Category: Uncategorized

10/04/2013

The tribe is calling Antara to repel the aggression of those who have raided it, but Antara is leaning, smiling sometimes and chipping eyebrows sometimes while pressing his fingers quickly on BlackBerry Messenger screen and retorting “To hell with war and with headache”. Laila, on the other hand, is waiting to see Qais, who lost his shoes tracing for her while his head was spinning dizzily in despair. He, however, is busy responding to fans with his poetic Tweets on Twitter and putting his photos at sunset outside the tents of his tribe Instagram.

I do not mean to joke inasmuch as I wish to refer to a new world that is being slowly formed around us while we are heedless of it. A quiet change eradicates reluctance smoothly. That era in which a father used to call his son and the son replies “yes, father'” on the spot has come to an end. Currently, a father needs to call dozens of times until he feels his blood is boiling, while his son is busy with his mobile and complainingly writes “BRB” to the one he is chatting with before reluctantly responding to his father.

His sister, meanwhile, is begging her mother to allow her to go out to buy something she needs badly, but instead she goes to Dubai Mall where she takes a photo of a cappuccino cup and a piece of cake, writes “Breakfast Time” on it before sending it on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Path and her mobile. She only needs to paste the photo on her Abaya and Sheila to think that she has liberated Al Aqsa Mosque with this cappuccino!

We are witnessing the birth of a new family, which is quite different from the actual family. A person’s family has become that group of people whom he is impatient to read their messages on blackberry Messenger or WhatsApp and talk with them even when he is under his blanket. They are the first to search for when he leaves a cinema where the majority of people outdoors are searching their mobile screens.

They are also the first to look for when he wakes up in the morning after heavily opening his eyes, which are stimulated only by a broadcast from somebody or a message from another. Nor can he sleep unless his mobile is placed close to his head; he sleeps, of course, after his head has spun dizzily as a result of the many tweets he has just read. They are those who bring pleasure to him, even as he eats with his family or watch TV with his actual family, and even during business meetings, where his fingers play the chat buttons under the table!

It is them who stir his inclinations and shape his orientations; if he finds them praising somebody, he will join them, and so will he when they slander another. He behaves so only because he does not want to be at odds with the group or presumable family. The personal orientations continue to be shaped until we discover suddenly that everybody likes to publish proverbs and poems on Twitter and to take photos of a cup of coffee, sunset and red roses set aside for romantic purposes on Instagram, signifying “be at ease with us, Romeo!

These figures of the means of social communication are appalling and can no longer be overlooked or believed that they are just sites and pass time. This is simply because they are driving the orientations of an entire generation in a calm but extremely effective manner. Through this slow movement that does not raise any suspicion, they create a world of a different intellectual nature, outstanding behaviors, an ideological system and a background of their own.

They most often form trans-border gatherings cross-border groupings, where orientations are handled and then marketed by the most experienced, eloquent and popular man for acceptance by many people, though there is no local justification for these orientations in his society, creed or homeland. It is actually a feeling of unwillingness to object for fear he might be rejected by these families, the number of followers might drop, or the number of those who like or re-tweet what is written in those sites will become less!

Twitter has 500 million subscribers who send 177 million tweets per day, while out of seven people on earth there is one subscriber to Facebook and these generate $1.5 billion every 3 months for the website, according to recent statistics. The visitors of YouTube, on the other hand, spend 326,000 years of browsing per month, at a daily rate of 2 billion views of those dissimilar and unrestrained content, particularly for the young generation, which is easy to be shaped and led. Nearly 10 million photos are daily uploaded on Instagram and wherever you go, you will find that establishing friendships is easier than ordering a Karak tea in an Indian restaurant!

The effects on the previous generations were mostly positive and were embodied in the parents, school, quarter friends who are well-monitored by parents and visual and audible media, which are strictly in line with the traditions and good taste, while the examples appreciated by the society and conveyed to the new generation are embodied in the Prophet (PBUH), nation’s key figures and a great personality like Sheikh Zayed, may Allah have mercy upon him. In contrast, the effect of a family has immensely diminished, surrendering to Twitter and its companions. Tweets have now the most impressive effect and are all the rage for the new generation under the pretext of “be independent” and do not be the “son of papa and mama” and that of course in order to be the son of that cawer or delinquent. A glance at those examples who have the highest number of followers on Twitter will show that they combined “the dead through beating, and the dead through falling from a height”.  They are as follows: Justin Bieber (37 million followers), Lady Gaga (35 million) and Katy Perry (34 million).

I am not calling on people to be narrow because this not the solution, nor am I  calling for ban because this is impossible. Yet, it is important to make a plan on a larger scale that brings a positive alternative or can minimize the negative impact of these media and direct them in such a manner that helps the new generation appreciate our values ​​and privacy and somehow brings the focus back to the real family, where parents are hopefully required to look after their children instead of running after more business or wandering day and night in malls; at that hour, Antara may leave the Blackberry and come to rescue his tribe!

07/04/2013

Science and knowledge are the most important weapon in our present time, and advanced nations and countries are keen on providing their citizens with science and knowledge in their bid to come in top places among their peers in the world. The UAE and its prudent leadership have paid most attention to science and knowledge by encouraging citizens to seek science, search for knowledge and continue to learn in order to attain the highest academic degrees in all fields.

The Emirates Identity Authority was inspired by the prudent leadership’s vision in this connection; it believed in science and its role and worked hard to be in the lead and occupy a prestigious position among government organizations across the UAE. As a result, the Emirates ID turned into one of the most important authorities and organizations that supported and motivated their employees to obtain university degrees and complete their higher studies. For this purpose, the Emirates ID took a package of decisions, which made it easy for each employee interested in resuming education in all academic and knowledge fields and this helped most of the employees enrol in the UAE various institutes and universities.

This leading policy followed by the Emirates ID reflected positively on the performance of employees, who competed over obtaining high degrees as this would help the Emirates ID achieve its goals and accomplish its strategy.

The Emirates ID made a good initiative to the satisfaction of its employees by morally encouraging them to learn and providing financial incentives that would help them enrol in universities and institutes. This encouraged many of them to seize the opportunity and consequently many Emirates ID employees joined educational foundations to give a bright image of their organization, which believed in science as a pathway towards achieving more prosperity and progress, improving services and seeking excellence.

Motivating employees financially and morally to learn helped increase their job satisfaction and strengthened both their sense of affiliation to the Emirates ID and their feeling that they were working in an organization that valued ​​its employees and spared no effort to give them the best. This, in turn, motivated them to provide the best services to customers.

I believe I am lucky because I am an employee of the Emirates ID, which motivated me to resume my study. By means of this article, I would like to thank the Higher Management of our esteemed authority for its constructive initiatives offered to the employees which confirm how keen it is on improving the status of its employees and supporting them to achieve their ambitions.

04/03/2013

In her recent address to the 4th Congress of the Arab Women Organization in Algeria, Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union,Supreme Chairperson of Family Development Foundation and Chairwoman of the Supreme Council of Motherhood & Childhood, talked about the outstanding position occupied by Emirati women in all fields and how they became a key partner in the development and advancement of the society.HH Sheikha Fatima asserted that the UAE boasted of Emarati women’s outstanding achievements in all fields, refined educational and scientific attainment and diverse roles thatsignificantlycontributedto the development and progress of their society.

What HH Sheikha Fatima said reflectsan actual reality where Emirati women proved to be capable of efficiently discharging the tasks assigned to them in all national worksites. An Emarati woman is a minister, a Federal National Council member, a judge and a diplomat and has a prominent and influential presence in the UAE overall development through their full participation alongside men in all worksites and production areas, with the business sector witnessing a hectic activity bysmall and medium entrepreneurs or the owners of huge businesses of great influence on the market and the economy. Women alsofill 66 per cent of the government sectorjobs, 30 per cent of whom hold leading positions associated with decision-making and 15 per cent fill technical jobs includingphysicians, teachers, pharmacists and nurses. In addition, women have joined the regular armed forces, police and customs.

This privileged position clearly indicates that women are in constant development for the better because there is 1) a firm belief in their role by the prudent leadership led by President His Highness Sheikh KhalifaBin Zayed Al Nahyan, may Allah protect him, and keenness on creating the appropriate environment for moving to wider horizons in all fields, on the grounds that this is a key aspect of the of empowermentstage aimed at maximizing the participation of all categories of the Emirati society in the process of comprehensive and sustainable development, and 2) there is ongoing support by HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak “or “Mother of the Nation” who spares no effort to improve the conditions of women and enable them to join all fields of activity, whether through her initiatives or through her special role in woman concerned organizations, which have been able to devised strategies and policies that empower Emirati women and streamline their role in all areas of national action.

The UAE has become an example to follow in the empowerment of women; it is ahead ofmany countries of the world in that itsConstitution stipulates that men andwomen are equal and enjoy the same rights and duties, including the right to education, work, get equal pay with men, own property, managemoney and business and other legislative gains to guarantee their constitutional rights. Apart from equal pay and promotion opportunities, the laws even stipulate that additional guarantees should be provided for protecting working women such as prohibition of their involvement in hazardous,arduous or harmful work from both the health and moral viewpoints. hence, it was only natural for the UAE to be electedas member of the Executive Board of The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women for a term of three years, starting from the beginning of this yearand ending on December 31, 2015.

24/03/2013

Emirates Identity Authority contributes greatly in supporting the union march and achieving progress in the United Arab Emirates, by being one of the most important government institutions providing demographical data to decision makers, which helps the country in planning for a prosperous and a successful future for the coming generations, so each one of them can perform his role in supporting the progress and success march experienced by the country.

The main goal of the authority is represented in identifying and confirming the identity of each individual living on the land of this giving country, through the “Smart” ID card which includes a number that is linked the biological characteristics of its carrier, this number is unique and is linked to the person for life, which would contribute to reinforcing the National and Individual security.

The ID card should contribute in facilitating the government transactions for every ID card holder, and to the electronic transfer in the country through the advanced applications which the card possesses and the infrastructure developed by the authority for this purpose.

The authority contributed effectively in creating job opportunities for citizens and became among the most important advanced government authorities in the field of localization, in addition to its effective and important role in reinforcing the National Identity, which is what makes more proud of being an employee there, working hand in hand with all my colleagues to upgrade the authority’s status towards achieving more progress and success.

All my thanks and appreciation goes to the Emirates Identity Authority for their efforts and endeavors in serving the nation and the citizen, which shows the wisdom of the great leadership of our country.

Long live our beloved country the United Arab Emirates, and long live the great and precious leader, His Highness the President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan –may Allah keep him- and may Allah have mercy on the soul  of the Late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may Allah rest his soul.

19/03/2013

With spontaneous from the heart words, H.E. Dr. Eng. Ali Mohammed Al Khouri, Director General of Emirates Identity Authority, congratulated the work team when it was announced that Emirates ID won the “Sheikh Saqer Government Excellence Award” for the “Distinguished Federal Unit”, among the government quality award in its seventh session 2012.

Though, if we went back to the owner of this achievement and the founder of this excellence, we would see that it was in fact H.E. the Director General.

As he was the guide urging his institutional system to apply and practice the excellence standards in their daily performance, and he is the one who plans, develops and follows up to provide the prestigious services provided by the authority to its customers, and that have contributed directly in the authority winning the first place for the distinguished federal unit.

H.E. the director general deserves from the employees at the authority to say: “we thank you for the excellence, and you have made us proud” despite that, H.E took the step and dedicated the award to his work team, which represents the strength of his institutional leadership and his known modesty.

We congratulate our director general his noble winning, which was rightfully earned, and a distinguish to be thanked for, as it is an accolade for the Emirates Identity Authority and for the march of excellence in the government work at the beloved UAE.

We are always exhorted by our Islamic religion to select beautiful names and nicknames and avoid terms that might hurt the feelings of others. Allah Almighty commanded us to do so when He said in Surat Al Hujurat: “O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule [another] people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule [other] women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by [offensive] nicknames. Wretched is the name of disobedience after [one’s] faith. And whoever does not repent – then it is those who are the wrongdoers.”

Our Prophet (PBUH) also commanded us in many traditions to avoid using any words or doing any actions that involve contempt of people. He further urged us not to envy, hate and look down to one another.

Likewise, Islam urges us to call people by the names and nicknames they most like.

Individuals with special needs are regarded as a significant and effective part in the society and play a key role in building their country and accomplishing successive achievements for the name of their country to be high in the various assemblies and areas. Recently, the word “disabled” has been repeatedly used when talking about those with special needs or anything of concern to them. Actually, this world may leave a negative impact on them and hurt their feelings, particularly when the person concerned is a child. This is because the word may be firmly established in the child’s mind and stuck in his/her memory, remaining with him/her until he/she grows older, which may lead to a negative effect on his/her social relations.

A positive attribute such as “individuals with special needs” or “individuals with difficulty” gives a good and comfortable impression to the person who suffers from a dysfunction in some organs of his/her body and causes him/her to feel that he/she is an integral part of the society, an efficient and productive person and that what he/she suffers from does not hinder him/her from making progress and advancing towards achieving such accomplishments that many of his able-bodied peers have failed to make.

A lot of individuals with special needs possess talents and qualities that can be developed and crystallized, enabling them to integrate into the society and make achievements that serve their country and society. Likewise, many individuals with special needs may outdo many members of the society in this field of activity because a disabled person is he/she who has something wrong in his/her morals and not who suffers from a disease, injury or damage in one of his/her organs that he/she has had nothing to do with and has played no role in causing it to happen.

 

14/03/2013

In the morning or even in the evening, I run the engine of my car, heading for my worksite in Fujairah. I arrive there earlier than the scheduled time while I am full of energy and vitality and very elegant.

The iron traffic barrier is openedand I enter the registration center and see my place in the lobby waiting for me.

I put my finger over the plastic biometric time attendance machine fixed to the wall, salute my colleagues and take my place behind the reception desk.

The glass door in front of me begins to work hydraulically, receivingcustomers and leaving to me the task of fulfilling their requirements.

I put a smile on my face whenever the door is opened and strive for my smile to be integrated, coherent and flexible before a customer arrives at my place.

A smile should remain consistent regardless of the mood of the customer. I try as much as possible to adapt as a chameleon, changingmy color as required by the case andthe surrounding circumstances.

If a customer is in a state of full satisfaction, I offer my services at will.

But if a customer is nervous, I try to absorb his anger, calm him down and even put a smile on his face by offering him/her candy. Sometimes, I am lucky but sometimes I am rebuked without a guilt.

This continues until the office hours are over: The door opens and closes, I put a smile on my face whenever a customer comes in and try to keep smiling as much as possible throughout the day or the evening.

It is a state of emergency that does not come to and until the office hours are over when I salute my colleagues and use the biometric time attendance machine for departure.

My day ends; the charger of my smile is no longer working and I am not elegant any more. I start my car back home for my daily life.

I get ready to charge my smile again; tomorrow is another day in serving my country and a smile is the basis of work in the Emirates Identity Authority.

19/02/2013

Amid people’s concerns and many responsibilities, requesting some official documents and updating them to achieve some transactions, becomes a tedious and tiring matter not everyone can bear, and the ones who do, would bear it grudgingly for the time, effort and money such tasks would cost them, as institutions are far apart, and achieving transactions is different in terms of the time and how it is done, from one federal and local institution to another. And if we as youth possess all the material and human means to achieve our transaction, we can only imagine the suffering which the elderly and people with special needs in the country have to go through when having to complete this kind of transactions and in preparing many documents required to achieve their transitions, which are considered their lifeblood.

The United Arab Emirates is considered today among the countries which has made great strides in the area of electronic services provided by the country’s federal and local institutions, but the reality in some institutions confirms that the progress in achieving electronic transactions is not moving at the same pace, as there is disparity between one department and another, and between one minister and another. Furthermore, despite our keenness as a country on achieving transactions electronically, we are yet to achieve an electronic link between all local and federal institutions, despite the time and effort such link would save and the services it will provide, as it well create one electronic file for each individual in the country, containing social and marital status, health file, family school commitments and other information which would save the person the trouble of having to visit every institution and department separately to prove marriage, divorce or studying continuity, or property list or any other matters requiring confidentiality in dealing by the system.

The unified electronic link might represent a problem to some departments and institutions collecting fees from issuing this kind of documents, but in fact tiring individuals and places too much pressure on them in a country looking to enable its citizens of achieving their transactions via personal mobile phones, while the aspiration of the individuals are still at reducing burdens related to frequent and periodic visits to institutions to issue certificates and documents that are supposed to be of the data included in the a population registered in the country, that is updated on mandatory form to help employees achieve transactions without tiring customers.

UAE Population is not the number that is too high to achieve a database about its individuals, and we now have the ID card which could help, through developing it and reshaping its objectives, to be the link tool between our federal institutions as a first step followed by the local ones.

In a recent study conducted by “ATKEARNEY Middle East”, outlooks suggested that the Online Banking in the United Arab Emirates will triple by the end of the next 5 years, and that the actual users of these service will increase by around 25% of the banks customers, compared to 18% currently. The study also suggests that the turnout for using these services among new customers will increase from around 5% currently to more than 25% by the end of the same period.

The study notes that the UAE banks in particular and the GCC in general, owns, more than ever, opportunities to offer their services online, and cited many seasons for that, on top of which economic growth and diversity, as well as the population growth, both factors help widen the banking services market in general, and in parallel with this, the increase of the online banking is from one aspect due to the relative weight of the youth in the society, and on the other hand, the expansion of the middle class.

This is a logical relationship considering that the youth in any society, are often the highest population category that are able to deal with new technology, therefore, the increase in their relative weight in the UAE society and the GCC Society in general, means a matching increase in the number of those able to use the internet as a mean to obtain banking services.

In this context, one cannot consider the study by “ATKEARNEY Middle East” away from the development in the UAE society in general, where the number of internet users is equal to 4 fifths of the population, and in which the PC, internet and modern communication means are used in performing daily work in the governmental and private institutions, and in achieving daily personal issues, as well as the high percentage of Infrastructure Readiness in the country, which was praised by a number of international institutions, especially the “International Economic Forum” in the reports issued with relation to international competitiveness, in addition to the growing role of the banking sector and the financial services in general as a pivotal sector in the UAE economy, under the policy of the country in line with its objectives of becoming an international financial and business center. In addition to that, there is an increase in the large international institutions and companies operating in the country, with its vast connections and what come with that of increase demand on such electronic services.

Although there are still some potential challenges facing the online banking in the country over the coming years, as mentioned in the study of “ATKEARNEY Middle East”, the efforts in place by the country through its various institutions to overcome these challenges, and the policy of openness to the world and the effective merging with the international economy adopted by the country, represents a comprehensive umbrella and fertile environment for the UAE banking sector, helping it to expand locally, regionally and internationally, pushing it to expand in providing its services via electronic means in order to facilitate access to such services from the UAE and abroad.

In his discussion in the Government Summit sessions, His Highness Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister presented his speech in complete clarity and transparency regarding the security of the country. He assured the secure future of the country thanks to God first and thanks to its sons and daughters who are willing to protect it with all their strength.

We felt proud by displaying a new stage in the journey of building the nation led by loyal men and women. They chose to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors in protecting human rights.

We know His Highness Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan as a brilliant minister who was able to change people’s point of view of the policeman; the policeman is no longer that person used by parents to scare their children but he is their friend. Police work was unprecedentedly and significantly developed in the country, but in his direct speech, he touched upon many aspects in the audience’s feelings thanks to his beautiful presentation as we did not feel we were listening to a military person, whose speech usually does not lack warnings, spreading fear, toughness and power.

Saif Bin Zayed said what he wanted regarding the security issue in a smooth manner drawing the attention of his audience. His speech was far from mundane or superficial. He relied on images, storytelling, events, example and situations in addition to his calm and flowing style.

The results of the Government Summit exceeded all expectations and met the citizens’ ambitions and aspirations towards their government, which stressed in the Summit sessions that the citizen is top priority for His Highness the UAE President.

The Ministry of Cabinet Affairs is recognized for its good organization and preparation of this national summit that was successful on all levels in addition to the beautiful and harmonious relationship that links people with their leaders in our country, a relationship desired by people in any part of the world.

We look forward to mini summits similar to this one to be held by the various sectors for their customers to break ice and enable large space for discussion and free expression of their thoughts where they can share their suggestions and opinions in drafting policies and work techniques.