I drove past the burnt-out corpse of the London tower block that suffered the catastrophic fire earlier this month. The building's 24 storeys were charred black, like a hellish ghoul looking over the whole of West London. Nearly 100 people have been reported dead, but the toll is likely to be much higher as the building was home to more than 500 people.
As a catalogue of human failings emerges – from selecting cheaper inflammable cladding, saving costs by not installing sprinklers and cuts to local fire services – it appears that this horrendous disaster was entirely avoidable.
The residents had repeatedly raised concerns about fire safety, and been ignored. In fact, the Grenfell Action Group had darkly predicted that only a catastrophic fire would make the authorities listen to their warnings. The building is located in the richest area of the whole of Britain, and very possibly one of the most expensive of the whole world. It is also home to some of the poorest and most diverse ethnicities, like the residents of Grenfell.
So the obvious question is, why weren’t their voices listened to? The answer is equally obvious – to those of us whose voices are routinely ignored, talked over and diminished. If a person wields status and privilege, then their words are interpreted within that framework as important, meaningful and to be acted upon. For a person without status - their poverty, class, ethnicity, language, networks and possibly even faith -- means their voices are muted rather than amplified, their importance diminished.
This problem of reducing the value of some voices recurs again and again across societies.
I recognise this from my own experiences as a small, Asian, visibly Muslim woman. In countless meetings, making contributions, I can see that a point I made was completely unremarked on until a white man – often older - made the same point.
Women's voices are routinely ignored. Think about how in cases of domestic violence male perpetrators of horrific abuse are believed to be truly repentant simply by saying sorry. But when their female partners state they are in fear for their lives, their concerns are diminished and they are told to stay and be patient. The men’s empty words mean more than the black bruises and broken bones of the women.
Class has a huge role, excusing failings or elevating empty opinions, whereas those of poorer, less privileged classes have their voices mercilessly maligned. Again, just think of the UK’s most famous bumbler, Boris Johnson, a man whose errors are placed on a pedestal and excused with its own term, just "being Boris". No poor person, woman or minority, would be excused in this way.
The class issue excuses even the unpalatable, giving hatred a veneer of respectability. Anti-Muslim protesters like leading hate figure Tommy Robinson are considered working class thugs, but put the same words into posher language and it becomes a legitimate opinion. Tommy Robinson gets blamed for his followers’ carnage, but poshly spoken commentators like Katie Hopkins claim that those who commit hate acts are nothing to do with them. Yet over the weekend in the UK a Muslim man was attacked in his own home - and found graffiti on his outside walls expressing that getting rid of Muslims was the "final solution", the same thing Katie Hopkins had tweeted.
I could go on with examples, and you should explore further. But if you’re reading this you’ll either have experienced it directly yourself – in which case you know the scale of the challenge. And if you haven’t, then you need to open your eyes, because you are probably enjoying your own voice being privileged and elevated at the expense of others who desperately need to be heard.
We must fight imbalances in the way we listen to and act upon people’s voices. The first step is to be vitally aware of how we give greater credence, or greater wrath, to people depending on their faith, ethnicity, gender or class. This discrepancy has significant, often life-changing, consequences. Just ask the residents of Grenfell.
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 380hp at 5,800rpm
Torque: 530Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Price: From Dh299,000 ($81,415)
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SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206-cylinder%203-litre%2C%20with%20petrol%20and%20diesel%20variants%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20286hp%20(petrol)%2C%20249hp%20(diesel)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E450Nm%20(petrol)%2C%20550Nm%20(diesel)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EStarting%20at%20%2469%2C800%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN MARITIME DISPUTE
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
Company%20profile
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Shooting Ghosts: A U.S. Marine, a Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War by Thomas J. Brennan and Finbarr O’Reilly
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books
The Light of the Moon
Director: Jessica M Thompson
Starring: Stephanie Beatriz, Michael Stahl-David
Three stars
Mobile phone packages comparison
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, logistics
Investors: A15 and self-funded
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
