National Day a celebration for everybody

A readers shares UAE National Day thoughts. Other topics: seatbelts, Fidel Castro and mental health.

A reader shares thoughts on the 45th UAE National Day. Silvia Razgova / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi

As we celebrated National Day over the weekend, the whole country has been lit up. Schools, malls, private companies, banks and government establishments are decorated with national flags and balloons to commemorate this glorious occasion.

It’s a time to thank every individual – Emiratis and expatriates – for all their hard work to make this country move ahead and boom.

It is the collective motivation and can-do attitude that has made this country a great place to be. The Government has always been by our side, doing its bit to support us all.

With major economic development projects achieved within a record time span, the country is now laying greater emphasis on the future. As the air fills with merriment, the public can access many great monuments and the popular attractions across the emirates.

I am an expatriate but I consider Dubai my home, a place where we have managed to move forward without looking back. Today we thrive in the UAE thanks to the visionary dedication of the country’s leaders.

Their patience, innovation and positive thinking has allowed society to grow and thrive while maintaining safety and security for all who live here.

I have not been able to make it to all the celebrations because of my work commitments, but I hold the spirit of the nation in my heart and my mind. Mathew Litty, Dubai

Fidel Castro’s real legacy

No leader swore greater allegiance to socialism than Cuba's Fidel Castro (Cuba mourns Fidel Castro ahead of memorials and four-day funeral procession, November 28).

Always seen in military fatigues, he was the only world leader in his region to have openly defied the United States.

His death at the age of 90 leaves a void in Cuban society – a society that has iconised him, along with that other famous revolutionary, Che Guevara.

The showdown involving the US, the Soviet Union and Cuba in the 1960s, which nearly led to a third world war, was cleverly averted through smart intervention by a young new American president, John F Kennedy.

The recent thaw in relations between America and Cuba – at the behest of outgoing president Barack Obama – was an ­olive branch long in the ­making.

AR Modak, South Africa

Debating mental health issues

It is very good to see that there is some understanding of mental issues (Mental health in the UAE: Three men open up about their battles and how they overcame them, November 30).

I have suffered over 17 years with depression anxiety since the sudden death of my children’s father. I know of several people in the UAE who are dealing with mental health issues but not getting the correct type of help.

Mental health issues are crippling and the more they are talked about openly, the better knowledge we get about these issues and the better they can be overcome.

Name withheld by request

Thank you, gentlemen, for having the courage to share. You are truly inspiring.

Veto Gamil, United States

Seat belt use will save lives

I am writing about the recent opinion piece by Sarah Rasmi concerning the use of seat belts for children (We need to change attitudes towards seat belts, November 29).

I nearly killed my own children once. They had to sit in the front of the car since the back seats were full of material.

That morning for the very first time I allowed them to sit in the front seat on the way to school and because they had bags, they were not wearing seat belts. We had a horrible crash. The car was a write-off and it was only the airbag that saved their lives.

I pulled them both out of the car in smoke and with blood on their faces. I laid them both on the nearby grass, then an ambulance came and took them to hospital.

I know I died inside that day. It was the very first time my children were not sitting in their booster seats secured by seat belts. It was also the last.

Name withheld by request