If you were not using Twitter in the past week, you might have missed out on some interesting conversations. Some of the major developments that took place in the UAE and neighbouring countries kept the twitteratti busy.
The most prominent among them was the visit by the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. This was followed by the announcement of Martyrs’ Day.
The spread of the Mers Coronavirus in Saudi Arabia also sparked some interesting conversations on various social networks.
Modi’s visit
Mr Modi’s visit was a momentous occasion for the Indian diaspora here, especially because this was the first such visit by an Indian premier in more than three decades.
The euphoria of the Indian community was a measure of Mr Modi’s popularity.
In fact, as @RajanKumarSing6 said, “such a humongous enthusiasm for a political leader” is extremely rare.
People like @MissSonalChadha were surprised to see the sheer number of Indians cheering for the prime minister at the Dubai cricket stadium. The last time a stadium heard a cheer this loud was when Sachin Tendulkar came to play, she wrote.
@Sanjay_Vis tweeted: “Wherever this man goes, he makes us feel proud.”
@MahaveerM_ expressed his disappointment that the Times of India did not cover this historic event in the same way as Emirati newspapers did.
Others followed Mr Modi in lauding the decision by the UAE to allocate land for the building of the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi.
@madhukishwar called it a “historic achievement”.
It was heartening to see tweets from Indian Muslims such as @shahid_siddiqui, who thanked the UAE government for this gift to the Hindus.
Hareb(@DAlmansoori1) applauded the UAE’s tolerance towards every religion.
Martyrs’ Day
Twitter users thanked the President, Sheikh Khalifa, for declaring that, from this year, November 30 would be marked as a national holiday in honour of Emirati soldiers who laid down their lives in the line of duty.
“There will be a ceremony and public activities where different organisations will take part to mark occasion,” reported Faris @farisf9.
Others such as @mmalshamsi were patriotic, saying that the “least we can do is honour the souls of these men who fought to help save the safety of Yemen”.
@TheUAETRA said the soldiers’ sacrifice would never be forgotten.
Mers in Saudi
The declaration that the Saudi health ministry had registered 21 new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) Coronavirus angered many people on social media.
Some of them took to Twitter to question the government why this outbreak could not be contained.
“It’s been five years and the virus is not cleared,” pointed out @abuogian502. “Korea took just two months to tackle this problem.”
He wondered whether hospital employees were taking enough safety precautions.
@999Mf123 had a suggestion: “Bring the Korean health minister to help solve this issue.” Perhaps, he added sarcastically, the ministry of health needed treatment before anyone else.
@SAForSale1 said that the World Health Organisation had criticised Saudi Arabia for being negligent over this matter.
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As a UAE-based travel agent who processes tourist visas from the Philippines, Jennifer Pacia Gado is fielding a lot of calls from concerned travellers just now. And they are all asking the same question.
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Ms Gado contacted the Philippines Embassy to get more information on the certificate so she can share it with her clients. She says many are worried about the process and associated costs – which could be as high as Dh500 to obtain and attest a good conduct certificate from the Philippines for jobseekers already living in the UAE.
“They are worried about this because when they arrive here without the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] clearance, it is a hassle because it takes time,” she says.
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There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
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