Instilling the right values in Qatar’s youth and developing national infrastructure in a timely and cost-efficient manner are some of the most important challenges facing the country today, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamid Al Thani has said in his first annual address to the Advisory (Shura) Council.
Sheikh Tamim delivered his speech at today’s inauguration of the 42nd session of the council, which was also attended by the new Prime Minister, Interior Minister and the former Emir.
Acknowledging that Qatar’s supersonic economic growth rate is finally slowing, the Emir emphasized prudence and balance as key themes going forward, mincing no words about the country’s need to prepare its youth for a future without oil and gas wealth:
“Despite the high standard of living that we can provide, we must deal responsibly with our resources and our economy. This is not only about the next generation, but also the type of man we are keen on grooming at the present. Is he productive or just a consumer?
Social responsibility, and (not leaning toward) irresponsible extravagance are among the attributes of the human personality that we want. The Almighty said, ‘Those when they spend are not extravagant and not niggardly but hold a just balance between.'”
Sheikh Tamim also emphasized Qatar’s many achievements, including its high rankings in several international indices, including the United Nations Human Development Report and the World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness rankings.
But he warned that the country’s citizens should not rest on their laurels, and instead confront the challenges ahead without hesitation. The government will do its part by increasing spending on education and healthcare, as well as working to temper rising inflations rates and the subsequent increase in the cost of living, the Emir said.
Still, he added:
“The criterion of success in the areas of human development such as health, education, culture and sports, etc., is not measured solely by the scale of investment (in which there would be no dereliction on our part, God willing), but the lesson lies in working efficiently and faithfully and in the outputs and outcomes.”
Alluding to the numerous labor abuses that Qatar has been criticized for in recent months, the Emir also asserted that the country must help the youth retain their Arab identities and culture:
“Qatari citizens have been known from time immemorial for their good morals, generosity, modesty, speaking little and working more, and championing oppressed people.
I am afraid that we fail to pass on to our young people these genuine values, the values of work, humility, and good manners, and treating others with respect, and we are keen to see that young people find meaning and purpose in their life in all this, in the light of the civilization of consumption. Our Prophet said, ‘Nothing will tip the scale heavier than good manners,’ and also said, ‘I have been dispatched to complete morals.’ Is there a goal for the upbringing and education superior to that goal?”
He also made mention of a few foreign policy goals, including helping the oppressed in Syria and Palestine.
Read the full text of his speech, according to QNA’s unofficial translation, here:
Thoughts?
Nice to hear the Emir talking sense, lets hope he follows through with his vision
How do you instill these values in the youth when your country allows false accusations towards teachers resulting in their imprisonment. Lead by example and recognise these injustices.
just how you say we cant make false accusations you cant also falsely accuse… you dont know what happened between the teacher and the student. You dont have proof and we dont have proof its all a game of he said she said.
and god bless the Emir I hope parents and the youth understand what he said by this.
dearie, dearie me. a game of he said she said. So how come someone ends up in jail?
Yes we do know what happened.
clearly… I know for a fact that you dont know the half of it 😉
You are more than welcome to sharing all the official witness statements and court documents. Then the public could see what I went through.
They could make their own minds up then.
Let’s end this line of argument please — nothing to do with Emir’s speech.
I am happy to end this line of discussion. I think the Emir made a grand statement.
“I am afraid that we fail to pass on to our young people these genuine values, the values of work, humility, and good manners, and treating others with respect, and we are keen to see that young people find meaning and purpose in their life in all this, in the light of the civilization of consumption. Our Prophet said, ‘Nothing will tip the scale heavier than good manners,’ and also said, ‘I have been dispatched to complete morals.’ Is there a goal for the upbringing and education superior to that goal?”
I have a lot of proof actually. It has already been through the Qatari courts. Not once but twice in the appeals court where the family didn’t even bother to show up or add anything new to the case.
I think the Emirs words are very encouraging.
I can’t see why you have contempt for the Qatari courts though.
but everyone witnessed these 2 liar kids bullying the teacher for over an year….haram on them for lying and playing with people’s lives!
Doha News I would like to reply to Loveitorleave it. Please let him speak.
I like to know who translated the Arabic into English and used the word niggardly.
Why, it seems to be used perfectly correctly. Would you have preferred miserly or some such?
LOL that’s an…unfortunate word to use.
I just did quick Google search. I was unaware of the past controversies over its usage in the US. Seems silly to me, the etymology is entirely different. I can see why to some Americans it might ruffle their feathers due to their incorrect perception. I see no reason why the rest of the English speaking world should be limit its usage.
Lacist!
Yeah, I’ve thought about it, and I don’t get it. I have a bias against lace?
I know what it means and it has been used correctly but I was surprised for two reasons.
1. The person doing the translation must have a huge vocabulary of old English words
2. Although nothing to do with the other N word, it does in this PC world have certain connotations.
Old? Hmmm, the only reason your comment caught my eye is that I was wondering why anyone would object to the word. I have heard it used at work in the last little while in the context a supervisor berating a lower level supervisor for being ‘niggardly with praise’ for her subordinates. Nobody batted an eye at the language employed – though the professionalism of both supervisors was very open to comment.
Out of curiosity I ran it through Google ngram viewer and the word has shown a steady decline from about 1945 on, but has shown a marked uptick in usage in the last ten years, so ‘old’ is open for debate.
As for PC, well, I believe that correctness trumps political correctness every time, as in this case.
I agree the word has no racial connotations but I understand why also in the rest of the English speaking world it’s usage has declined in the last 60 years.
However in the Gulf it doesn’t matter, when you can hear comments from senior managers in meetings such as ‘Indians make good workers, but they are not good managers’ pretty much everything in a generalisation is taken as fact!
Yes, except I heard it in the Comox Valley, which qualifies as being a teeny part of the ‘rest’.
Fully agree on the second paragraph though…
Yes, miserly or stingy would be better. Strict translations come off stilted & artificial. When copy editing translated material, I work closely with the translator so that in the final product I’ve achieved accuracy in content, meaning AND tone.
It’s from Qatar News Agency
I have faith in this country and its citizens. The Emir has already seen the vision for Qatar’s bright future. I am a true believer that God will support the people who are just and innocent. Criticism is everywhere but the important thing is to overcome this by good deeds and strong courage. Lets support Qatar and share the good values taught by our great grandfathers to this present generation. Lets make Qatar a better place to live in.
Good for Qatar that he has such a vision but I would stop before saying God supports those who are just and innocent. It implies god has forsaken those in Syria, Burma, Pakistan, and elsewhere because they are not just or innocent.
My friend, God has not forsaken any country; its the mankind who have forsaken God. If you look at all these countries, you would see a miracle of how God is leading and feeding the innocent people. God is almighty and he can never be under-estimated. He knows people’s cries and certain things happen for a reason and also for the fulfillment of promises mentioned in the Holy scriptures. Make no mistake, our Almighty God is always with people who are humble, honest and innocent.
It seems you have been on the LSD my friend. I see no miracle, I see things happening for a reason but this is certainly not the work of a god or higher being. In fact I know not what god you refer to as there have been about 6000 since the dawn of human history.
Awesome Spach..
speech*
Spinach
The caption of Emir pic says “President Rajapaksa/Flickr”
Actually it’s a credit — the photos’ from the Sri Lankan president’s Flickr account and is released under Creative Commons on an attribution license (meaning it has to be credited.
But I can definitely see how that’s confusing…
Good for him. This is exactly what is needed at this time. I really wish him well 🙂
He will be a good leader I think, he recognises Qatar’s weaknesses, and knows how to fix them. On the youth thing, I would suggest restricting how much money many young Qataris have access to. I would even go as far as to say they shouldn’t have any money until they’ve proved they can earn an honest wage themselves. Learning the value of the vast wealth many of them have access to, would humble many of them.