All schools in the UAE will now be forced to raise the UAE flag daily and play the national anthem. I think this is a fantastic step. I went to a private school and we used to do this everyday. Taabor al Saba7 we used to call it. It was fun sometimes or boring or both but we felt like a country back then, and we all felt together. I loved the national anthem. I am a dying breed because not many people now know the words of the anthem, but what you learn as a kid will stay with you all through your life. It's such a beautiful anthem. Do you think this is a wise decision?
Obviously we were better than those pesky kids when we were their age. We knew all the words not like them skipping the middle bits! haha a cookie for someone that can name the missing section :) the chorus!
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You sure it's not mandatory to host the UAE flag? I think it's a positive to sing / play the anthem. The anthem is quite effective, as in it grows on you as you sing - patriotic. I've always wanted to know, who wrote the lyrics and who composed it.
Perhaps the next step shall entail learning more of the UAE's history, true geography, political science and social culture.
A question Bu Jassem, do you know who had written and composed the UAE anthem?!
hi guys thanks for visiting.. i think the flag is mandatory but not enforced ya Mr Rosh.. so i think it's a great move from Sheikh Mohammed.
DJ, wallah i don't know the full answer to your question, but i suspected it will be asked. so I send it out to my readers, can anyone answer DJ's question?
what i heard is that it was composed by some big egyptian musician, maybe even abdulwahhab.. not sure, and the words are by an emirati poet.. but not sure.. do u know?
look what a quick google search gave me :)
http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Government/10225235.html
i guess i wasn't too far off!
enjoy! even though it's unofficial enjoyment :)
wow... very interesting article. thanks. This must be one of the rare occasions where the lyrics followed the tune and not vice versa..
Love it...Believe it or not, the UAE national anthem is the only anthem I know (and still remember to this day!). And yes, I even know the chorus by heart :)
I guess it's fitting that the only anthem I know is the one of the country I've spent almost two-thirds of my life in! And the only place I can call home.
LOL. I remember the morning taboor... in the heat... I was always late for it. It started with the national anthem, then the quran, then a hadith, then pointless crap like hal ta3lam?
They also made us do jumping jax.
Fond memories.
I personally went to only govt schools growing up. And now, when I see all my younger cousins going to private schools, who cant teach Arabic, Islamic culture, the history of the UAE and gulf... Its sad.
I remember in highschool, we had to go thru the military basic training. Its not mandatory in private schools. WTF?
A private school should have very solid guidlines as to what they MUST teach. Like 4 hours of Arabic, 2 of Islam and 2 of GCC social studies.
Everything else do as they wish.
Its sad that you have people who have lived here for 10 years and know NOTHING about UAE culture, cannot speak Arabic, and are basically living in their own home countries via a closed off school/social system.
haha! DXB Sunshine me too, though I don't think I recall it entirely..
True ABIT, however - yes - HOWEVA the blame partly lies with the UAE education ministry. It is they who could have enforced Arabic mandatory into the curriculum - not give a 'choice' of French. In which case we'd have more kids take on Arabic instead and have better teachers / resources etc.
It is also the ministry who could have held the schools accountable to hire Emirati teachers -- not a lazy Egybtian who gave a sh*t if the kids understood or barely passed, and of course not ridicule our accents / pronunciations. And of course part of the blame rests on kids like I, who sort of gave up after the first year. I truly wish I stuck it through the few years and learnt to speak Arabic.
And 'encourage' the kids to wear a Kandoora on National day.
That said, the nation was at its early stages back then, hence this is a positive beginning -- it's never too late.
True ABIT, however - yes - HOWEVA the blame partly lies with the UAE education ministry.
Partly? Rosh you misunderstand me. it is ALL their fault. Do you think I'm so arrogant as to blame private schools? Or foreigners?
A british man and woman come to Dubai for work, they have 2 kids, they want to put them in a school. They have no hidden agenda. They simply choose a school that is close to what they know.
It is ALL the ministry's fault.
I dont want to force non emaratis to dress up as such. That would to me seem like reducing our dress. Govt schools do require kandooras, no matter of nationality.
Not asking for that. I wear what I do because Im from here (And its really comfortable! lol) An indian wears a Sari, a pakistano Salwar and Khamis... NO harm in that.
BUt to have (Good example) a 21 year old palestinian girl who was born and raised here and who's mother is MARRIED to an Emarati man NOT know ANYTHING about the country's culture highlights the ministry's stupidity.
Me: "Yeah, my old manager was Bulooshi... LOL"
Every laughs. except for said trainee.
"Um... why is that funny?"
"You know... Bulooshi! She has Afghan or Pakistani blood in her, she was a HUGE woman, scared me!"
"YOU have afghan locals?"
What type of conversation is that?
Worse still are those who (Like the blogger mediajunkie) bitch about being here for 10 years and not taken seriously by anyone.
Do you speak Arabic? no.
Do you know anything abut gulf culture? no.
Islam? no.
Mind you, Im not the best example of Emarati culture. I own 4 guitars and my favorite musical act ever is Iron Maiden (Seen them 4 times on 3 continents) but still, I know who Mohamed Abdu is (That oola boola music as I call it)
But even though I'm 1/2 western (1/4 American and 1/4 German... my mom's parents met in WWII) I can speak perfect Khaleeji Arabic. Its something my father made sure of. I proudly did my basic training... and would proudly serve 2 years in the military (As many countries require)
I have 15 year old cousins who CANT read Arabic. They sound like a 10 yea old Pakistani girl. I handed him a copy of Majid Magazine (The oldest Arabic comic magazine) and he couldnt read the Shamsa and Dana comic. They speak in short 4 word phrases!
They cant pray. I seriously had to teach a 15 year old how to do Wudu this Ramadan. I was horrified.
The blame IS the ministry's ,AND the Emarati population, that sold out their religion, culture, and identity for Oil and money.
But guess what, you can have both.
As for Emarati teachers. I had a lot actually in highschool. Some where good and some made me want to commit murder.
Emaratization is a good thing IF it's carried out correctly.
When I get a call from a competitor bank, before they even ask for my education or experience, Im asked DO YOU HAVE A PASSPORT AND FAMILY BOOK?
Because thats what it is, a quota. A joke.
I will gladly hire Emaratis, I do so, actively. BUT I have also sent back employees to HR. because Emarati or not, if you cant calculate SIMPLE INTEREST WITH A CALCULATOR you dont belong in a bank. period. Regardless of your nationality.
Thats another issue. Finding Emaratis to hire isnt the issue, you need to find talent. Companies are so hung up on looing for their token emaratis to fill quotas that quality is hardly ever found.
Im not ashamed to say that I have had 2 Emarats fired from our bank. Im actually proud, because they were what many would call "Real emaratis."
Came in late, left when they wanted to, asked for time offf for the doctors and then were seen in starbucks. And sadly, some had degrees, and still knew nothing. I handle people's money. their hard earned cash. a person who cant handle it and doesnt understand what kind of a responsibility that is shouldnt be there. period.
That leads us to the memorization/exam culture that our education here is based on.
I have a cousin. He graduated with a bachelors in public admin (I have no idea what that is, BS probably, like media or marketing) from the US. he then received his Masters in the same field from the US.
Stupidest mofo ever. not kidding. I love him to death, but he is just a clueless stupid human being.
But he was good at memorization, and retaining that long enough to take an exam.
In the real world, where your UNDERSTANDING, analysis, and critical thinking are musts, this doesnt work.
Thats why so few Emaratis actually stay in banking. 2 years, 3 tops, and its off to the govt, where they sit around, do nothing, and get paid double my salary.
I'm not bitter. I love what I do, and I love that when I meet anyone from anywhere, we can have a conversation about our fields of work.
That leads us to something you sort of touched on Rosh... The students. A student needs drive.
My father is well off. as such he decided to marry 2 women. fine. One of which was American, my mother.
My drive was everyone (saying behind my back) oh, the American's son? not a problem, he's this or that...
The fact that I was EXPECTED to be a bad muslim, a bad Arabic speaker, and a liability to my country was my drive.
The day that one of my aunts (Who used to say such things to me) asked me to teach her 15 year old boy (The one I talked about above) highschool accounting I smiled, and said Of course Auntie. People like her were my drive. I actually thank her for being a fucking bitch to me and my full brothers. Because that drove us.
Where is that drive in other people? All my cousins talk about is I WANT AN X5!
You want an X5? you failed last year! you want an X5? You need a beating.
It all starts with the govt, and ends with the individual. This issue is NOT the fault of the residents of the UAE, but the citizens. Simple.
hi DS how ru doing? still in dxb or in AD now?
well i am glad you know the 3eeshi biladi.. i'm a bit like you.. out of the last 30 years of my life, i spent 20 in the uae and 10 in europe.. so it's gotta be worth something knowing the uae national anthem.
plus i was in taboor al saba7 in school, even thought it was pvt. and i was a trombonist in the school band and we had to be able to play the nasheed amongst other marches. i remember we played for sheikh hamdan bin rashed a few times in our sports day at the then newly inaugurated hall at al shabab club and al ahli club.
those were the days my friends, those were the days.
ABIT.. i love your enthusiasm.. so do you hit the gym as hard as you hit some blogs? :)
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