Necessity is the mother of female invention

4ccd8aaa1e688210VgnVCM100000e56411acRCRDapproved/thenational/Articles/Migration/2009-Q1Necessity is the mother of female invention3ccd8aaa1e688210VgnVCM100000e56411ac____Necessity is the mother of female invention

Suha Philip Ma'ayeh's article Jordan's women mean business (March 22) reinforces the old saying that necessity is the mother of invention.

Suha Philip Ma'ayeh's article Jordan's women mean business (March 22) reinforces the old saying that necessity is the mother of invention. Her case studies on the advancement of Jordanian women were not only touching, but also indicative of how a very small opportunity can ignite the entrepreneurial spirit in Middle Eastern women. A 2004 survey of 30 UAE women's small businesses based mainly in Dubai and Sharjah identified the existence of two different segments in women-managed small and medium enterprises. The first group consisted of those engaged in traditional activities undertaken mostly by elderly, modestly educated women entrepreneurs who operated from their homes. The second group comprised modern business projects mainly managed by young, well-educated and more business-oriented women entrepreneurs. In my letter What university women want (March 10), I made a point about the second group, outlining how the University of Sharjah women's Business Student Association was demonstrating a budding entrepreneurial spirit. But this time it's a different segment in question - unskilled and largely uneducated women who can nonetheless make a contribution to the development of society and should therefore be given a chance to make their mark. That the Jordan Valley Association, an all-women group set up last July, provided a ray of hope is indicative that a little support can make a very big difference in the lives of women. The Gulf region and the UAE seem to have an edge in the development of women entrepreneurs. What they do will determine how soon the empowerment of women will become more robust, nation-wide, and a done deal. Dr Nnamdi O Madichie, University of Sharjah Following your article Dubai links school fee increases to quality (March 19), allow me to state that we parents disagree strongly with the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA)'s decision. How can someone compensate schools built on performance when there is a global financial crisis? Salaries in Dubai are being reduced. Bonuses and increments are also scrapped for this year. So where are we going to get the money? The same message goes out to greedy landlords: Do you want us expats to leave this country? If the schools and the landlords are protected from the global financial crisis as the government allows school fee and rental increases, who is protecting us families? The answer is: no one. Max Zol, Dubai Colin Randall is wrong to suggest in his column A departure from standard usage . . . but word travels (March 21) that I missed his point that there must be consistency in style. If that style calls for English English, then so be it. By all means eschew "normalcy". My point was that if it did happen to creep in once (or even twice), there was no need to react as if it were some kind of linguistic apocalypse. The sky over Abu Dhabi has not, I'm sure, fallen. Colin continues to take the word very personally. I think perhaps he had an unfortunate childhood encounter with it and it's embedded in his subconscious. His superior attitude toward this and other Americanisms has nothing to do with The National's choice of styles (with which, I say again, I have no issue). It has become his personal hobby horse. We can only hope that he's finally beaten it to death. Bill Taylor, Canada I would like to thank Colin Randall for the stimulation provided by his Saturday column on the use of English in The National. I am glad to learn that he will maintain a connection with the paper and that his column will continue despite his departure from Abu Dhabi. He and the whole team at The National deserve our thanks for providing the country with such a good newspaper, which has added a valuable new dimension to life here. Philip Bowler, Abu Dhabi In his Pocket Guide to Modern Life (March 21), Nikolaus Oliver humorously describes the foibles of cat lovers. Does Oliver have a spy cam in our flat? Wendell the wonder cat is internationally famous for attacking every guest we've had and sending me to the emergency room. We wouldn't be without him or our disabled street cat Nellie. Wendell is just misunderstood. Lee-Avinne O'Farrell, Abu Dhabi I refer to the article Etisalat rings in the good news (March 22). The company increased its revenue by charging customers exorbitantly high phone fees compared to an international scale. They often say that their fees are low in the Middle East. What they fail to mention is that fees in the entire region are generally higher than the rest of the world. Syed Ahmed, Abu Dhabi

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