Thursday, May 27, 2010
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NATIONAL Telecom networks contact ministry
BlackBerry ban proposal facing stiff opposition By Ben Garcia
KUWAIT: Indian Ambassador Ajai Malhotra inaugurating the LuluHypermarket’s Mango Mania 2010 festival at the hypermarket’s premises in Al-Rai. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat
Lulu welcomes summer with Mango Mania KUWAIT: Following a formal inauguration by Indian Ambassador Ajai Malhotra, Lulu Hypermarket’s Mango Mania 2010 festival got off to a lip-smacking start at the hypermarket’s premises in Al-Rai. Mango Mania 2010 celebrates over 100 varieties of mangoes from various countries including India, Brazil, Kenya, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Yemen. Some of the varieties presented include the delicious and exotic Alphonso and Totapuri mangoes from India, Tommy Atkin from Brazil, Apple Mango from Kenya and Sensation from Yemen among others. For the fourth consecutive year Lulu hypermarket is holding its exclusive Mango Mania festival; heralding the arrival of summer with mouth-watering mangoes and mango delicacies. Besides a wide array of dishes, several hot foods including specialties like mango and chicken kebabs will be available at Mango Mania. Due to its rich content of essential vitamins, dietary minerals and antioxidants, Mango is often qualified as a ‘super-fruit’. During Mango Mania, special scrumptious cakes, pastries and tarts made exclusively by Lulu Hypermarket will be sold in the confectionery section. Lulu
Hypermarket’s Mango Mania food festival, which has now become a highly anticipated annual event, will continue unabated for 10 days and is expected to draw an enthusiastic response from the tens of thousands of
local spotlight
Arab democracy By Muna Al-Fuzai o we need democracy in the Arab world? What is it about democracy that we can’t figure out? I personally have lots of thoughts as to why parts of the Arab world have become developed enough to obtain democracy, as practiced in the west, while other parts won’t even get close to it 100 years from now. It’s like we have been programmed since birth to accept the code of life and adjust our current and future lives accordingly. It’s as though we are expected to accept the existence of good or bad and even the existence of laws. That is why, in the Arab world, you see laws in Arab countries that were issued 20 or 30 years ago and have remained untouched, as if it were part of a holy book! The reason for that is because the lead man, or the power behind those laws, still exists and benefits from it! The problem with democracy in the Arab world is that to many it is associated with freedom, humanity and majority rule. A value that we, even the normal people, barely know what to do with. For example, a quick look at the current situation in Iraq since the fall of Saddam implies that the powers in Iraq are not fully in control of the gift of democracy. For 30 years Iraq would not dare to think about democracy unless it pleased the ruling power. Don’t we have enough laws to regulate our life? Why then are we all so eager for a democracy like the one we see and hear about in the west?! That is the general idea many educated Arabs think about when comparing their life in their native countries and the countries where they either studied or lived. This is a dilemma for many of the educated but there is no way to end such confusion. For example, look at how laws in many Arab countries were issued many years ago. It was like a rope around people’s necks. Even customs can be obligatory to people’s lives and their choices. That is the same way people think about democracy. Does it offer a better life, income or future for themselves and their country? In many cases democracy is used to justify killing. Those with democracy in the Arab world may want to use it as a tool to carry on with their own wishes. In many cases some would use weapons to prove their points. They misunderstand what they want to use democracy for and what they will do with it! That is why democracy is a hard goal to achieve in the Arab world. Democracy requires the continuous update and upgrade of laws. It requires a call to change the ideas and attitudes of everything that is an obstacle to progress. muna@kuwaittimes.net
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KU students attack security guards KUWAIT: Two Kuwait University students attacked and injured security staff there after being refused permission to bring their vehicle into the university grounds without the relevant permit, reportedly using metal rods to beat the security guards. Other
students disembarking from a bus nearby apparently joined their colleagues in attacking the outnumbered security personnel before other security staff came to their coworkers’ assistance, reported Al-Qabas with most of the attackers fleeing as a result.
Mango lovers in the country. “We have always tried to bring the best of the world for our loyal shoppers and this is yet another initiative in that direction,” said a management representative.
KUWAIT: Local BlackBerry users and Kuwait’s big three telecommunication networks are pleading with the Ministry of Interior to drop a rumored proposal to block the BlackBerry message service, known as BBM, in Kuwait. Reports have circulated that the ministry intends to cut off
BBM services in the near future, with the MoI allegedly citing difficulties reported by the Ministry of Communications in controlling this service. According to unconfirmed news reports, the MoI has claimed that the BBM service is being used to spread lies and rumors that pose a clear threat to state security. Reports suggest that the ban could be implemented within the next few days.
“I hope they won’t do that and I call upon the ministries [of communication and interior] not to ban the BlackBerry service;, we are using it appropriately, just like the regular Internet at home or in the office,” one Filipino BlackBerry user told the Kuwait Times. BlackBerry allows its users to access online services from anywhere, letting them chat via Yahoo Messenger, Facebook and Twitter anytime and from any location. “It’s nothing but a portable Internet; if they ban BlackBerry, they are blocking the Internet technology in our hands,” another user, a Filipino nurse, commented. A spokesman for one of Kuwait’s major telecommunications companies, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that any block on BlackBerry services could be implemented only “temporarily.” “How can you block a service over which nobody has jurisdiction except them [the BlackBerry Company]? Maybe we can block all the BlackBerries currently in the country but when they [users] buy another item of similar technology outside the country and bring it into Kuwait, can they monitor and block those again? We cannot stop the technology from evolving; BlackBerry is here to stay,” he said. A spokesperson for another telecommunication firm who also wished to remain anonymous, said, “Banning BBM could hurt not just the user but the country in general. I think it’s not about BlackBerry, it’s about the Internet. The problem
The official said that the telecommunication company already deals directly with the Ministry of Communications and has received no reports of any proposed ban. “We’d expect that if there were talks about blocking the BlackBerry, then they would have informed us beforehand,” he told the Kuwait Times, adding that if the MoC were to decide to ban the BlackBerry service in Kuwait the telecommunications firm would comply with the order. A Kuwaiti BlackBerry user in his mid-twenties noted that any move to block use of this technology would directly contradict the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Kuwaiti constitution. “If they are going to ban BlackBerry they are directly assaulting our rights to our
in Kuwait is that they cannot block the Internet here; if you do, you’re hurting the country and its people.” He added that blocking Internet services would be acting against the will of the people, who he suggested would not allow any such ban. A high-ranking official from one of Kuwait’s big three telecommunication players questioned the legitimacy of the source of the reports about the BlackBerry ban. “If the source of the information is not a respectable newspaper then I would probably suggest that it could be lies or maybe they just want to sell their newspapers,” he cautioned. “I don’t believe their reports. I don’t think the Ministry of Interior is considering such a plan anyway.”
basic freedom and it’s against our constitution.” According to press reports, the BlackBerry company said it is impossible to monitor the services presented through its handsets, especially the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM). Customer service official at BlackBerry, Britain told Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida that monitoring the chat program would be impossible, adding that following conversations conducted via the BBM service is not possible. She said that, in order to safeguard users’ privacy, the BlackBerry company does not maintain records of personal conversations conducted via its systems, adding that the issue monitoring of internet sites is carried out by external services and can be organized through internet companies.