I was glad to read Dubai reveals master plan for 500,000 medical tourists a year (March 24).
It is no surprise that the UAE has expressed its keenness to be a hot destination for medical tourism.
As long as UAE hospitals have international health care accreditation, experienced medical professionals, the latest medical technology and significantly lower costs for treatment, then more patients and medical staff will come here.
Medical tourism could easily become a key element of the nation’s tourism policy.
With the UAE’s hotels, shopping malls, beaches, film festivals, concerts, motorsport, camel riding and other activities, they will have a lot of options.
Gaye Caglayan Budak, Abu Dhabi
Silence is a way to show respect
In reference to Reduce volume of music during call to prayer, Abu Dhabi hotels told, (March 23), hotels must respect the culture of the UAE.
In the past, hotels and shops never used to cause a disturbance during prayer time, but now they do not care. I believe this is unacceptable.
The UAE is an Islamic country and people should respect the Islamic culture. Many mosques are situated near hotels and shopping areas, and loud sounds coming from those places sometimes causes a disturbance during prayer times.
I thank the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority for serving notice to hotels to reduce the volume of music at prayer times. Dubai hotels should also be instructed to follow this rule.
Abbas Naqvi, Ras Al Khaimah
I read some time ago that in one part of Dubai the residents had issues with the early morning prayer. The comments they made were inappropriate.
People should understand and adjust to the culture of the country in which they live.
I have also noticed that most radio stations play songs during the time of prayer; only a few of them broadcast the prayers.
Even in a tolerant country like the UAE, we should expect some respect. Instead, people just take it for granted.
Romi S Khan, Dubai
Lane discipline must be learnt
Eliminating the speed buffer on UAE motorways could be a smart idea, but not if the authorities just arbitrarily lower speeds on all roads (Right to life beats the need to speed, March 24).
Such a move will not increase safety, only revenues from fines. The true danger is bad driver education, which leads to poor road etiquette, bad lane discipline, and distracted and inattentive drivers.
Speeding by itself is not the cause of accidents; if it were, the unrestricted sections of the German autobahn would look like a war zone.
It may contribute to accidents but speeding will not on its own cause an accident. It takes poor weather conditions where driving at a high speed (in excess of or even within the limit) is a bad idea, an inattentive driver, and/or hardware failure to cause an accident.
In the UAE, the five-lane motorways tend to comprise, from left to right: those going well above the posted limit; those going well below the posted limit; those driving at the posted limit; heavy vehicles; and an almost-empty lane with a few vehicles going above the posted limit.
If lane discipline was followed – with the far-left lane for overtaking only and the other lanes for those driving at lower speeds – roads would flow much better and be considerably safer, even with a higher maximum speed.
Name withheld by request
Simulator sends wrong message
I refer to Simulator offers extreme experience for UAE speed freaks (March 20), about the Formula One racing simulator now available in Dubai.
We should not be promoting speeding and crashing cars when many people in this country need to be educated on the subject of road safety.
Lee Harris, Dubai
Concern over school change
After reading
(March 24), I predict a sharp increase in school fees. Sajjad H Rizvi, Dubai
Missing jet saga had a tragic end
I refer to Missing plane crashed into Indian Ocean, says Malaysia PM (March 24).
It is difficult to imagine the grief and agony of the families of the passengers of flight MH370.
It is heartbreaking to learn that there is no hope of the 239 passengers and crew surviving. Fatima Suhail, Sharjah
