Author: Zara

Our leaders have the wisdom, foresight and ability to envision the future, which makes the fatherly speech delivered by His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qassimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, an extension of the intellectual speeches that were given by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyab, may God bless his soul.

The speech of HH Sheikh Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qassimi, Ruler of Sharjah, which he gave to the young people is deemed an “intellectual framework” and an honest motivator of work that benefits the nation and the citizen. It is a treasure of wisdom delivered by HH to his sons, the young people of this cherished nation.

Our responsibility is large in extracting the lessons and morals from the words of HH, the Ruler of Sharjah. All the institutions operating throughout the State also have a major role in education and raising awareness. This role should not be limited to educational and cultural institutions as it is a national and collective responsibility imposed on everyone. All officials should handle it with utmost seriousness and care.

Today’s young people need actual and ongoing awareness which should start at home, continue at school and university and all stages that our youth go through to protect them from falling victims to the media and foreign agendas that try to use our youth to serve their goals.

 

Note: This article was published in Al Khaleej newspaper, Page 9, Issue 11998, Date 25/3/2012

Many public and private institutions seek to reward their employees with the aim of encouraging others towards studious and committed work, but there is a point that should be raised: why neglectful persons are not punished to be an example for those who perform their jobtasks and duties carelessly? It should be taken into consideration that there are many careless employees who do not perform their job tasks, assuming that they will not be held liable for their negligence.

This behavior and manner lead to a spirit of indifference and negligence in work. Those concerned with public welfare recognize that psychological frustration leads to destruction of the human soul, then the destruction of the surrounding environment. This is the dilemma of the seemingly developed world or those who cannot be ignored due to deterioration in the development and progress fields.

It is known that most annual reports on the performance of employees are copycats of those of the previous year. These reports protect those in charge to prove to senior executives that work is progressing well.

Perhaps this situation is the logical interpretation of the phenomenon that some persons occupy some positions although not being adequately qualified or competent, whereas some institutions ignore national competent personswho are unfortunately substituted by personnel from other nationalities. They depend on the moods and interests of the investors whether individuals or institutions that pay those foreigners millions of dirhams each year.

Is it possible that the state lacks competent nationalswho are capable of running many institutions either public or private after forty years of founding the federal state? If it possible that there are no academic competent persons to run academic institutions such as universities and institutes, or is it the case that “cultural cringe” still dominates our lives until now?

One of the main factors of frustration is that some positions are assigned to foreigners whose only qualifications are their blue or green eyes.

Within this framework, it should be highlighted that many nationals have asserted their obvious success in many institutions that they run with high praiseworthy efficiency and achievement.

The dilemma starts with those executives who fear for their material and moral gains, hence, they conspire against the nation and nationals.

Lately, nationalization and its importance has been a hot topic, but it is not rightly implemented without knowledge the majority of decision makers either on the federal or local levels and even in most GCC countries who claim that they seek to implement the job nationalization policy and give their nationals priority in holding positions, but unfortunately this is not what we see in the major institutions such as government and semi-government universities.

It is also noted in the media and means of communication that nationals are excluded under false and subjective reasons as some believe in the importance of qualifying the nationals.

The educated citizen is proficient in many foreign languages beside Arabic; he/she can use efficiently modern technology, etc., but early retirement is high in demand which is an indication of the state of frustration and giving up before blue-eyed foreigners and white collars.

Perhaps a naïve yet painful question comes to mind: Why the home countries of these experts do not make use of their genius nationals instead of exporting them to the GCC countries?

Haven’t we realized that those foreigners are a tool of suppressing creativity of a person in his own country or is it the case that satisfying foreigners has become more important to us? The safety valve for everyone is the home front, while foreign countries have a number of agendas and plans, and still treat the region as a gold mine. These so-called experts do not hold qualifications or expertise except in the minds of some people. As the proverb goes, one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel.

You may be surprised at the title of the article and may think that itcannot possibly be true and that the idea that no passwords will be needed to log into your email account, your computer or a certain site or social network is impossible or hard to believe at least now. Honestly, your assumption is true; how is it possible to dispense with passwords?

Nowadays, hacking and piracy have become common and it has become easy for hackers to steal other people’s passwords by only using your computer or browsing some of its contents. Passwords today have become one of the necessities of this age of technology. Dispensing with passwords is like giving up your privacies to millions of people in the open sea called the Internet. Despite the importance of passwords, IBM scientists predict thatwithin five years, computers and smart phones will be able to mind-read, i.e. your smartphone will be able to read your mind to perform a particular action without the need to press a button or say it loud. This technology is similar to Siri on Apple’s new iPhone 4S.

IBM asserted that there are many other technological innovations that will see the light soon, foremost among these major changes, according to IBM, is disappearance of passwords which will be substituted by “biometric data”. Your biological makeup will be the key to your individual identity.

Among the technology companies that have started adopting this approach, which is dispensing with passwords, is Google, through its latest version of Android that can read facial features in place of passwords to log into a computer, or log into your email account. In the near future, I believe that the no-password approach will not be as startling. The process of creating your password, typing it and remembering it for multiple accounts and log-ins will sooner or later be something from the past. You will not need to remember it or write it down on a paper locked away in fear someone might see it. You will not need to hide your fingers while typing your password at the ATM in fear an eye might catch it. Within the next few years, your password will be (You), so make sure “you” don’t get stolen.

 

Peace be upon you,

The words of HH Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister and EIDA Vice-Chairman, during the ceremony of honoring the work team of Sheikh KhalifaAward for Government Excellence program, represented a harmonious, integrated and intellectual system on distinction and the distinguished, creativity and creators and the endless and limitless dreams and ambitions of our leaders.

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We should stop at these words…

When HH addressed the winners of the Minister of Interior Award for Excellence in its first round, he was addressing us all, we the sons and daughters of this dear country, much cherished to our hearts, this country that always gives us like a mother who is full of love, warmth, care and affection.

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HH’s words about excellence, his call for developing public service and his assertion that it is not a luxury but a national and moral duty, puts us in confrontation with ourselves, our responsibilities and our obligations towards our country that we love and cherish.

Creative work, as HH says, has become an integral part of the responsibility towards the people and nation distinguished by its leadership and people.

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What great values and noble meanings!

They are firm values and deep meanings, those that underline the words of HH about distinction and innovation, loyalty and gratitude, present and future generations, and most importantly the valuable trust we carry in our deep hearts towards our country, leadership, society and future of our generations!

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We are proud to belong to this leading school of thought, the school of HH from which we learn day after day more giving and devotion, more excellence and innovation and more loyalty and gratitude.

Let HH’s words be a roadmap for us all, we the team at EIDA where we belong. In order to achieve its vision and goals, we should exert our utmost effort. This nation, while we continue on our journey of giving, excellence and innovation, deserves a lot from all of us.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters

Let’s Renew our Commitment

To benefit from the pure wisdom of our unique leaders, and learn more from their honest guidelines, deep vision, noble goals and refined purposes.

I ask God to help us all do our job honestly and preserve the trust bestowed upon us by our leaders; to continue the journey of honest work in order to achieve their vision, and make their dreams and ambitions a reality…

No one agrees to error. This is a strict principle. However, this is not the end; disagreement alone does not represent the minimum level of protection. It is necessary then to pay attention in daily work to error, starting from the possibility of its occurrence not on purpose to errors committed on purpose to grave violations that may cause corruption.

Each individual and public employee has the primary role of being cautious and diligent as well as complying with regulations and mechanisms and be truly responsible through awareness and deliberateness rather than leaving matters to chance.

The institution also has its role in direction and organization then monitoring and following up and applying the necessary penalties. This is the way to identify errors before they are committed and before they multiply and take severer shapes.

Control starts by oneself and an institution is a group of individuals with relations set out in the regulations and organizational structures and according to the accurate job descriptions so that duties, positions and roles are well-defined and known. Thus, assessment is done based on this knowledge.

This awareness should be based on the notion that a small error is significant and that a small error may lead to a bigger one and corruption takes place through negligence and accruement of errors whose committers thought at the beginning that they are marginal and insignificant.

After all, fire starts if a spark is underestimated?

As life and work have become more complicated and a cause for worry and as more and more daily chores await us with tight deadlines, this does not allow us to provide sing performance that is carefully planned and done in a manner that achieves success. This might make us lose our enthusiasm for work, hence losing the ability to enjoy it and enjoy life in general. We have to ask ourselves:

What success are we aiming for?

What does success mean?

The answer might be hard and vague for some, especially that success is not ultimate. There are times when success is on our side and other times when failure is our companion.

Successful people do not give up. When they face failure, they get their act together and continue their journey towards success. To be successful in life, you have to set achievable goals, and then you can set goals that are fairly more difficult and work on achieving them and so on.

Because success is not the ultimate goal around which our life revolves, the actual goal is to continue in the path of the success you have achieved which in turns means to continue self-development and working to be always the best in what you do and seek to be the best in your field of work and the profession you chose. You have to seek also to be the best leader, best spouse, father, mother, friend, son, daughter, etc.

Our lives do not have to be vain, whether we are successful or not, as any kind of work has to be defined by an array of expectations before commencing it. We have to be aware of the criteria upon which we shall evaluate ourselves or be evaluated by others.

None of us is 100% successful in any type of work they do, but the goal is to exert our utmost effort, learn from past experiences and mistakes and fully grasp this information to be able to carry out the task assigned to us in a better way in the future. According to Jeffrey J. Mayer:

Everything in life depends upon your frame of reference. Where you are, where you came from, and where you want to go.

These are five things you’ll find every successful person has in common:

1. They have a dream.
2. They have a plan.
3. They have specific knowledge or training.
4. They’re willing to work hard.
5. They don’t take no for an answer.

Success starts with a state of mind. You must believe that you’ll be successful in order to become a success.

That’s why successful people have a dream; they always have well-defined purposes and definite goals. They have ambition; they always want to accomplish something; they are also focused and disciplined and are willing to work hard and go the extra mile as they have a burning desire to succeed. They are courageous enough to take responsibility for their actions and admit their mistakes.

In short: A person can be successful if he/she thinks success lies in willpower and belief that success can be achieved. Success means the achievement of several positive results that eventually make us happy, comfortable and satisfied.

The extended festivities of the National Day this year gave way to opportunities and lessons excluding the conventional preaching. Festivities were mainly celebrating forty years of work and giving, hence, its lessons were inspired by reality and visual ideology in practice and application.

Then What?

The union spirit that we have dearly and sincerely embraced in all aspects and in our hearts and minds should now be transformed into programs and projects. Before a citizen contributes to the success of national projects through teamwork, the citizen should transform into a project. Each individual citizen should consider the future and always question himself every morning and every night about his duties and whether they are satisfied with what they have accomplished for that day. Each individual must be the judges for their performance regardingtheir family, society and nation.

The most important lesson to learn from the 40^thNational Day is the love flowing throughout the nation. Citizens have expressed their belonging to the nation with high transparency, spontaneity and sincerity. After the National Day, this buoyant spirit should continue to flourish into an ideology.

It is noteworthy that UAE citizens and residents after the 40^th National Day are not the same as before it. It is totally convenient to spread this awareness in the coming days, months and years, especially in schools, universities and youth circles as they represent the future of this country.

Yes, we have been nostalgic about the past on the occasion of the 40^th National Day but this glorious anniversary definitely leads to the future and the future is the responsibility of everyone.

Amid happiness, smiles and festivities for the 40^th national day

Everyone is in full preparation to celebrate

Al Rashidiya was no exception

It is Al Rashidiya’s identity center

Its festive events are magnificent

Its participation has completed the celebration

Flags outside are flying

And inside tunes of loyalty are playing

Young and old, all are singing in love of their nation

Wearing their best costumes and smiles

We are showered with questions and answers

Children singing the UAE national anthem

We applaud

Al Rashidiyaidentity center:

Today, you deserve to represent

Your event was a success

We say:

Congratulations for spectacular success and fruitful celebration from a persistent director

To hardworking supervisors to distinguished employees, we say:

God bless you and lead you to all the success you deserve …

Responsibility isone of the main words associated with the national day. This word is brimming with implications consisting of a wonderful mix of magic and reality. Islam tells us that, “Everyone of you is a guardian and is responsible for his subjects”.

It starts from family to society to nation to country. Responsibility is distributed among everyone to reach a more prosperous present and better future. If responsibility is a beautiful and expressive word, it is, in our age, in dire need of definition and outlining so that it becomes action and not merely words. True responsibility reflects on the future of the people and the country.

We can attain prosperity based on deep awareness and understanding of the concept of responsibility.

Responsibility has requirements and terms. It is awareness and a history of dealing with one’s self and others. Responsibility is to appreciate the value of time and collectively and individually to seek to improve performance and achieve production.

Responsibility is to attempt to be responsible every single day from early morning to late night. We should be responsible before ourselves first; hence, we develop the idea of self-criticism with transparency and clarity without self-reproach or rebuking others.

Responsibility is to fully absorb the meaning of being Emiratis.

It is to belong to the United Arab Emirates and be willing to bear responsibility from the smallest task to sacrificing life.

This is the responsibility of the national day; national days. The Emirati year has 365 national days.

 

While the 40^th national day approaches, ideas are put on paper and flow like the seasons of life. It is writing derived from the ink of the nation and its alphabet.

Today, we compare between the weeks of celebrating the national day and other regular weeks, before and after 2 December. Institutions today are racing and competing to excel in their celebrations. Everyone wants to have the most creative and distinguished festivities. Everyone wants their celebration days to be the best and the most beautiful as if these few days summarize the last forty years, or the last four decades of our lives, which are really our life.

Our cities, villages and streets, especially the coastal ones, witnessed spectacular events of festivities. The celebration is an embodiment of the glory and role of the march. The last forty years are the march of a people and a nation. After the festivities and paradesare over, we should remember that the main march will continueand will persist onlyby the support, participation and contribution of everyone. Each person participating in the festivities is invited to take an effective, profound and insightful participation in the Grand National march.

How?

Each in their position indeed, it is not meant for this article to turn into a piece of composition that is taught at schools, But the words here are well-planned and elaborate. Words here are derived from the heart and mind. The role of people participating in the parades and celebrations is important and recognized, but your role still goes on after the national day so that all our days become national days deserving celebration.

Whether you are a participant or a spectator, there is no compromise in the national march. Merely watching and passiveness are not acceptable or tolerated.

You are not a separate part of the scene; you are rather at the center of it. You are the person and the tools used. You are your future and the future of others.