'I feel safe allowing my children to read KT'

Dubai - Sam Fernando has been reading KT for 15 years and has been a subscriber for the last seven years.

Sam Fernando, 44, moved to UAE 19 years ago. He was on his way back to Colombo from Saudi Arabia where he had been working for three months. The place wasn't for him. He was in charge of hiring labour. It took three months for Sam to realise he wanted to go back home, to return to Colombo and his job as a graphic designer. He was on his way back. But his brother was in Dubai then and had asked Sam to come by for a few days, to check out the place, Dubai with milk teeth. In that brief visit, Sam liked Dubai enough to decide to give another new place in under a year, another shot. He stayed put and he's amazed it's been 19 years. It wasn't the plan, he laughs.
Sam is now the operations director at an advertising and events company, Team Evention. He's been reading KT for 15 years, and has been a subscriber for the last seven years. It's not just that he's in the advertising business and needs to know what's happening in the market. That too, but he needs to read the paper, to keep up. "I always prefer to read a story on the physical paper rather than on the FB page or the website."
He says, "I make sure I read a newspaper for half an hour a day," says the father of two: Kylie, 14, and Kyle, 9. The kids read, too. "My son enjoys reading. Kylie, I have to push a bit."
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Even if Sam doesn't find the time in the morning, he scans the headlines. It's a habit. Any changes he's noticed in Khaleej Times of late, or in all the time that he's been getting it at home? He has, he says, the most obvious one is the change of size.
When he goes back to Colombo, he doesn't find that much time to read. But he does keep up with news from home by following the news online.
Sam is an encouragement for other kids to read. In the last year, he's become the 'first-aider' for his son Kyle's football team. He had to take four online courses - earn four diplomas - to be certified to be the first aider. Other dads thank him for taking on that load - looking after the lot of boys. Sam makes sure the kids are all safe, headgear strapped on tight, icebox on stand by whenever one of them gets into a scrape.
What do the kids say about reading the paper? Not much. Does he censor contents for them? Not ever. Are there any sections he doesn't permit them to read? No, no such thing. For one, they're old enough, he says, to know what's going on in the world. He doesn't have to hold anything back. "Besides, they can find out on their phones and computers." Do they ask any questions? Is there anything in the paper they can't make sense of? Nothing that he can think of instantaneously, but Sam says, "I feel safe allowing my children to read Khaleej Times. I don't have to censor anything. KT is perfect." They've got their dad's habit of reading the paper for 20-30 minutes, after school, before rugby - whenever.
nivriti@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE