labor rights in the Gulf,
segregation in the gulf
4:56 PM
Abu Dhabi is planning to build three new cities to shelter foreign low-income laborers and workers of the construction industry. The plan to build enough houses to accommodate 400,00 people and are geared at single and double room occupancy.
Will these cities help
accommodate low-income housing, which has far greater demand than supply in this region, or is it masked at segregating workers from the rest of society in areas far from the city? Furthermore, homogenous cities comprised of only low-income, male single foreign laborers sounds more like apartheid enclaves than a city. According to
Arabian Business:
The cities have been constructed according to the highest international standards, the director of facilities management at Abu Dhabi’s Higher Corporation for Specialised Economic Zones (ZonesCorp) told UAE daily Al Bayan.
The cities will be comprised of single and double rooms that will accommodate workers, technicians, supervisors and engineers working in the industrial and construction sectors in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
gender,
religion in the gulf,
segregation in the gulf
12:30 AM
"Saudi beauty queen Aya Ali Al-Mullah trounced 274 rivals to win a crown, jewelry, cash and a trip to Malaysia, and all without showing her face, Saudi media reported yesterday. With her face and body completely covered by the black head-to-toe abaya mandatory in the conservative Muslim kingdom, 18-year-old Mullah was named "Queen of Beautiful Morals" late on Thursday, newspapers said.
There was none of the swimsuit and evening gown competitions and heavy media coverage of beauty pageants elsewhere when the contest was decided in the eastern city of Safwa. Instead, the winner and the two runner-up princesses had to undergo a three-month test of their dutifulness to their parents and family, and their service to society. This included a battery of personal, cultural, social and psychological tests, Al-Watan reported. It was unclear exactly what Mullah did to pip her rivals in the huge field, but Al-Watan reported that the high school graduate had good grades and hopes to go into medicine.
She raked in a 5,000-riyal (1,333-dollar) prize, a pearl necklace, diamond watch, diamond necklace, and a free ticket to Malaysia with her win. The 20-year-old first runner-up, one of triplets, had already won an education ministry-sponsored "I love you, my country" competition. The second runner-up, a high school student aged 15, was cited for taking care of her home and family during the week because her mother works far from home and can only return on weekends.
Beauty contests focused on physical beauty are non-existent in segregated Saudi Arabia, where women cannot mix with unrelated men, and must appear in public completely covered-even in photographs. Miss Moral Beauty pageant organiser Khadra Al-Mubarak kept the focus on inner beauty, as defined by Islamic standards of Saudi Arabia. "The real winner in this competition is the society. The winners represent the culture of the society and its high Islamic morals," Mubarak said, according to Al-Watan." (for full link click here)
gulf youth,
kuwaiti politics,
segregation in the gulf
3:52 PM
Two days ago, an opinion piece by Nabeel Al-Awadi ran in the Al-Watan Daily entitled "The Government's Questionable Intentions". The article criticizes the liberal MP Doshti for suddenly focusing on social issues when she had run on a platform of prioritization for economic reform. Fine. However, in the third paragraph the author puts his foot in his mouth when it becomes clear that economic reform is not any of his top priorities either.
Rather, it is a disguised cry of fear that a liberal might dare get access to the National Assembly's Negative Phenomena Committee. This, according to this simple-minded critical thinker, would in effect open up a catastrophic wormhole from whence would emerge a topsy turvy society where "the existence of swimming pools for young men and women in public places", "the spread of homosexuality and lesbianism among young men and women" and "the existence of satanic groups" are not considered negative phenomena and condoned....probably even encouraged by these liberal MPs who have their moral compass a dizzy! In short, liberals are not qualified, do not have that certain panache, at knowing right from wrong, moral from immoral, whats good for society and whats not.
More than anything, it is patronizingly reductionist of liberal's social agenda assuming that the main issues revolve around sexuality, segregation and unraveling religious fiber. In my mind, when I think of "negative phenomena" that I REALLY see on a daily basis I begin to look at the number of driving accidents caused by reckless youth, lack of active engagement on recycling, civic duty and volunteering, etc.
Perhaps the biggest chestnut of an insight can be seen in the author's strange stream-of-consciousness listing of potential threats that liberals would not perceive (swimming pools, homosexuality, satanists) which ultimately reveal more about the writer's own obsessions than those of anyone else.
Well I was considering posting a response to this opinion piece two days ago, but like many things irrational, just let it slide. However, today I read an opinion piece by Dr. Ali Ahmed Al-Tarrah entitled "Addressing the Morals and Ethics of Society" that effectively slaps Nabeel's article across the face with a white satin glove. In his last paragraph he affirms:
"I hope that we in Kuwait will put an end to the issue of limiting freedoms. I hope that the Parliament''s Negative Phenomena Committee will spread the spirit of tolerance among people and at the same time fight against some dangerous phenomena such as reckless driving and absence of values and ethics. We must activate the role of civil society institutions to address the many new challenges, rather than escalate prohibition and intimidation."
gender,
kuwaiti politics,
segregation in the gulf
4:54 PM
"Women won four seats in the Kuwaiti parliamentary elections over the weekend, a historic first and one of several electoral surprises that appeared to reflect a deep popular frustration with the political deadlock in the oil-rich gulf state of Kuwait.Liberal Kuwaitis celebrated the landmark with fireworks and parties after the elections on Saturday. Women gained the right to vote and run for office in 2005, but none had been elected until now. Many conservatives resisted the idea, and in recent weeks Islamists urged voters not to elect women to the 50-seat assembly." (for full link, click here)
gender,
kuwaiti politics,
segregation in the gulf
11:41 AM
KUWAIT: Academics agreed that the relative drop in performance of the former all-male parliament was likely to boost the chances of female candidates getting elected, found a study conducted by KUNA.
"Kuwait University's political science professor Dr. Abdulredha Asiri told KUNA that he expects many more males will be voting for women in this election round, and their choices will likely be more rational and realistic than before.
He said, however, that before focusing on the performance of men, one must admit that women contributed to their gender's failure to reach the parliament because many favored male candidates over females.
Asiri noted that the matriarchal mentality which claims that women are
incapable of representing the nation had driven many women to exert greater efforts to win a parliamentary seat and defend the basic rights of women, who constitute more than half of all voters.
Moreover, he explained that although caring for the home and children were important roles played by many women, political activity is also essential and women need to be included in deciding the country's fate..." (click here for full article)
gender,
kuwaiti politics,
religion in the gulf,
segregation in the gulf
9:37 PM
The ever-unfolding drama of the women's police force really fascinates me. I will continue following up and posting for as long as articles are written about the matter. Congratulations to the brave female officers unafraid to defend their merits. As I had criticized in my earlier post on the policewomen controversy, I am happy to finally see that female officers were interviewed for this piece.
"KUWAIT: Raised in a society dominated by men, Hanan wants to prove that Kuwaiti women are just as good as males in serving in the police force.
The 19ـyearـold Kuwaiti is among the first female police officers who recently graduated from academy in the conservative Gulf Arab state where many believe a woman''s place is at home.
"When people said that women will not be able to work as police officers I wanted to prove to them that women can actually make it," said Sergeant Hanan AlـSaybaei. "It was not a childhood dream, but I took it as a challenge."
The move is the latest step that the U.S. ally has taken towards greater participation of women in society after granting them the right to vote and run for office in 2005.
"It''s an unprecedented step. (Police) was restricted to local men, and women''s participation is now a reality," said former oil minister and political analyst Ali AlـBaghli." (for full article, click here)
* By the way Mr. Al-Baghli is also the chairman of the Kuwait Human Rights Society, who after some research, I've seen is focal on women's empowerment as well as foreign labourers' rights in Kuwait.
segregation in the gulf
1:26 PM
Last night I went to Entertainment City for the first time with three of my friends. We of course jumped at the opportunity to get into queue for the first rollercoaster ride we stumbled upon. We went into an entrance and saw that there was no line, but realized that other people were going into another gated queue area directly next to where we had entered. I remarked to my friends that it was strange that they would have two entrances next to each other, and that one would be non-functional. So, we left where we had been waiting to go into the other waiting line. We were waiting and talking when suddenly I saw a big group go into the original entrance we had gone into.
Being a good fellow neighbor I politely informed them that the actual line was the other entrance, and the man in the group of several women and children kindly informed me that we were in the MEN ONLY section, whereas the other entrance where we had originally gone into was the FAMILY section.
This put us in a strange dilemma. I was with three male, expat friends and I was the only woman in the group. We are clearly not a family, and earlier, my friends had been recounting to me how that very day they had been kicked out of a hotel beach for not being a family--that is for being three men. How arbitrarily and quickly my three friends suddenly were able to jump to "the other side of the fence" once I was in their company. We had to exit the MEN ONLY queue and go back to the FAMILY section...me and my "three husbands" as I joked. This line flipping set us back about 20 minutes from getting on the actual ride.
For one of the rides in the amusement park, I decided to sit it out, since my motion sickness pills were slowly wearing off and this particular ride seemed like a centrifugal force vortex of vomit-inducing misery. Suddenly my three friends had to go through the MEN ONLY line, where some young Saudi vacationers, or entertainment refugees as I would more aptly put it, began to strike up a conversation with them, probably something that would never happen in the FAMILY line.
kuwait,
kuwaiti politics,
segregation in the gulf
10:18 AM
Please tell me where in the article the interviewed person is able to demonstrate that segregation has been a success. I failed to find out. It seems like it has only created nightmares in terms of ensuring everyone graduates because the school effectively has to double its course supply. I am including the photo of Mr. Al-Azmi so that if you see him on the campus, you can just ask him yourself.
I would like to know from Kuwait University students there thoughts on segregation. It would even be nice to see a written op-ed response by someone.
"KUWAIT: The Head of the Sharia (Islamic Law) Society of Kuwait University Sami Mohammed AlـAzmi outlined in an interview with Al Watan the society''s major accomplishments and achievements, including the society''s success in overcoming the common problems of segregations, which has been a prime cause of anger and dismay amongst university students of late.
Tell us the secret behind your success now that the students have voted for you to represent them once again.
AlـAzmi: The Society has represented students for the past seventeen years consecutively. Our ingredients for success are numerous. They vary from total commitment to our pledges and goals, our transparency policy, to meeting students'' demands. Little wonder they fully trust our society.
And could you tell us about some of your programs during your first term?
AlـAzmi: We actually began with sports. We arranged a football tournament held under the patronage of MP Mikhlid AlـAzmi. The prize was attractive as winners received two thousand Kuwaiti dinars. The tournament was a great success as more than thirty teams took part. Around 320 players participated in the event. As for the economic side, the society held a symposium under the theme "Is Kuwait suffering from an Economic Downturn?"
It was another great success as we managed to invite prominent MPs such as Khaled Sultan Bin Essa and leading Economics Professor Anwar AlـShirian and others. We also held cultural events of importance during which CDs and leaflets about various cultural aspects here in Kuwait were handed out.
And what about your major future plans?
AlـAzmi: There are many indeed. But at the moment we are paying much attention to the major issues involved in segregation. Many students are facing problems, some of whom are desperate to graduate, but with the segregation closing off certain courses to either sex, this may be unfeasible. So, we have been in contact with the university management and have managed so far to open many courses and now are working with the management to open some more.
So, the university management is extremely helpful in this regard?
AlـAzmi: The university management has been very helpful, as well as the faculty, as they provide us with the needed information. The same goes for the Office of Deanship for Student Affairs. They are all cooperative and keen to provide us with the best advice. However, the only issue here, which we''d like to raise with the Office of Deanship, is their cancellation of a very important evaluation scheme. In the past, the office would assess the societies according to their programs and achievements. Fortunately, we have always been at the top of the list. But suddenly the office decided that they would no longer do such assessments. We call on the office to review its decision.
Let''s discuss another important issue: the College of Sharia was the first to segregate classes. Many are arguing now that such an education is no longer feasible and they are calling for coـeducation. What do you think?
AlـAzmi: On the contrary! The fact that the segregation has been successful in our college makes it all the more feasible and successful. The only real problem which is facing us is the lack of money. The university management provides us with financial aid but not enough to cope with our numerous cultural, social and educational activities." (for link, click here)
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