PS: I have only one dish antenna at home! 
What is the report all about?
“The index is not a ‘beauty contest’, or a statement about the attractiveness of a country. On the contrary, the index measures the factors that make it attractive to develop the travel and tourism industry of individual countries,” said Jennifer Blanke, Senior Economist of the World Economic Forum.
Oman, from the last few years, has been doing very well on the tourism front, and it is sad that there is no mention of the ‘new tourism hot spot’ in the report. For me Oman, has the potential to the numero uno travel destination in Middle East in the years to come. And, there has to be some lobby to make sure the country features in reports like these, which are published by the prestigious orgnisations like the World Economic Forum.
UAE is ranked 18th, no qualms. Surprisingly, Kuwait finds a mention in the report and is ranked 67th. If Kuwait can why not Oman? I am wondering.
These days, I don’t like to post jokes in the blog, but this one is too good to resist. This is an old forward, but memory was refreshed as someone sent it to me today. I can’t get enough of Dubai and Qatar systems – superb is not the word. Worth reading anyday.
DUBAI SYSTEM
You have two cows. You create a website for them and advertise in all magazines and Cable TV. You create a Cow City or Milk Town. You sell off their milk before the cows are milked, to both legitimate and shady investors, who hope to resell the non-existent milk for a 100% profit in two months time. You bring Bill Clinton and Tiger Woods to milk the cows to attract attention.
QATAR SYSTEM
You have two cows. They’ve been sitting there for decades and no one realizes that cows can produce milk. You see what Dubai is doing; you go crazy and start milking the heck out of the cows, in the shortest time possible. Then you realize no one wanted the milk in the first place.
SAUDI SYSTEM
Since milking the cow involves nipples, the government decides to ban all cows in public. The only method to milk a cow is to have the cow at one side of the curtain and the guy milking the cow on the other side; or to hire women and train them to milk the cows … the debate is still going on.
BAHRAIN SYSTEM
You have two cows. Some high government official steals one, milks it, sells the milk and pockets the profit. The government tells you there is just one cow and not enough milk for the people. The people riot and scream death to the govt and carry Iranian flags. The parliament, after thinking for 11 months, decides to employ ten Bahrainis to milk the remaining cow at the same time to cut back on unemployment.
OMAN SYSTEM
You have two cows. The cows are kept in hiding in Salalah for few years and one fine day taken to Barr Al Jissah resort for official inauguration which will be attended by a host of diginitaries. The event becomes the talk of the town, and cows get celebrity status in 24 hours. Due to lack of space in Muscat, the cows are shifted to a new, traditional facility in Sur, and after a few months milk supply ends. Rumorus are afloat that cows have infact died. Even after 10 years whereabouts of the cows are not known.
Err, sorry, old habits die-hard. The much hyped re-branding exercise of Oman Air isn’t reflecting on their website, which is a key tool for their line of business. When will they learn? And, what are the consultants advising?
RIYADH –– The religious police ordered the arrest of 57 youths this week for flirting with girls in malls in Makkah, The Saudi Gazette reported on Saturday.The young men were detained on Thursday evening by regular police officers following a request from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the English-language daily reported.
They were accused of wearing “indecent clothing and playing loud music and dancing” to attract the attention of the women, it added. Members of the commission, known as the Muttawa, patrol public areas to ensure strict adherence to religious ideals.
Part 2
The cops are making Saudi men are a frustrated lot. It is no secret that their men visit Dubai once in a while to enjoy life with an overdose of wine and women. Our little birdie, who was in Dubai last month on an official visit, told us stories about Saudi men who had come to attend the same convention. Men in their late 40s, made merry in a 5-star hotel till early mornings, and even called a Lebanese girl, who was a PR professional, to their room at midnight for an official briefing. The girl refused, but their party continued for four days, much after the convention was over.
Ouch!
Moral of the story: The more you try to contain it, the more it gets out of hand.
New logo
Earlier logo
Now, many companies in Oman are saying good-bye to the age-old custom of afternoon breaks (1pm-4pm). For the last three years, I have been not able to decipher the logic behind these breaks, which is specific to this part of the world. Is it employee-friendly or anti-employer?
I have always felt giving a break at noon paves way for laziness when the employee resumes work in the evening – thanks to the combination of a hearty meal and a catnap. Imagine a scenario wherein a very important task was assigned at 12.30pm and you are waiting for your colleague to finish the work. And, at 12.55pm, the colleague says he will come back at 4pm and do the remaining work. How on earth can you take it? It not only slows down employee productivity, but also hurts key decisions to be taken by the company.
Another issue is people getting struck in the lunch-hour traffic, which means you lose an hour in road sometimes wading through a stream of vehicles. For all the hustle-bustle, you just end up staying for an hour-and-half at your residence. It’s not worth the effort. I have seen many Omani colleagues whaling away a couple of hours in shopping malls or inside offices from 1pm to 4 pm because they work in Ruwi and their residences are in Seeb. So it doesn’t make sense for them to travel from Ruwi to Seeb for an afternoon break.
It’s high time all the companies compulsorily switched over to a system wherein a lunch break of one hour is given to all the employees. This will not only help productivity and continuity, but also boost bottomline of companies.
Also, by avoiding unnecessary travel, four times a day, companies can do their bit for preserving one of the costliest commodities on the universe — oil.
I have posted a ‘logo quiz’ in the Oman Community Blog. Do check it out if you are from Oman.
This is a billboard by police in Mysore, India, asking the autorickshaw drivers to stipulate the number of kids traveling in a vehicle. In the vernacular language, Kannada, the message is crystal clear, and when it is translated to English, it turns Kanglish (Kannada+English)!
(Source: Churumuri.com)