 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Footloose
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Sir- I must say that while your sports pages are informative, I would suggest you publish more in-depth stories on some of our more shallow-minded sports figures who call the shots. Anwar Salama, recently hired as Egypt's national football coach, is a case in point.
In his playing days Mr Salama, dubiously labelled "Anwar Foreman", was -- as the nickname suggests -- not only more into fisticuffs than dribbling but, like the pugilist he is, a trite weak in the department of grey matter.
While Tunisia prepares for the upcoming African cup by playing Italy's mighty Inter Milan, we, the defending continental champions, warm up by playing the likes of Suez and Ittihad clubs -- and losing no less.
In consequence, rumours abound that Salama will shortly get the boot, to be replaced by a coach far from our shores. Egypt has long been described as having a "foreigner complex", this of course taken as a negative connotation. But having seen the Egyptian team in inaction for the past week, I for one would like to keep our inferiority complex intact -- and win.
Mohamed Ibrahim
Heliopolis
Battles with history
Sir- The battle of Al-Alamein started on 23 October 1942, not 1941, and Rommel resumed command on the evening of 25 October, not 25 September (Books, Al-Ahram Weekly, 14-20 October: review and photograph of the Armies of Rommel).
Paolo Lombardini
Zamalek
Cairo heights
Sir- I have been a resident of the Muqattam for two years now and am delighted with the quality of life made possible by the vertical separation from the rest of Cairo afforded by the hills.
It houses a young community, both local and foreign, and is characterised by an atmosphere of cooperation and friendliness which only such isolated locations are usually able to provide. Although many people think of Muqattam as a distant and inaccessible part of Cairo, we are in fact no more than a quarter of an hour away from many Cairene districts.
The Muqattam provides its residents with the calm, clean air, and relaxation seldom found in other residential areas and this aspect alone qualifies it above many other higher class areas. Added to this important benefit is the fact that, probably because of the low demand on housing in Muqattam, the price of the land, and therefore of flats, is extremely reasonable compared to districts of similar standards in the rest of Cairo.
It is hardly appropriate therefore that its residents should be punished for their move by having to endure the neglect suffered by some aspects of life in Muqattam.
Irene Khalaf
Muqattam
A streetcar named slow
Sir- There is a growing school of thought in Alexandria that thinks that the widening of the Corniche, despite its horrendous cost, will not significantly ease the port city's growing traffic congestion.
More and more people now believe that what Alexandria needs is a six-lane major artery where the tram is today. And to achieve this the tram will have to be pushed underground to become a high-speed metro.
The other day I took a taxi from Glymenopoulo to Sidi Gaber train station -- usually a five-minute ride -- and arrived 25 minutes later! Time will tell who is right.
Mamdouh El-Dakhakhni
Alexandria
All readers' contributions and comments should be addressed to The Editor. Fax: +202 578 6089
E-mail: weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg
E-mail correspondents are asked to give postal address. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.
