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!
Sphere: Related Content Posted 1 year ago at 1:28 pm. View Comments
Seems like some people agree with our interpretation of the new law. Ultimately, this will cost UAE nationals jobs in exchange for a small amount of protection for those who already have jobs.
Private-sector companies are more likely to employ Emiratis because of a new government policy that protects them from being laid off, a labour official said yesterday to counter claims to the contrary.
Feddah Lootah, the acting director general of the National Human Resource Development and Employment Authority (Tanmia), said Emiratis would feel more secure in their jobs knowing they cannot be laid off. As a result, they will “increase their productivity, performance and loyalty”. Companies will become aware of that trend and will recruit more Emiratis, she said.
In contrast, some business owners and analysts have described the guidelines, announced on Wednesday by the Ministry of Labour, as “counterproductive” and “inflexible”.
Under the new policy, private companies may not dismiss Emiratis except in cases of serious misconduct. If a company wants to dismiss an Emirati for any reason, including financial difficulty, it must notify the ministry one month in advance.
“This new law protects the national workforce of the country and, like any country in the world, the national workforce is the most valuable asset and wealth,” said Mrs Lootah, whose agency is charged with the task of finding jobs for Emiratis. “Hence, all efforts made by governments are to be channelled towards achieving stability and prosperity to its people.”
She said the UAE would seek to protect the rights of all workers, Emirati and expatriate, from unlawful and unfair redundancies.
The new policy also stipulates that underperforming Emiratis could not be sacked but must be given more training or transferred to work more suited to their skills.
Paul Dyer, a research associate at the Dubai School of Government, who specialises in labour policy, said the new rules were “a worrisome precedent” that may serve as a disincentive to be productive.
“This kind of legislation sends strong signals to those who are not motivated from within, that they do not have to put much effort to keep their jobs, and therefore, reinforces a cycle that already exists within private businesses of not hiring Emiratis,” he said. “Hence, firms will resist much more than in the past from hiring Emiratis.”…SOURCE
Sphere: Related Content Posted 1 year, 6 months ago at 7:57 am. View Comments
I hate to say it, but it looks like the Federal Government may have to reign-in the FNC on several issues. The issues, like the question of Visa rule, pose a big problem for attracting workers for business in the Emirates. In a fragile business environment to begin with, the UAE needs to be very careful not to muddy the water.
12/17/2008 12:02 AM | By Samir Salama, Associate Editor
Abu Dhabi: The Federal National Council (FNC) on Tuesday proposed increasing the minimum salary requirement to sponsor families of expatriates in the UAE.
According to the proposal, the minimum salary required for an expatriate – without company accommodation – to sponsor a family should be Dh10,000 and an expatriate with company accommodation, Dh8,000. The FNC resumed its session yesterday after National Day and Eid holidays.
An ad-hoc committee of the House also suggested that family-visa applicants should be asked to submit bank statements of six months, detailing salary transfer.
In its first ever open session to discuss the demographic structure of the UAE since its establishment in 1972, the House also suggested that an only an expatriate with a minimum salary of Dh15,000 should be allowed to sponsor housemaids.
It also recommended increasing the annual fee for sponsoring a housemaid to Dh7,000.
According to a report worked out by the committee, there are 5.5 million foreign workers, including 3.1 million workers registered with the Ministry of Labour and 2.4 million registered with the Ministry of the Interior, while the total population was 6.3 million by the end of last year.
The legislature said the Labour Ministry issued 640,000 work permits over the first four months of this year, an increase of 100 per cent compared with the same period last year.
These include 525,000 work permits for individual workers and 115 group permits.
The House expected that 1.920 million permits would be issued by the end of this year, taking into account the visas issued by the Ministry of Interior.
The House was told that foreign workers account for 90 per cent of the total workforce in the UAE at the end of 2006.
Asian workers represented 87.1 of the labour force, while workers of other nationalities including Arabs account for 12.9 per cent.
An estimated 98.7 per cent are concentrated in the private sector, namely in the construction, agriculture, retail business, and also restaurants, hotels, fisheries, security and guarding and cleaning companies…
Sphere: Related Content Posted 1 year, 8 months ago at 9:22 am. View Comments
