Category Saudi Arabia

Norah and Adela

Norah al-Faiz says she has been misquoted. She does not say she was misquoted on what exactly: her Najdi niqab, introducing sports to girls schools, that she can’t appear on TV without permission, or the news that she started her talk with the reporters by saying “ya mama…” Alas, she said she will no longer speak to the press directly and will conduct all her interviews from now on via fax or email. I hope the new approach of the deputy minister would stop her from uttering nonsense like that she is more influential than Barack Obama. Al-Faiz has retracted her statements about introducing sports to girls schools, saying she is not against it and that “an integrated plan is being worked out to introduce PE in girls schools.” This actually could be true, not necessarily because al-Faiz said so but because someone who is far more influential than her is pushing for it.

Princess Adela bint Abdullah, the King’s daughter, told al-Riyadh daily yesterday that “it’s high time to look into the matter of introducing sports at girls schools seriously, following the teachings of Islam.” Princess Adela does not work in the government, but she is married to the minister of education. A friend of mine who met the princess says she is offering a new image for the women of the royal family. She is highly-motivated and very determined, and she is playing an increasingly assertive role in public life here. Since she is standing behind this, I think that female students might start enjoying their sports classes when the new school year begins this fall.

Commission is Hiring

Some people think they are doing good things. Some people think they are spreading horror around the city. What do they think? They think they are understaffed. According to Saudi Gazette, the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice aka Hai’a aka the religious police aka Mutaween (these guys have many names) in Riyadh has been given the go-ahead to increase the number of its staff. The plan to increase the staff include employing “temps” and “freelancers” after they receive what the Commission spokesman Abdul Mohsen Al-Ghafari described as intensive training. But wait, I thought they don’t hire freelancers anymore. Am I missing something here? Well, I don’t know. I shall ask you, however, to welcome the new recruits and wish them uneventful careers, free of harassing people and invading their privacy.

Saudi Single Serving Sites

Single Serving Sites are web sites comprised of a single page with a dedicated domain name and do only one thing. This kind of websites has been online for a long time, but the trend was first documented last year by Jason Kottke, and later in a paper by Ryan Greenberg. Now these web sites cover many different topics and you can check the first two links to learn more and find examples, but some of my favorites are: barackobamaisyournewbicycle.com, istwitterdown.com, yourethemannowdog.com, and Are you tired?.

Here in the Gulf, my Kuwaiti friend Bader has created two such web sites: Desert Fubuki, and most recently ismajlisdissolved.com. Last week I came across one interesting example from Saudi Arabia: Is it crowded or not? which basically watches the status of traffic at King Fahad Causeway and how congested it is on both directions. (The website has been taken down and now a message reads that it is still under construction and will be launched soon).

Inspired by the above, I started to think what other examples for Saudi Single Serving Sites could be interesting, useful and/or funny: canwomendriveinsaudi.com, didsaudisacktheirsoccerteamcoach.com, areshouramembersstillappointed.com, issaudiarabiaaconstitutionalmonarchy.com, issaudiogerlebanese.com, saudiwomenarelikejewels.com, jeddahisdifferent.com, whatcoloristhekingdomtower.com, whatcoloristhefaisaliyatower.com, isiteid.com, isitramadan.com, and finally, to answer a question that I’m frequently asked: isahmedjailed.com. You can think of better examples? Please do share them in the comments. I might actually go and buy some of these domains :-)

Roots

Something is bothering me about Norah al-Faiz, the deputy minister of education. Sure, as the first Saudi woman to be appointed in such a senior position, she has come under a lot of attention, and maybe a lot of scrutiny. But I’m not talking about her performance as an official; I believe it is still early to evaluate her work, probably in the same way she thinks it is too early to talk about introducing sports to girls schools (it’s not, btw).

What is bothering me is this: Why does she keep referring to her Najdi roots every time someone asks about her allegedly “leaked” picture and the niqab? I believe she has every right to be proud of her roots, but I don’t think this is the right context to highlight them and associate the niqab with them. She serves in the ministry of education, she should be a role model. What kind of message does her statements send to teachers and students? Why can’t she just say that it’s a personal choice and that she expects others to respect it?

Now I could easily find her picture and put it in this post, but I’m respecting her wish in that she does not want her picture to be published. Is it too much to ask her to respect the rest of us who put their nation’s interests above their regional affiliation?

Saudi Art comes to Venice

edge_of_arabia_2

Remember Edge of Arabia? The Saudi contemporary arts pioneering exhibition that took place in London last year is going to Italy, where Saudi artists will present their work during the 53rd Venice Biennale, the most prestigious art event in the world. It is the first time that Saudi Arabia will have a presence there, and I’m really proud of the young team behind this. The exhibition started yesterday and will be open until August 2nd. So if you are in Europe or will be there this summer, I highly encourage you to check it out. For more info, read the press release.