I have to admit that we, Saudis, are addicted to …

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I have to admit that we, Saudis, are addicted to doing things that nobody has ever done, like, for example, charging single men for entering shopping malls. Yes, you are not mistaken, and you don’t need to read that sentence again: some shopping malls in Jeddah have started to charge money from single men who want to go inside the mall. Pictured above, is the coupon single men must buy in order to enter a shopping mall. Pretty cheap; the move by the owners of these malls that is.

12 thoughts on “I have to admit that we, Saudis, are addicted to …”

  1. Saudi businessmen are good in investments using the current saudi lifestyle conditions.

    There are many examples, one of them is the Islamic Banking.

    This doesn’t make any sense. If they want to charge the singles because usually they like walk by malls for good or bad reasons, they better go to hell !

    I will not give even one riyal to those robbers. I think government shall prevent these harmful moves because really it’s bad to exploit those guys who -usually- don’t have enough allowance to spend it this way.

  2. Seriously, all I can think of to describe these ‘businessmen’ is one word: gay.

    There are a hundred better ways to both get more money flowing through their mall gates or decrease the number of bad Saudi males that enter the malls to harrass females…but not impose such fees.

  3. Are you serious?!
    I didn’t hear of such thing yet
    I personally would tell them to go and **** themselves but the sad thing is that there will be many who are willing to pay for such a stupid thing

    any idea which mall?!

  4. The story from Asharq Al-Awsat that I linked to above mentions Al Serafi Mall as one example, and says there are other malls.

  5. Well, I wouldn\’t pay and I suggest that all the guys do the same if this was applied on a large scale….. Cause paying even a single Riyal implies:
    1-That I admit being one of those \”bad\” guys.
    2-Helps generalizing the bad image over the rest of the Saudi youth.
    3-Let alone pumping those fatty bank accounts of such mall owners in a way that reminds me of medieval feudalism more than anything else.

  7. You mentioned Al Serfi mall, if it is true, and if you ever been to that Mall, then you know the reason why. These are not normal guys, the minute they see a woman, and it really doesn’t matter whether she is with her husband or her fiancé or whomever, they turn into salivating dogs. Maybe this not the right way to go about it, but something, had to be done to put a stop to this bull $hit. The only other way is to hire guards with tranquilizing guns, with very strict order to shoot, whenever they see women being harassed.

  9. This isn’t a fee for entrance, the writing on the coupon:
    “Advance Payment Coupun”

    Which mean you can use it to buy stuff, i.e. if you are buying it doesn’t cost anything, but if you are mall rat, it would cost you 25 SR (=6$).

    mall rat:
    “A person, especially a teenager or young adult, who frequently passes time wandering through shopping malls.”
    http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/m/m0063450.html

  10. Ahmad

    Methinks that contemporary Saudi is turning into an anthropological zoo of some sort, with it’s unusual mix of aspects and influences that render such observation as boringly normal!

    It’s all about dodging up solutions for unanticipated or persistent problems: where else in the world does Bluetooth technology find itself negatively associated with social misconduct, in which venues such as Dr.Cafe asks its customers to refrain from using Bluetooth in their cafes (what; you’re telling me not to use my headset too?)!

    Similarly, many purposely wandering deprived male youth flock into the fertile land of shopping malls, how can they filter them up, have them pay for their entry! (as if a SR25 will stop a determined wealthy guy) but you have to credit the novelty of calling them a “pre-paid shopping voucher”, now that’s smart, probably some smart expat thought of it!

    More on Saudi from an expat perspective over here: (Shameless self promotion)

    Random pictures from Riyadh
    Feeling like a foreigner at the local McDonalds!
    I saw a woman! Or: Single men’s social misery in the depths of the desert

  11. wow. the manpower to implement that. i once had to guard some lane from people using it, & it’s tough. what more getting them pay money. anyway, if you want to know, i think young saudi men should learn to work hard. this will be a great motivator, since you need money to enter the malls. anyway, if you work double job, maybe you won’t even have time to go to the mall. yup.

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