Letters to the Editor - Issue 35

35 - August 28th thru September 3rd 2000, Vol X

Dream Of Happiness

I went in quest of amenities,
Every where, I went.
Diverse Kinds of adversities,
Everyday, I underwent.
I crossed the deserts and the seas;
To reach the desired dream;
Being written on all leaves of trees,
and being built in my Cosmic scheme.
There are many a dream;
surging like streams,
of them, happiness I deem.
To be such a star that gleams
Nowhere I could go
But felt no rest
The thing I could know:
“Resorting to God is the best”
I drove my dreams’ ship on many a wave
Till I reached where I began
where I must be a God-praising salve
And wherein I will be a happy man.

Abdu Maresh Al-Shara’bi
Taiz University

When This Problem Will Be Solved ? Qat planting grows in two regions in the world; the west highlands of Yemen and the opposite highlands from the other side of Red Sea. Qat first came to Yemen from East Africa and then spread gradually until it covers the most fertile land in Yemen.
Many Qat markets have been opened. People flocked for those markets in pursuit of leaves this harmful tree. Many Qat chewers are misers but they are not so in Qat markets. It is painful to hear about poor addicted to Qat selling their furniture to buy Qat.

Saleh Doman
Sa’adah

Dear Editor,
I am a regular reader of your esteemed newspaper, the Yemen Times. I am a Yemenite currently living in Canada and Yemen Times is my only mean of communication with the great motherland. I have to tell you, I await new issues with great anticipation every Monday!
I have a small comment though. I have noticed that your sports section hardly ever mentions basketball. I am a big B-Ball fan, I know most of the teams in Yemen and would like to follow up on their progress. Therefore, I would appreciate it if you could improvise on the matter.
Thank you very much.
Yours truly,
Ismaat A. Al-Akhali
i_alakhali@stmarys.ca

We will try our best to cover all local basketball events.

Editor

Dear editor,
I have read a lot of articles about “gender” in your esteemed newspaper. All the articles, either by Yemenis or foreigners, highlighted its advantages and positive values. I kindly request you to convince me whether what I am going to write about gender is right or wrong . Through my reading about ‘gender’, I noticed many bad points about it. In a report written by the committee of the Council of Sana’a University, gender was defined as: “the union of human kind and it simply allows men to marry other men and women to marry other women.” In other words, it encourages lesbianism and homosexuality in our society. Many other bad points were also mentioned in the report.
If it is so, in fact, it is very dangerous to be taught in our colleges or schools. But I hope and wish that what I have read about its bad points is all wrong.
In conclusion, I request your opinion about the term ‘gender,’ and to tell me whether it is good or bad. If you make sure that the term ‘gender’ implies such bad meanings, please, give up writing about it and don’t let any one write about it in your newspaper. On the contrary, if it dose not contain any bad points, it is OK.
Fuad Alaswadi
Taiz

Dear Mr. Fuad,
What you have read about ‘gender’ is groundless and false. We have published some articles on gender that you can refer to. In addition, I hope that your comment will be read by a specialist who will correct your information.

Editor

Constructive Criticism to our Government I would like to explain why I have chosen the word constructive in my article. I always remember what my dad used to tell me, while we were Emigrants “Don’t worry my children, you gain knowledge here. Study hard. Your country is waiting for you opening her two arms. You will be so and so.” This advice of father is nowadays ringing in my mind whenever observing the racial discrimination and the inhumanity actions against half Yemenis, known as Mualladin, especially those from East Africa. But I never lose hope. Still is dad’s words ringing in my ears. I feel that the daydream, which non of our parents have realized, will someday come true, at least for the survival of life not to give up.
Many behaviors indicate a racial discrimination against us. For example:
- Mualladin are not allowed to join military or police academies, (I am not sure whether this is specified in the country constitution or not, but the selection criteria of the candidates is announced every time directly by saying “The candidates must be of Yemeni Parents.” Ironically, The so-called Mualladin are forced to perform the compulsory military service.
- Mualladin cannot nominate themselves or be nominated for parliamentary or local administrative elections. However, they are requested to vote.
- They are not given any chances for higher education scholarships or short courses even if they deserve them. Priority is given for ‘Abawayein Yamaniyein.’
- Obtaining legal documents: ID card, passport, driving licenses, business licenses etc. needs more economic, physical and financial sacrifices.
- Rejecting unofficially the demand of forming Yemeni Emigrants Children Welfare Association.
- There is a discrimination in wages both in public and private firms, although they deserve.
- Before court they are not considered as others.
- When renting houses or any thing else, they are considered as foreigners and are demanded to meet unfair conditions. These are a few of many other behaviors.
In an interview with a foreign newspaper Dr. Abdulkarim Al-Iryani said in response to a question about Mualladin: “Those who were born outside from different mothers are from our blood and flesh. They are among the most educated part of the nation. They are not less than a million and half of them helping develop the country. They are the main manpower source for our nation.”
Oh!!!! amazed, surprised, pleased, proud I felt when I encountered such words. I rushed with the newspaper to my friends to show them the good news. But my happiness did not last long. A sentence from a friend nipped it in the bud. “What do you expect from a man in such a position to say,” he said. He must say that, otherwise.........., he added. Time has passed and I have realized the truth. My friend was right. They were false promises.
To conclude, the number mentioned by the PM can not be ignored and it is increasing. There should be a change starting from the top, so the rest can show changes gradually. If a father shows - makes discrimination between his children, superiority and inferiority will be created among them. It will also create a kind of isolation among them causing one to look at another in devil eyes.
I hope that someday I will see one Yemen, united people and one strong nation without any sense of discrimination.

Mohammed Shatubi