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Dear Stan, We would like to address our much valued customers of The Good Life Gallery & CafŽ through the columns of your community newspaper.

We, the Fadhul family, are moving to Australia in January. We have decided this after many years of planning and now is the right time for our children's sake in terms of schooling and all the other wonderful opportunities that we, as a family, hope to discover.

We are not closing the doors of The Good Life by any means, but logically, we are making some changes.

After much thought, we (Ahmed and Joanne) have decided to expand the gallery/ gift shop upstairs, offering more of the unique gifts we are renowned for, and (with a heavy heart) close the kitchens of The Good Life CafŽ.

We have provided a friendly, healthy option cafŽ service at the standard we have wanted for the past three years and although it is a constant effort to maintain (as for any food outlet), the cafŽ has been a success and we have enjoyed and appreciated the custom received.

We do feel that closing it is the best way to leave it - where it is remembered as a place where you, the customer, enjoyed going.

Although we will be closing our kitchens, we will continue to offer fresh healthy juices, hot beverages and soft drinks in a section of the cafŽ. We do encourage you to come upstairs as a place to relax, catch-up with friends or see what's new and enjoy this service at the same time.

This change came into effect as of December 15.

Although we do plan to commute to maintain our business on a regular basis, (more often Ahmed), we take this opportunity to thank you for your support and hope that you continue to patronise The Good Life Gallery as a convenient place to buy gifts, home accessories or frame your pictures with our well-known reliability and quality.

A family member who has been working closely with us over the past few years will be overseeing the operation of the business in our absence.

Hussain has experience in retail, public relations and is committed to continuing the good name we have built over the years. We can still be contacted for any reason by email at goodlifegallery @mail.com

Ahmed & Joanne

Fadhul,

The Good Life

Gallery & CafŽ.

Dear Stan,

I would like to thank you for the feature published this week in GulfWeekly on Riffa Views.

The year 2009 has been a challenging one for the global real estate industry and Riffa Views has not been exempt from the side-effects of this situation. But along 2009, despite the challenges, the project managed to continue progressing with small but steady evolution.

GulfWeekly has always been very supportive in taking the positive message of the community residing in Riffa Views to the broader Bahrain and we truly appreciate this.

Merry Christmas and all the best to GulfWeekly for 2010!

Karla Solano.

Dear Stan,

Nowadays ordinary readers like us can enjoy international newspapers and journals due to the advances in technology and proliferation of computers and internet as a result of hard work and dedication of innumerable people around the globe.

But News Corp and Microsoft now seem to have joined hands in an unholy alliance to stifle the free flow of information through the internet. They are hell bent on making more money by blocking the system in order to satisfy their unquenchable thirst for profit.

It appears that they are also trying to influence other players in the field to join hands with them and charge the users for their internet content, apparently in a bid to introduce a user pay system, sort of.

Nuruddin Azam,

Australia, by email.

Dear Stan,

I would like to thank you for the excellent coverage you have given for my health article (GulfWeekly, December 16 - 22).

Needless to say that media is to be used advantageously as in the case of 'Portuguese government restricting the use of salt'.

Such messages when carried out by you reaches the masses and have a very favourable effect.

Dr K_M_Vani.

Dear Stan,

Since the era of Eamonn De Valera in modern Ireland, many men have caused consternation amongst the Irish nation.

Few men, however, of the foreign ilk of Thierry Henry, have provoked such outrage at a blatant act of handball cheating which led to the decisive goal for France in the football World Cup 2010 qualifier against Ireland in Paris last month.

Clearly, the result and the qualification of France at Ireland's expense must be abided by given that the rules of 'the beautiful game' state that the 'decision of the referee is final'.

The subsequent failure of FIFA to introduce technology to rule on disputed goals as the IRB has done to such efficient forward-thinking effect, at international level, allowing each member country to rule on its validity at national level, ensures that the 'beautiful game' remains tarnished in the emerald isle and beyond ad infinitum.

Ryan Padraig Kelly,

N Ireland, by email.