Category Blogging

Malik Nejer profile, King Abdullah & Obama meeting

  • After reading his name on this blog, Caryle Murphy decided to meet Malik Nejer and then she wrote this nice profile of him for The National daily, which is based in Abu Dhabi. “Sometimes it’s scary when you’re alone and you feel like you’re rebellious against a culture and an entire society,” he said. But I don’t think this is the case anymore. Thanks to the internet, Malik and other artists and activists who challenge the conventional wisdom of our conformist society have come to realize that they are not alone, and that there are at least some people out there who are like-minded and have similar ideas.
  • Abdullah Alami will be happy to hear this:

    “I want to also thank our friends, the American people, and I also would like to thank our friends here in the media,” King Abdullah said at the end of his statement. “May God spare us from all of the bad things they can do to us.” As Obama chucked, Abdullah added, “And may God bless us with all the positive things they can do for us and for humanity.” Obama chimed in: “Well, that is an excellent prayer. Thank you.”

    Here’s the video. The quote above starts at 8:35.

Open letter to Obama, things to do in Riyadh

  • King Abdullah will meet the American President tomorrow. Abdullah Alami has an open letter to Mr. Obama. I find it naïve of Alami to ask Obama to stop the American media from criticizing Saudi Arabia. The American President does not control the American media. Hell, if he had any control over the media he would probably try to stop them from criticizing him. Don’t get me wrong. I hate to see my country being criticized unfairly. But I believe that the best way to stop the others from criticizing us is not by asking them but rather by fixing our issues and solving our problem.
  • Laylah fromt the Blue Abaya blog has some advice to Western women about what they can do in Riyadh to fight boredom and make good use of their time in the capital. She makes some nice suggestions that could be also useful to male expats, and even to some Saudi citizens.

Saudi-US relationship, Graduates taking jobs they don’t want

  • King Abdullah will meet the American President Barack Obama in the White House next week. In this piece for The Majalla, Caryle Murphy examines the changing nature of the Saudi-US bilateral ties over the past 20 years. The previously so-called “special relationship” has become what both countries now refer to as a “strategic dialogue.”
  • Rima al-Mukhtar, who recently said she hates free lance [sic], reports that many Saudi college graduates are taking on jobs that are unrelated to their degrees due to a lack of available opportunities and a loathing for being unemployed. Boo. But seriously, only seven percent of jobs are available to Saudi women?
  • KAUST’s Museum of Science and Technology in Islam (MOSTI) has redesigned their website. The Museum celebrates the contributions of Muslim scholars to science and technology during the first Golden Age of Islam. Admission to MOSTI currently is limited to the university community and its invited guests. No word on when it will be open to the public.

The female terrorist, freedom to cover, and walking in Riyadh

  • Eman al-Nafjan has written a very good post about Heila al Qusayer, the female member of al Qaeda who was arrested earlier this year. I find it astonishing that Heila managed to collect more than $650,000 to support al Qaeda before she was caught.
  • I agree with Hala on this: “I told her also that being totally against their choice of dress code even if they believe in the righteousness of what they do is not different from the religious clerics forcing everyone back home to adhere to the black Abaya and scarf regardless of free will.” The freedom of choice, as Diana pointed out in the comments, is a concept that is absent here. As a conformist society, we are taught that there is only one way to do things, and that this way is the right way.
  • I have always said that Riyadh, as well as most Saudi cities, is not pedestrian-friendly. A Canadian in Riyadh has recently discovered this, and she would like everyone to know that she is not amused by the constant honking of taxi drivers who think she needs a ride. Been there, done that. Sigh.

Advice to KASP boys & girls, letter to King Abdullah, more families only

  • Fouad al-Farhan wrote a very good blogpost, analyzing the different types of Saudi students abroad, and offering some invaluable advice to the boys and girls of KASP. What I find incredibly disheartening and slightly funny is how some commenters there totally ignored the whole gist of the post and focused instead on Fouad’s choice of words, despite the fact that the words they found objectionable were not meant for a specific person(s). It just shows you how some people here can be extremely oversensitive, unbelievably easily offended, and absolutely thin-skinned.
  • Last week coincided with the fifth anniversary of King Abdullah’s ascend to the throne. Many congratulatory ads have been published in newspapers. Many overly praising items have been written and broadcasted. But leave it to fellow blogger Ahmed Ba-Aboud to put things in perspective. “King Abdullah, don’t listen to them,” he says.
  • Two guys at the grocery store checkout counter. Their groceries include a large soda bottle aka “family size” bottle. They are told they can’t buy it because, like many other things in the country, it’s for families only. Hilarious, but I won’t be too surprised if it happens in real life. It is exactly this kind fanaticism we are particularly good at.


    The video was created by the awesome Malik Nejer. More of his work can be found here.

Twenty-Six

I’m 26 and I’m still here. I’m still not sure where I’m going next, and I’m still not sure where I will be for my next birthday. I’m not sure about anything anymore. Here’s to the waiting, uncertainty, and lifelong dreams…