I have celebrated many different country's national days, and most involve their citizens putting up flags, banners, having parades, BBQ's, music etc.. There might be a few events in the morning but most are in the afternoon and stretch into the evening.
So imagine my surprise when coming back from Doha airport at 12:30 (midnight) on the morning of Doha's national day, and finding that 1/2 hour into the national day starting - there was a traffic jam on the Corniche. Men riding on top of their cars, music blaring, some wearing balaclavas in their cars (didn't understand that one, and it scared me a bit too), and generally just blocking the traffic completely.
The formal parades and music weren't scheduled to begin until 5 or so that evening - so I was surprised to see hordes of people starting their celebrations before 1am!
That day and the days following, there have never been so many Qatar flags. And cars completely covered in huge ones - making driving even riskier as who knows what the drivers could see out of their cars with their rear window covered by a flag. And most of the drivers and passengers appeared to no longer be wearing their seat belts as the flags were tied onto the seat belts through the windows.
But the maddest (craziest) thing I saw that night (at around 9pm) was a guy riding on a motorcycle with at least a 17inch LCD computer screen playing a DVD. It was mounted on his handlebars and he was watching it while driving/riding around Doha. I was at least glad to see that he had a full helmet on - but really it was bizarre to see a full size computer screen playing a movie on a motorcyle. Don't know how that was celebrating National Day...
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Airport madness at Eid
We went away on holiday just before Eid - which, of course, meant going to the Doha airport where you normally just walk in the front door, queue for a very short while to go through security before you can go to the check in desks.
There had been warnings in the media that most of the flights were fully booked that weekend and to arrive earlier as more people would be at the airport - but I was not at all prepared for what it was like.
It was just madness! No control, very little respect, and a lot of very, very pushy people.
When we arrived the queue just to reach the front door was all the way back to the premium terminal - so a couple hundred metres! We calmly walked to the back of the queue as we had allowed extra time and slowly inched our way forwards toward the door. The frustrating thing was the number of people who opted not to join the queue. I did not see a single person / family in traditional dress (white thobe / black robe) in the queue but saw them push in at the front of the queue and go right on through. And no one stopped them!
Other people of other nationalities / races also just ignored the queue and if you challenged them, which after a while I decided to do as I was that annoyed, they would either make some lame excuse, or just ignore you. After waiting in line patiently for 45 minutes and being now only 10 people from the door (of course with countless people still pushing in at the front), my protests got louder and louder and security decided to push me to the front of the queue - partly to get me to be quiet I think, but also because I was traveling with small children. I was ushered inside, but was then upset with myself as I felt that I just succumbed to the whole "VIP", I don't have to wait in the queue business that I had been protesting. I wish I had stayed put to make my point!
Had everyone taken their proper place in the queue the line would have moved much faster and the vast majority of us would have felt better having respect for each other. I understand pushing to the front of the queue if you plane is close to departure time, but some of these people pushing through had flights leaving 3 hours later! What an uncivilized mess!
There had been warnings in the media that most of the flights were fully booked that weekend and to arrive earlier as more people would be at the airport - but I was not at all prepared for what it was like.
It was just madness! No control, very little respect, and a lot of very, very pushy people.
When we arrived the queue just to reach the front door was all the way back to the premium terminal - so a couple hundred metres! We calmly walked to the back of the queue as we had allowed extra time and slowly inched our way forwards toward the door. The frustrating thing was the number of people who opted not to join the queue. I did not see a single person / family in traditional dress (white thobe / black robe) in the queue but saw them push in at the front of the queue and go right on through. And no one stopped them!
Other people of other nationalities / races also just ignored the queue and if you challenged them, which after a while I decided to do as I was that annoyed, they would either make some lame excuse, or just ignore you. After waiting in line patiently for 45 minutes and being now only 10 people from the door (of course with countless people still pushing in at the front), my protests got louder and louder and security decided to push me to the front of the queue - partly to get me to be quiet I think, but also because I was traveling with small children. I was ushered inside, but was then upset with myself as I felt that I just succumbed to the whole "VIP", I don't have to wait in the queue business that I had been protesting. I wish I had stayed put to make my point!
Had everyone taken their proper place in the queue the line would have moved much faster and the vast majority of us would have felt better having respect for each other. I understand pushing to the front of the queue if you plane is close to departure time, but some of these people pushing through had flights leaving 3 hours later! What an uncivilized mess!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Discrimination Gulf Style
The Qatar Tribune reports that the UAE has decided to ban "menial" workers from driving.
Those workers who live in Sharjah, where large groups of foreign workers live, who are in one of 86 occupations, including watchmen, typists, cooks, carpenters, housemaids and gardeners, won't be able to apply for a driving licence in the UAE.
Apparently the aim is to cut congestion - but ignores the fact that there is inadequate public transportation - and also ignores the fact that it is classist.
A similar thing was apparently considered here in Qatar - with so many people moving here the roads are now very congested. The proposed solution.... don't issue driving licenses to non-working expat wives. It ignored the fact that most of these expat wives are responsible for getting their children to and from school, have to do the grocery shopping etc... With practically non-existent public transportation it was just incredibly impractical. The only solution was going to be that either every one was going to hire a driver (therefore not reducing congestion) or the wives would all get some sort of part time job so that they could get a driving license. Fortunately this proposal went nowhere.
But unfortunately, the "menial" workers in the UAE don't have much clout, so will probably be stuck with this extremely discriminatory ruling.
http://qatar-tribune.com/data/20081202/content.asp?section=gulf2_6
Those workers who live in Sharjah, where large groups of foreign workers live, who are in one of 86 occupations, including watchmen, typists, cooks, carpenters, housemaids and gardeners, won't be able to apply for a driving licence in the UAE.
Apparently the aim is to cut congestion - but ignores the fact that there is inadequate public transportation - and also ignores the fact that it is classist.
A similar thing was apparently considered here in Qatar - with so many people moving here the roads are now very congested. The proposed solution.... don't issue driving licenses to non-working expat wives. It ignored the fact that most of these expat wives are responsible for getting their children to and from school, have to do the grocery shopping etc... With practically non-existent public transportation it was just incredibly impractical. The only solution was going to be that either every one was going to hire a driver (therefore not reducing congestion) or the wives would all get some sort of part time job so that they could get a driving license. Fortunately this proposal went nowhere.
But unfortunately, the "menial" workers in the UAE don't have much clout, so will probably be stuck with this extremely discriminatory ruling.
http://qatar-tribune.com/data/20081202/content.asp?section=gulf2_6
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