I didn't dare investigate, so can anyone enlighten me about the third retailer on the list?
Thursday, June 04, 2009
I need your help with this
The Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence.
I didn't dare investigate, so can anyone enlighten me about the third retailer on the list?
I didn't dare investigate, so can anyone enlighten me about the third retailer on the list?
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Public Prosecution loses child abuse appeal
An interesting verdict yesterday from the Abu Dhabi Court of Appeal I thought.
It related to a high profile case, deliberately high profile because the authorities wanted to raise awareness of child abuse.
The original hearing was the first case in which journalists were invited by the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department to attend court proceedings.
In that original hearing the father and step-mother were sentenced to ten years each for severely abusing their daughter, causing her permanent disability.
The sentences were appealed by Public Prosecution who asked for the maximum penalty of fifteen years.
The parents also appealed, obviously asking for the sentences to be reduced.
Yesterday the court decided in favour of the parents and cut the sentences to seven years.
Given the injuries suffered by the little girl my sympathies are with Public Prosecution.
The subject has support at the highest level. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, visited the victim in hospital. Both he and Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Minister of Interior, have spoken out strongly against child abuse.
This sentence from the report in The National is disturbing, especially in light of the high level and official involvement:
Despite the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department’s renewed call for transparency, the judge declined to give any reason for reducing the sentence.
Independence of the judiciary is vital to a good legal system, but secrecy helps no-one.
The full report is in The National.
It related to a high profile case, deliberately high profile because the authorities wanted to raise awareness of child abuse.
The original hearing was the first case in which journalists were invited by the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department to attend court proceedings.
In that original hearing the father and step-mother were sentenced to ten years each for severely abusing their daughter, causing her permanent disability.
The sentences were appealed by Public Prosecution who asked for the maximum penalty of fifteen years.
The parents also appealed, obviously asking for the sentences to be reduced.
Yesterday the court decided in favour of the parents and cut the sentences to seven years.
Given the injuries suffered by the little girl my sympathies are with Public Prosecution.
The subject has support at the highest level. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, visited the victim in hospital. Both he and Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Minister of Interior, have spoken out strongly against child abuse.
This sentence from the report in The National is disturbing, especially in light of the high level and official involvement:
Despite the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department’s renewed call for transparency, the judge declined to give any reason for reducing the sentence.
Independence of the judiciary is vital to a good legal system, but secrecy helps no-one.
The full report is in The National.
Two months for Sally & Mark
Just an update on my posts last week about the British couple on trial for sex outside marriage.
They pleaded guilty in the Dubai Court of Misdemeanour and have been sentenced to two months in Al Slammer followed by deportation.
The UK papers I quoted in the earlier post have been reasonably restrained, but the stories differ somewhat.
According to The Sun husband Vincent is sorry he dobbed her in to the cops: Sally and I were not estranged and we were not involved in divorce proceedings. Sally was having an affair with Mark Hawkins.
The Daily Mail says differently: Friends of Mr and Mrs Antia said their marriage had been in trouble for years, but that they had agreed to stay together for the sake of their children.
One friend said: 'They were open about the fact that their relationship was over. Vincent was happy for Sally to go out with other people. He knew about it and it wasn't a problem. So everyone was astonished when they heard that he had informed the police on her'.
At the court hearing, Mr Hawkins's lawyer told the court that Mr Antia had given his wife permission to go out with him.
It's in the papers so it must be true folks.
And they criticise bloggers as unreliable sources of information!
Read the stories and take your pick which one you want to believe:
The Sun.
Daily Mail.
They pleaded guilty in the Dubai Court of Misdemeanour and have been sentenced to two months in Al Slammer followed by deportation.
The UK papers I quoted in the earlier post have been reasonably restrained, but the stories differ somewhat.
According to The Sun husband Vincent is sorry he dobbed her in to the cops: Sally and I were not estranged and we were not involved in divorce proceedings. Sally was having an affair with Mark Hawkins.
The Daily Mail says differently: Friends of Mr and Mrs Antia said their marriage had been in trouble for years, but that they had agreed to stay together for the sake of their children.
One friend said: 'They were open about the fact that their relationship was over. Vincent was happy for Sally to go out with other people. He knew about it and it wasn't a problem. So everyone was astonished when they heard that he had informed the police on her'.
At the court hearing, Mr Hawkins's lawyer told the court that Mr Antia had given his wife permission to go out with him.
It's in the papers so it must be true folks.
And they criticise bloggers as unreliable sources of information!
Read the stories and take your pick which one you want to believe:
The Sun.
Daily Mail.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
A question of wasta
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid has extended his recent online Q&A session with journalists by now doing the same with the public at large.
One question caught my eye because of recent conversations about the subject, wasta.
Yaser Abdulla Ahmed Al Tunaiji of Ras Al Khaimah asked:
The phenomenon of wasta [use of connections] has spread noticeably in our country. We see it in action every day. Why is it that we don't see anyone fighting this phenomenon? I have personally suffered from the effects of wasta, and that's the reason I decided to bring the issue up for your kind consideration.
The word crops up regularly in conversation and what amuses me is that the complaints are usually made as though it's a phenomenon unique to the UAE.
I've heard the phrase 'it's not what you know but who you know' in many places around the world, and that's wasta.
The British 'old school tie' is wasta - the disproportionate number of Old Etonians in powerful positions confirms its effectivesess.
It's far from being something unique to this country.
The other thing that amuses me is that the people complaining about it wouldn't hesitate to use it if they had it.
Who wouldn't use wasta to give themselves an advantage for a job, or to get an upgrade on a flight, or tickets to a big sold-out show?
Overall it was an interesting exercise in dialogue between ruler and people, something which isn't the norm around the world by any stretch of the imagination.
They talk to us, or at us, but it's not often a two-way conversation.
The dialogue covered everything from personal questions to foreign affairs, questioning the PM's decisions in recent cabinet reshuffle to the position of stateless citizens.
If you listen to the criticism of the UAE you wouldn't believe that a ruler here would talk with the people, would answer sensitive questions such as those last two.
A long way to go it's true, but it isn't as bad as many claim and great strides are being made in a short time.
You'll find all the questions and answers in the Emirates Business 247 supplement.
One question caught my eye because of recent conversations about the subject, wasta.
Yaser Abdulla Ahmed Al Tunaiji of Ras Al Khaimah asked:
The phenomenon of wasta [use of connections] has spread noticeably in our country. We see it in action every day. Why is it that we don't see anyone fighting this phenomenon? I have personally suffered from the effects of wasta, and that's the reason I decided to bring the issue up for your kind consideration.
The word crops up regularly in conversation and what amuses me is that the complaints are usually made as though it's a phenomenon unique to the UAE.
I've heard the phrase 'it's not what you know but who you know' in many places around the world, and that's wasta.
The British 'old school tie' is wasta - the disproportionate number of Old Etonians in powerful positions confirms its effectivesess.
It's far from being something unique to this country.
The other thing that amuses me is that the people complaining about it wouldn't hesitate to use it if they had it.
Who wouldn't use wasta to give themselves an advantage for a job, or to get an upgrade on a flight, or tickets to a big sold-out show?
Overall it was an interesting exercise in dialogue between ruler and people, something which isn't the norm around the world by any stretch of the imagination.
They talk to us, or at us, but it's not often a two-way conversation.
The dialogue covered everything from personal questions to foreign affairs, questioning the PM's decisions in recent cabinet reshuffle to the position of stateless citizens.
If you listen to the criticism of the UAE you wouldn't believe that a ruler here would talk with the people, would answer sensitive questions such as those last two.
A long way to go it's true, but it isn't as bad as many claim and great strides are being made in a short time.
You'll find all the questions and answers in the Emirates Business 247 supplement.
Crystal Ball working well
A couple of days ago I located the Life in Dubai Crystal Ball at the back of a drawer, gave it a polish and the picture it showed me led me to write:
The temperature's rising and I expect to soon see photographs of effigies being burnt in the streets of Indian cities.
The old Crystal Ball is working well because today Reuters gives us this:
All major Aussie newspapers are running the photos so the climate is going to get worse in both countries, the extremists are jumping on the bandwagon, the real danger is an escalation of violence.
I tend to agree with the comments of Dr. Yadu Singh in Australia, reported in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Indian media's coverage of the plight of Indian students in Australia has been "irresponsible" and could backfire on Indians who have lived here for years, a local community leader fears.
Yadu Singh, a Sydney cardiologist, has viewed with growing anger the pronouncements about Australia by the Indian press, after violence against Indian students in Sydney and Melbourne came under the spotlight last week.
Headlines such as "Australia, land of racists" have led to loud street protests in Australia and India, with an effigy of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd set alight in India.
Dr Singh, who heads a committee at the Indian consulate looking at Indian student issues, labelled the reporting "irresponsible".
"There is a problem with Indian media and Indian leadership - they can't assess a situation in a rational way," he said.
"It's the high competition in that industry. They all get on the bandwagon and say 'Oh racism', but it's not like that.
"Something like this happens and they think: 'The whole world is against us.' I mean, burning effigies of Kevin Rudd ... come on.
"This is not a racist country. Every country has one or two racists.
"When Australian [missionary] Graham Staines was burnt to death [by Hindu extremists in January 1999], did everyone call India racist? No."
Dr Singh believed Australians were "outraged with the way Indian media" was smearing the country.
He feared the outrage could mask the genuine issues faced by Indian students, who Dr Singh said were over-represented in robbery statistics in Melbourne and also faced exploitation by employers.
He also feared there could be a backlash against other Australians of Indian heritage, many of whom had lived here for years.
"I was at a function last night with other Indians [well-established in Australia] - other doctors and lawyers - we were all saying this game has to stop," Dr Singh said.
"We are not suffering. We are doing well in Australia."
Street muggings are deplorable, more so in my opinion when they're racially motivated. But so is whipping up hysteria just to increase newspaper sales or to further a political agenda.
Sydney Morning Herald report is here.
The temperature's rising and I expect to soon see photographs of effigies being burnt in the streets of Indian cities.
The old Crystal Ball is working well because today Reuters gives us this:
All major Aussie newspapers are running the photos so the climate is going to get worse in both countries, the extremists are jumping on the bandwagon, the real danger is an escalation of violence.
I tend to agree with the comments of Dr. Yadu Singh in Australia, reported in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Indian media's coverage of the plight of Indian students in Australia has been "irresponsible" and could backfire on Indians who have lived here for years, a local community leader fears.
Yadu Singh, a Sydney cardiologist, has viewed with growing anger the pronouncements about Australia by the Indian press, after violence against Indian students in Sydney and Melbourne came under the spotlight last week.
Headlines such as "Australia, land of racists" have led to loud street protests in Australia and India, with an effigy of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd set alight in India.
Dr Singh, who heads a committee at the Indian consulate looking at Indian student issues, labelled the reporting "irresponsible".
"There is a problem with Indian media and Indian leadership - they can't assess a situation in a rational way," he said.
"It's the high competition in that industry. They all get on the bandwagon and say 'Oh racism', but it's not like that.
"Something like this happens and they think: 'The whole world is against us.' I mean, burning effigies of Kevin Rudd ... come on.
"This is not a racist country. Every country has one or two racists.
"When Australian [missionary] Graham Staines was burnt to death [by Hindu extremists in January 1999], did everyone call India racist? No."
Dr Singh believed Australians were "outraged with the way Indian media" was smearing the country.
He feared the outrage could mask the genuine issues faced by Indian students, who Dr Singh said were over-represented in robbery statistics in Melbourne and also faced exploitation by employers.
He also feared there could be a backlash against other Australians of Indian heritage, many of whom had lived here for years.
"I was at a function last night with other Indians [well-established in Australia] - other doctors and lawyers - we were all saying this game has to stop," Dr Singh said.
"We are not suffering. We are doing well in Australia."
Street muggings are deplorable, more so in my opinion when they're racially motivated. But so is whipping up hysteria just to increase newspaper sales or to further a political agenda.
Sydney Morning Herald report is here.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
'Curry bashing' in Oz
Making big news in India, and amongst Indian communities around the world, are reports of racist attacks on Indian students in Australia.
A protest march was just held in Melbourne, reported variously as having either 300 or 1,000 or 5,000 participants depending which report you read.
It was organised by the Federation of Indian Students in conjunction with Melbourne University's Graduate Student Association. That's an indication of the majority opinion in Oz, people of different ethnic backgrounds living side by side.
But there will always be racist elements and sadly they're coming out of the woodwork all over the world.
Recent governments have a lot to answer for, those of BushW and the last Australian PM John Howard in particular. They created a climate of fear and loathing, of foreigners wanting 'to destroy our way of life', which they promoted to keep themselves in power and to push through their extreme policies.
Howard and his cronies had a huge and disgraceful campaign to drum up hatred against asylum seekers, or 'illegal immigrants' as they called them. Lies were regularly told, photographs were doctored, the hysteria mounted.
They were in power for over a decade which was plenty of time to well and truly create the atmosphere. We're seeing the effects now amongst the teenagers who grew up in that climate and who are carrying out these attacks.
There seems to be an increase on attacks on Indian students, although a number of them are undoubtedly not racially motivated but are standard street crimes.
Community leader Dr Yadu Singh said the attacks had been happening for about four years and were a mixture of opportunistic robberies and outright racist attacks.
In the robbery cases, Indian students often became victims because they traveled home late at night, alone, after working to support their studies, Dr Singh said.
He has another interesting theory too, that thieves knew the incidents were unlikely to be reported to police:
"They are not reporting to police because their experience of police in India is pathetic - they are corrupt, pathetic, not helpful."
There does seem to be a copycat element to the racially motivated attacks though, with the phrase 'curry bashing' becoming more widespread. The phrase spreads amongst college students, the morons amongst them seize on it and think they'll go out for what their pea-sized brains think is fun.
"What we gonna do tonight? Study? 'ave a beer? Find some girls?"
"Nah, let's have some real fun, we'll go curry bashing."
That means they are specifically targeting Indians, or more accurately people from the sub-continent because they wouldn't be able to distinguish amongst them.
The fallout is growing, Australian government ministers are involved, the PM has spoken with Manmohan Singh, actions are obviously being taken.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told TV news:
"We're doing everything that we can, both with the Indian community in Australia and India itself ... but also working very closely with the relevant state authorities."
Mr Smith said Australia was trying to bring the attackers to justice and ensure a safe environment for all international students.
But now adding fuel to the flames the Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has gone public with his decision to reject an honorary doctorate from an Australian University, which he'd earlier accepted.
The temperature's rising and I expect to soon see photographs of effigies being burnt in the streets of Indian cities.
Every society has this problem from a moronic minority I'm afraid. Racism, bigotry, discrimination are part of human society around the world. It isn't only, contrary to often stated opinion, a white on non-white issue, it involves people of all colours on people of all colours, religion on religion, class on class, caste on caste, tribe on tribe.
Fortunately Australia is nowhere as bad as many, in spite of the huge reaction in India to these current attacks.
Reading the Times of India I was, as I often am, fascinated by the comments left by readers to these stories. They give a real insight into the range of human thinking. Ignorance of the facts not limiting adamant statements, what I call the arrogance of ignorance. The extreme views of some balanced by the reasonable views of others, the calls for revenge.
Kirpa Raj who lives in the USA is in the 'arrogance of ignorance' file:
Crime is in the genes of Australians who are actually descendants of convicts from England. "Hate crime" is a very soft term. They committed genocide of Ab Origine population, which is a crime against humanity. It is futile to expect any civilized behavior from Australians. India, China, Indonesia, Japan and other civilized Asian countries should occupy/liberate Australia, and put these convicts back in prisons where they actually belong.
I'm sure he wouldn't believe the fact that the vast majority of the 21 million Aussies have no convict ancestors.
He has a fellow travellor in New Zealand too, who's also a conspiracy theorist:
Melchides Rodrigues wants us to know that:
Racism is widely prevelant in Australia and New Zealand. A white (whose ancestors were from Britain) is more likely to be racist toward immigrant Asians than an other persons. Apparently their mental attitude that they are superior than Asians, and their imperialistic (colonial) nature is still widely rampant. They cannot accept the fact that Asians an other non British people , are doing better educationally and job prospect wise.This fact is being covered up by the Australian High Commissioner in New Delhi(John McCarthy), to protect his own fellow Anglo Saxon breathern.
Both happy in their racist, bigoted world, exactly like the morons they're complaining about.
And talking about racists complaining about racism, how about the words of wisdom from Kiran,Kumar:
Out of 95000 Indian students only 500 are real student and rest of them are Punjabis who are here to do anything to earn $$$$$$ and create nuisance wherever they can with best of their abilities. Their so called leaders are all ex taxi drivers who had no life...
Onkarnath,USA has a similar problem:
Why so much crying? Are we safe in India? Can North Indian go to Mumbai and feel safe?
And Jack in Mumbai obviously agrees:
At least now Indians are fighting together. I feel the attack was shameful, But the MOST SHAMEFUL ACT is the one that happened in Austria, Indians Attacking Indians. That's the reason i Feel Australian attack was nothing before it. We Indians are already so discriminative that racism is nothing. India is full of racism and discrimination right the religion, caste, creed, state and language.
JJ has another take on it and wonders why the fuss over these attacks:
When thousand of were Tamilians killed in Sri lanka no body in India made a cry. Why now this cry in the north?
They kind of demonstrate that racism, bigotry and discrimination are alive and well don't they.
There's another side to the view of Australia though. Here's an ABI - Australian Born Indian - who lives in Canberra. Eric Jusula says:
As a first generation Australian who is planning to spend some time visiting India this year I'm very disturbed by what is happening and the media reports in Australia and in India. In my view Australia is one of the least racist countries that I have lived, or traveled, within. Racism exits in all societies to varying degrees. So does violence and crime, and adolescent stupidity. The individuals responsible for the cowardly attacks against Indian students need to be seen for what they are. They are extremely rare, pathetic dregs of society, who will be dealt with as criminals, and disgraces to Australian values.
Australia's first Asian-born cabinet minster agrees with Eric. Penny Wong told TV news that racism in Australia is confined to a minority of people with extreme views, saying that "On the whole I think Australians are tolerant."
Former Indian consul general Mr TJ Rao went even further and said the recent attacks on Indian students had nothing to do with racism.
"This has nothing to do with racism, Australians are not racist people," Mr Rao said. "I have been in this country for 41 years and have never had any trouble.
Well that's an overly rosy opinion because some are, same as the world over, but thankfully they're a tiny minority.
I think the comment form another USA based Indian is a good place to finish.
Ajay Sharma, from Dayton, Ohio makes a lot of sense to me:
Marching peace rallies will not stop evil doers from committing such brutal attacks. The root cause is somewhere else. Irrespective of the country, as long as our planet is divided by man-made borders of states, religion, cast and creed; such heinous incidences will keep on happening. We humans proclaim ourselves as wisest species but we repeatedly behave in a way that is worst than wildest creatures ever wondered on earth!
There's plenty of coverage in newspapers in the UAE, India and Australia and here are some links to various bits of the story I've mentioned in the post. If you're interested in the story they're worth reading.
Melbourne Herald Sun report on the rally.
Foreign Minister's comments in Sydney Morning Herald.
Dr Yadu Singh interview in Sydney Morning Herald.
Minister Penny Wong's interview in The Australian.
Here's where you'll find the fascinating and illuminating comments, sent in to The Times of India main story.
Big B's rejection of doctorate.
A protest march was just held in Melbourne, reported variously as having either 300 or 1,000 or 5,000 participants depending which report you read.
It was organised by the Federation of Indian Students in conjunction with Melbourne University's Graduate Student Association. That's an indication of the majority opinion in Oz, people of different ethnic backgrounds living side by side.
But there will always be racist elements and sadly they're coming out of the woodwork all over the world.
Recent governments have a lot to answer for, those of BushW and the last Australian PM John Howard in particular. They created a climate of fear and loathing, of foreigners wanting 'to destroy our way of life', which they promoted to keep themselves in power and to push through their extreme policies.
Howard and his cronies had a huge and disgraceful campaign to drum up hatred against asylum seekers, or 'illegal immigrants' as they called them. Lies were regularly told, photographs were doctored, the hysteria mounted.
They were in power for over a decade which was plenty of time to well and truly create the atmosphere. We're seeing the effects now amongst the teenagers who grew up in that climate and who are carrying out these attacks.
There seems to be an increase on attacks on Indian students, although a number of them are undoubtedly not racially motivated but are standard street crimes.
Community leader Dr Yadu Singh said the attacks had been happening for about four years and were a mixture of opportunistic robberies and outright racist attacks.
In the robbery cases, Indian students often became victims because they traveled home late at night, alone, after working to support their studies, Dr Singh said.
He has another interesting theory too, that thieves knew the incidents were unlikely to be reported to police:
"They are not reporting to police because their experience of police in India is pathetic - they are corrupt, pathetic, not helpful."
There does seem to be a copycat element to the racially motivated attacks though, with the phrase 'curry bashing' becoming more widespread. The phrase spreads amongst college students, the morons amongst them seize on it and think they'll go out for what their pea-sized brains think is fun.
"What we gonna do tonight? Study? 'ave a beer? Find some girls?"
"Nah, let's have some real fun, we'll go curry bashing."
That means they are specifically targeting Indians, or more accurately people from the sub-continent because they wouldn't be able to distinguish amongst them.
The fallout is growing, Australian government ministers are involved, the PM has spoken with Manmohan Singh, actions are obviously being taken.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told TV news:
"We're doing everything that we can, both with the Indian community in Australia and India itself ... but also working very closely with the relevant state authorities."
Mr Smith said Australia was trying to bring the attackers to justice and ensure a safe environment for all international students.
But now adding fuel to the flames the Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has gone public with his decision to reject an honorary doctorate from an Australian University, which he'd earlier accepted.
The temperature's rising and I expect to soon see photographs of effigies being burnt in the streets of Indian cities.
Every society has this problem from a moronic minority I'm afraid. Racism, bigotry, discrimination are part of human society around the world. It isn't only, contrary to often stated opinion, a white on non-white issue, it involves people of all colours on people of all colours, religion on religion, class on class, caste on caste, tribe on tribe.
Fortunately Australia is nowhere as bad as many, in spite of the huge reaction in India to these current attacks.
Reading the Times of India I was, as I often am, fascinated by the comments left by readers to these stories. They give a real insight into the range of human thinking. Ignorance of the facts not limiting adamant statements, what I call the arrogance of ignorance. The extreme views of some balanced by the reasonable views of others, the calls for revenge.
Kirpa Raj who lives in the USA is in the 'arrogance of ignorance' file:
Crime is in the genes of Australians who are actually descendants of convicts from England. "Hate crime" is a very soft term. They committed genocide of Ab Origine population, which is a crime against humanity. It is futile to expect any civilized behavior from Australians. India, China, Indonesia, Japan and other civilized Asian countries should occupy/liberate Australia, and put these convicts back in prisons where they actually belong.
I'm sure he wouldn't believe the fact that the vast majority of the 21 million Aussies have no convict ancestors.
He has a fellow travellor in New Zealand too, who's also a conspiracy theorist:
Melchides Rodrigues wants us to know that:
Racism is widely prevelant in Australia and New Zealand. A white (whose ancestors were from Britain) is more likely to be racist toward immigrant Asians than an other persons. Apparently their mental attitude that they are superior than Asians, and their imperialistic (colonial) nature is still widely rampant. They cannot accept the fact that Asians an other non British people , are doing better educationally and job prospect wise.This fact is being covered up by the Australian High Commissioner in New Delhi(John McCarthy), to protect his own fellow Anglo Saxon breathern.
Both happy in their racist, bigoted world, exactly like the morons they're complaining about.
And talking about racists complaining about racism, how about the words of wisdom from Kiran,Kumar:
Out of 95000 Indian students only 500 are real student and rest of them are Punjabis who are here to do anything to earn $$$$$$ and create nuisance wherever they can with best of their abilities. Their so called leaders are all ex taxi drivers who had no life...
Onkarnath,USA has a similar problem:
Why so much crying? Are we safe in India? Can North Indian go to Mumbai and feel safe?
And Jack in Mumbai obviously agrees:
At least now Indians are fighting together. I feel the attack was shameful, But the MOST SHAMEFUL ACT is the one that happened in Austria, Indians Attacking Indians. That's the reason i Feel Australian attack was nothing before it. We Indians are already so discriminative that racism is nothing. India is full of racism and discrimination right the religion, caste, creed, state and language.
JJ has another take on it and wonders why the fuss over these attacks:
When thousand of were Tamilians killed in Sri lanka no body in India made a cry. Why now this cry in the north?
They kind of demonstrate that racism, bigotry and discrimination are alive and well don't they.
There's another side to the view of Australia though. Here's an ABI - Australian Born Indian - who lives in Canberra. Eric Jusula says:
As a first generation Australian who is planning to spend some time visiting India this year I'm very disturbed by what is happening and the media reports in Australia and in India. In my view Australia is one of the least racist countries that I have lived, or traveled, within. Racism exits in all societies to varying degrees. So does violence and crime, and adolescent stupidity. The individuals responsible for the cowardly attacks against Indian students need to be seen for what they are. They are extremely rare, pathetic dregs of society, who will be dealt with as criminals, and disgraces to Australian values.
Australia's first Asian-born cabinet minster agrees with Eric. Penny Wong told TV news that racism in Australia is confined to a minority of people with extreme views, saying that "On the whole I think Australians are tolerant."
Former Indian consul general Mr TJ Rao went even further and said the recent attacks on Indian students had nothing to do with racism.
"This has nothing to do with racism, Australians are not racist people," Mr Rao said. "I have been in this country for 41 years and have never had any trouble.
Well that's an overly rosy opinion because some are, same as the world over, but thankfully they're a tiny minority.
I think the comment form another USA based Indian is a good place to finish.
Ajay Sharma, from Dayton, Ohio makes a lot of sense to me:
Marching peace rallies will not stop evil doers from committing such brutal attacks. The root cause is somewhere else. Irrespective of the country, as long as our planet is divided by man-made borders of states, religion, cast and creed; such heinous incidences will keep on happening. We humans proclaim ourselves as wisest species but we repeatedly behave in a way that is worst than wildest creatures ever wondered on earth!
There's plenty of coverage in newspapers in the UAE, India and Australia and here are some links to various bits of the story I've mentioned in the post. If you're interested in the story they're worth reading.
Melbourne Herald Sun report on the rally.
Foreign Minister's comments in Sydney Morning Herald.
Dr Yadu Singh interview in Sydney Morning Herald.
Minister Penny Wong's interview in The Australian.
Here's where you'll find the fascinating and illuminating comments, sent in to The Times of India main story.
Big B's rejection of doctorate.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Endless excitement in RAK
It's not the sleepy emirate of popular myth, Ras Al Khaimah.
The poor residents seem to be in a state of near-constant panic, endlessly under attack by exotic creatures.
You may remember they recently had to hide in buildings to escape an agitated ox.
About the same time a group of workers was attacked by a venemous snake.
Then some time ago I posted about a dragon on the loose in the city.
Now the long suffering, perpetually panicked residents are being targeted by gangs of redback spiders.
A resident hired an insecticide company to treat his house for an infestation of cockroaches (yet more beasties invading RAK!!) only for the workers to be shocked to find groups of redback spiders pouring from their lairs.
The family now fear that other spiders are still in the home even though the workers exerted great efforts to kill all the spiders which came out of their hiding places, and searched for others still lurking.
You can read all about this latest attack on the good people of RAK here in Gulf News.
And I haven't even reminded you of RAK's dark tales of black magic...
The poor residents seem to be in a state of near-constant panic, endlessly under attack by exotic creatures.
You may remember they recently had to hide in buildings to escape an agitated ox.
About the same time a group of workers was attacked by a venemous snake.
Then some time ago I posted about a dragon on the loose in the city.
Now the long suffering, perpetually panicked residents are being targeted by gangs of redback spiders.
A resident hired an insecticide company to treat his house for an infestation of cockroaches (yet more beasties invading RAK!!) only for the workers to be shocked to find groups of redback spiders pouring from their lairs.
The family now fear that other spiders are still in the home even though the workers exerted great efforts to kill all the spiders which came out of their hiding places, and searched for others still lurking.
You can read all about this latest attack on the good people of RAK here in Gulf News.
And I haven't even reminded you of RAK's dark tales of black magic...
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