Getting giddy over Geddy

A reader says it's a shame that Geddy Lee from Canadian band Rush wasn't asked whether a UAE concert is on the cards. Other letter topics: the class divide, sympathy for the family of a murder victim, and the high prices of some supermarkets' own brands.

A fan of Geddy Lee from Canadian band Rush regrets that they won't be playing in the UAE. Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Regarding Khalid Al Ameri's comment article The economic class divide is no barrier to mutual respect (July 15), companies based in Ras Laffan, on the outskirts of Doha, have created a very good environment for their employees.

Most of them reside in this huge complex, which is more like a city, and have every imaginable recreation facility.

It's my experience that most governments make laws to lessen discrimination due to whatever class system is prevalent in that society.

U Ubaid, Abu Dhabi

This article doesn't answer the main issue it brings up, which is gender bias within a class system.

Providing facilities for every type of activity to every member of society should be the mandate for all cities.

If you place 300,000 men in a camp without any women, how can these men act normally?

Men don't just blow off steam playing games or sport with other men. There needs to be interaction for emotional expression, cultural ties and family ties, among other things.

Taner Kay, UK

Sympathy for victim's family

'I want to confront my child's killer' (July 15) is among the most heart-wrenching and tragic news stories I have read here in the UAE for a very long time.

My heartfelt thoughts are with Esther Mwikamba's family.

I hope somebody sets up a support fund for her family in Mombasa, to at least help with the financial situation that they find themselves in.

Mamba Sna, Dubai

A lot of us come from Africa to work in Dubai (supposedly the safest place in the world), and we need to send some money home to our struggling families.

Who would think that any man would kick a young woman in the head enough to kill her? His family should pay this Kenyan family for the rest of their lives.

Tricia Sutherland, Dubai

What cost a life?

Drinking alcohol, sexual assault and racially motivated violence are not acceptable.

A sentence of four years does not reflect the severity this case deserves, nor the true values of the UAE.

The many protests against this light sentence should not go unheard.

My sympathy to the girl's family.

G Yung, Abu Dhabi

High butter price leaves bitter taste

It was great to read that food shops have been told not to raise their prices for Ramadan (Cost of the weekly shop plunges by 15 per cent, July 8).

However, there seems to be a new way to make people pay. On Saturday, I was at a supermarket looking for the usual local brand of butter I buy.

Surprisingly, there were no brands available at all except the supermarket's own brand, costing Dh22 for 500g of butter, nearly twice the price I normally pay for the UAE brand.

Is this how supermarkets intend to get around the price freeze? Will they just stop selling the brand-name products and replace them with their own brand so people have no option?

They just lost one customer.

Julie Gordon, Abu Dhabi

Delays penalise property investors

Regarding Nakheel seeks $15m case retrial (July 12), as far as I am aware no developer in the UAE has ever been found at fault for late delivery or non-delivery.

It is always the investor who has to bear the brunt, because he made the mistake of investing in the first place.

KB Vijayakumar, Dubai

Rush to the airport to see top rockers

In reference to Rush: they don't fade away (July 15), please explain how you had the chance to interview Geddy Lee and didn't at least pitch the idea of a Dubai concert?

Now I'll have to go to either Scotland or Germany next year to see Rush live.

Marland Jones, Dubai

Toss the coins and we'll all pay more

I enjoyed reading Have we had our fill of fils? (July 14), and agree with most of what Nick March writes.

His assertion that, with no small coins in circulation, most retailers will round the price up, rather than down, is not necessarily true.

From memory, when Australia got rid of its one and two cent coins in 1990, the supermarkets initially made a point of rounding down their prices, recognising that the goodwill created by doing so was better than the small profit to be made from rounding up.

Of course, shelf prices were soon adjusted upwards to make sure that they weren't losing out.

Brian Dunne, Abu Dhabi