Ahmed Shokeir, at Late Night Stories, wrote about the absence of such kind of competitions in the Arab world and his first impressions on Arabisk:

Mohammad El Sahli, who is also known as Mohammad Said Hjouij, wrote more details about the competition rules and selection criteria:

But this competition was subject to a huge debate. And bloggers from all over the Arab world had their own comments on its rules and selections.

Aljded believes that some of the selected blogs are in fact non compliant with the competitions second rule.

And Egyptian Wael Abbas wrote:

Egyptian Nora Younis on the other hand made fun of the competition's voting system design, especially that the blog design, has got a big weight in the competition evaluation criteria:

And so did Ahmed Shokeir, who also doesn't like the competition rating criteria and the inclusion of blogs design in the evaluation:

Shokeir also wrote…

The voting system, which is the second stage of evaluation after the top 10 blogs are selected by the competition judges, was subject to a huge debate. Arabisk voting system, which is similar to that of sites like digg and reddit, gives the users the ability to give either positive or negative votes to the blogs.

But it came out later on, that some users abused the system by giving negative votes to the competing blogs.

And it was obvious that the negative voting was a huge mistake.

And competition organizers have realized that, and decided to remove and reset the negative votes.

The Egyptian bloggers were all upset from the competition nominations because almost all of the nominated blogs were non-Egyptians, while the Egyptians form about one third of the Arabic blogosphere.

Shokeir also wrote on his blog:

Also Wael Abbas, was really upset and attacked the competition.

This comment made Abo Shams reply in order to defend Arabisk saying:

Also Mohammad El Sahli, the competition organizer, wrote a seperate post on his own blog in order to defend himself and his competition:

And finally, some other blogger, like Al-Fagih, just didn't accept the fact that their blogs weren't selected, simply because they are pretty sure that their blogs are the best.

The winners will be announced on October 1.

Photo of knafeh cupcake by Frankom, cupcake by Glaze (Kuwait)

“Yes, We Speak Cupcake” ran a headline in the New York Times this week.  The accompanying article noted the growing popularity of cupcake shops across the Middle East, crediting Sugar Daddy's, a popular Amman cupcake shop, with bringing the miniature cakes to stardom in the region (the shop now has franchises in Dubai and Beirut as well) and starting the cupcake revolution.

The New York Times isn't the only outlet talking cupcakes lately.  Bloggers in the Middle East and beyond have noticed the prevalence of the dessert as well.  Frankom, a Kuwaiti blogger, writes of being asked to sample local cupcakes based on traditional desserts, listing a few [ar]:

Kunafa on a bed of pistacio cupcake
Baqlawa on a bed of walnut cupcake
Rahash with rahash filling cupcake
Halwa with halwa filling cupcake
Zalabya with saffron cupcake

Jordanian And Far Away, remarking on Frankom's post, expresses trepidation at the thought of a knafeh cupcake, saying:

Now that is creativity. I’m not sure I’ll order them if they were in Jordan, the idea of knafeh on a cupcake is a little offensive to my Nabelsi genes, but I can’t help but appreciate the idea.

Cupcake-themed blog Cupcakes Take the Cake offers a photo post on the various cupcake bakeries in Kuwait.

Ramadan-themed cupcakes in Dubai; photo by Cupcakes Take the Cake, cupcake by Sugar Daddy's

Moving to the United Arab Emirates, where cupcake shops have found a market. Cupcakes Take the Cake has written about a number of such shops.  Regarding Sugar Daddy's in Dubai, the blogger shares an e-mail sent by the bakery's chef, describing one of the shop's special Ramadan cupcakes:

Blind Date: Tradition states that the Prophet Mohammad ate dates at the end of his fast, and the fruit is ever-present during the holiday. We have come up with a spice-filled date sponge that we frost with a swirl of cinnamon-flavored icing that has just a touch of coffee.

Yet another Dubai resident, Mahryska, writes about her favorite cupcake shop, Kitsch:

went there the other day and got myself coffee and a cupcake that looked darn good. and yes, it was good!

3 hearts for kitsch cupcakes for opening their store! ♥ ♥ ♥

The House of Cupcakes created this 500-cupcake masterpiece for the 37th National Day of the UAE celebration

Another Dubai shop, The House of Cakes, has its own blog where it shared an incredible photograph of 500 cupcakes in the shape of the Emirates' flag (see photo at left).

The final stop in our whirlwind tour of cupcakeries in the Middle East is Bahrain, where cupcake shops are using new media to get the word out.  Cupcakes Bahrain blogs on the Blogger platform to share photos of their cupcakes and information about their store, while  Clever Cupcakes has a presence on Twitter and Facebook, to share information about their product such as this:

We only serve clever cupcakes! A Cupcake that you can't forget..
Impress your guests and loved ones by ordering your clever cupcakes.

Syrian flag cupcakes by Canadian bakery cococakes

We'll conclude with these final words from Lebanese blogger Jad Aoun, who notes the New York Times‘ coverage of Arab and Israeli cupcake shops alike, and quips:

Maybe its time we all make peace over a round of strawberry cupcakes. We wouldn’t want to be serving hommous or falafel now would we?

Syrian cupcakes (and photo) by cococakes

Image by Basykes

What would you say to world leaders if given the chance? Let them know in a video lasting less than three minutes what you believe needs to be done to make the world a safer and better place for a chance to win a visit to the United Nations Headquarters for the 64th UN Day.

Actor George Clooney is a UN Messenger of Peace, and in the following video uploaded by United Nations Television he explains how you can participate and be one of the 5 winners who get a chance to participate in this VIP event in New York City.

The guidelines are quite simple:

1. Create your own video, no more than 3 minute duration.
2. Upload the video to your YouTube account.
3. Add it as a REPLY VIDEO to the video you are watching right now.
4. Deadline for submissions: 10 October 2009

Selection process:
1. The best 5 video entries will be selected by a committee based on compelling content, originality and creativity.
2. The finalists will be designated Citizen Ambassadors, and will be invited to United Nations Headquarters in New York on the occasion of the 64th UN Day.
3. They will take a special guided tour of UN Headquarters, have their photo taken with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and receive VIP seating at the UN Day Concert, to be held on Friday 23 October 2009.

So far, less than a handful of video responses have been posted, two from the United States (1 and 2 ), one from Canada and one from the United Arab Emirates. The deadline is October 10, so grab your camera and make your original, creative and compelling point!

(Image  by basykes used to illustrate post according to Creative Commons Attribution License)

The one-month show explained Japan's experience of progress and reasons behind its success. Al Shugairy tried to portray how Japanese people follow the principles of Islam in their day to day manners even without being Muslims.
Many Arab bloggers, thinkers, writers and other preachers praised the program, and hoped to one day see their countries as developed as Japan.

Labeed, from Saudi Arabia, wrote a blog post under the title “Ahmed Al Shugairy the great visionary“:

Ahmad Al Shugairy is one of the most inspiring people I have ever listened to. He is out there with a strong belief that one day he will make a difference.
[…]
For those who don’t know him! He has a show called “Khawater خواطر” that airs everyday in Ramadan, what he does in a nutshell is sharing his ideas and thoughts to the whole Muslim world and sometimes the Arab world in particular. These thoughts are presented in a documentary style with a short straight forward messages.

Labeed's illustration to thank Al Shugairy for his work.

Saudi blogger Samyah mentions a new project launched by a group of volunteers to translate the five parts of Khawater into English. Khawater's first season can be found translated here.

She also said:

Mohannad El-Tayeb, from the UAE, quotes Al Shugairy as saying:

“To every young man and woman, you’re not responsible for Arabs being retard today, and nobody has the right to blame you for that!! But young men and women of today are responsible of the future of the Arab countries, you are responsible of what we’ll be after 25 years, means that “WE” decide the situation of the Islamic world in 2030″

Mohannad then commented:

This year Khawater 5 is released. Ahmad Al Shugairy traveled to Japan and made this season there. He shows that Japanese people are still keeping their traditions and customs, while they’re developing quickly. It’s amazing. you’ve got to watch it.

Wafa from Tunisia wrote a post titled “Khawater…in less than 15 min, lots of lessons!!“. In this post, she said:

This year, ‘Khawater 5′ takes us to Japan and back!
Al Shugairy compares issues in Japan and the Arab world, which he’s calling ‘another planet’!
We see how organized, clean, disciplined and punctual the Japanese people are.
We see how they respect each other, respect the elderly, respect boundaries and respect their selves!
Isn’t this exactly how we all should be? No matter what religion we belong to, isn’t this how a good human being should be?
Aren’t these the morals and conditions that make this world a better place?

And N_spirit from Algeria wrote under “I love khawater” saying:

Pour ce Ramadan 1430, et d’après la bande d’annonce Khawater 5, Ahmad Al Shukairy a choisi de voyager vers le Japon, et en retirer des leçons du peuple Japonais qui a pu se relever et s’est reconstruit en un temps record après les bombardements atomiques de Hiroshima et Nagasaki.

Ahmed Amr from Saudi Arabia wrote under the title “Between values and reality” [Ar] a comment to people who criticize the programme and Al Shugairy. Also, Nahar [Ar] from UAE, Jeedo, a Jordanian blogger living in the US, and Egyptian blogger Ahmed Bassiony[Ar] , all wrote about how they are impressed with the programme, and how they wish their countries to be like Japan someday. They also expressed interest in visiting Japan.

Reem from Jordan comments about Khawater on Twitter

Blogger Reem Al Saleh from Saudi Arabia wrote:

On the other hand, Subzero, a Tunisian who lives with his wife Bluerose and is preparing for a Masters in Electronics Engineering in Tokyo wrote about one disappointment of his, despite his utter fascination with the show:

The way Ahmad-san talks about Japan is really great! It is very similar to how I talk to my friends about Japan, and in some cases he used the exact same words! To be honest, even though I like the guy so much, I was disappointed and mad to know he was in Tokyo and yet he did not even try to contact Muslims there. I would really have done anything to talk to him and help him go around Tokyo, in addition to giving some thoughts about the program.

And lastly, Saudi blogger Masha'al criticizes those who talk about their admiration for the programme and yet, do not practice what they preach, and adds:

According to the study's findings, which were reported by local newspaper Gulf Times, average productivity per hour in the country declined from 4.8 per cent between 1990 and 2000 to 1.8pc between 2000 and 2007.

“This is very low compared to what has been achieved by China (10.1pc), Bahrain (5.13pc), India (4.1pc) and Oman (4.18pc) in 2007,” the study stated, citing a recent report from the Conference Board, an independent international business and research organization.

According to the story published in the Gulf Times, the study “held the large numbers of the low-skilled expatriate workforce responsible for the low output per hour experienced by the country.”

The study reports:

What is alarming is that over half of the expatriate workforce (55.9pc) are either uneducated or below secondary education level.

Low participation by nationals in the private sector “means 99.40pc of the private sector jobs are manned by expatriate workforce.”

One can hardly find another country in the world where foreigners fully control the private sector as is the case in Qatar. This situation should be seriously considered when it comes to developing the labour market policy.

The report prompted a torrent of scornful comments on Twitter and the forum Qatar Living, where the general sentiment seemed to be that companies here get what the pay for.

On Twitter, @adnandawood said:

This is so ridiculous its hillarious

On Qatar Living, commentator Don Robert said:

Human trafficking and expat exploitation is the reason for the slowing down of progress here in Qatar.

MagicDragon noted:

You are not the owner of the company. You have no rights. Why should you be more productive? Pay me 3 times my salary and I'll be 3 times more productive. That's the equation.

And Bthomas said:

I know a lot of people who are getting paid peanuts considering their education & work experience. Qatar needs to stop gambling with employees about their salaries and need to set a standard across various industry sectors. Without any motivation or comfort, employees will not remain loyal to their organization or their work.

In response to the study's recommendation to “decrease the reliance on the expatriate workforce especially those who are unskilled,”

@VEE6 asked,

There's an alternative?

On Qatar Living, commentator Alumnar added:

It would be nice to see how Qatar would do with local people only doing all the jobs for a year. Can a country go bankrupt? If not the case, it can sure be CHAOS!

He suggested instead:

Review everything - Pay skilled workforce decent salaries. Invest in training programs. Don't overwork and underpay them. Use incentives and show them appreciation. Give them proper accommodation and allowances so they can eat enough to be able to work properly…

The conversation regarding workers' rights in the Gulf was continued yesterday in a Huffington Post piece by architect Cameron Sinclair, who calls laborers “boom and bust refugees.”

In Dying To Work: Human Trafficking and the Construction Industry, Sinclair writes:

It is easy to point the finger at local officials and higher authorities, but let us not forget that it is the private sector that is equally, if not more, accountable…

Forget our environmental footprint, what is our ethical footprint? What good is building a zero energy, carbon neutral complex if unethical labor practices are jeopardizing the lives of those who build this architectural wonder?

CosmicChaos comments:

The point is that all laborers no matter their origins or where they are working deserve fair wages, safe housing, and a safe work place. Anything less is criminal.

I find it horrible that I have no clue if the people I hire to do a construction job are fairly paying their workers and making sure that they have the proper equipment to prevent injuries. I doubt any of them have health coverage if they are injured.

Somehow we need workers around the world to be able to say, “Enough!” However, this is difficult to impossible when you and your family is starving.

To see more comments on Huffington Post, click here.

For more on the discussion at Qatar Living, click here.