Khalaf Al-Harbi

Okaz

 

THE book "Glimpses of Thought," written by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, contains all the ideas and thoughts presented by him during the recent 2013 government dialogue meeting held in Dubai. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, UAE President, wrote the introduction for the book which consists of 36 subjects, most of which are Sheikh Al-Maktoum’s replies to questions raised by participants at the meeting.



The chapter which interested me most was the one on the future government. The author said the future government will provide services to the people 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days of the year. He then poses an important question: If such a scenario is possible in the private sector, why can’t it be executed by the public sector such as airline companies which never sleep? He added: We want the government to surpass the hospitality industry in terms of cordial attitudes and the banking sector in the accuracy of executing procedures. "Our aim is to compete with the private sector and be better than it in the services provided to residents," he said.



Away from the gigantic steps so far achieved by the UAE in various fields, the idea of a government which can provide services to citizens after midnight seems to be difficult to achieve in our country. Our government employees are living under the notion that the services they kindly provide to citizens and expatriates during the day are more than enough.



They believe that if a citizen comes after 10 p.m. on Friday to renew his ID card or driving license he must be immediately sent to a mental hospital. However, if government officials consider the economic gains that can be made by simply making the lives of citizens and expatriates easier, they will not hesitate to work 24/7. They will find that their cherished policy of "come back tomorrow" is wasting funds and tiring people. The wheel of production has slowed down because a large number of people have to line up every day outside government departments relying on wasta (favoritism) to help them process what should be straightforward paperwork.



It simply is not a matter of working round-the-clock, otherwise hospitals and other emergency crews would have outperformed everyone else. But the real success of a future government is the spirit of initiation and creativity.



In this chapter, the author says: "In 2012, the UAE government came up with more than 20,000 new ideas to simplify and promote procedures. Our aim is to create a comprehensive environment for breeding and implementation of sound ideas. Creativity is the capital of the future."