Rule of Law

26 Nov, 2009  No Comment

Looks like there’s a lot of interesting sites popping up on the net! I stumbled upon http://www.ruleoflaw.org.qa/

ruleoflaw

Not only is it quite attractive, but I think it’s a right step towards letting people know about what the laws are in Qatar. I’m a law graduate myself and I can definately say that finding out what the laws are in Qatar isn’t easy nor convenient. If only there could be an online legal database, that would be fantastic!

Qatarisation: Trying

28 Jan, 2009  13 Comments

lazy_worker_small1

You’d think that with all this talk of Qatarisation, things would be a bit easier.
We’re in the process of highering a secretary in the office (not ILQ but my day job office). So we started to search for Qatari secretaries.

We needed an Arabic and English speaker, we thought that we’d want to help Qataris searching for jobs, and that we’d be helping the system.

So we knew that the Ministry of Labour had a list of Qataris searching for jobs. We went to http://www.mlsa.gov.qa/Pages/default.aspx in order to get the number (side note, the English section is under construction and it’s probably going to remain that way for a couple of years).

How can the english side not be up yet? There should at least be a basic page so that foreigners can also search for Qataris to hire, especially if it’s a rule now.

You’ll finally get the following number 4841111. Give it a call. If you get an answer, you’ll win… win….. satisfaction. The type of satisfaction that comes with a hint of shock

We called for three days and nobody answered. How can we help Qataris if nobody answers? Why isn’t the database of employees searching for jobs accessible online?

So my colleague decides to head off to the Ministry and speak to someone. He meets someone in an office who promises to email us the list.

After receiving a list of graduates and non-graduates we go through it systematically.

I’ve now read every unusual name and heard every exception in the book.

- I want to wear the niqab in the office (against policy)
- I want my own office (you’re going to be a secretary..)
- I want a higher salary (do a good job first!)
- I don’t want to be in a mixed office (we live in a mixed world)
- I don’t like your company (fair enough… but if you’re on a government job site should you be so picky?)

The list goes on! We finally find TWO out of 100 people that seem suitable, ask for their cvs, they sound happy, and they send nothing…

As usual everything is messed up. From the institutions to the inviduals the institutions are trying to help.

Chinese God of Fortune was a Muslim

4 Oct, 2008  3 Comments

Here’s something interesting, the Chinese God of Fortune was a Muslim. Thought that was an interesting fact.

Freedom of Expression

    Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which the Qatari Government is a signatory of states: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any medias and regardless of any frontiers.

    The Emiri Decision Number 86 of the year 2007 on the establishment of the Doha Free Information Centre marked yet another step towards establishing a State of rights and freedom of speech. The decision stipulated that the Centre be a non-profit organization, headquartered in Doha City, and have the authority to establish other affiliated centres inside and outside Qatar. It is worth mentioning that His Highness the Emir issued a decision in 1998 annulling the ministry of information, giving birth to a new era of freedom of speech where censorship was removed from local media.