Yes...another year wasted. Literally wasted.
All 365 days gone, with no tangible achievements.
When I look at myself in the mirror, all I see is new wrinkles, a silver lining around my forehead (won't admit it's grey hair) and excess weight.
Great! I have been taking good care of myself, you see!
It has been a year of turbulations and the lastest human tragedy - look at how selfish a human being can be - is truely a befitting end to a year which started with tragedies and ended with more heartbreak and suffering for millions of people.
While the selfish me had no concerns (that's not really the truth) over the last few days, other than securing a table over-looking the dance floor for New Year's Eve, millions will usher the New Year grieving over their losses as they come face to face with the scope of the tsunamis.
A Sri Lankan woman was quoted by the world news agencies as crying: "Why did You do this to us, God?" after the wall of water crushed her life, hope and aspirations.
Is God really to blame for all the atrocities that man has committed?
Read more»»
December 30, 2004
5
comments
Links to this post
It was a sad day yesterday ... not that all days aren't sad.
But our sad is nothing compared to the sheer hell and horror millions of people went through yesterday and will be going through over the next few days as the scope of the killer tidal waves that hit Southeast Asia is fully realised.
Watching it unfold on TV yesterday was like watching an action-filled thriller on the big screen. Waves chasing people up the coast.
My biggest concern was, of course, selfish. I had a few friends holidaying there whom I was worried to death about. Thank God, there are all sound and safe but very shaken.
When we are on holiday, my sister insists on riding the waves - especially on beaches which overlook oceans. For the tens of thousands chased up the beaches of Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and Malaysia yesterday, I am sure it wasn't fun at all.
Our deepest condolences to the families and friends of all those who have lost their lives in the tragedy.
The only thing I thank God for is that it was a natural and not a MAN-MADE disaster.
It would be just too much to bear if it was a case of "man-eating-man." Read more»»
But our sad is nothing compared to the sheer hell and horror millions of people went through yesterday and will be going through over the next few days as the scope of the killer tidal waves that hit Southeast Asia is fully realised.
Watching it unfold on TV yesterday was like watching an action-filled thriller on the big screen. Waves chasing people up the coast.
My biggest concern was, of course, selfish. I had a few friends holidaying there whom I was worried to death about. Thank God, there are all sound and safe but very shaken.
When we are on holiday, my sister insists on riding the waves - especially on beaches which overlook oceans. For the tens of thousands chased up the beaches of Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and Malaysia yesterday, I am sure it wasn't fun at all.
Our deepest condolences to the families and friends of all those who have lost their lives in the tragedy.
The only thing I thank God for is that it was a natural and not a MAN-MADE disaster.
It would be just too much to bear if it was a case of "man-eating-man." Read more»»
December 27, 2004
5
comments
Links to this post
Merry Xmas everyone.
A few more days and we kiss this year goodbye...with all its good and bad memories.
Let's hope we are strong enough to leave the bad behind and carry the good tidings only with us to the New Year.
This year has been phenomenal for me! I got to know more people, read more and understand more. I had the chance to interact with others and listen to them and open my heart and embrace new thoughts and ideas and learned to accept more opinions - no matter what I thought of the people voicing them.
What I learned is that you don't have to agree with all that you hear. All you need to do is listen and try and understand - something many people here think they can do without.
I don't want to say I understand everything, but I am ready to stand up and admit that everyday has been a learning experience. I have learned more when I refused to shut the door and even when I was forced to shut the door, I always made sure I left the window ajar - to let a little bit of fresh air in. I am grateful to each and everyone who has wasted time and breath trying to convince me of different things.
Although my personal and professional life has been more or less the same, I know I have become a stronger and more cynical person.
That pink hue I used to see the world with is turning grey. I don't know whether it is age or fading eyesight...but it isn't anything the most gifted of doctors could solve.
I need to sit myself later and see what I want from this mess we call life and make a few decisions.
I guess my main resolution for 2005 should be to make time to seriously draw up plans for resolutions for 2006 and beyond. Read more»»
A few more days and we kiss this year goodbye...with all its good and bad memories.
Let's hope we are strong enough to leave the bad behind and carry the good tidings only with us to the New Year.
This year has been phenomenal for me! I got to know more people, read more and understand more. I had the chance to interact with others and listen to them and open my heart and embrace new thoughts and ideas and learned to accept more opinions - no matter what I thought of the people voicing them.
What I learned is that you don't have to agree with all that you hear. All you need to do is listen and try and understand - something many people here think they can do without.
I don't want to say I understand everything, but I am ready to stand up and admit that everyday has been a learning experience. I have learned more when I refused to shut the door and even when I was forced to shut the door, I always made sure I left the window ajar - to let a little bit of fresh air in. I am grateful to each and everyone who has wasted time and breath trying to convince me of different things.
Although my personal and professional life has been more or less the same, I know I have become a stronger and more cynical person.
That pink hue I used to see the world with is turning grey. I don't know whether it is age or fading eyesight...but it isn't anything the most gifted of doctors could solve.
I need to sit myself later and see what I want from this mess we call life and make a few decisions.
I guess my main resolution for 2005 should be to make time to seriously draw up plans for resolutions for 2006 and beyond. Read more»»
December 25, 2004
9
comments
Links to this post
Our Godfather Mahmood Al Yousif (www.mahmood.tv) is lamenting over the loss of palm trees!
He is worried about the loss of our identity as the country with the million palm trees!!! We have already lost that and there really is no point crying over spilt milk. No point what so ever because the palm trees will not come back again in the areas which were covered with greenery just a few years ago. They will not sprout anywhere else for that matter!
Remember the area from Adhari all the way up to the Saudi causeway? Remember the greenery and palm trees? Remember and cry for this is just a fading memory. Now all you see is dirt, more dirt and concrete and mortar.
What palm trees? What natural springs? What nature? What environment?
Is the average man out there concerned about these issues or is all his energy concentrated on securing food at his table to feed himself and his family?
Also, are people working in those fields on a voluntary basis really concerned about the environment and all that or just about raising their public profile and making sure people think that they really are concerned about such issues to ensure that they climb up the slimy ladder to make it to the who's who list of hypocrites in Bahrain?
These are real serious issues we have to confront before it really is too late. It will be a shame to show our children photographs of what was on a slideshow in a few years time.
Environmental protection is not only workshops and round table discussions for experts who want to flex their muscles on each other. It is a policy which should be implemented EQUALLY across the board.
Isn't Tubli Bay a protected zone? No more questions. I better keep my lips sealed for today!
Read more»»
He is worried about the loss of our identity as the country with the million palm trees!!! We have already lost that and there really is no point crying over spilt milk. No point what so ever because the palm trees will not come back again in the areas which were covered with greenery just a few years ago. They will not sprout anywhere else for that matter!
Remember the area from Adhari all the way up to the Saudi causeway? Remember the greenery and palm trees? Remember and cry for this is just a fading memory. Now all you see is dirt, more dirt and concrete and mortar.
What palm trees? What natural springs? What nature? What environment?
Is the average man out there concerned about these issues or is all his energy concentrated on securing food at his table to feed himself and his family?
Also, are people working in those fields on a voluntary basis really concerned about the environment and all that or just about raising their public profile and making sure people think that they really are concerned about such issues to ensure that they climb up the slimy ladder to make it to the who's who list of hypocrites in Bahrain?
These are real serious issues we have to confront before it really is too late. It will be a shame to show our children photographs of what was on a slideshow in a few years time.
Environmental protection is not only workshops and round table discussions for experts who want to flex their muscles on each other. It is a policy which should be implemented EQUALLY across the board.
Isn't Tubli Bay a protected zone? No more questions. I better keep my lips sealed for today!
Read more»»
December 24, 2004
9
comments
Links to this post
Our friend Chanad at www.chanadbahraini.blogspot.com is upset that housemaids are not being treated with humanity in Bahrain.
I don't want to be ungrateful to my homeland: But who is?
Humanity and treating people with dignity comes from within. It should be nurtured from a young age, and should be allowed to blossom in an environment where people are treated fairly and in a humane manner.
This Utopia isn't possible everywhere because some people are infested with mental problems.
When given a chance to flex their muscles on weaker people, they are merciless and brutal because that is the only place they can prove their strength.
Abusing housemaids, children and wives is not uncommon in Bahrain or any of the other countries in the region where anything happening within the confines of the home should remain secret.
Can the police tell us how many children are abused by their fathers?
Or can they tell us how many wives are battered by their husbands?
Or better still, can they tell us how many housemaids have been raped and impregnated by their sponsors and then bundled back to their countries on the earliest flight back home?
No, they will not have the courage to address those serious troubling issues.
They can't. It doesn't serve any purpose and people should turn their eyes away from anything negative which would show my Bahraini people in an unfavourable light.
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights' Migrant Workers Group is picking on the system by highlighting the plight of those people, some authorities have argued.
Others have tried in the past to muzzle the Press from carrying "too much bad publicity about Bahrainis" in the paper, saying it hurt the country and the economy.
Oh please! Give me a break.
How can a man who has abused his housemaid hurt the economy? I will try to refrain
myself from using four-lettered words, following the advice of a close and dear friend who told me that this site is written by a pervert! He did not know that it was me. And frankly, after what he said about not allowing his daughters to access this site, well...I just couldn't tell him it was me. Anyway, I am getting side-tracked again.
Back to hurting the economy. Yes. Hurting the economy hurts (I am sorry if this sounds like a quote from G W BUSH), especially when the abused housemaid is denied a decent meal, a place the sleep in, time off, time for herself, time to have a bath, time to practise a religion and time to maybe, perhaps, I don't know... maybe an afternoon off.
I wouldn't dare ask for a full day off because what if the maid decides to find a boyfriend, and God forbid, have sex.
Oops... sorry! I did it again. What I mean here is what if the maid is allowed to wander outdoors and engages in inappropriate behaviour with a member of the opposite sex. (Is this acceptable?)
I don't know what is more scandalous here and what hurts the sponsors more: that the maid is abusing the trust they have given her in making her a slave at home and treating her like a member of the family by rationing her meals so that she doesn't become as obese as the sponsor, his wife and children or that someone of such a low
level could consider herself human enough to have a sexual urge?
Could the sponsor be angry that she had refused all his improper advances and decided to make out with a street cat?
Or perhaps the sponsor's wife is angry that the maid is getting it while she isn't?
I don't know. I really don't. It really is scary how a sick mind thinks.
The problem of abusing other people here is simple: There is no respect for the law.
How do you respect a law which is not implemented equally across the board? How do you trust a system which treats people with discrimination?
Employers know they will get away with their hideous crimes because they are above the law. Employees know they will never get justice because those who are responsible of upholding the law apply double-standards.
As a Bahraini, it hurts me to admit this. But read my lips: this is the truth, the whole truth.
I am not a bitter Bahraini. In fact, I think I am a better Bahraini.
I have just had a very successful vision correction surgery. I see things a whole lot better now.
Read more»»
I don't want to be ungrateful to my homeland: But who is?
Humanity and treating people with dignity comes from within. It should be nurtured from a young age, and should be allowed to blossom in an environment where people are treated fairly and in a humane manner.
This Utopia isn't possible everywhere because some people are infested with mental problems.
When given a chance to flex their muscles on weaker people, they are merciless and brutal because that is the only place they can prove their strength.
Abusing housemaids, children and wives is not uncommon in Bahrain or any of the other countries in the region where anything happening within the confines of the home should remain secret.
Can the police tell us how many children are abused by their fathers?
Or can they tell us how many wives are battered by their husbands?
Or better still, can they tell us how many housemaids have been raped and impregnated by their sponsors and then bundled back to their countries on the earliest flight back home?
No, they will not have the courage to address those serious troubling issues.
They can't. It doesn't serve any purpose and people should turn their eyes away from anything negative which would show my Bahraini people in an unfavourable light.
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights' Migrant Workers Group is picking on the system by highlighting the plight of those people, some authorities have argued.
Others have tried in the past to muzzle the Press from carrying "too much bad publicity about Bahrainis" in the paper, saying it hurt the country and the economy.
Oh please! Give me a break.
How can a man who has abused his housemaid hurt the economy? I will try to refrain
myself from using four-lettered words, following the advice of a close and dear friend who told me that this site is written by a pervert! He did not know that it was me. And frankly, after what he said about not allowing his daughters to access this site, well...I just couldn't tell him it was me. Anyway, I am getting side-tracked again.
Back to hurting the economy. Yes. Hurting the economy hurts (I am sorry if this sounds like a quote from G W BUSH), especially when the abused housemaid is denied a decent meal, a place the sleep in, time off, time for herself, time to have a bath, time to practise a religion and time to maybe, perhaps, I don't know... maybe an afternoon off.
I wouldn't dare ask for a full day off because what if the maid decides to find a boyfriend, and God forbid, have sex.
Oops... sorry! I did it again. What I mean here is what if the maid is allowed to wander outdoors and engages in inappropriate behaviour with a member of the opposite sex. (Is this acceptable?)
I don't know what is more scandalous here and what hurts the sponsors more: that the maid is abusing the trust they have given her in making her a slave at home and treating her like a member of the family by rationing her meals so that she doesn't become as obese as the sponsor, his wife and children or that someone of such a low
level could consider herself human enough to have a sexual urge?
Could the sponsor be angry that she had refused all his improper advances and decided to make out with a street cat?
Or perhaps the sponsor's wife is angry that the maid is getting it while she isn't?
I don't know. I really don't. It really is scary how a sick mind thinks.
The problem of abusing other people here is simple: There is no respect for the law.
How do you respect a law which is not implemented equally across the board? How do you trust a system which treats people with discrimination?
Employers know they will get away with their hideous crimes because they are above the law. Employees know they will never get justice because those who are responsible of upholding the law apply double-standards.
As a Bahraini, it hurts me to admit this. But read my lips: this is the truth, the whole truth.
I am not a bitter Bahraini. In fact, I think I am a better Bahraini.
I have just had a very successful vision correction surgery. I see things a whole lot better now.
Read more»»
December 19, 2004
5
comments
Links to this post
I know it isn't really breaking news because I am posting it many many hours later.
It is just that I would like to document an important achievement of my many many kind and noble gestures and I would like to take credit for it!
Congratulate me.
I have succeeded in my mini-coup. A small reward to workers, I know, but the act means that employees have a role to play in ensuring that they are being treated with respect by their employers.
Remember the National Day holiday fiasco? Well, employers didn't want to upset the Cabinet and at the same time did not want to lose yet another working day by giving their workers the day off. Everyone was biting his nails and waiting...waiting.. and waiting. But no one would dare make a decision. When they made a decision, it was a last minute decision which asked the poor souls to go back marching in a straight line to work on Sunday. I still can't figure out why it took them so long to decide how to run their businesses.
Well, it was a day off at work today - at least in my department. All the other departments were up and running - except for mine. It was on a skelaton staff - just enough to deal with emergencies!! I stood my ground and insisted that because we did not give staff enough notice and because everyone had already made plans for the Greatest Piss Up before New Year's Eve, I wouldn't ruin their dear celebrations. Sunday would continue to be a holiday.
And boy am I excited!! I feel it is a small victory in terms that employees are respected as human beings and given advance notice about when they will work and which days will be counted as holidays.
The fact that I worked throughout the holiday is irrelevant. My job makes it necessary that I go to the office everyday I am able to get out of bed. I accepted that when I accepted my position.
But I am happy for my colleagues! Hope they have recovered from their hangovers. Read more»»
It is just that I would like to document an important achievement of my many many kind and noble gestures and I would like to take credit for it!
Congratulate me.
I have succeeded in my mini-coup. A small reward to workers, I know, but the act means that employees have a role to play in ensuring that they are being treated with respect by their employers.
Remember the National Day holiday fiasco? Well, employers didn't want to upset the Cabinet and at the same time did not want to lose yet another working day by giving their workers the day off. Everyone was biting his nails and waiting...waiting.. and waiting. But no one would dare make a decision. When they made a decision, it was a last minute decision which asked the poor souls to go back marching in a straight line to work on Sunday. I still can't figure out why it took them so long to decide how to run their businesses.
Well, it was a day off at work today - at least in my department. All the other departments were up and running - except for mine. It was on a skelaton staff - just enough to deal with emergencies!! I stood my ground and insisted that because we did not give staff enough notice and because everyone had already made plans for the Greatest Piss Up before New Year's Eve, I wouldn't ruin their dear celebrations. Sunday would continue to be a holiday.
And boy am I excited!! I feel it is a small victory in terms that employees are respected as human beings and given advance notice about when they will work and which days will be counted as holidays.
The fact that I worked throughout the holiday is irrelevant. My job makes it necessary that I go to the office everyday I am able to get out of bed. I accepted that when I accepted my position.
But I am happy for my colleagues! Hope they have recovered from their hangovers. Read more»»
It's Friday again! Help! What do I do with myself?
You know who - I have been banned from mentioning him on MY blog- is on a business trip.
I am fed-up and in no mood for family gatherings and don't have the stomach for today's - AGAIN.
I will take his advice and do something useful.
Until then..good morning..good afternoon...good evening....and goodnight!! Read more»»
You know who - I have been banned from mentioning him on MY blog- is on a business trip.
I am fed-up and in no mood for family gatherings and don't have the stomach for today's - AGAIN.
I will take his advice and do something useful.
Until then..good morning..good afternoon...good evening....and goodnight!! Read more»»
December 17, 2004
6
comments
Links to this post
Happy National Day everyone!
No, I don't want a passport. I come from a family which has been smart or stupid (the feelings change from person to the other within the extended family) to get Bahraini passports from the minute the documents were first created.
They even had what was known as the Commonwealth passport, which the great grandfathers used to travel to better climes when the going got though on this calm paradise.
Passport or no passport, many people have a huge amount of loyalty and allegiance to Bahrain - the island - and its people.
Look at the number of expats around the world who have marvellous stories to say about Bahrain and its people, their humour and kindness and above all, their humanity.
You should agree that not many nations enjoy this status, and this is one of the many reasons I am proud to be Bahraini.
Having said this, there are low points to being Bahraini and when and if I have the courage to point them out, it is because of my love to my country.
I am not being patriotic today because it is National Day, it is a feeling and responsibility I carry with me 24/7.
Also, I just have a few minutes to go before I get ready to go to work (look at how bloody patriotic I am - working every holiday) .. so lemme get this rant off my chest so that the day goes without committing a felony which will land me into more trouble than what I am already immersed in.
Anyone has any idea how much the Ministry of Information spends on preparations and celebrations for this dear occasion?
This is just a question - no malice intended. No underlying hatred for the authorities, whom I work hand in hand with.
It is just a sort of curiousity which has consumed me since the world's largest flag fiasco.
A flag measuring 169.5m x 97.1m? Where the hell will you erect that, if you can get it up that is?
What will they do to it? Just what.. please tell me. I am dying to know.
After it was unveiled, on a dirt ground next to the National Stadium in Isa Town, it rained and rained and rained.
Did the red dye run on the white dye? What did those in charge of it do? Where did they dry it?
How long will it survive the heat and humidity and dust and dirt and grubby little hands which want to touch it like it was a green strand of fabric from Karbala?
What will they do with its remains..I mean the flag? The white, I understand, can be cut up and given as gifts for people to use as shrouds when they die. I personally would be proud of being gift-wrapped with my country's flag when I make my final journey..but what will we do with the red?
Also I have a technical question... what happens to people who step on part of the flag? Do they get punished for ... I don't know what?
This huge flag is another milestone in Bahrain's marvellous achievements on its path towards further prosperity and progress.
Considering that it was manufactured in China and paid for by MTC-Vodafone, it really is a monument of national pride to all of us Bahrainis on this auspicious occasion.
The Silly Bahraini Girl, though very confused about the flag, would like to once again wish you an enjoyable National Day.
Look, there is a parade, fireworks and a concert. That's all I can remember. I am sure you will find a way to make the most of the holiday.
While you are basking in this national glory, please give the flag a thought. Read more»»
No, I don't want a passport. I come from a family which has been smart or stupid (the feelings change from person to the other within the extended family) to get Bahraini passports from the minute the documents were first created.
They even had what was known as the Commonwealth passport, which the great grandfathers used to travel to better climes when the going got though on this calm paradise.
Passport or no passport, many people have a huge amount of loyalty and allegiance to Bahrain - the island - and its people.
Look at the number of expats around the world who have marvellous stories to say about Bahrain and its people, their humour and kindness and above all, their humanity.
You should agree that not many nations enjoy this status, and this is one of the many reasons I am proud to be Bahraini.
Having said this, there are low points to being Bahraini and when and if I have the courage to point them out, it is because of my love to my country.
I am not being patriotic today because it is National Day, it is a feeling and responsibility I carry with me 24/7.
Also, I just have a few minutes to go before I get ready to go to work (look at how bloody patriotic I am - working every holiday) .. so lemme get this rant off my chest so that the day goes without committing a felony which will land me into more trouble than what I am already immersed in.
Anyone has any idea how much the Ministry of Information spends on preparations and celebrations for this dear occasion?
This is just a question - no malice intended. No underlying hatred for the authorities, whom I work hand in hand with.
It is just a sort of curiousity which has consumed me since the world's largest flag fiasco.
A flag measuring 169.5m x 97.1m? Where the hell will you erect that, if you can get it up that is?
What will they do to it? Just what.. please tell me. I am dying to know.
After it was unveiled, on a dirt ground next to the National Stadium in Isa Town, it rained and rained and rained.
Did the red dye run on the white dye? What did those in charge of it do? Where did they dry it?
How long will it survive the heat and humidity and dust and dirt and grubby little hands which want to touch it like it was a green strand of fabric from Karbala?
What will they do with its remains..I mean the flag? The white, I understand, can be cut up and given as gifts for people to use as shrouds when they die. I personally would be proud of being gift-wrapped with my country's flag when I make my final journey..but what will we do with the red?
Also I have a technical question... what happens to people who step on part of the flag? Do they get punished for ... I don't know what?
This huge flag is another milestone in Bahrain's marvellous achievements on its path towards further prosperity and progress.
Considering that it was manufactured in China and paid for by MTC-Vodafone, it really is a monument of national pride to all of us Bahrainis on this auspicious occasion.
The Silly Bahraini Girl, though very confused about the flag, would like to once again wish you an enjoyable National Day.
Look, there is a parade, fireworks and a concert. That's all I can remember. I am sure you will find a way to make the most of the holiday.
While you are basking in this national glory, please give the flag a thought. Read more»»
December 16, 2004
1 comments
Links to this post
This entry has been censored!!
Read more»»
December 15, 2004
4
comments
Links to this post
Despite the low salaries for employees with certain skin colours and backgrounds (Bahrainis included) in the Kingdom of Bahrain, I would like to argue today that Bahrain seems to be the best place to be employed in!!
You may ask why. Of course, you should. Some Businessmen and citizens in Bahrain are renowned for their atrocious track record in treating foreign workers. Any employee who is not ready to toil day and night, all year long, is quickly bundled up and sent back to his country on the earliest and cheapest flight - ensuring of course that it takes the most complicated route, no doubt!!
In a country run on slavery and cheap labour, workers are finally breathing a sigh of relief, thanks to the many many holidays.
This weekend, workers get a four-day bonanza...or do they? National Day falls on December 16 and 17, which fall on Thursday and Friday. As a result, they will be compensated and given Saturday and Sunday off...or will they??
The Prime Minister's edict was clear. I read it in Arabic and English and Arabic again. It specifically says the four-day National Day holiday is for the public and private sectors. It is, in fact, the first time that the private sector is mentioned.
But does it apply to the first two days or the second two days, since not all private sector companies give their employees the benefit of a five-day week?
What about banks which are closed on Saturday? Should they now compensate their staff and give them Monday off because Saturday was declared a holiday?
I don't know and I really don't want to know.
The Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry added insult to injury by refusing to go on the record and tell private sector companies what the Prime Ministerial edict means.
It has unilaterally issued a statement in the Press saying that IT (The Chamber) will be closed Thursday and Friday and Saturday. It will reopen on Sunday!!!
When HH Shaikh Zayed died last month, the Chamber landed itself in hot water by declaring that the holiday was for the public sector and not the private sector! The Cabinet retaliated by saying that the Chamber had no authority to decide when there are holidays in Bahrain!!!
Well... very democratic, I see. Businessmen are being told how to run their businesses..but this isn't the issue now.
The issue is the poor worker. Now, we all know that people are happy with holidays. In fact, the case here is: the more, the merrier! We all know that many staff in private companies will not report to work on Sunday! We also know that all employers would want them to be on their desks on Sunday or they will have to pay the price dearly...soon!!
This situation is what makes Bahrain what it is today. This confusion is normal.
There isn't a policy and there isn't anyone strong enough to stand up and demand AN ANSWER.
The businessmen are too worried about their interests to turn around and ask the Cabinet what exactly does this holiday edict mean. They will not want to be seen as so stupid to ask the obvious.
They want to continue to nod and smile and kiss noses! Asking a question may cause an embarrassment. Of course, no businessman should put himself in this position.
Let the workers suffer. Yes. They deserve it.
The idiots will go to work on Sunday. The rest will have a day's pay cut from their salaries!
So much for transparency!! Read more»»
You may ask why. Of course, you should. Some Businessmen and citizens in Bahrain are renowned for their atrocious track record in treating foreign workers. Any employee who is not ready to toil day and night, all year long, is quickly bundled up and sent back to his country on the earliest and cheapest flight - ensuring of course that it takes the most complicated route, no doubt!!
In a country run on slavery and cheap labour, workers are finally breathing a sigh of relief, thanks to the many many holidays.
This weekend, workers get a four-day bonanza...or do they? National Day falls on December 16 and 17, which fall on Thursday and Friday. As a result, they will be compensated and given Saturday and Sunday off...or will they??
The Prime Minister's edict was clear. I read it in Arabic and English and Arabic again. It specifically says the four-day National Day holiday is for the public and private sectors. It is, in fact, the first time that the private sector is mentioned.
But does it apply to the first two days or the second two days, since not all private sector companies give their employees the benefit of a five-day week?
What about banks which are closed on Saturday? Should they now compensate their staff and give them Monday off because Saturday was declared a holiday?
I don't know and I really don't want to know.
The Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry added insult to injury by refusing to go on the record and tell private sector companies what the Prime Ministerial edict means.
It has unilaterally issued a statement in the Press saying that IT (The Chamber) will be closed Thursday and Friday and Saturday. It will reopen on Sunday!!!
When HH Shaikh Zayed died last month, the Chamber landed itself in hot water by declaring that the holiday was for the public sector and not the private sector! The Cabinet retaliated by saying that the Chamber had no authority to decide when there are holidays in Bahrain!!!
Well... very democratic, I see. Businessmen are being told how to run their businesses..but this isn't the issue now.
The issue is the poor worker. Now, we all know that people are happy with holidays. In fact, the case here is: the more, the merrier! We all know that many staff in private companies will not report to work on Sunday! We also know that all employers would want them to be on their desks on Sunday or they will have to pay the price dearly...soon!!
This situation is what makes Bahrain what it is today. This confusion is normal.
There isn't a policy and there isn't anyone strong enough to stand up and demand AN ANSWER.
The businessmen are too worried about their interests to turn around and ask the Cabinet what exactly does this holiday edict mean. They will not want to be seen as so stupid to ask the obvious.
They want to continue to nod and smile and kiss noses! Asking a question may cause an embarrassment. Of course, no businessman should put himself in this position.
Let the workers suffer. Yes. They deserve it.
The idiots will go to work on Sunday. The rest will have a day's pay cut from their salaries!
So much for transparency!! Read more»»
The Godfather of Bahrain's bloggers Mahmood at www.mahmood.tv has once again caused a stir with his announcement that a fifth Arabic paper "maybe" launched in Bahrain soon.
The paper will be called Al Watan (The Nation) and there is no information on who the investors/publishers will be and what their direction (if there is a thing like this for papers in Bahrain) is.
My memory fails me but wasn't it months before Al Wasat was launched that it was announced that once the Arabic version is out, the English will follow in SIX months!!
How many six months have come and gone so far? Has the project been put to rest or doesn't the 30-something council of businessmen who make up the Al Wasat board have the stomach to pump in more money to kill more trees to produce more paper to publish more trash!
Forgive me if I sound too harsh. And let me make it clear that I am not talking about Al Wasat alone here when I refer to TRASH. I am referring to a general condition which has led to the deterioration of the Press movement in Bahrain.
I feel it is a major conspiracy. I don't want to call a spade and spade because to be frank, I have been too busy minding my own business to look at the Press through the magnifying glass.
But now that there is a public debate about it, I might as well use the few minutes left before lunch to show off my reasoning skills to whoever is interested in listening!
The Press, as I personally see it, is the only legitimate protector of our new-born democracy. But a weak controlled Press, controlled by money-mongering publishers isn't the way forward.
Without being crude, I want you to take a close look at what is available now (two English and four Arabic dailies!!!). I know it looks a lot for a country with a population of 600,000 - but where is the quality. I personally find more quality, in-depth, reason, logic and thought in blogs - even those written by teenagers - than in our national papers.
I used to make it a point to skim through all the papers everyday...just to remain on top of things. I have long given up. It was a pointless futile exercise. A waste of time. A waste of precious time I could use to do something more meaningful.
My heart goes out to all the people working in the Press (I pronounce it DEPRESS). I know there are people there who are geniune and who shoulder the responsibility and want to ensure a certain level of credibility.
But I also know that there are sinister forces which are happy with a weak muzzled Press, which cannot address real issues, which effect real people.
The problem here is two-fold. I will spell it out and come what may come:
1.The publishers: (hehehehe) Those jokers are not ready to stand up and ensure and protect the credibility and integrity of the written word. ALL of them. Each and every single one of them. I know, believe me. I really know.
2.The staff (!!!): A few are really into it and do it for the love of Bahrain (pure charity work). You see, the salaries are low; the working conditions tough; the humiliation and daily struggle to get sensible information from officials sorted from the junkyard are a daily nightmare! Then there are people there to warm chairs. Unprofessional twits who think they are someone just because they got their by-lines in the paper!!
Look..time running out. More on this later!!! Read more»»
The paper will be called Al Watan (The Nation) and there is no information on who the investors/publishers will be and what their direction (if there is a thing like this for papers in Bahrain) is.
My memory fails me but wasn't it months before Al Wasat was launched that it was announced that once the Arabic version is out, the English will follow in SIX months!!
How many six months have come and gone so far? Has the project been put to rest or doesn't the 30-something council of businessmen who make up the Al Wasat board have the stomach to pump in more money to kill more trees to produce more paper to publish more trash!
Forgive me if I sound too harsh. And let me make it clear that I am not talking about Al Wasat alone here when I refer to TRASH. I am referring to a general condition which has led to the deterioration of the Press movement in Bahrain.
I feel it is a major conspiracy. I don't want to call a spade and spade because to be frank, I have been too busy minding my own business to look at the Press through the magnifying glass.
But now that there is a public debate about it, I might as well use the few minutes left before lunch to show off my reasoning skills to whoever is interested in listening!
The Press, as I personally see it, is the only legitimate protector of our new-born democracy. But a weak controlled Press, controlled by money-mongering publishers isn't the way forward.
Without being crude, I want you to take a close look at what is available now (two English and four Arabic dailies!!!). I know it looks a lot for a country with a population of 600,000 - but where is the quality. I personally find more quality, in-depth, reason, logic and thought in blogs - even those written by teenagers - than in our national papers.
I used to make it a point to skim through all the papers everyday...just to remain on top of things. I have long given up. It was a pointless futile exercise. A waste of time. A waste of precious time I could use to do something more meaningful.
My heart goes out to all the people working in the Press (I pronounce it DEPRESS). I know there are people there who are geniune and who shoulder the responsibility and want to ensure a certain level of credibility.
But I also know that there are sinister forces which are happy with a weak muzzled Press, which cannot address real issues, which effect real people.
The problem here is two-fold. I will spell it out and come what may come:
1.The publishers: (hehehehe) Those jokers are not ready to stand up and ensure and protect the credibility and integrity of the written word. ALL of them. Each and every single one of them. I know, believe me. I really know.
2.The staff (!!!): A few are really into it and do it for the love of Bahrain (pure charity work). You see, the salaries are low; the working conditions tough; the humiliation and daily struggle to get sensible information from officials sorted from the junkyard are a daily nightmare! Then there are people there to warm chairs. Unprofessional twits who think they are someone just because they got their by-lines in the paper!!
Look..time running out. More on this later!!! Read more»»
December 10, 2004
16
comments
Links to this post
I know why I hate Fridays!
That didn't take long to figure out did it?
The truth is that I hate all days: Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and even Thursdays.
What I love and cherish are those: Frinights, Saturnights, Sunights, Monights, uesnights, Wednesnights and especially Thursnights!!
I can't help it. I am a night creature - eventhough my nights are long and the burden I am carrying on my shoulder is getting heavier and heavier, making sleep difficult if not yet impossible.
I realise I am not the only one going through this phase and I really can't put my finger on what's bothering me so much.
Help! Do you think I need to see a shrink? Seeing a shrink is not a bad thing. I haven't seen one since Dr Ali Mattar died. I miss him a great deal, May God rest his soul in peace.
Sometimes my hands still go to the phone to dial his number. I know he is not there. But I know that he is listening to me. I can hear him telling to be strong.
Why do good people die and mother-fuckers continue to live and make our lives a living hell? Read more»»
That didn't take long to figure out did it?
The truth is that I hate all days: Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and even Thursdays.
What I love and cherish are those: Frinights, Saturnights, Sunights, Monights, uesnights, Wednesnights and especially Thursnights!!
I can't help it. I am a night creature - eventhough my nights are long and the burden I am carrying on my shoulder is getting heavier and heavier, making sleep difficult if not yet impossible.
I realise I am not the only one going through this phase and I really can't put my finger on what's bothering me so much.
Help! Do you think I need to see a shrink? Seeing a shrink is not a bad thing. I haven't seen one since Dr Ali Mattar died. I miss him a great deal, May God rest his soul in peace.
Sometimes my hands still go to the phone to dial his number. I know he is not there. But I know that he is listening to me. I can hear him telling to be strong.
Why do good people die and mother-fuckers continue to live and make our lives a living hell? Read more»»
It's Friday...and I hate Friday.
Every Friday.
Problem is that I wake up early...and I stay awake while everyone is asleep. I read, I surf and I pick fights with my hubby!
I might go out shopping, but what's available in the shops here? I'd rather sneak off for a few days to somewhere not so far away for the after Xmas shopping!! Can't wait! But then, today's Friday. I don't want to get too excited early in the day.
I don't know what to do today: stay home until it's time to go to my in-laws for lunch? Go to the F3? Stay home and not go anywhere? Go to F3 and then go to my in-laws for lunch and then go back to the F3? Not go to the F3 but just go to my in-laws for lunch and then go to my grand father's house for the Friday get together? Go to the F3, then go to my in-laws for lunch, then to my grandad's for the gossip session, then meet friends in a coffeeshop to return home and change to be on time for that very important meeting I have to attend at 8pm tonight?
Why did I ever agree to have a meeting on Friday at 8pm?
You see.. so much to do on Friday, and every Friday repeats itself. What a waste of life! Read more»»
Every Friday.
Problem is that I wake up early...and I stay awake while everyone is asleep. I read, I surf and I pick fights with my hubby!
I might go out shopping, but what's available in the shops here? I'd rather sneak off for a few days to somewhere not so far away for the after Xmas shopping!! Can't wait! But then, today's Friday. I don't want to get too excited early in the day.
I don't know what to do today: stay home until it's time to go to my in-laws for lunch? Go to the F3? Stay home and not go anywhere? Go to F3 and then go to my in-laws for lunch and then go back to the F3? Not go to the F3 but just go to my in-laws for lunch and then go to my grand father's house for the Friday get together? Go to the F3, then go to my in-laws for lunch, then to my grandad's for the gossip session, then meet friends in a coffeeshop to return home and change to be on time for that very important meeting I have to attend at 8pm tonight?
Why did I ever agree to have a meeting on Friday at 8pm?
You see.. so much to do on Friday, and every Friday repeats itself. What a waste of life! Read more»»
I have always maintained that there are people born with class and others who are not.
Allow me to be blunt, please. Whether we like it or not, people belong in classes.
I know this will make a lot of people angry, especially the nouveau riche!
I swear I have to intention to create sparks and I do not want to antagonise any more people. I don't want to suck up to people either.
It is just that today was one of those days which did not want to end and I have to get it all off my chest if I hope to enjoy what is left of this weekend.
What added insult to injury was a phone call I got just as I was about to leave the office a little after 7pm (yes! on the Thursday evening, here in Bahrain)!
The caller was one of those wrong people who found themselves at the right place at the right time. (So many of them here!!!)
What made me laugh was that HE was using a patronising tone with ME and in not so many words was threatening ME that he can speak to my superiors to get what he was asking me to do done THERE AND THEN.
Well, fine, I told him. Please do speak to my superiors because my working hours are way over!
I was and am still irritated with his tone, the village slut!
Overnight, he was elevated from his grocer status to a DIGNITARY!!
And now he talks with an air. And drives a fancy car. And really believes that he is somebody!!!!
He seems to forget that all that he has achieved is only temporary and that his facade will fall one day and he will have nothing to fall back on - no class, no culture, no background, no education and NO RESPECT from people!!
His money and cars and titles will mean nothing! They already mean nothing because they came out of a vacuum and the man is hollow inside!
He did not use the fortune he found himself in overnight to further his capabilities and improve. The idiot can't string two words together without making you want to run to the loo to puke!
He tried to intimidate me… and I told him to try with someone else in as many words I could manage without losing respect for myself - for speaking to him and humouring him is also a waste of time.
What irritated me most was that he believed he was somebody - and somebody who commanded respect and had authority. Authority, fine! Many people have lots of authority and zero respect. But respect? My foot!
Now, don't get me wrong. I have nothing against poor people. The fact that he climbed a slimy path from rags to riches means nothing to me.
Many people did that (minus slimy of course) and there is no harm. I am not against development and against people aspiring to achieve better things for themselves.
In fact, I am all for it. I encourage it and over the years, I am proud to say that I have pushed many young people to go out there, stand on their feet and conquer the world. For a young clean mind, sky is the limit; provided people are armed with ethics and a strong solid upbringing.
But this slimy creature… Well, there is no use wasting more time on him or others like him.
What I am trying to get across is that class and culture, behaviour and manners are born with a person and don't come with a flashy car, a mansion and sending your children to a private school!
I know this will sound strange coming from me after all the foul language I have been using over the past few days, but the fact that I am anonymous on this blog has given me has made me grow wings, claws and a sharp beak!!
I wonder whom I will strike on next?
Read more»»
Allow me to be blunt, please. Whether we like it or not, people belong in classes.
I know this will make a lot of people angry, especially the nouveau riche!
I swear I have to intention to create sparks and I do not want to antagonise any more people. I don't want to suck up to people either.
It is just that today was one of those days which did not want to end and I have to get it all off my chest if I hope to enjoy what is left of this weekend.
What added insult to injury was a phone call I got just as I was about to leave the office a little after 7pm (yes! on the Thursday evening, here in Bahrain)!
The caller was one of those wrong people who found themselves at the right place at the right time. (So many of them here!!!)
What made me laugh was that HE was using a patronising tone with ME and in not so many words was threatening ME that he can speak to my superiors to get what he was asking me to do done THERE AND THEN.
Well, fine, I told him. Please do speak to my superiors because my working hours are way over!
I was and am still irritated with his tone, the village slut!
Overnight, he was elevated from his grocer status to a DIGNITARY!!
And now he talks with an air. And drives a fancy car. And really believes that he is somebody!!!!
He seems to forget that all that he has achieved is only temporary and that his facade will fall one day and he will have nothing to fall back on - no class, no culture, no background, no education and NO RESPECT from people!!
His money and cars and titles will mean nothing! They already mean nothing because they came out of a vacuum and the man is hollow inside!
He did not use the fortune he found himself in overnight to further his capabilities and improve. The idiot can't string two words together without making you want to run to the loo to puke!
He tried to intimidate me… and I told him to try with someone else in as many words I could manage without losing respect for myself - for speaking to him and humouring him is also a waste of time.
What irritated me most was that he believed he was somebody - and somebody who commanded respect and had authority. Authority, fine! Many people have lots of authority and zero respect. But respect? My foot!
Now, don't get me wrong. I have nothing against poor people. The fact that he climbed a slimy path from rags to riches means nothing to me.
Many people did that (minus slimy of course) and there is no harm. I am not against development and against people aspiring to achieve better things for themselves.
In fact, I am all for it. I encourage it and over the years, I am proud to say that I have pushed many young people to go out there, stand on their feet and conquer the world. For a young clean mind, sky is the limit; provided people are armed with ethics and a strong solid upbringing.
But this slimy creature… Well, there is no use wasting more time on him or others like him.
What I am trying to get across is that class and culture, behaviour and manners are born with a person and don't come with a flashy car, a mansion and sending your children to a private school!
I know this will sound strange coming from me after all the foul language I have been using over the past few days, but the fact that I am anonymous on this blog has given me has made me grow wings, claws and a sharp beak!!
I wonder whom I will strike on next?
Read more»»
December 9, 2004
2
comments
Links to this post
HawkEyes is watching... and waiting!
Or was it waiting... and watching!
There is a big difference between the two which I will not touch upon now because I really have to rush for lunch.
In one of his entries, HawkEyes summed up the situation MANY MANY REAL WOMEN in Bahrain face in a realistic manner.
He said: "The protest against such violent acts of injustice need not be peaceful. What is vulgar is not the language of protest, what is vulgar is the criminal mindset entrenched in the society - that women are sex toys. What is even more Vulgar is the impotence of the ruling class (including judiciary) - which fails to protect the weak."
Please take time and read his entries in response to my lunatic rantings over the annoyance women and girls get when they attend fairs.
Will elaborate later.
Read more»»
Or was it waiting... and watching!
There is a big difference between the two which I will not touch upon now because I really have to rush for lunch.
In one of his entries, HawkEyes summed up the situation MANY MANY REAL WOMEN in Bahrain face in a realistic manner.
He said: "The protest against such violent acts of injustice need not be peaceful. What is vulgar is not the language of protest, what is vulgar is the criminal mindset entrenched in the society - that women are sex toys. What is even more Vulgar is the impotence of the ruling class (including judiciary) - which fails to protect the weak."
Please take time and read his entries in response to my lunatic rantings over the annoyance women and girls get when they attend fairs.
Will elaborate later.
Read more»»
What do you do when you are confronted with rude people?
Look, I realise I am not the most tactful of people, and I could be obnoxious at times!
What pissed me off today - and it does everyday - is when people call me on my personal mobile phone for work.
This usually happens during lunch break and after working hours. The most annoying phone calls are of course the ones which wake me up before the time alarm clock goes off in the morning!!
"Oh! We know you are not in the office so we thought we would catch you while you are free ...." the conversation will start.
Well, I don't appreciate contacts intruding on what little private time I have. And even when I am not at work, what right do they have to presume that I am free.
People usually get angry when I ask them rather politely to call me back on my office number.
"But I am talking to you now..." they say.
"Well, I don't give a toss..." I wish I could retaliate!
But my manners (in public, at least) don't allow me to "stoop that low." People also mix up between a person at work and in his private life.
Many of those people who are tense and stern at work are among the sweetest and most charming socially.
I guess I just need a break. I've had it with this place and with all those unprofessional children out there! Read more»»
Look, I realise I am not the most tactful of people, and I could be obnoxious at times!
What pissed me off today - and it does everyday - is when people call me on my personal mobile phone for work.
This usually happens during lunch break and after working hours. The most annoying phone calls are of course the ones which wake me up before the time alarm clock goes off in the morning!!
"Oh! We know you are not in the office so we thought we would catch you while you are free ...." the conversation will start.
Well, I don't appreciate contacts intruding on what little private time I have. And even when I am not at work, what right do they have to presume that I am free.
People usually get angry when I ask them rather politely to call me back on my office number.
"But I am talking to you now..." they say.
"Well, I don't give a toss..." I wish I could retaliate!
But my manners (in public, at least) don't allow me to "stoop that low." People also mix up between a person at work and in his private life.
Many of those people who are tense and stern at work are among the sweetest and most charming socially.
I guess I just need a break. I've had it with this place and with all those unprofessional children out there! Read more»»
Everyone's gone to the Autumn Fair!
Autumn Fair my foot! Why would I want to go there?
I have never been part of the herd. I have always always been the black sheep.
Last year I went there with my teenage sisters, and for some obscure reason all the men were on high testosterone doses and made our shopping spree a nightmare.
The place was full of villagers - not that I have anything against them. You should have seen the way they looked at us - even my sister who religiously wears the Hijab. I swear it isn't her fault she is fair with freckles on her face. You should have asked my forefathers and great grandmothers what sins they have committed to create a breed which oozes sexuality and
feminity.
There were even villagers there who tried to touch us up thinking we weren't Bahrainis. Like that is a good reason enough to terrorise women!
They can go back to their villages and do the same to their mothers and sisters because in our book such behaviour is UNEXCEPABLE.
Not every girl who goes to the fair is game. There really are nice things there which I wanted to see and buy - but no thanks.. I just can't stoop so low!
The ladies only timings are the times when I am glued to my desk at the office and I can't indulge in what a woman is born to do - spend her hubby's hard-earned cash!
What to do? The time is not the time and the age is not the age. We are at the age of political reform and freedom and those morons have no better way to show it than to scratch their balls everytime they see girls in a public place.
Well what are they trying to prove beats me because as far as I am concerned they can bend their dicks backwards and stuff them up their asses. If they have dicks to begin with, that is. I know that would give them more satisfaction than touching teenagers and rubbing themselves against them.
The mother fuckers belong in a cage.
The days of the State Security Law were an exciting era for them - they must have had enjoyed the BUTT FUCK.
With democracy and freedom, they are lost and don't know what to do. Those are the same morons who stand every Friday behind their Imam chanting to Allah for forgiveness. They are the same guys who go to Hajj thinking that Allah would wipe away their sins. And they are also the same guys who go to Syria and Iran seeking temporary Muta'a marriages.
Don't know what is happening to Bahrain...but here it is! Stay locked indoors because if you have any respect for yourself going out is not worth it anymore. Read more»»
Autumn Fair my foot! Why would I want to go there?
I have never been part of the herd. I have always always been the black sheep.
Last year I went there with my teenage sisters, and for some obscure reason all the men were on high testosterone doses and made our shopping spree a nightmare.
The place was full of villagers - not that I have anything against them. You should have seen the way they looked at us - even my sister who religiously wears the Hijab. I swear it isn't her fault she is fair with freckles on her face. You should have asked my forefathers and great grandmothers what sins they have committed to create a breed which oozes sexuality and
feminity.
There were even villagers there who tried to touch us up thinking we weren't Bahrainis. Like that is a good reason enough to terrorise women!
They can go back to their villages and do the same to their mothers and sisters because in our book such behaviour is UNEXCEPABLE.
Not every girl who goes to the fair is game. There really are nice things there which I wanted to see and buy - but no thanks.. I just can't stoop so low!
The ladies only timings are the times when I am glued to my desk at the office and I can't indulge in what a woman is born to do - spend her hubby's hard-earned cash!
What to do? The time is not the time and the age is not the age. We are at the age of political reform and freedom and those morons have no better way to show it than to scratch their balls everytime they see girls in a public place.
Well what are they trying to prove beats me because as far as I am concerned they can bend their dicks backwards and stuff them up their asses. If they have dicks to begin with, that is. I know that would give them more satisfaction than touching teenagers and rubbing themselves against them.
The mother fuckers belong in a cage.
The days of the State Security Law were an exciting era for them - they must have had enjoyed the BUTT FUCK.
With democracy and freedom, they are lost and don't know what to do. Those are the same morons who stand every Friday behind their Imam chanting to Allah for forgiveness. They are the same guys who go to Hajj thinking that Allah would wipe away their sins. And they are also the same guys who go to Syria and Iran seeking temporary Muta'a marriages.
Don't know what is happening to Bahrain...but here it is! Stay locked indoors because if you have any respect for yourself going out is not worth it anymore. Read more»»
December 7, 2004
14
comments
Links to this post
I was asked a question today which I feel I should shed light on here.
An international journalist is writing an article on segregation in Bahrain and she wanted to pick my brain on the certain issue.
One question which stuck to my head was: Bahrain is one of the most forward looking countries in the Gulf, why is this happening now?
Frankly speaking, I really don’t know.
The first answer which came to my head was: Parliament. But then how objective am I being? It is the scapegoat we can really throw all the problems on. But then, parliament bashing is a much easier option than thinking of what is really happening to this kingdom which is small in size and burdened with problems.
Why I blame parliament is because of the following:
Prior to 2002 (the Parliament), there wasn’t a venue for those voices to be heard: (Let’s ban the Nancy Ajram concert after the Ministry of Information gave its consent/Let's not give the go-ahead for a budget for the Bahrain International Circuit while the track was being built/Let's ban Big Brother while the programme was being aired LIVE and now Let's introduce segregation at the University of Bahrain after having a co-ed university since its establishment after the merger of two colleges in 1986!)
They may have had to discuss these issues in Majlises (meeting rooms) or during Friday sermons in mosques, but such backward motions would never have spread like fire in a haystack the way they do now and attracted international attention.
No one would have listened. No one would have bowed.
This parliament is Bahrain's first in its modern history… and I wouldn’t be sorry if it was Bahrain's last!
Segregation? Oh Please! Cute guys would have to worry a lot and may also have to wear protective gear to protect their behinds.
Otherwise, they would definitely be BUTT FUCKED!
After all, the message we are getting from parliament and all those morons advocating segregation is that women are "fitna" and are a major distraction to the poor boys who cannot concentrate on their studies because of the presence of girls.
Girls should therefore cover themselves up and wear loose abayas and the hijab, to stop luring poor innocent boys into their trap.
In return, I think that should segregation ever be sanctioned (hehehehehe), boys should be protected from the over-zealous righteous men, who will sure find a way of making it legal to attack studs on sight/site!
I really don’t know what this place is coming to. Anyway, I really am in no mood. I don’t want to know. I will continue to hide in-doors.
The world isn’t missing out on much. They have Saaedi's and Maawda's legs to look at. Why would they be interested in mine?
Read more»»
An international journalist is writing an article on segregation in Bahrain and she wanted to pick my brain on the certain issue.
One question which stuck to my head was: Bahrain is one of the most forward looking countries in the Gulf, why is this happening now?
Frankly speaking, I really don’t know.
The first answer which came to my head was: Parliament. But then how objective am I being? It is the scapegoat we can really throw all the problems on. But then, parliament bashing is a much easier option than thinking of what is really happening to this kingdom which is small in size and burdened with problems.
Why I blame parliament is because of the following:
Prior to 2002 (the Parliament), there wasn’t a venue for those voices to be heard: (Let’s ban the Nancy Ajram concert after the Ministry of Information gave its consent/Let's not give the go-ahead for a budget for the Bahrain International Circuit while the track was being built/Let's ban Big Brother while the programme was being aired LIVE and now Let's introduce segregation at the University of Bahrain after having a co-ed university since its establishment after the merger of two colleges in 1986!)
They may have had to discuss these issues in Majlises (meeting rooms) or during Friday sermons in mosques, but such backward motions would never have spread like fire in a haystack the way they do now and attracted international attention.
No one would have listened. No one would have bowed.
This parliament is Bahrain's first in its modern history… and I wouldn’t be sorry if it was Bahrain's last!
Segregation? Oh Please! Cute guys would have to worry a lot and may also have to wear protective gear to protect their behinds.
Otherwise, they would definitely be BUTT FUCKED!
After all, the message we are getting from parliament and all those morons advocating segregation is that women are "fitna" and are a major distraction to the poor boys who cannot concentrate on their studies because of the presence of girls.
Girls should therefore cover themselves up and wear loose abayas and the hijab, to stop luring poor innocent boys into their trap.
In return, I think that should segregation ever be sanctioned (hehehehehe), boys should be protected from the over-zealous righteous men, who will sure find a way of making it legal to attack studs on sight/site!
I really don’t know what this place is coming to. Anyway, I really am in no mood. I don’t want to know. I will continue to hide in-doors.
The world isn’t missing out on much. They have Saaedi's and Maawda's legs to look at. Why would they be interested in mine?
Read more»»
December 6, 2004
10
comments
Links to this post
Feeling down?
What's wrong with giving in to fatigue and giving up on life once in a while - like what I am doing now? Problem is that this happens to me at the end of each and every single year.
I call this symptom the December Blues. I just feel so depressed and down. Nothing lifts my spirit - not even preparations for the festive season and New Year.
Every year I feel the same - what a waste of life!
A whole year gone, all 365 days, with no substantial achievements! Nothing tangible to show for the passing days except for more grey hair, anger and frustration!
Do I see a few wrinkles around my eyes and mouth? Great! This is what will make or break it for me! Do I now need to add the name of a cosmetic surgeon to my long list of doctors and shrinks treating me for real and imaginery ailments?
I just feel the futility of it all. Is it really worth it? What is the point of fighting depression and waking up and going to work? What difference do I make?
Yes. I am down.
No. I don't want to go anywhere fancy for dinner.
I don't want to go out at all just in case I bump into Saeedi or Maawada and they go to Parliament tomorrow and table a motion for having me covered up! Read more»»
What's wrong with giving in to fatigue and giving up on life once in a while - like what I am doing now? Problem is that this happens to me at the end of each and every single year.
I call this symptom the December Blues. I just feel so depressed and down. Nothing lifts my spirit - not even preparations for the festive season and New Year.
Every year I feel the same - what a waste of life!
A whole year gone, all 365 days, with no substantial achievements! Nothing tangible to show for the passing days except for more grey hair, anger and frustration!
Do I see a few wrinkles around my eyes and mouth? Great! This is what will make or break it for me! Do I now need to add the name of a cosmetic surgeon to my long list of doctors and shrinks treating me for real and imaginery ailments?
I just feel the futility of it all. Is it really worth it? What is the point of fighting depression and waking up and going to work? What difference do I make?
Yes. I am down.
No. I don't want to go anywhere fancy for dinner.
I don't want to go out at all just in case I bump into Saeedi or Maawada and they go to Parliament tomorrow and table a motion for having me covered up! Read more»»
In my previous post, I said: "Al Asala and Al Wefaq have joined hands to ensure that we go back to square one - to the pre-girls-education-era."
I can see Shaikh Adel Al Maawda of Al Asala and Shaikh Ali Salman of Al Wefaq tearing hair from their beards at this thought.
Oh blasphemy!!! How can the Sunni and Shia hardliners make a bed a sleep in it together?
Well, let me tell you how.
In October 2003, the Bahrain Family Leisure Company invited heart throb Ragheb Alama and sex bomb Nancy Ajram to stage a concert to mark the anniversary of one of their restaurants.
So far, so good! All was going as planned and tickets were starting to sell until one day the crow croaked in the Land of Dilmun, bringing untold horror and agony to the young beautiful Nancy, who thought she would find the flower of eternal youth away from the cosmetic surgeon's grubby hands here!
On that day, Salafi Shaikh Al Maawda raised the issue in Parliament and called for banning Nancy from performing her "lewd" acts in Bahrain.
Tickets were sold, guests have been invited, the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre has been booked and the very efficient Ministry of Information had already given its permission, so sorry Shaikh Adel, you should have expressed your reservations a teeny bit earlier.
The concert is to go ahead, with or without the blessings of Al Asala.
What happened next is from a horror movie, whose director is still at large!
The village boys of Daih and Sanabis and the nearby areas rose, burning tyres and throwing stones on all those people who wasted money on buying tickets.
Who said people can enjoy anything anymore in democratic Bahrain?
Those were very much Al Wefaq boys I would think. How come they supported the initiative of Maawda and Co., their archrivals, and caused mayhem which turned the concert into a nightmare to many.
Last month, those two joined forces again. This time they came together to promote virtue and squash vice!!
Salafi MP Jassim Al Saeedi opened his mouth in Parliament calling for segregation. On cue, a bunch of Al Wefaq die-hard fans (60 according to newspaper reports) rallied at the university in support of the motion!!!
I really don’t know what to make of this.
Both incidents follow the same scenario: Al Asala has a voice in Parliament. Al Wefaq is running gangs on the street.
Both are joining forces to drag Bahrain and all it stands for down.
I don’t know for a fact whether this is written on their agenda and I really don’t know whether they have an agenda or not but this is what any person looking from the outside would see: Two warring factions joining hands to cause mayhem and destruction.
May God bless their souls in peace!
One question now that we have established that they all sleep in one bed: who gets to get on top?!
Read more»»
I can see Shaikh Adel Al Maawda of Al Asala and Shaikh Ali Salman of Al Wefaq tearing hair from their beards at this thought.
Oh blasphemy!!! How can the Sunni and Shia hardliners make a bed a sleep in it together?
Well, let me tell you how.
In October 2003, the Bahrain Family Leisure Company invited heart throb Ragheb Alama and sex bomb Nancy Ajram to stage a concert to mark the anniversary of one of their restaurants.
So far, so good! All was going as planned and tickets were starting to sell until one day the crow croaked in the Land of Dilmun, bringing untold horror and agony to the young beautiful Nancy, who thought she would find the flower of eternal youth away from the cosmetic surgeon's grubby hands here!
On that day, Salafi Shaikh Al Maawda raised the issue in Parliament and called for banning Nancy from performing her "lewd" acts in Bahrain.
Tickets were sold, guests have been invited, the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre has been booked and the very efficient Ministry of Information had already given its permission, so sorry Shaikh Adel, you should have expressed your reservations a teeny bit earlier.
The concert is to go ahead, with or without the blessings of Al Asala.
What happened next is from a horror movie, whose director is still at large!
The village boys of Daih and Sanabis and the nearby areas rose, burning tyres and throwing stones on all those people who wasted money on buying tickets.
Who said people can enjoy anything anymore in democratic Bahrain?
Those were very much Al Wefaq boys I would think. How come they supported the initiative of Maawda and Co., their archrivals, and caused mayhem which turned the concert into a nightmare to many.
Last month, those two joined forces again. This time they came together to promote virtue and squash vice!!
Salafi MP Jassim Al Saeedi opened his mouth in Parliament calling for segregation. On cue, a bunch of Al Wefaq die-hard fans (60 according to newspaper reports) rallied at the university in support of the motion!!!
I really don’t know what to make of this.
Both incidents follow the same scenario: Al Asala has a voice in Parliament. Al Wefaq is running gangs on the street.
Both are joining forces to drag Bahrain and all it stands for down.
I don’t know for a fact whether this is written on their agenda and I really don’t know whether they have an agenda or not but this is what any person looking from the outside would see: Two warring factions joining hands to cause mayhem and destruction.
May God bless their souls in peace!
One question now that we have established that they all sleep in one bed: who gets to get on top?!
Read more»»
December 5, 2004
3
comments
Links to this post
Freedom?
What does this word really mean?
Responsible people like me, and I presume you, realise that our freedom is limited and bonded by a complex set of rules and regulations, values and principles, teachings, religious doctrines and dos and don'ts which together make us who we are.
If we were living in a vacuum, then freedom would be limitless.
The fact that we are in a society, shackled with age-old traditions and customs, makes our freedom really worthless because whatever we do should be socially acceptable and politically correct.
Those traditions and customs are mostly pre-Islamic or influenced by pre-Islamic values and concerns. I am not in a position to comment on this right now, because I don’t want add insult to injury and drag theoretical Islam into arguments which are more destructive than they are constructive at this age of relative "freedom".
Every time a sane person (which I presume I am) in Bahrain comments on Islam, he is straightaway attacked as being "unIslamic" or even "unGodly"!!
I will leave that to God to be a judge on and not to a bunch of mountain goats, who are more at home shepherding their herds in the Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter) but have made themselves judge and jury on what is Islamic and what is correct and what isn’t!
However, this is not the issue today.
We are in a predicament and given the different variables and factors which limit what we can do and say in a so-called democratic society, I feel that we should be pragmatic, face reality and act with tact for a change.
The reality of the situation as I read it at present is as follows:
With the introduction of formal education for women in Bahrain with the opening of the first government school in 1928, women have come a long way.
What does this word really mean?
Responsible people like me, and I presume you, realise that our freedom is limited and bonded by a complex set of rules and regulations, values and principles, teachings, religious doctrines and dos and don'ts which together make us who we are.
If we were living in a vacuum, then freedom would be limitless.
The fact that we are in a society, shackled with age-old traditions and customs, makes our freedom really worthless because whatever we do should be socially acceptable and politically correct.
Those traditions and customs are mostly pre-Islamic or influenced by pre-Islamic values and concerns. I am not in a position to comment on this right now, because I don’t want add insult to injury and drag theoretical Islam into arguments which are more destructive than they are constructive at this age of relative "freedom".
Every time a sane person (which I presume I am) in Bahrain comments on Islam, he is straightaway attacked as being "unIslamic" or even "unGodly"!!
I will leave that to God to be a judge on and not to a bunch of mountain goats, who are more at home shepherding their herds in the Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter) but have made themselves judge and jury on what is Islamic and what is correct and what isn’t!
However, this is not the issue today.
We are in a predicament and given the different variables and factors which limit what we can do and say in a so-called democratic society, I feel that we should be pragmatic, face reality and act with tact for a change.
The reality of the situation as I read it at present is as follows:
With the introduction of formal education for women in Bahrain with the opening of the first government school in 1928, women have come a long way.
To the horror of some men and even women, Bahraini women have left their mark on society, made the most of education, have successfully managed to create a balance between their family lives and careers, are driving cars and studying abroad and also have a say on whom to marry and whom to turn down.
In traditional families and societies, all the girls should be covered and girls who choose not to are shunned and even sometimes banished.
In liberal and moderate families, the girls have a choice. Those who want to wear the Hijab can do so and those who don’t are not forced to.
Go to any coffee shop or restaurant in Bahrain and you will see the two sitting together over a cup of coffee talking about guys, the latest make-up and who drives the shiniest car in the kingdom.
Today, many decades later, Al Asala and Al Wefaq have joined hands to ensure that we go back to square one - to the pre-girls-education-era, to be more precise.
Who is to gain the most from this movement? Why is it allowed considering that we are not free to do what we want and say what we want? And last but not least, why are working educated women such a threat to men and other women?
Why speak your mind when you have the option of shutting up and suffering in peace?
To know why I am frustrated, angry and on the offensive all the time, I would like to share a few things about my life with you.
This is a quick review but I will disclose more in the days to come.
I have thought about it for a long period of time and like most other bloggers in Bahrain, I will choose to remain anonymous. It will give me more freedom to express my true feelings and opinions, without worrying whether I am politically correct or not.
In a nut shell: I am a total nutcase and I admit it. I thoroughly enjoy it - every second of it.
Born under the sign of the Libra, I have problems balancing right and wrong and living with injustice. I just can't accept seeing other people hurt.
The current condition in Bahrain is starting to have its toll on me: the double-standards, the hypocrisy and the fact that the kingdom claims it is a democracy when it isn't.
I may have strong views about certain issues, but all this is what makes me who I am!
Who am I anyway, some of you may wonder?
I am a Bahraini woman: young, professional, career-minded and dynamic. The only catch is that I am not available. My knight in shining armour has kidnapped me and we tied the knot more than a year ago. My family was happy when that finally happened and they thought that I would just calm down and be the silly little girl they have always wanted me to be.
Problem is I just can't be that.
I am not a machine which can be switched on and off. I am a human being with a brain ticking like a time-bomb on my shoulders.
Sometimes, I wish I was a silly little Barbie.
Sometimes, I wish I was born a retard.
Sometimes, I damn the day I was given access to education and an opportunity to work and grow in my career.
What's wrong with being a silly little girl ask myself?
Well, on this blog I will be just that. I will rave and rant and scream and yell and shout and be myself – both the silly and the serious.
Nothing will stop me... until the police come knocking on my door! Read more»»
To know why I am frustrated, angry and on the offensive all the time, I would like to share a few things about my life with you.
This is a quick review but I will disclose more in the days to come.
I have thought about it for a long period of time and like most other bloggers in Bahrain, I will choose to remain anonymous. It will give me more freedom to express my true feelings and opinions, without worrying whether I am politically correct or not.
In a nut shell: I am a total nutcase and I admit it. I thoroughly enjoy it - every second of it.
Born under the sign of the Libra, I have problems balancing right and wrong and living with injustice. I just can't accept seeing other people hurt.
The current condition in Bahrain is starting to have its toll on me: the double-standards, the hypocrisy and the fact that the kingdom claims it is a democracy when it isn't.
I may have strong views about certain issues, but all this is what makes me who I am!
Who am I anyway, some of you may wonder?
I am a Bahraini woman: young, professional, career-minded and dynamic. The only catch is that I am not available. My knight in shining armour has kidnapped me and we tied the knot more than a year ago. My family was happy when that finally happened and they thought that I would just calm down and be the silly little girl they have always wanted me to be.
Problem is I just can't be that.
I am not a machine which can be switched on and off. I am a human being with a brain ticking like a time-bomb on my shoulders.
Sometimes, I wish I was a silly little Barbie.
Sometimes, I wish I was born a retard.
Sometimes, I damn the day I was given access to education and an opportunity to work and grow in my career.
What's wrong with being a silly little girl ask myself?
Well, on this blog I will be just that. I will rave and rant and scream and yell and shout and be myself – both the silly and the serious.
Nothing will stop me... until the police come knocking on my door! Read more»»
December 4, 2004
6
comments
Links to this post
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
