Back to the old habits
The UAE has decided to go back on their seven-year-old decision of changing the weekend to Thursday-Friday.
Yes, God yes, the weekend shall be Friday-Saturday from September.
Back when I was in the fifth grade, around January 1999 the government had decided to change the weekend from Friday-Saturday to Thursday-Friday. I'm not quite sure why they did that, but I have a feeling they did it because Friday-Saturday is the weekend in the "Zionist Entity" a.k.a Israel - because Israel has a Muslim minority and the day of rest according to the Qur'an is Friday. Saturday is also the weekend in Israel because the Jewish day of rest is from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday.
At that time, the UAE probably followed the example of a lot of countries and changed the national weekend from Friday-Saturday to Thursday-Friday. Everybody I know preferred [and still prefers] the old Friday-Saturday weekend, and back in 1999 we grumbled a lot against the change. Friday-Saturday used to be so much easier, so much more civilized.
One thing that really annoys me about the Thursday-Friday weekend is that the UAE loses four perfectly fine days of business with the countries outside the Middle East. Government and public-sector employees don't work on Thursdays and Fridays here in the UAE. As soon as our weekend finishes, the weekend in non-Middle-Eastern countries starts. Four days down the drain. What was the point of it all?
Anyways, I'm just glad we're going back to what it used to be. Though after seven years, it's gonna be weird going to school on Thursdays wearing the uniform.
Yes, God yes, the weekend shall be Friday-Saturday from September.
Back when I was in the fifth grade, around January 1999 the government had decided to change the weekend from Friday-Saturday to Thursday-Friday. I'm not quite sure why they did that, but I have a feeling they did it because Friday-Saturday is the weekend in the "Zionist Entity" a.k.a Israel - because Israel has a Muslim minority and the day of rest according to the Qur'an is Friday. Saturday is also the weekend in Israel because the Jewish day of rest is from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday.
At that time, the UAE probably followed the example of a lot of countries and changed the national weekend from Friday-Saturday to Thursday-Friday. Everybody I know preferred [and still prefers] the old Friday-Saturday weekend, and back in 1999 we grumbled a lot against the change. Friday-Saturday used to be so much easier, so much more civilized.
One thing that really annoys me about the Thursday-Friday weekend is that the UAE loses four perfectly fine days of business with the countries outside the Middle East. Government and public-sector employees don't work on Thursdays and Fridays here in the UAE. As soon as our weekend finishes, the weekend in non-Middle-Eastern countries starts. Four days down the drain. What was the point of it all?
Anyways, I'm just glad we're going back to what it used to be. Though after seven years, it's gonna be weird going to school on Thursdays wearing the uniform.