Touching display of honesty
Dear Sir,
I was impressed by the honesty displayed by a tea shop manager in a case recently and would like to share my experience with Gulf Times readers.
My 15-year-old son had been to a tea shop in Al Khor, named Tea Time, and ordered two cups of “karak”. He paid QR10 to the shop manager and left the stall without collecting the change.
The next day, I happened to be in the area for some work and went to the shop. I told the manager that my son had forgotten to collect the change the previous day after visiting the shop.
To my surprise, I found he had kept aside the change of QR8 and was actually waiting for the customer to come and collect it.
I also noted that the tea vendor had kept aside a few more currency bills, which his customers had overpaid and which he wanted to pay them back.
I was touched by his honesty and business ethics.
Shakeel Ahmed
Al Khor
(Address supplied)
An act of intolerance
Dear Sir,
Canadian judge Eliana Marengo’s insistence that a Muslim woman must remove her scarf before hearing her case is an act of crass religious intolerance.
Governments should tackle increased religious intolerance by promoting discussions both within various groups and by ensuring that women and political leaders are involved in the talks. Freedom of religion is the mother of all human rights which are universal and interconnected.
In our globalised world, certain religions or believers feel more and more threatened than ever before. Acknowledging and allowing religious diversity is a necessary component of freedom and tolerance.
The Western world’s reluctance to tolerate religious symbols is disturbing indeed. The resurgence of this kind of thinking poses a profound threat to liberal societies, which are based on ideas of liberty and equality.
Wearing a scarf is an ethical choice. Ethics does not involve right versus wrong or good versus evil, but rather entails a consistency of moral code.
Farouk Araie
[email protected].
