Re: Schools to fly flag and play anthem

Reply to the article Schools to fly flag and play anthem published by The National. source…

“Raising the flag and playing the national anthem are a must for students when attending school because it reflects their national sentiments towards their nation, leadership and land,” Mr. al Qattami said in a statement issued by WAM, the state news agency It’s an interesting statement and a statement that embodies in its self a silent yet a very prominent reality of this country. Let me undo this jigsaw puzzle for you rather than putting the piece together. He talks about a national anthem and in this anthem there lay a verse “My country, my country, my country, my country” Whose country it this really? Is it my country cause I have lived here all my life and still need a visa or is it the country of the south Indian worker carrying glass for the windows of the skyscrapers to make this country glittery yet he as to go on a strike for his meek little pay or is this a country of those people who get the jobs where the only requirements they need to fulfill is “Only UAE nationals may apply”. This country defiantly is a country for those who can afford it. It has plenty to offer in its malls, its night clubs and its expensive developments. It has the most lit up highways for its people to enjoy. Only for those who can pay.

The anthem also says “Each of us swears to build you and work for you. Our work is pure, we work in purity” whose work are we talking about? And if work is so highly valued that it merits a mention in the anthem surly work has to be rewarded. Rewarded with the states of being an expatriate no matter what. Rewarded with deportation or rewarded with a ban after having a falling out with your employer.

I have sung this anthem all my school life and never once has the national sentiment towards this nation its leadership or even its land been evoked as I have always been an expatiate and always will be. Every time I wanted to say “Oh my homeland” I was reminded the expiry date of my visa. Every time the sentiment stimulated I was compartmentalized in one of the several boxes labeled Pakistani, Indian, Bengali, etc. I was never accepted as a part of the local community, the emarati community.

Never once welcomed with open arms and a smile instead was subjected to live like a Jew or a Christian in my own Islamic land. instead subjected to pay dhimmi. This literally means responsibility of protection. Protection from whom, from other neighboring Islamic countries. Protection from Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan…

lastly all that i can say to Mr. al Qattami and the leadership and the people of this nation. I am a Muslim expatriate from past 25 years now with an outsider or a refugees way of life living in an Islamic country forced to sing for a nation that will never be mine and wave a flag that will never see me worthy enough of defending its honor its dignity.

I sure do feel patriotic!

Baby Declared an Illegal Alien and Subject to Deportation

18-month-old baby declared illegal

04/14/2009 02:15 PM | By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter

Sharjah: An 18-month-old baby has been declared an illegal resident by the Sharjah Naturalisation and Residency Department (SNRD) and has been given one week to leave the country after which she will get a one-year ban.

Nayana Sanjay Kumar was born in October 2007 at Al Qasimi hospital in Sharjah, but her parents, both Indians from Kerala, could not sponsor their new-born baby as their salary was not enough at the time.

The girl’s mother, Sheeja, who works as a nurse at a Ministry of Health run government hospital told Gulf News that when her baby was born, she tried to sponsor her, but the application was rejected by the SNRD as she and her husband were not earning enough to sponsor the girl.

“In October 2008 my salary was increased. I was then able to sponsor my baby, but when I applied for a residency visa for her at the SNRD it was rejected too. My baby was declared an illegal resident and I had to pay hefty fines because she had been staying illegally in the country for one year since she was born,” the mother said.

Sheeja said SNRD officials told her the baby had to leave the country in less than a week with an outpass to avoid the fines, otherwise she would get a one-year ban.

“I was told that after one year I could obtain a new visa for my baby and bring her back to live with me,” she said.

“I told them my baby is very young, she is only one year old and I cannot send her away from me, but they did not listen to me, saying the law will be implemented equally.”…

In a victory for for husbands everywhere (extreme sarcasm): Woman fighting for custody of sons loses second appeal

A British mother found guilty of adultery may never see her children again after the emirate’s highest court yesterday refused to let her remain in the country.

Marnie Pearce, 40, had hoped to have her conviction overturned so she could keep her two sons, aged eight and four, with her in Dubai. But a panel of five judges sitting in the Court of Cassation dismissed the appeal – her second – and upheld her three-month sentence and subsequent deportation.British Embassy officials have written to the Attorney General asking that the deportation order be rescinded, and friends said the former teaching assistant was still determined to fight for custody of her sons in a civil hearing.

However, a lawyer said yesterday’s decision could cost Pearce the civil custody hearing. Abdulhamid al Kumaity said a mother convicted of an honour crime usually forfeited her right to apply for custody…SOURCE

Foreign Office to Publish UAE Behavior Guide for British Trailer Trash

Please note, this publication is largely for people who might find themselves on the British version of the Springer Show.

British expatriates in the UAE said on Saturday that the decision of the British foreign ministry to warn its citizens against extra marital sex and kissing in public when visiting Muslim countries, as timely.

The British foreign ministry has issued a strong warning to its citizens against extra-marital sex and public kissing after the deportation of a British man and a woman from the UAE this week. The couple was found having sex on Jumeirah beach on July 5. “I think it is the right thing finally. A large number of British people are still not aware about the traditions, customs and the laws of other countries.

This warning will help them to have an idea how to behave in a foreign country and respect their traditions and laws,” said Darren Baum, a British expatriate living in Dubai.

Baum said the beach sex case of the British couple gave a bad name to the country and this is the right time to prevent any such incident in the future.

Angelina Barrow, another British expatriate living in Dubai said, “People living here know how to behave and respect the tradition. But most of the tourists have no clue about it. The warning will help them to be careful how to behave when they are in a Muslim country.”

The advice, which goes further than the traditional admonition for women to dress modestly, follows allegations of drunken sex romps, the Guardian reported…SOURCE

British Beach Boinkers Now Trying to Get Out of Deportation

Cheeky doesn’t even go far enough to describe these guys.

Beach-sex couple in Dubai jail, waiting for deportation

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/12/14/10267111.html

12/14/2008 09:35 PM | By Bassam Za’za’, Senior Reporter

Dubai: The British beach sex couple, who were awarded a three-month suspended imprisonment, have turned themselves in to serve their sentence and they are currently detained at Dubai’s Central Prison, Gulf News has learnt.

The 34-year-old male visitor, V.A., and his 36-year-old compatriot female, M.P., paid their Dh1,000 fine yesterday at noon after they turned themselves in to the Criminal Rulings’ Execution Section at the Public Prosecution, their legal advisor Hasan Mattar told Gulf News.

The Dubai Court of Appeal had earlier suspended the Britons’ three-month jail term after they were found guilty of indulging in sexual activity on Jumeirah beachside and committing public indecency.

Presiding Judge Mohammad Abdul Aziz Hafez upheld their Dh1,000 fine (for taking alcohol) and confirmed the couple’s deportation order.

“The couple and I are still negotiating whether to lodge a petition to cancel their deportation order at the Attorney General’s office. They handed themselves in and paid their fine,” Mattar told the newspaper….