Open skies, closed hearts - 2

“Rude” is too mild a word to describe the attitude of airport officials (immigration and customs) toward expatriates, especially if they are non-white. Why does everyone turn a blind eye to that? If you want to know how courteous airport officials are to the visitors, you don’t have look any further than the Dubai airport.

FYZ, Jeddah, published 8 July 2008

Open skies, closed hearts - 3

Many passengers in the Eastern Province avoid King Fahd Airport and fly from Bahrain. Why? They don’t hesitate to point out the obvious. Poor service and less than happy experiences when dealing with the customs and immigration officials. At least the people in the Eastern Province have an alternative. What about those in Riyadh and Jeddah?

Aziz Bander, Dammam, published 8 July 2008

Sponsorship system

This is regarding the report “Call to scrap sponsorship gets cautious welcome” (July 2). There are thousands of peoples like me who are looking for a change in the sponsorship and re-entry procedure. Most of the sponsors keep the passports of the their workers though nobody should be forced to hand over his/her passport except in special circumstances and that too to some designated authorities. Saudi Arabia should introduce Bahrain-type rules to govern employer-employee relations.

Kolath Abdul Kader, Dammam, published 8 July 2008

Iran and US/Israel

I totally agree with Osama Al-Sharif’s analysis (The big miscalculation on Iran - July 2). Well, once again US President George W. Bush is going to make a big miscalculation even as Americans and the people outside are anxiously waiting for an end to his presidency. Will history repeat itself? American presidents never learn from the mistakes of their predecessors. Have they forgotten the hostage crisis and all that followed? Well if they had learned from the Vietnam War, they would not have found themselves bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan.

One can only hope that good sense will prevail and the Middle East will not be plunged into “a ball of fire,” to use the frightening expression used by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, El-Baradei.

Ismaeel Marikar, Jeddah, published 8 July 2008

A source of confusion

This refers to the report, “A Source of Mercy” (July 3) in which Sheikh Al-Obaikan, a member of the Kingdom’s Higher Religious Committee, was quoted as saying: “It is forbidden for women to work with men in the workplace.” As a “Westerner” working, and thoroughly enjoying being in the Kingdom, I am trying very hard to understand the teachings and practices of Islam. I work in one of the Kingdom’s leading hospitals and I am confused as to the issue of men and women not being allowed to work together in hospitals. If separation were enforced, all of our patients would suffer as there are not enough female Muslim nurses to cover the hospital 24/7, as I am sure many people, and scholars are aware.

I find that we all work very well together as we all respect each other professionally and have respect for each other’s cultures and religious views. This is also highlighted by the fact that most of our patients’ families are very grateful to us for the care their loved ones receive, whether from a female Muslim nurse or other nurse, be they Muslim, Western or male.

Anthony Naylor, Riyadh, published 8 July 2008

Another Ice Age?

Siski Green thinks that climate change is no laughing matter ( July 4). Well, I think it is hilarious! The various phenomena that she mentions, such as food shortages and hurricanes, cannot be logically shown to be connected to climate change. If the Earth is warming up then many areas of the planet near the poles will become agriculturally productive. The Earth is a very efficient heat engine and hurricanes are part of the regulatory system that prevents the Earth from rapidly cooling and entering into another Ice Age. Warm surface water is thrust by hurricanes into the atmosphere to melt sun-deflecting particles called “diamond dust” from forming.

The Earth’s tendency over the past five billion years has been toward cooling, not heating. For most of its history, the planet has been cold and dark with only intermittent periods of warmth. We are still in an Ice Age. The polar caps are testimony to that. The current melting means that we are about to enter an inter-glacial period. However, as the ice melts, the top layers of warm ocean water will cool with the result that evaporation will cease and diamond dust will form thus plunging the Earth into another Ice Age.

Francis A. Andrew, Muscat, published 8 July 2008

Poor Lankan Maid

This refers to the report, “Lankan Maid Kills Herself After Six Days in Kingdom” (July 3).

Sri Lanka’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Bhaila described the suicide as “an unfortunate incident where the sponsor was unnecessarily burdened due to the foolish action of the maid.” The parents of the maid, he said, had already given their consent for her burial in the Kingdom, as if this settled the whole issue.

Did the minister think of asking for investigation into the circumstances of the suicide? Was the woman abused after she arrived in the Kingdom? Were the working conditions bad? He did not want answers to any of these questions. He was more concerned with the “unnecessary burden” to the sponsor. Of course he gave us a valuable insight into why Sri Lankan women want to work as housemaids in foreign countries. “Most of these maids decide to go abroad to alleviate their sufferings at home.” Really?

Kalu Kaluka, Colombo, published 8 July 2008

Open skies, closed hearts

This refers to the article, “Open Skies: We Are Out of the Race.” I would like to say that what the article says about services in the major airports in the Kingdom is 100 percent true. Most of the staff in the airport don’t know English, though many of the passengers are foreigners. When we check in at the immigration counter, the officers sometimes make mistakes while stamping the visa.

If we require any help from the airport police, it is not available because they don’t know how to communicate in English. This causes many difficulties for non-Arabic speaking newcomers to the Kingdom. An airport is like the face of a country. It’s where you form the first impression of a country. Hence it is in the best interest of the Kingdom to upgrade the standard of services in major airports, to make employers behave more courteously, and above all, to hold them accountable for any lapses on their part.

Suhail Ummer, Jeddah, published 8 July 2008