With reference to Liz Cookman's article President Erdogan: Don't smoke, drink Turkish tea instead (October 21). It was an interesting read. On the one hand, the Turkish president has attacked the Kurds. Now he seems to be concerned about people's health. He is opposed to the idea of e-cigarettes and wants his fellow Turks to stick to drinking tea instead. This is not a bad idea but the percentage of smokers has gone up over the years, despite Turkey being one of the largest consumers of tea. It remains to be seen whether the people will follow the advice of their leader.
K Ragavan, Bengaluru
Cameras in taxis will cut reckless driving. Next stop: card readers
I write to you regarding Anna Zacharias's article Cameras fitted in all of Dubai's 10,600 taxis (October 20): some months ago, as I was stepping out of a cab, the driver just sped off without waiting for me to close the door. I lodged a complaint. But despite following up, they could not find the driver as their systems were not up-to-date. I hope we can rely on surveillance cameras and smart systems to prevent reckless driving and ensure customer safety in future. As with the gradual implementation of cameras, I look forward to all cabs in the UAE being equipped with credit card readers. This would address the problem of looking for exact change.
Mathew Litty, Dubai
The next generation promises to reduce, repair, reuse and recycle
I write to you in reference to Ramola Talwar Badam's article Expo 2020 to deliver eco boost with nearly 150 tonnes of daily waste recycled (October 20): I am confident that my generation can help raise awareness regarding the recycling rules: reduce, reuse, recycle, repair, rethink and refuse. There are so many steps we can take. For example, cotton scraps end up in landfills. We can change that and reuse the cotton scraps to make earrings. This is a great initiative by the Expo 2020 team. Together we can create a wave of change.
Sainath Manikandan, Abu Dhabi
