Mar26
Monthly Archives: March 2011
Mar25
Protected: mechanical morning
Mar25
Protected: Has the system failed?
Mar24
Protected: Could we have curry for breakfast?
Mar22
Protected: Viagra killed the Grocer
Mar22
Your Mother’s Name
In Arabian Gulf states, there is a taboo of mentioning one’s mother’s name and a married woman is almost always referred to as Mother of [eldest son's name]. Males are taught from an early age to protect women’s reputation and honour and part of that is not to reveal her name to others, especially men.
Of course this is not mainstream in all Gulf states, but those with more conservative and traditional backgrounds, still practice this.
Yesterday was Mother’s Day and there was an interesting hashtag on Twitter: #MyMotherSName and #MyMotherName where Saudis tweeps were asked to pay tribute to their mothers and mention their names, in an effort to over ride this taboo. Many people posted their mother’s names and one person posted this clip from the famous Tash ma Tash Saudi series in which one of the main characters has a bad dream in which men come up to him and call him the son of Munira, revealing his mother’s name. The clip shows the hang up that many men have about revealing their mother’s name.
Socialnetworking and two decades almost of the world-wide web, are having far-reaching effects.
Mar22
Mother’s Day
March 21st is the date most Arabs celebrate Mother’s Day.
In this video clip, Fayza Ahmad sings Sitt Al Habayeb, a song extolling maternal love and appreciation for mothers. I have posted the Arabic lyrics at the bottom and also attempted a brief translation with some poetic license on behalf of non-Arabic speakers.
The Most beloved of Ladies (Sitt Al Habayeb)
The most beloved of ladies, oh my beloved
you’re more precious than my soul and my blood
You’re tender and full of goodness
God keep you mom
When I was a child, you took care of me and comforted me for many sleepless nights
and now you still carry my burdens
As I sleep, you watch over me
and you sleep lightly
waking with morning prayers, coming to check on me
May you live long beloved mother and always approve of me
my souls is an extension of yours
and my life is blessed by your prayers for me
you anticipate my joy in happy moments way before they happen
and you feel my pain before I do,
May God keep you for me, mom
May God keep you for me, mom
If I dedicated my whole life to paying you back
for all that you’ve done for me, I would need another lifetime
for in my lifetime there would not be enough years
to show my appreciation
And oh where can I find the most precious gift
suitable to present you with ?
You deserve no less than
The light of my eyes, my soul, my life, and my world
if you will accept them
God keep you, mom
the most beloved of ladies, my beloved.
ست الحبايب ياحبيبه
يااغلى من روحي ودمي
ياحنينة وكلك طيبة
يارب يخليكي يا أمي
زمان سهرتي وتعبتي وشلتي من عمري ليالي
ولسه برضه دلوقتي بتحملي الهم بدالي
انام وتسهري وتباتي تفكري
وتصحي من الآدان وتيجي تشقري
تعيشي لي ياحبيبتي يا أمي
ويدوم لي رضاكي
أنا روحي من روحك انت
وعايشه من سر دعاكي
بتحسي بفرحتي قبل الهنا بسنة
وتحسي بشكوتي من قبل ماأحس أنا
يارب يخليكي ياأمي
يارب يخليكي ياأمي
لو عشت طول عمري أوفي جمايلك الغاليه علي
أجيب منين عمر يكفي
وألاقي فين أغلى هدية
نور عيني ومهجتي وحياتي ودنيتي
لو ترضي تقبليهم دول هما هديتي
يارب يخليكي ياأمي ست الحبايب ياحبيبة
Mar19
Protected: rockabye baby
Mar17
Protected: Fulfillment
Mar16
to rest in peace
To Rest in Peace is a short film by Fawaz Al-Matrouk that is based upon the true story of his uncle during the Iraqi invasion in 1990, who seeks the proper burial of two bodies left in a car.
to rest in peace, posted with vodpod
There are links within the Rest in Peace blog to interesting background information on the film and on Fawaz Al-Matrouk.
Mar16
Paradise Abandoned
After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Failaka Island was abanddoned.Below is footage compiled from a trip to Failaka by the crew of the film To Rest In Peace, an 18 minute short film by Fawaz Al-Matrouk that takes place during the Invasion.
Failaka – deserted since 1991, posted with vodpod
Mar16
Protected: Purposeful Snagging
Mar16
Lobster: Muted Freedom
The compassionate angler
was fishing for sole
but instead,
unfortunate crustacean,
you became entangled in his
net;
he heaved you up
a whopping four kilos
almost one metre in length
and you were faced
with your foe:
the compassionate English angler
who took your massive form
and deposited you to be cared for
in the aquarium
after more than 50 years at sea
roaming
wild
free
spawning
you become
a specimen for people to watch
little children will point at you
and squeal
as you try to focus
behind the thick glass that distorts your vision
and magnifies the confusion
the sound of the aquarium filter makes an incessant buzz
and you long for the sounds of home.
—-
Inspired by Huge 1m lobster saved from the pot
Mar15
Disaster everywhere
I sincerely hope that after the catastrophic disasters in Japan, Kuwait will seriously reconsider any meddling (investment) in nuclear power plants.
If a country as efficient as Japan with state of the art facilities and emergency plans for potential crises in place is going to face a nuclear disaster, I can’t begin to think of what would happen in our region.
People wake up. Does Kuwait really have the capability and expertise to build four 1,000 megawatt reactors by 2022 AND maintain them? Will we be able to deal with the risks and dangers posed or to even maintain them properly?
No way. Of course not. Nuclear power plants in Kuwait is simply wrong. And this is one blunder that we are being swept into and hardly anyone has protested.
My heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the gentle people of Japan and all those affected by the recent horrific disasters. The scenes were certainly apocalyptic and I can’t begin to imagine the suffering the people of Japan are going through. Prayers and hopes to alleviate their suffering.
Mar13
fair & square
In the news tonight, 30 Egyptian judges in Kuwait plan to resign because they will not get a pay raise.
What I want to know is, why aren’t there enough Kuwaiti judges? This is 2011. We have 93.3% literacy rate. Education is free for all Kuwaitis.
Why do we have to employ judges from other countries?
Can a Kuwaiti judge work in Egypt? Can an Australian judge hold office in the USA?
It just does not seem right.
If there are not enough Kuwaiti male judges to go around, then I suggest we start investigating Kuwaiti females to fit the job. There are enough of them around I am sure.
Mar13
Playing Sick
In 2010, there were 900,000 sick leaves recorded for employees in the government sector at a working loss of 35 million Kuwaiti Dinars. The number of sick leaves was the highest ever recorded in the nation’s history.
The highest number of sick leaves were by employees from the Ministry of Education followed by the Ministry of Health.
70% of the total number of sick leaves were taken by females.
The report did not mention whether those 900,000 sick leaves were for Kuwaitis only or all employees regardless of nationality.
This high number of sick leaves does not mean that we are a nation of sick people, does it? The report says a there are long-term sick leaves issued for psychological disorders.
Is it a wonder?
Mar10
Saudi Women Revolution
I’ve been keeping a pleased eye on the hash tag Saudi Women Revolution on Twitter for some time now and I’m pleased to say a Facebook page has also been set up with the same title.
What Saudi women want does not conflict with Islam nor are their demands unreasonable. In this interview on France 24, the following points are made by Rasha from Riyadh.
Rasha says that a group of women started on Twitter and then moved onto Facebook as well. Now there is talk of initiating meetings between these women in the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Khobar to discuss ideas and to organize.
In recent years, Saudi women have become more aware of their rights they have been denied under the current system. In Saudi Arabia, a woman is under the control of her guardian (father, brother, or husband, or son in some cases) at all times and cannot do anything without his consent regardless of her age. A Saudi woman needs her male guardian’s consent for all matters in her life regarding education, travel, medical care, and work.
Saudi women do not have an independent personal identification card but follow the family card belonging to her male gaurdian.
Rasah says these archaic ways are governed by manmade customs and traditions.
The usual argument against change is fear for a women’s welfare but Rasha thinks it is very probably a fear of women.
These arachaic desert traditions are reminiscent of the Jahiliyya, pre-Islamic act of infanticide of baby girls by burying them alive in the sand. It is the same now but women are buried alive within their homes.
There are many men within this campaign and Rahsa’s husband too is at the head of the group. She says it is not a battle of the sexes – of women against men or vice versa. There are many men who support this campaign.
Rasha says she is ready to protest on the streets for this campaign and believes calling for women’s rights is a peaceful cause. The only thing holding back protests on the streets for this cause now is that they have been deemed illegal in Saudi Arabia The religious clerics have deemed going out to the streets in protests as anti-sharia’a and against the teachings of Islam. Rasha says that although she can’t disagree with the religious clerics she can voice her opinion. Islam is not against freedom of expression especially for as expressing a peaceful cause as women’s rights.
Rasha hopes that women will gain the right to a persoanl identification card and be be able to choose her life path and make independent decisions concerning her life oonce she is 18 years old.
Rasha’s greatest personal grievance has been her inability to drive. She says she has not suffered as other women because both her father and her husband have been supportive of her. However, not having the right to drive is a problem. Every outing has to be planned and depends on the readiness and availabilty of the driver. Not every woman can afford a driver. In addition, Rasha says it is infuriating to see young boys driving their cars aimlessly around the streets just because they are male while she who is in her 30′s and a working mother or student, must wait for a driver or someone else to drive her to her destination and run her errands.
The argument is always what is the necessity of the woman going out? That she says is not an argument even to be discussed. Whatever the reason for a woman going out, it cannot be less important than the adolescents driving aimlessly around in his car.
Mar10
Foul Practice
A British dentist has been suspended for belching and farting on the job amongst a host of other transgressions.
According to the article, “Unless Walton appeals the suspension, he will be forbidden from legally working as a dentist in the United Kingdom.” LINK
Great. I hope that doesn’t mean he will seek an overseas job that won’t make background inquiries into people like him !!!
Mar9
Marriage Scams II
When Ahmad proposed to Abeer, she accepted his conditions despite the protests of her parents and family. Ahmad asked Abeer not only to wear the hijab but also to wear an abaya at all times when she went out. He was not overly religious and neither did his mother wear an abaya, but those were simply his conditions for marriage. Although this was not the way she nor the women in her family dressed, Abeer agreed to those conditions.
The marriage contract was drawn and an agreement on the dowry was made. Ahmad gave Abeer part of the dowry, promising to give her the rest later. However, as in the story before, during the actual signing of the marriage contract, her guardians had signed to the actual receipt of the total amount.
One day she was out shopping with her mother for her wedding trousseau when Ahmad called her and asked her where she was. He reprimanded her and told her that she should never go out without his permission and that he did not want her to go out unless it was with him. Abeer was astounded and freaked out. Ahmad asked her: “What did you think the abaya is about? Those are my conditions.”
The women in Abeer’s family decided to teach him a lesson. When one of Abeer’s aunts traveled to Europe, she went along with her without telling Ahmad. When he found out, he was livid and threatened divorce (although technically they had not yet consummated their marriage).
And again, with the threat of divorce, also came the demand for the whole sum of the dowry to be returned despite the bride not having received it in full.
Mar9
Marriage Scams
Fahad’s family asked for the hand of Mona in marriage and after preliminary investigations and discussions, the union was agreed to by both parties. Although Fahad had agreed to give Mona a dowry of a certain amount, he had not actually given it to her yet and promised her he would as soon as it was available. In a show of graciousness and goodwill, the bride and her family foolishly accepted Fahad’s promise that he would “pay later”. During the marriage ceremony and signing the marital contract, when the judge asked Mona’s guardian if she had received the dowry, the reply was “yes” and it was noted on the contract despite her not having received a penny. Although Mona was legally married to Fahad, they had not yet made the transition to the marital home as that would happen after the wedding party took place.
Before any wedding songs could be sung though, some problems occurred and Mona and Fahad decided to separate. At this point since he had not consummated the marriage, he asked her to return the dowry that according to the contract she had already received and decided to pursue her legally for his “rights”. Mona and her family were frantic. Their politeness had backfired and now they were in debt for the dowry Mona had never received.
