What a tragedy and a shameful waste of life (A grim harvest of dugong, March 5). Dugongs are such precious, peaceful creatures. I am tired of hearing about the pollution, senseless killings and constant damage that man inflicts on our oceans. All this because we are always chasing a profit, regardless of the consequences. When will we wake up to ourselves and stop the carnage?
Sylvia Davey, Dubai
It’s sad that fishing nets contributed to 85 per cent of deaths of Abu Dhabi’s dugongs in the past five years.
According to Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, most of the deaths have been caused by a certain type of fishing net, which is banned in this country.
I wonder how fishermen can use them openly if they are illegal. Clearly, the regulations need to be enforced. A lack of it will cause irreparable damage to our environment that will harm all of us in the long term.
Andrea Richardson, Dubai
Tinted windows at the root of all road troubles
Thank you for highlighting what I see as a major explanation for bad driving and bad drivers in the UAE (Dark window tints are a clear danger, March 4). Forget about drivers with ADHD, not enough radars, race cars on the road: it's over-tinting on windows that is at the heart of the matter.
Not being able to make eye contact with other drivers – or with pedestrians and cyclists – dehumanises the driving experience. Hiding behind the cloak of anonymity, queue-jumping, use of excessive speed, lane swerving and flagrant disregard for safety and the rights of others becomes easy for those who believe – and it appears there are many – that the road has been created only for them. Additionally, laws concerning mobile phone use and child and adult seat belts are unenforceable with heavily tinted windows.
I don’t buy the “keep it cool” rationale for tinted windows since any decent air-conditioning unit will cool a car very quickly even in extreme temperatures.
Driving on public roads is, by definition, a public and not a private activity. Laws for the safety of the public must therefore be enforced.
Although I’m glad to learn that there’s a potential Dh500 fine for over-tinting of windows, I’d like to see the fine increased, and stiffer penalties and business closures for car shops providing service that exceeds the legal limit. Let’s expose the “black raiders of the roads” and make our roads safer.
L Kelley, Dubai
Arabic teaching has to improve
With regard to your article Arabic 'at risk of becoming foreign language' (March 3), I think the biggest problem is with the curriculum and the method in which Arabic is taught to children. More realistic goals should also be set.
For instance, my child, who is just learning Arabic, is being made to write sentences when she doesn’t have enough Arabic vocabulary to do so.
The power of language is in the ability to communicate. Why teach modern standard Arabic when no one uses it in their daily conversations?
We live in the Gulf, so they should teach children to speak in the Gulf or Emirati dialect.
I think the KHDA and the Ministry of Education should also figure out the number of expatriate students that have achieved any level of fluency in Arabic.
My child goes to a school that teaches Arabic five to six times a week, each session lasting for an hour. If she is dedicating that much time on a foreign language, I’d expect her to be able to hold a simple conversation. But that does not happen in most cases.
I think we are missing out on a huge opportunity to build the next generation of Arabic speakers.
Name withheld by request
Did Magna Carta achieve its goal?
The video showing Queen Elizabeth marking the anniversary of the Magna Carta is poignant (Queen Elizabeth marks 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, February 25). The Magna Carta established the groundwork for democracy as we know it. However, the abiding principle of equality has yet to be realised in so many nations, including the one where it was first introduced.
Robin Shake, Dubai