Reading in the UAE is now a legally protected pastime, thanks to a new law passed this week.
Under the legislation, the first of its kind in the region, employers will be required to allow their staff to take half an hour of their working day to read. It does specify that materials should be relevant to the job in hand, however, so workers might need to prepare creative justifications if they want to dip into 50 Shades of Gray or the Communist Manifesto.
As well as mandating space to read at work, the law will encourage coffee shops to provide reading materials for their customers, and support shopping centres to set up libraries for the general public. It will also treat books as an essential commodity, exempting them from certain taxes and charges.
#دبى عملت قانون للقراءة
— nermeen mohamed (@ewis_dr11) 31 October 2016
وتشجيع القراءة واجبارية القراءة
الله
Dubai created the reading law, encouraging reading and enforcing reading
The purpose of the new rules, according to Gulf News, is to provide a “road map for building a reading, civilised society, capable of change, and a world leader in development”. Authorities hope that culture will change society for the better and increase the capabilities of the workforce too.
The response to the news has been overwhelmingly positive so far.
الريادة في كل شيئ، من بناء الحجر الى بناء العقول
— loubna Fawaz (@LoubnaFawaz) 31 October 2016
للمرة الأولى في العالم… قانون للقراءة في #الإمارات#دبي #القراءة
https://t.co/4weRIUdPOL
Leadership in everything from building with stones to building minds. For the first time in world, a reading law in UAE.
Although a few have raised doubts about the difficulties of actually enforcing and managing rules the rules, especially in the private sector.
So will reading at work transform the culture and society of the UAE? It probably depends on what people will be reading.
BS
