I refer to your wise editorial Better customer service is the key to easy living (April 22). It is so refreshing to see Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, personally assessing the quality of services provided to citizens.
And yet, I am not surprised by his dynamism. In 2004, when the Ibn Battuta Mall was opened, I worked as the chief executive of a retail group and we were launching our first electronics outlet, Sharaf DG, on the opening day. Sheikh Mohammed was supposed to inaugurate the mall in the evening. However, he was unable to, due to some urgent work. Then, suddenly, at 11pm, a buzz went around that he had arrived. He clearly liked the element of surprise. He appeared to come alone, although I’m sure there were some security personnel in civilian clothes. Working for a multinational for over three decades, I was coached to “work the market” for a minimum of 10 days a month. This meant visiting shopkeepers, wholesalers, and supermarkets from small villages to mega cities, to assess the quality of service by the company.
So your editorial is timely and bang on: unless a government or a company serves its customers or citizens, it has no future. As a point of comparison, I have also lived in countries in Africa and Asia where leaders have no contact with their citizens and never meet or talk to them.
Rajendra Aneja, Dubai
The very best teachers deserve higher wages
I write in reference to your article UAE government raises teacher salaries as it launches hiring drive in India (April 24). Daniel Sanderson's article on the new policy of recruiting Indian teachers was good to read. The UAE's intention of raising salaries for teachers is very welcome. Today, education is one of the most important sectors in the economy and teachers are vital to creating the leaders of the future. Educators with highly technical skills should be remunerated with good salaries. You have to pay for quality. Kudos to the UAE.
K Ragavan, Bengaluru
ISIS claims attacks to strike fear in people’s hearts
I refer to your article ISIS claims Sri Lanka attack but gives no evidence (April 24). ISIS has a habit of claiming responsibility to plant fear in people's minds whenever any terrorist activity takes place, irrespective of who carried it out. This tragedy is the most shameful act as it was carried out on a prayer day, Easter Sunday. It is worth reiterating that such acts are forbidden in Islam.
Name withheld by request
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
INVESTMENT PLEDGES
Cartlow: $13.4m
Rabbitmart: $14m
Smileneo: $5.8m
Soum: $4m
imVentures: $100m
Plug and Play: $25m
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
Stats at a glance:
Cost: 1.05 billion pounds (Dh 4.8 billion)
Number in service: 6
Complement 191 (space for up to 285)
Top speed: over 32 knots
Range: Over 7,000 nautical miles
Length 152.4 m
Displacement: 8,700 tonnes
Beam: 21.2 m
Draught: 7.4 m
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Abu Dhabi World Pro 2019 remaining schedule:
Wednesday April 24: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-6pm
Thursday April 25: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-5pm
Friday April 26: Finals, 3-6pm
Saturday April 27: Awards ceremony, 4pm and 8pm
