Tag Archives: lifestyle
41% of Arab world’s Facebook users are from UAE
41% of Arab world’s Facebook users are from UAE Staff Reporter / 23 June 2013 Of all the Facebook users in the Arab world, the UAE has some 41 per cent — almost double the amount of the country next in line, according to the fifth edition of the Arab Social Media Report series. The report is part of a series spearheaded by the Governance and Innovation Programme at the Dubai School of Government, which conducted a regional survey with around 4,000 participants, exploring perceptions about the quality of schooling in the region, the use of technology and social media in the classroom at different educational levels, interruptions to schooling due to conflict, as well as views on educational reform. Analysing demographics, the report reveals that the UAE continues to score the highest amongst all Arab countries in terms of Facebook penetration at 41 per cent, while Egypt claims around 25 per cent of Arab Facebook users and Saudi Arabia has more than half 50 per cent of the Arab active Twitter users. However, for the first time, most GCC countries saw a drop in social media adoption for the first time in 2013. Mariyam Reshi, a 13-year-old Indian High School student said all of her classmates were on Facebook. “When we go home, we share the day’s happenings and like each other’s statuses.” When asked if she could fathom her world without FB, she giggled and said: “No way … I don’t know how my parents used to manage.” But parents may not be so enthusiastic about the widespread use of social networks, with the report showing they were concerned about the effect of social media, of Facebook and Twitter, on their school-going children. While 55 per cent of students said they used social media as a classroom resource, and 10 per cent of parents said their children have access to social media platforms in the classroom, more than half said their children’s classrooms did not encourage Facebooking or Tweeting. More than half of parents, 56 per cent, said they were worried that their children got distracted from other tasks with access to social media. Abeer Matthew, 48, father of 12-year-old twins Sherlyn and Jacob, said he was against the “invasion of technology in schools, at least till students reach grade 9”. Matthew said he did not much care for receiving homework assignments through email, forget about any social networking. Matthew, a management consultant in Abu-Dhabi said he had to travel a lot on work, and was constantly interacting with people for business who allowed their pre-teenage children to operate their own Facebook accounts, but it was not for him. “I don’t think it’s healthy … they need to be forming more human, one-to-one connections. When they leave the home and go away, they can make as many online associations as they please, while in school and in my house, no.” The research also surveyed parents in Arab countries suffering from political instabilities, violence and civil strife. Fadi Salem, Director of the Governance and Innovation Programme at the Dubai School of Government and co-author of the report, said: “With more than 55 million active Arab users of Facebook and 3.7 million of Twitter, social media is already playing a growing role in formal and informal education. The emergence of new concepts like ‘social learning’, ‘intelligent decision making networks’ and ‘massive open online courses’, is enabling educators, students and educational institutions to rely on social media tools.” The percentage of Arabic tweets generated reached 74 per cent of total tweets in the region in March 2013, up from 62 per cent a year ago. Facebook registered an increase of 10 million users between June 2012 and May 2013. The number of active Twitter users in the Arab World has also grown from just over two million to 3.7 million in the past year. In March 2013, Arab Twitter users generated 336 million tweets. news@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Longest day of the year brings heat
Longest day of the year brings heat Staff Reporter / 21 June 2013 As the longest day of the year hit, the mercury is set to keep rising. Friday marked the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere, which is the longest day of the year, bringing with it high temperatures, humidity and a spot of rain in the UAE also. A National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology spokesman said Friday’s highest temperature was 45.2 degree Celsius in the Hamim area, in the south of the country — more than twice the temperature atop the country’s highest mountain Jebel Jais, which racked up just 20.3 degree Celsius. “The difference between the interior and coastal areas is a big (one). The interior areas are mostly above 40 but in the coastal areas and islands, it’s about 33, 34, 35, something like this.” Abu Dhabi recorded 37.9 degree Celsius at the airport, near the interior, but along the Capital’s corniche temperatures only reached 32.9 degree Celsius. “It was a hot day in general, 44 or 45. The humidity is high so the feeling is a lot hotter, it makes it feel for or five degrees hotter,” he said. The high humidity that formed convective clouds also accounted for moderate to heavy rain in the east of Al Shiwed. “There’s a chance tomorrow for some cloud formation in the east of the UAE after noon.” The north of the country, in Zafar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai’s Al Minhad were all plagued with fog on Friday morning too. Residents should brace themselves for rising temperatures. In the next two months, the mercury would hit up to 50 degree Celsius, he said. “The heat is coming.” In other, cooler parts of the world, the solstice was celebrated, with more than 20,000 celebrants gathering at the famed Stonehenge monument on a cloudy English day. In New York, free mass yoga lessons took place in Manhattan’s Times Square for the 11th year running. The annual event had grown from just three people in the first year, to more than 15,000. amanda@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
A fish restaurant’s recipe for success
A fish restaurant’s recipe for success Lily B. Libo-on (ABOUT SHARJAH) / 21 June 2013 Against the backdrop of Sharjah’s state-of-the-art hotels and eateries, a 40-year-old fish restaurant situated in Al Nabba is still making it big. Frying 400 kilograms of fish a day to meet the demands of 200 visitors on week days — who swell to more than 500 on weekends — this antique-styled but cozy fish restaurant continues to attract its old clients and hundreds more new ones. The huge sign reading ‘Samra Restaurant’ is visible from a distance, yet this decades-old eating rendezvous is popularly known to its regular customers as Mama Mache Restaurant. Mama, an Indian national known for his prowess and secret recipe for deep-frying fish, started this restaurant as a small eatery at the back of Rotana Hotel and had continued like that until ten years ago when he went back to India for good. Now owned by an Emirati, Ahmad Khayal, Mama Mache has continued to draw hundreds of satisfied guests, including Japanese and Westerners who make the restaurant a must on their visits to Sharjah, especially during winter. Hassan Abdul Khader, Indian manager of Mama Mache, says that he has worked with the original owner for ten years and, after mastering the craft and the specially prepared herb seasoning, has steered the restaurant to more successes, including a fast-growing clientele of tourists and residents from all emirates and abroad. He says that tourists also ask them to pack fried hamour, sherry, king fish and pomfret and send the packages to their countries for their friends. “Sixty per cent of our daily fried-fish orders are taken out to their homes, as these customers cannot eat in the restaurant for lack of tables and chairs. These ‘take away orders” also include the ones hand-carried to (people) back home,” he adds. A numbering system has been used to ensure the queue is smooth, and customers have to wait 45 minutes after receiving the number on weekdays and even longer on weekends. Mama Mache opens at 3pm for its all seven Indian workers to clean and prepare the fish, putting their specially prepared powder of herbs and spices to marinate the fish. Frying will start only at 6pm when customers start coming. But, the number grows bigger and bigger from 8pm until 12 midnight when the Mama Mache Restaurant closes. Mohammed, a chef at the restaurant, says that customers choose from the different kinds of fish available in the season and the chef will start deep frying them in Hayat cooking oil. “When it is finished, we put our special secret spices and herbs on the fried fish and fry them again for a few minutes. Then, we deliver the fried fish to the customer. It takes 15 to 20 minutes to cook the fish.” Emirati Ali Hassan, one of the regular customers at the restaurant, says that he comes from Dubai to take a Dh30 dinner comprising a big fried pomfret, roti with a dhal (pulse) curry or a green sauce specialty made of fresh coriander leaves. “I have been a regular customer for the past ten years. Like many Emiratis, I come to this restaurant twice or thrice weekly. While I am taking dinner, I also order packed meals for my family.” Jordanian national Issam says the restaurant is an extension of his home. “I come here daily for my dinner as I like its deep fried fish very much. Since I came to UAE seven years ago, I have been driving from Ajman to the outlet at night.” Mama Mache caters to various nationalities working and residing in the UAE, from the lowest paid labourers to the prominent Emiratis and expatriates. Regular expatriates who visit the restaurant are Sudanese, Indians, Bangladeshis, Jordanians and other Arabs. But, the biggest chunk of customers are Pakistanis. The Mama Mache Restaurant is a by-word in Sharjah, particularly to labourers, who cannot afford to go to expensive restaurants. Its fried fish is sold between Dh5 and Dh30 depending on the size of the fish. Khairullah, a Pakistani school bus driver who has been here for 26 years, says that he cannot afford to eat in big modern restaurants. He spends Dh20 for fried fish and roti meal with dhal curry. “I like the fried fish here. They deep fry it to cook the inside, and re-fry it from the outside to make it crispy. It is so delicious.” Samra Restaurant has a second floor for families, who come to sit for a dinner together. It is putting into its coffers between Dh5,000 and Dh7,000 per day during winter when Sharjah tourists like to dine outside. In summer, it makes Dh4,000 to Dh6,000 of which Dh4,000 worth of deep fried fish are parceled for families, who want to stay indoors and enjoy their dinner at home. lily@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
