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WHAT a lovely front page story in last week's GulfWeekly about Lamees bu Hussain, the young Bahraini with Down's syndrome who works at The One - truly inspirational and what a great family, sadly not always the case.

Liz,

by email.

THANK you for your story last week highlighting our plans to offer extra tuition to young students who need help keeping up with their classmates and whose parents cannot afford private classes.

We have opened new classrooms in East Riffa and are inviting interested students and volunteer teachers to contact with us. The number to call is 38852697.

T C Raveendran,

President, The Charity and Assistance Association of Parents,

Bahrain.

HAVE people noticed there is a conspicuous neglect in the study of the Arab world on issues such as project and knowledge management?

I consider the Arab world a very interesting case for studying economical growth. Its fuel resources provide power to most of the world and act as a magnet, not merely for highly-rewarded expatriates from the West, but also for workers from much of the underdeveloped world. So, why is it that approaches in management by Arabs are not given focus, even though their economies are prominent and fast growing? Is there some different way of looking at marketing and business in the Arab world?

Efforts to study and develop Arab management techniques are neglected mainly because its economical growth is considered temporary by the West and other developed nations.

There is a notion that a product like crude oil represents temporary prosperity. Somehow, the Arab techniques and traditions of knowledge are considered 'undeveloped' and not stable enough to learn from.

Unlike the West in the past, the Arab world openly welcomes foreign capital, foreign enterprises and world class expertise that in turn creates high-quality jobs.

It aims at integrated, harmonious regional prosperity, unlike the western industrial concept of functioning where countries are sensitive to their borders and prefer domestic capital and growth.

One also has to remember that private capital drives this part of the world and entrepreneurial initiatives are very much encouraged.

Very few Arab clients are happy with western paradigms of management and business. Their capitalistic and individualistic approach is diminished by the Arabic context of nurturing business through interpersonal relationships and social networking.

The most regular knowledge-sharing activities among the elite are one-on-one discussions, informal gatherings that are based on verbal communication.

In fact, current leading textbooks on management have already added an extra dimension to the importance of social networking and relationships to allow businesses to thrive. After all, management is a social activity.

Romi Sebestian,

by email.

TO all the non-smokers complaining, yes, a certain club in Adliya is allowing smoking in one or two of its bars. Have a heart you guys, we are still in the month of Ramadan so we cannot smoke outside.

As non-smokers you do have other options within the club, so if you do decide to venture in and join us in the sports bar it's your choice, so stop the moaning.

If you don't like it, leave. I promise, when you are in the 'non smoking' areas I will not complain about that.

Name and address supplied,

Bahrain.