Opinion 2010
Suggestion for customer service – My Letters – THE NATIONAL – Dt. 20.09.2010
My Letters – THE NATIONAL – Dt. 20.09.2010 – Suggestion for customer service
Suggestions for customer service
With the initiative of setting up business centres at shopping malls, Etisalat has made it easier for its customers to pay telephone bills and obtain new services.
One such centre working very efficiently is the one in Abu Dhabi Mall. However, the sheer popularity of it has created a new problem. Many business customers visit this centre, which has only one or two staff members to complete their transactions. This means more waiting for individual customers, who at times have to wait for more than 30 minutes till the customer in front completes a set of 15 or more bills.
The staff and system access at these counters are not meant for complex transactions and queries which create more delays.
I suggest that the Etisalat authorities provide more staff at business centres like Abu Dhabi Mall and also operate a separate counter for corporate customers so that individual customers need not wait for long.
Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi
To Read it in original, please visit THE NATIONAL online.
Short Take – GULF TODAY – Dt. 18.09.2010 – Choose the right path
Short Take – GULF TODAY – Dt. 18.09.2010 – Choose the right path
Choose the right path
Summer holidays are over and schools in the region have started a new academic session. Most of the expatriates have returned from their holidays. Back to work and back to the old problems. Traffic, traffic, traffic everywhere.
Speeding, wrong parking and bullying by big cars.
Maybe it is due to the fact that some of the driving habits they witnessed in the country they visited, or maybe the roads have new expats who just arrived and do not know the regulations here.
It looks like, traffic wardens have to restart the campaigns they successfully conducted last year once again to remind one and all about safety aspects on the road.
Add to it, the weather is also changing to foggy mornings.
Hope good sense prevails on the road and this winter we do not get to witness major accidents.
Ramesh Menon
To read it in original, please visit GULF TODAY online.
Should car seats for children be mandatory? – My Comments – THE NATIONAL – Dt. 12.09.2010
My Comments – THE NATIONAL – Dt. 12.09.2010 – Should car seats for children be mandatory?
The Corniche Hospital in Abu Dhabi has now given away 1,500 car seats and educated parents on road safety. But should the seats be compulsory for parents anyway?
My comments as follows:
I think the law should be made strict to ensure all the rear passengers wear the seat belt in cars and all the passengers wear the seat belts in 15 seater vans. The habit of wearing the seat belt is very rarely practised here. In fact car seats or atleast seat belts should be the preferred mandatory options by default by all for own safety reason.
To read it in original, please visit, THE NATIONAL online.
My Letters – GULF NEWS – Dt 14.09.2010 – Parents tighten their purse strings as schools reopen
My Letters – GULF NEWS – Dt 16.09.2010 – Parents tighten their purse strings as schools reopen
- By Anjana Sankar, Senior Reporter
Dubai: As children in the UAE start the school year today, parents will be tightening their purse strings to meet the escalating cost of education.
Many parents said that from increased tuition fees to the cost of uniforms, stationery and extra curricular activities, the year ahead would strain their monthly budgets.
Most Asian schools start their new term today, after their academic year started in April. All public school pupils, from kindergarten through to high school, will start the first day of their school year tomorrow. Some of the international schools commenced classes yesterday.
Patrick Gonsalviz said his family would have no more weekend outings due to the strain of education costs. The marketing manager from Sri Lanka said he had to pay Dh24,000 in term fees for his two children, going into grades three and four.
“This is in addition to the expenses of buying their school uniforms, books and stationery,” he said.
“The school shopping itself cost me around Dh3,000 this year,” Gonsalviz said.
He said he managed the back-to-school expenses using his credit card. “I had no other [option] but plastic money so that I don’t end up borrowing from friends or colleagues,” he said.
“My monthly payments on credit card will increase substantially, and I will have to cut down on my monthly budget.”
Tuition fees for his children had gone up by 20 per cent this year, Gonsalviz said.
“My salary has not increased in the last two years. But the cost of education for my kids is always on an upward swing,” he said.
Many parents said they were forced to do a tightrope walk between a quality education and an affordable one.
This year, many schools have increased their tuition fee up to 20 and 25 per cent. At least five GEMS schools and two of Taaleem’s schools in Dubai have been granted permission to increase the fees for the new academic year.
Fee increases
In the American Academy for Girls in Al Mizhar, run by Taaleem, the second largest private education provider in the UAE, fees have gone up from Dh28,580 to Dh34,000 for KG1. For grades six and above, the fees have jumped from Dh38,980 to Dh47,000.
M.E., a parent with a student in Uptown Mirdiff school, said the increase in school expenses meant his two children had to discontinue their piano classes. The school raised its fees by 20 per cent.
“I had to explain to my kids that I can no longer afford it to keep them in the same school,” said M.E., who works for a construction company in Abu Dhabi.
Are you cutting down on costs? How? Do you find the cost of raising a child high?
My Comments as follows:
Added 15:21 September 14, 2010
I believe, Ministry of Education should consider special concession to schools, for daily operating items, such as, Telephone, Electricity, Water, followed by discounts on school bus registration fees, staff immigration and naturalisation costs etc. This, if given by the authorities, will naturally bring down the operating costs of the school and allow them to opt for enhancing the existing facilities with a portion of the extra earnings. This will also stop their cry for raising the school fees. MoE can then give guidelines for them to opt for reduced fees structure for students than they charge currently.
It has to be noted that a country’s future lies in the youth and their development and these discounts will result in more parents opting for education and higher education of their children in UAE than sending him or her to abroad or to their home countries. It will definitely bear fruits in the long run to produce excellent citizen for tomorrows future, whether he is a resident or expat. The gratitude of a satisfactory school education is by itself a lifelong commitment. Thus, If school fees are structured within the affordable means of parents, definitely more children will join school and college in UAE.
School fee increase approval should therefore be the last thing in the wish list of items for consideration by respective Ministry.
I also do not understand why people are not coming out in open to discuss their opinion on this matter. It gives more leverage to those who act with business interest and inconsiderate manner ignoring the standard of education and service quality they claim to provide to their students.
Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
To read it in original, please visit, GULF NEWS online.
My Letters – Khaleej Times – Dt. 16.09.2010 – Good cvoverage
My Letters – Khaleej Times – Dt. 16.09.2010 – Good cvoverage
Good coverage
16 September 2010
The ongoing Champions League T20 match reports along with the photographs make for an interesting read. The matches played so far have generated valid points in terms of player values and team composition. It has proved that however old they are, experienced players like Anil Kumble, Muttiah Muralidharan, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid still hold best techniques when it comes to business on ground.
Opportunities for emerging players, especially with the calibre of R Ashwin and J Vandiar can also be seen.
The games also show how different players from different countries handle pressure. An excellent example is the gesture of D Jacobs when he gestured to his partner Ashwell Prince to continue playing with confidence when he ran him out.
Millions of young players will be watching how some players gesticulate to opposition players when they get them out. Watching those, I feel, ICC should follow FIFA procedures and fine those players who use abusive local languages on field.
ICC websites should also be adapted to include options to rate and comment on players’ performance to consider the player of year award.
-Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi
To read it in original, please visit Khaleej Times online.
Reflections on UAE Statistics – My Letters – THE NATIONAL Dt. 15.09.2010
My Letters – THE NATIONAL Dt. 15.09.2010 – Reflections on UAE Statistics
Reflections on UAE statistics
I refer to the statistics provided in the Business article Snapshots of the Emirates … the numbers tell the story (September 13). Looking closely, the details give interesting insights. An average of 106 million barrels of crude oil is consumed per day for internal use in the UAE. A subsequent online review showed that the UAE ranks number two in terms of per capita oil consumption. This shows a heavy reliance on oil consumption and measures by authorities should be made to educate residents to resort to mass transport options, whenever possible.
Another interesting figure observed is the number of BlackBerry users within the country, which stands at number one in per capita use of mobile phones. Imagine the scenario if the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority puts a brake on BlackBerry usage here.
A US$10 billion reserve set aside by UAE banks against a rise in bad loans is an eye opener and shows that it is time for massive reforms by the Central Bank to stop excessive interest charges for bank customers which are directly increasing the alarming rise in the bad loans ratio here.
A total of 182 GCC newspapers and magazines closed since the start of last year. This is a sad note for the print media industry, which is shrinking each day, either due to cost factors or interest generated by online media. A realistic attempt should be made at school levels to initiate daily reading of news from printed sources.
Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi
To read it in original, please visit THE NATIONAL online.
Bus services for a city on the move – My Letters – THE NATIONAL – Dt. 13.09.2010
My Letters – THE NATIONAL – Dt. 13.09.2010 – Bus services for a city on the move
Bus services for a city on the move
It has been 27 months since Abu Dhabi Department of Transport started its brand-new, world-class, handicap-accessible buses.
Within this short time, it has grown into a service consisting of 12 main city bus routes and seven suburb bus routes extending its reach up to connecting town centres like Bani Yas, Shahama, Mussaffa and Khalifa City.
Public acceptance of this economic mode of transport can be clearly seen in the rush during peak travel hours. This is particularly the case on city routes that are fully packed to the limit with passengers.
This acceptance of public transport is very encouraging in terms of reducing the city traffic but at the same times calls for an upgrade on the frequency of buses operating within the city, especially on routes operating within the main city streets.
I request that the Abu Dhabi Department of Transportation initiates more bus services during peak hours to ease the travel difficulties of passengers in Abu Dhabi.
Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi
To read it in original, please visit THE NATIONAL online.
Short Take – Gulf Today Dt 11.09.2010 – Mail shock
Short Take – Gulf Today Dt 11.09.2010 – Mail shock
A few weeks ago, I was talking on the mobile with a friend based in Dubai. After 10 minutes, I received an email from him saying that he was stuck in Switzerland and lost his wallet, all credit cards and money.
The email continued requesting my help to rescue him out by sending a specified amount of money in US dollars which the author said will be given to me upon replying to the email. I knew then and there itself that his email account has been hacked.
I called him and he was shocked to hear this news. Within minutes he was receiving several calls from his friends who did not talk to him for some time and they all suspected the same or even thought whether it was real as he travels extensively. The damage had been done by then, and he was unable to recover the email address or thousands of contacts and records in it. Just the other day, the same thing happened to another friend based in Abu Dhabi. His friends too got a similar email and he too lost all details.
There is a new email hacking or threat happening now, which you may or may not be aware of. Please do not therefore use your email account from unknown computers or locations. Even if you have to use it, clear the cache, and history on the computer immediately.
Also, please do use a different password whenever you register yourself at new sites or promotional websites and keep it entirely different from your email password. Thirdly, please keep changing the password periodically. Hope, you do not get to become a victim the next time.
Ramesh Menon
To read it in original, please visit, GULF TODAY online.
My Letters – GULF NEWS – Air India cancels flights to Gulf sector
My Letters – GULF NEWS – Air India cancels flights to Gulf sector
Services to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Muscat and Kuwait are affected by the decision.
By Anjana Sankar, Senior Reporter Published: 20:14 September 4, 2010 Reader comments (1)
Flights to some of the sectors are curtailed, and not cancelled. It is mainly due to commercial reasons as Air India is already operating flights to all these sectors, said Abhay Pathak, the regional head of Air India. Image Credit: Gulf News Dubai: Passengers have been left high and dry after India’s budget airline Air India Express announced plans to cut down more than 200 services to destinations including the Gulf Sector.
Services to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Muscat and Kuwait are affected by the decision.
Abhay Pathak, the regional head of Air India told Gulf News the decision has been taken considering both operational and commercial reasons.
“Flights to some of the sectors have been curtailed, and not cancelled. It is mainly due to commercial reasons as Air India is already operating flights to all these sectors,” said Pathak.
He added that the decision was also taken because the unavailability of pilots. “The licensing of expat pilots is a long procedure and the needed numbers are not available now. Moreover we need to curtail the flying hours in order to continue the services,” he said.
According to him, only the daily flight to Cochin-Sharjah has been knocked off. “From Sharjah to to Thiruvananthapuram sector, four-day week service is cut down to two days. Likewise, for the flights in the Calicut sector, the daily service is reduced to three days a week,” said Pathak, adding that the number of cancellations quoted in the media is exaggerated.
For Air India Express operating from Dubai, flights to Thiruvananthapuram will operate six days a week and not daily. Flights to Lucknow have been reduced to three days a week from the current four days.
Pathak said all the passengers who are booked to these sectors “will be taken care of and will not be affected by the cancellations.”
According to reports quoting airline officials from India, the decision will come into effect from next week. “Around 203 flights (73 from Kozhikode, 74 from Thiruvananthapuram and 56 from Kochi) stand cancelled
My comments as follows:
As a NRI, the news that Air India cancels flights to Gulf Sector is a great relief. In fact, they should entirely stop the operations to GULF region rather than knocking down a selected sector and reducing frequency of others as announced by regional head of the national carrier of India. This step will surely reduce confusion in the minds of thousands of Indian expats from this region before they plan there holiday or emergency travel as to whether they opt for Air India as their preferred travel partner. Not any more in two minds and will never be too, if this attitude of Air India continues towards one of it’s maximum revenue generating sector. Whatever be the reason explained for this sudden reduction of flights just before the expat families return, this will definitely cause severe difficulties to the planning and scheduling of their return before the school starts after Eid holidays. Surprisingly, all representatives of the political parties show a harmonious honeymoon in keeping their silence towards these acts of Air India. Indeed for several of them, travel by Air India has never been an automatic choice whenever they travel out off the state even to other states or abroad destination. It is high time that regional organisations should raise their voice collectively and from, now on completely refrain from using Air India to protest against this step motherly treatment towards southern sector of India.
Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
To read it in original, please visit GULF NEWS Online.
Short Take – GULF TODAY Dt. 04.09.2010 – New Vigour
Short Take – GULF TODAY Dt. 04.09.2010 – New Vigour
New vigour
The Holy Month of Ramadan is almost getting over. Children and families have started arriving back to the UAE after their summer holidays. Many of them have had an extended stay this year due to additional holidays declared by educational ministry for children. The intensity of summer has also reduced. It is a new vigour and enthusiasm for all those who have taken this break. It should now be utilised to the year ahead.
Those memories, those beautiful scenes, interactions and travelogues should all be shared as positively as one can with friends and well wishers. Constructive methods and schemes observed should be tried to blend in to our society as far as possible. Readers should start transforming themselves from mere observers to active participants.
After all, the UAE is our home away from home, which gives us the opportunity to buy our daily bread and supplement ourselves for a future ahead. Let us be part of a contributing community that reacts to the needs of the hour as and when a necessity arises. Be active and interact with all the new energy you have gained during your summer break.
Ramesh Menon
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