Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
We would like to express our gratitude to this beautiful island, which has become our second home since 1992.
Recently, we celebrated our Silver Jubilee wedding anniversary in the midst of our friends in Bahrain with a lot of high spirits, happiness, joy and jubilation.
Can the authorities seriously be considering banning certain categories of expats from driving in Bahrain? Can someone tell me how many expats are guilty of driving offences compared to locals, perhaps also comparing it in percentage terms as I believe two thirds of the population is made up of expats?
I would also like to find out what the Bahrain Federation of Expatriate Associations (BFEA) is doing on our behalf, as it appears to have gone silent despite hogging the newspaper headlines in recent weeks about how we are all supporting the kingdom in London and around the world.
This is an issue close to our hearts and a cause that needs to be championed. I am a mother and I’m worried. I am not allowed to work here but need to take my children to and from junior school, as well as to out-of-school activities, and simply wish to be able to live a normal life in a kingdom which offers an inadequate public transport system and expensive taxis as the only alternatives to driving a car.
I thought expats, who have chosen to live, work and bring up our families here, and stayed loyal to the country during and after the unrest when others left, had been promised a voice.
Who asked us?
Concerned Saar mother, by email.
I wonder what the Whisperer and his friends will think of Qatar’s new dress code advisory as he was so quick to criticise the actions of a town in Austria in last week’s issue of GulfWeekly aimed at Arab visitors.
The new Reflect Your Respect campaign, which officially launches in Qatar next month, is designed to help Western tourists learn about local modest clothing standards.
In one drawing from the campaign, several stick figures are shown in different outfits, including one in a short skirt and another in tight-fitting leggings, with Xs underneath them to indicate they’re inappropriate.
‘If you are in Qatar, you are one of us’, one flyer reads. ‘Help us preserve Qatar’s culture and values. Please dress modestly in public places’. The materials, below, are being printed in both Arabic and English.
You can’t have it both ways, although I tend to side with the Whisperer that people should wear what they are comfortable in, tourists of all nationalities should be unconditionally welcomed to whatever place they visit and, as we French so aptly say, vive la différence!
Patrick, Riffa Views.
Manama Toastmasters, the leading Toastmaster club in Bahrain and credited with spawning the growth of the movement on the island and the Middle East, is celebrating its Golden Jubilee.
The club was founded in 1964 and today has a varied, vibrant membership of more than 54 young men and women from all walks of life
As a part of the celebrations, a short story contest in English entitled ‘Sheaffer’s -Yes, you can write’ is being organised by the club.
This is the first-of-its-kind contest in Bahrain conducted by the Toastmasters that will provide the kingdom’s many talented local and multi-national residents a chance to put their thoughts into words and weave a short, sensational story.
The contest is being organised by me with the full support from the club’s president Dr Thuraya Juma and the chairman of the Golden Jubilee Organising Committee Vijay Boloor, both avid GulfWeekly readers and writers themselves.
Being a professional educator, Dr Thuraya fully endorses the learning process in story writing and is optimistic about an overwhelming response.
The contest is open to all Toastmasters within Bahrain and everyone is encouraged to participate. It is an opportunity for Toastmasters to showcase their ability to think, describe, imagine, visualise, express and present a compelling, satisfying, well-constructed short story not exceeding 1,500 words, excluding title.
Toastmasters International is an educational club that trains its members to enhance their leadership and communication skills and to write and deliver speeches using body language, voice modulation, pauses and emotion. All this and more can be accomplished in a short story just as compellingly and convincingly.
Participants are urged to take risks to write an unforgettable, inspiring story by using the five key components: plot, character, narrative, setting and conflict.
The last date for submitting entries is July 15. Attractive cash and gift prizes will be awarded for the top three stories judged by a panel.
To register please send an email aspaier@gmail.com or call 39873770 for details. There is no entry fee, however participants have to register and complete the application process.
Club member Sheela Pai.
