abaya MUST for entry in Aspire PARK !!!!

Now that Aspire Park management has come out, and falsified the dress-code rumor. I think it's time we got on with our lives, and for this threat to be locked!

Strom... they did not specify abaya as a MUST..

You can wear sports trousers, cotton pants OR abaya.. Jeans and other dresses are not allowed there :)

well i think they have a problem with my long shirt and trousers (traditional pakistani dress in vogue) though i was wearing joggers for a walk .... i have heard same stories from some indians wearing shawalr kameez

I was there a while ago,wearing fitted short and sleeveless shirt.three girls approach me I'm lucky that they didn't harass me:(

heheheheheeee

even me like an Arabic Muslim all my family members are not wearing abaya ...... heheheee should we follow the traditions even in clothes that's so funny

I wore an abaya with training shoes and was let in without problems...

I was there last thurs, t-shirt and jeans and flip flops. Security guard sitting there greeted us and let us through.

People have a right to dress how they want without being harassed. That's a MAN's bad behaviour, not how the woman is dressed. Tsk, tsk.

Well said, smoke.

From people I know, so long as you are in sports clothes (shoulders covered and knees covered) plus sport shoes, they haven't been harrassed by security at any time in the past 2 weeks. They go at various times of day without incident.

every day earth chnage its position and in seven days everything can happen..... and if its not true i have no intention of having this discussion..... try ur luck today as thy say its two days before this rule has been implemented...

and before saying NOT TRUE check ur facts please

Were you wearing those under a thobe ?

Thousands of people dying in Syria, yet wearing an Abaya is the security guards biggest concern? No one has died from seeing a lady in shorts jogging. Shame that the culture of the expats are not respected.

Not true. I was there last Friday with my sister and no one stopped us. in fact we passed right next to the security guards , who seemed totally obvious to our Religion Jeans ‘n pink T-shirt! ( in support for breast cancer day)!

smoke, its taste same like hot n spicy Vindaloo which my best friend britexpat likes the most ! :)

Speaking of chai and smoke, anyone tried having a smoke and these new pepper flavor Lays? Tastes pretty good :P

please one airy one reserved for me :-)

yeah i think i have to take corniche now ... only for chai and u smoke :-)

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So, are we saying that Westerners can walk in shorts, but everyone else has to wear an abaya ?

Seems rather strange..

Strom perhaps you should go walking at Cornich, its much better and you dont have to worry about being in abaya..plus you get nice chai at the end near Sheraton :P

they were having a card on their chest and were officials as every one guy is sitting at the distance of 15 feet

really is Qatar going to be the next KSA ??

How do we know that the "guy in arabic dress" was a banofide employee or security guard ?

I'd love to know what has triggered this new 'rule'. Clearly someone important has complained about something - scantily clad ladies in the park or whatever. From what I have heard on other forums, the new dress code has been inconsistently enforced, with some people managing to enter the park with the usual shoulders and knees covered, and others turned away if not wearing thobe / abaya / sportswear (with your behind covered by your top). Perhaps they are still ironing out the policy. Personally, I don't see why this specific area should have it's own separate strict dress code. Surely the usual guidelines you can see on mall entrances (and the generally accepted norm) for 'decent' attire - shoulders and knees covered - would suffice?

Now there is a Qatari dress code. I was told the Qur'an says to respect all religions. 75% of your population doesn't earn enough money to go shopping. Not to mention, afford private school or a villa. If these people go home, expect to see a higher vacancy of commercial real estate and villas. This country doesn't have a large enough population to consume higher end products that Qatari's have gotten accustomed too. Last month one head of lettuce was 30 QAR. In the western country you could purchase it for 3 QAR. If you take away the population that consumes these items, expect to pay 60 QAR. A cup of coffee is 18 QAR vs. the US it's 5 QAR with unlimited refills at Starbucks as long as you put it on their prepaid cards. There's not enough demand for the supply, not to mention the ridiculous high commercial rent price.

@jazz berry ... in a culture where most beauties are in abaya.... u hardly discriminate....

@smoke thats my cat...equal opportunity haraser :-)

and be wearing an abaya to go outside of the house....... and with mixed culture compounds we might have to wear the arabic swimsuit. That'll be fun!

@shafy ...then please change your tag line..... if u think its a good rule to implement abaya this way ..... as it is oxymoron

Good move!

I harass all girls equally..i hate to discriminate :P

Actually it does. Say you're a guy - would you harass the girl in shorts or abaya? :)

The funny government, Khanan.

who make this kind of funny rules???

for me wearing an abaya is not an issue..... the way it is implememnting is....either there should be a prior notification at the entrance for the rules of entrance rather than embarcing ppl from not entering the park.

I dont know where else this rule is applied and now before going out to some public place i have to think twice.....

As for "protecting women" from "sexual harrassment" - an abaya doesn't stop that from happening.

rules been imposed at whim with no written notifications anywhere. From what has been posted before it seems that you either wear a thobe(for men) or abayah (for ladies) or sports gear. All very out of whack really! Considering there is also a kiddie play area and cafe which clearly shows it's a family park, then why impose such weird rules?

As for now I will just keep away from that entire zone..Aspire and Villagio namely!

They are taking precautionary steps afriding that any movement a lungi style vendor appears with karak chai,paratha and palli packets. And latter he will ask pagadi money for his area. So let them take care.

I also just read this in the Qatar News column on the right over here - http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2012/10/how-to-call-for-reform-in-qatar.html

The call for reform here is not as for some of Qatar's other regional neighbours, it is a more sophisticated call for reform.

In the 1st issue, these activists call for a return to basics of Qatar's roots, culture and heritage, which has been somewhat whittled down by being too accomodating to expat workers.

"Qatar's high proportion of foreign workers a threat to the country’s identity and asks for increased government transparency, citizen involvement and democracy" - They do have a point here but this needs to be balanced out with the need for expat workers to assist in nation building.

The statement on the 1st issue about the worsening population imbalance where the population of citizens in 2010 was only 12% (this some of us knew by the general numbers but not the percentages) and this is indeed alarming.

But the statement that this would "obliterate its identity and culture and its Arabic language, and undermine the role of its citizens” is perhaps too strongly worded but perhaps meant to shake up citizens to some realization of the need to take some action to protect themselves because they have been burned in the past.

For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not saying that expats have not been burned in the past, some very badly, but I'm saying that there is the other reality that locals had also been burned by expats in the past.

Strom, there wasn't such a rule (or maybe more like policy) in force a few years ago. Maybe new or maybe been there all along but not enforced ... and must be due to all those numerous complaints about scantily dressed ladies in short shorts and figure hugging tank tops and the numerous counter arguments about freedom to wear whatever one likes. There were also allegations of sexual harassments happening, so it is always a double edged sword. While restrictive but the rule or policy is actually for the protection of women. From many expats' background, this is ridiculous and is totally a non-issue ... But the same does not apply for everyone.

In your case, you (and many others) were decently dressed and not in breach of cultural rules but usually the enforcement of any rule or policy has to be a blanket enforcement for ease of execution. However, IMHO, the authorities should allow some leeway for decently dressed ladies to enter the Aspire Park. It is a park, after all. However, having said that, it's not too bad to just put on a thin black abaya, not too hot and just a matter of getting used to wearing it.

Pr.ck

we are to respect the Qatar codes.

And one can enjoy the evening strolls with Abaya also and without- the others may enjoy more.

Then I will not go - I refuse to wear an Abaya ...... black or otherwise... I'd rather spend the afternoon in the pit that is ........Villagio....

Crap:(

i also heard same incident happened in this place... i guess this place is a park for everyone who loves nature and sports... Management should be open minded about this...