lift up high. Well done!
From Mr Narayan Iyer
UAE
A motivational move
The teacher in Fujairah was awarded by the ruler of Dubai for her commitment and dedication in her profession, especially in her own subject of Arabic. Here, I would say that surely it must have not only that a specific teacher, but all those who are in this profession must have been motivated. Indeed it’s a great acknowledgement by the Dubai authorities. Teachers are humans and like others they also need to be appreciated and encouraged by their schools’ management as well, as they are doing a noble job. They are part of the process in making the doctors, engineers and future teachers.
It’s another motivational effort done by Dubai. Hats off to the UAE rulers, it’s not the first time such appreciation has been done in the past as well, so why not cover other professional fields to encourage professionals?
From Ms Fauzia Raza
Toronto, Canada
Not happy with health coverage
Thank you to Gulf News for raising this hot topic on the problems that many of us are facing with our health insurance providers. I just wish to leave my personal comment to address the health authorities, who have been doing a lot for us these years.
We have seen a lot of improvements as the authorities worked hard to make the UAE a safer place for expatriates and to protect their rights. Nevertheless insurance companies continue playing their own game. As we know, all married women in the UAE have to have maternity coverage. This adds about 20 per cent to the insurance cost, comparing to the same package for non-married women. I imagine that on average, an expatriate family living in the UAE might decide to have one to two children. We hope that when the time comes, our insurance will provide us with the coverage as mentioned in our contract. That is what I believed in and that’s what seemed right to me before I got pregnant.
I had my insurance with maternity coverage of up to Dh10,000 for a standard delivery and selected tests. But, at the time I learnt I was pregnant, I had to renew my insurance. To my surprise, the premium raised from Dh6,350 to almost Dh20,000. I believe the insurance company decided that despite my previous maternity coverage, I needed to pay for my pregnancy myself and, in any unfortunate case with my pregnancy, they can make a good profit, too.
I work in a small company where all employees have their individual insurance policies and we are provided a certain small amount as an insurance allowance. In my case, I am forced to refuse the insurance I have now, as I find the amount unreasonable and it will cost me less to pay for my pregnancy myself. At the same time, I can’t help but wonder, why many women are forced to pay excessive premiums for their maternity coverage, yet when we need this coverage we are unable to get it?
From Ms Nastassia Laurusiuk
Dubai
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