In Qatar there always seems to be lots of things happening or none at all. Today seems to be one of the days when there are lots of things happening, both in the news and with what's on.
First there is the suprising statement by the Undersecretary of Business and Trade for Qatar that inflation doesn't matter if growth is high.
... if inflation stands at 12 percent and growth at 25 percent it is better than countries with two percent growth and one percent inflation.
Tell that to the parent trying to bring up a family of four on a salary that hasn't changed for three years! What he means, of course, is that growth is great if you are owning the companies that are experiencing the growth, especially if you have managed to keep down salaries. It is not so great if food prices are doubling and your income is remaining the same!
A particularly shocking story that hit the papers today is that of a marriage certificate rejected by the Qatar authorities. The poor couple in question got legally married in their own country but the courts are refusing to accept their certificate, presumably because it is a mixed marriage - a Chritian man with a Muslim woman. (The opposite is more acceptable.) While the circumstances are proably fairly rare, it has to be worrying for all of us expats when documents such as marriage certificates which have been legally issued in our home countries are not accepted in Qatar.
On a pleasanter note, there will be an exhibition of Orientalist paintings by the Mathaf Gallery from London in Souq Waqif art center. The exhibition will feature paintings by Arabic artists Ahmed Moustaffa as well as a number of Arabic scenes by Western artists.
