9/16/12 Marriage can wait for many Emirati women -‐‑ The National

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Gabriella Mikiewicz

Jun 19, 2010 Save this article

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ABU DHABI // Many Emirati women are now choosing to postpone marriage and starting a family in order to get an education andextra job qualifications, according to recent research. "Emiratis are getting married at an older age than in the past," said Dr MonicaGallant, chairwoman of the business department at Dubai Women's College. "I think that there is a greater understanding of theneed for education. Economic pressures are encouraging women to become educated."

Many women do not earn their bachelor's degrees until age 22. Educated women get married at age 27 on average, while thosewithout higher education marry younger, according to a study conducted by Zayed University in 2007. The trend to value educationover marriage echoes the findings of a UK-­based online relationship website, singlemuslim.com, which surveyed more than 3,900participants and asked, "Do you think it is important to finish your education before getting married?"

Forty-­five per cent of respondents said education was more important than marriage. Only a little more than 10 per cent said theopposite. However, many young Emirati women worry that as they age, marriage opportunities will decline. Miriam Omran, a 20-­year-­old student, said: "Let's say you go on with your education, and then you find yourself in the end by yourself, no one tocelebrate your success with. I want to get the maximum education I can get, but now I put both [marriage and education] at thesame priority."

"A lot of families have at least one 30-­year-­old or older woman unmarried," added Shoula al Masoud, a telecommunicationsproject manager. "If you pass a certain age, it is harder to find a man." Ms al Masoud, an Emirati, went to the United States toacquire her master's degree and moved back to the UAE to work. "Being educated has threatened men in my life experience," shesaid. "Eventually, a man wants a woman to rely on him in big issues. If he feels threatened, she becomes unattractive."

"Being educated has threatened men in my life," says Shoula al Masoud, atelecommunications project manager.Lauren Lancaster / The National

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But attitudes among younger Emirati men are changing, according to the Zayed University study, which showed 74 per cent of menare willing to marry a woman with a higher education. According to the study, 63 per cent of women were willing to marry a manless educated than themselves. Jassim al Marzouqi thinks it is possible for a woman to balance both an education and a marriage,and would like to find an educated bride.

"I think it is very important for a woman to have a full education I think it would strengthen our relationship [if she were moreeducated]," he said. "Most women, at the moment, get married before they go into work, after they finish university." The totalnumber of marriages has dropped from 2007 to 2009, according to The Dubai Statistics Centre. "Marriage is fate," Ms al Masoudsaid. "[Women] want a place to rest and feel safe, a home.

"I am very happy, and I still have hope to have a companion for old age. I'm a realistic woman. I didn't think about [marriage] before,and when people look at me, they feel pity. But I see my friends, and they are exhausted. "It is written in my religion that making afamily is important, but I am not less of a human being because I'm not married. I think that this is the best possible lifestyle;; aftermarriage, women kind of lose their identity."

newsdesk@thenational.ae Are you a woman who has postponed getting married to further your education, or are you thinking ofpostponing marriage to go to college instead? Contribute to the debate and let us know your views.

9/16/12 Bus lanes are given the green light -‐‑ The National

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Matthew Chung and Gabriella Mikiewicz

Jun 18, 2010 Save this article

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ABU DHABI // Bus users and transport experts have welcomed plans for bus-­only lanes on two streets in the capital's congestedcity centre. The Executive Committee approved the lanes on Zayed the First and Hamdan streets on Wednesday, along withDepartment of Transport projects to construct more air-­conditioned bus shelters in the emirate and to improve a road connectingthe towns of Madinat Zayed and Gayathi in Al Gharbia.

Farida Ahmad Siddiqui, 64, who uses the bus regularly to get around town, said aseparate bus lane was a good idea because the road was already choked with traffic.Ms Siddiqui, from Canada, said: "We wouldn't have a problem with a separate lane. Itis more difficult to drive with a bus in the way." Loveena, a teacher at Al Nahda National School for Boys, who takes a bus to andfrom the school near Mohammed bin Khalifa and Fourth streets, said she thought a bus-­only lane would make travelling easierand stop the practice of some motorists parking in the lay-­bys that are intended for buses and taxis. With taxis and sometimesprivate vehicles stopping there, buses must stop on the road and either wait for vehicles to clear the lay-­by or drop passengers offaway from the kerb.

"Everyone travels on the [lay-­bys] now," she said. "If they stick to the rules, it would be better." The report on the bus lanes did notprovide details such as when the department would introduce them, whether an additional lane would be created for the buses orexisting lane converted or whether taxis would also be allowed to use the lanes. An e-­mail requesting details from the departmentabout the bus lanes and the air conditioned bus shelters was not responded to yesterday.

An objective of the Department of Transport's Surface Transport Master Plan, released in April last year, is to get more people on

A dedicated lane will help speedier movement of buses in the capital.Ryan Carter / The National

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public transport and out of their cars. The plan, which includes a metro and tram system, would see between 25 and 35 per cent ofresidents travelling regularly by public transport in the next 20 years. Kailish Tiwari, a bus rapid transit expert working with KEOInternational Consultants in Abu Dhabi, said bus-­only lanes will help reach this goal. He expected the DoT would be doingdetailed traffic impact studies to ensure that it did not disrupt traffic.

"One has to do a very detailed study, otherwise it will be total chaos," Mr Tiwari said. "It is a very good idea and if it is not doneproperly in the first place then they will never be able to implement it." Taking an existing vehicle lane and making it for buses onlywithout creating extra capacity was controversial, he said, and had caused problems in the Indian town of Pune recently. Mr Tiwari,who was part of a team which implemented high-­occupancy vehicle lanes in the Australian cities of Adelaide and Sydney, said thatpriority traffic signals for buses, as well as strict enforcement to keep private cars out of the lanes, were essential for a bus rapid-­transit network to work.

The Roads and Transport Authority is building dedicated bus and taxi lanes on four roads in the city centre at a cost of Dh8.5million. Police are fining drivers Dh600 for improper use of the lane. The department is also planning for 480 air conditioned busshelters, according to WAM, the state news agency. The first shelter was opened last summer with the department saying therewould be 80 operating by September. Some were connected to generators at first, as the department waited for the Abu DhabiDistribution Company to connect them to a power source.

It was not clear how many of those shelters are now operating. The department will also be upgrading a road between MadinatZayed and Gayathi from a single lane in each direction to two lanes which will be separated by a median strip.mchung@thenational.ae

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9/16/12 UAE women rank second for Middle East internet use -‐‑ The National

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Alison McMeans and Gabriella Mikiewicz

Jun 16, 2010 Save this article

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Abu Dhabi// Over half of the women in the UAE browse the internet for more than seven hours weekly, a new survey has shown.Most use the time for social networking and to connect with friends on sites such as Facebook. The UAE ranks second amonginternet usage in Middle Eastern countries, with 55 per cent of women using the internet for more than seven hours a week. Only45 per cent of women read articles and magazines, while 66 per cent used the time to socialise. "In Europe and in the West youmay find that women engage in chat for several other reasons than they do here," said Ricky Ghai, executive director of digitalmedia at Abu Dhabi Media Company. Women in the Middle East have been slower to adopt the medium because most of thecontent was not relevant to them. "People were researching European sites, English language sites, and that actually added to theslow growth of the internet because of cultural restraints, sensitive or offensive content." The sudden increase in female internetusers can be expected to grow further as new websites are being developed specifically for the Arab woman, such asanaZahra.com [ADMC product] which is expected to launch next month. "They [Arab women] were under-­served," Mr Ghai said,but now "there is a space being created, which women can engage with in confidence, intelligence and trust. There is a biggerappetite for education and learning than in the West." Over 1000 women were polled from across the Middle East in the YouGovsurvey. Almost half of female internet users were looking for serious fare with longer articles. "Plenty of women go onto the internetfor reading," said Iman ben Chaibah, the editor in chief and founder of Sailemagazine.com, the first online magazine run by awoman in the UAE. "When I look back there were plenty of women who were using it, but there were never surveys to check thatkind of detail," she said. "At the end of the day they all have a voice. They all contribute to society and they do talk, but it was neverdocumented online." She believes that women in the Middle East have always benefitted from the internet, but their contributionsto the web have been a more recent phenomenon. "The drive to document it online makes it heard around the globe -­-­ that's thepoint of it." Online magazines and newspapers are popular destinations, but social networking sites still take the lion's share of themarket, with 71 per cent of women having an account with one of them. Many of them also participate in blogs and online forums."Blogs really provide freedom of speech, which is what empowers Arab women today," said Zohara Hirji, who runs the popularUAE site grapeshisha.com with her husband Rahim. "Arab women have been using the internet to have their views -­-­ and searchfor other opinions that distance and lack of exposure to global opinion had prevented in the past." The transitory nature of the UAEmakes connecting online a necessary component to relationships, mitigating the distance between people's home countries andwhere they live now. Mrs Hirji said that women in the region are especially keen to maintain friendships with people who liveabroad. "Popular social media, such as Facebook, allows them to make friends normally with other females (and sometimesmales!) who share the same interests and hobbies. Some Arab women have been fortunate enough to study abroad and now thatthey are back home and working, they want to reconnect with old friends." It also allows strangers in the same country to connect,providing support in such a diverse and international community. "With the very diasporic nature of the UAE, there is an increasingneed for sites that cater to multiple cultures, that help to promote understanding, provide information and provide an opinion onwhat is going on in such a growing and changing society." As the internet begins to shape the lives of Arab women, they in turn willbegin to shape it. "The internet is an uncontrollable space," said Mr Ghai. "But the one thing about consumers is that they decide."amcmeans@thenational.ae

Abu Dhabi// Shaikha al Shamsi spends a lot of time online. "I send emails, I read articles, I do a little bit of research time to time, Iread magazines, sometimes I am participating in online forums, blogs. Basically, this is what I usually do." The 29 year old Emiratiworking in marketing and uses the internet on a daily basis at work, but she also uses it in her down time. "I use it to be in touchwith friends, especially if they are not around," she said. "Facebook is now becoming very popular, actually, among the UAENationals." She said that the use of these sites is growing, especially with new destinations, such as Twitter and LinkedIn. "The useof special media is becoming more effective," she said that it is an easier way to connect with people than online forums. The

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younger generations are even more involved with these social networks. "I've seen girls that are young and they chat about videos,about topics, about things that they relate to, about things of interest, especially to their ages. "They upload videos, they discusstopics, they share. For example, if there are ladies, they share their dresses and designs. They share, "What do you think of thisdesign? I just designed it," and it's sort of helping them to understand." Although there are many advantages to using social mediashe is concerned about the anonymity. "If there are no restrictions, definitely it will become dangerous," she said. "You don't knowwho is using this, you don't know the age of the person. So if there are some restrictions around, especially for UAE nationals, itwould be good. If there are no restrictions, no policies, no supervision, definitely it will like entering into a dangerous zone."amcmeans@thenational.ae

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