Together Against Corruption

It is a widely accepted fact that in Saudi Arabia (and for that matter, in the other Gulf countries, too) bribery and other forms of corruption have long been the primary mean of pursuing one's matters in government offices and also in private companies. But the attitudes seem to be changing.

For instance, over the past 1-2 years Saudi media has given much more attention to debate about corruption, uncovered abuse of public funds and so forth. Here is a recent article from Arab News: Man caught taking bribe red-handed

Still, I was somewhat amazed when I saw the below advertisement in a major local newspaper some time ago:

A new governmental body, The National Anti-Corruption Commission, was set up by a royal order last March. Apparently they are at least trying to fulfill their mission of combating corruption.

Family Only

Some of you might have heard in the news that Saudi Arabia has now started implementing a new policy that lingerie shops selling women’s underwear will have to start hiring women shop assistants. This is a law that was actually passed several years ago but is only being implemented now. It’s been exciting to see that shops really have started putting this law into practice. On women’s lingerie shop doors, we’ve seen new signs appear with the text “Family Only”. For those of you unfamiliar with the family vs. singles jargon here, it means that only women, couples and families are allowed to enter. Single males cannot enter these shops because that would mean that the female shop assistants would have to come into contact with men and who knows what the end result of that would be. Here’s a picture of one of the signs. I even managed to get the shop assistant’s head in the same picture. Shop assistants are naturally covered in black from head to toe.

Social Gatherings

There are no parties in Saudi, only social gatherings. Embassies arrange social gatherings, as do some private people. We can’t disclose any details, but here is a picture of a water dispenser at one of the social gatherings we attended about half a year ago. This was at someone's private residence. The water must have been contaminated with something to give it such an unhealthy color… rusty pipes or something... some guests also reported an odd headache and dizziness the next morning. Some had even suffered memory lapses.

Note to self: from now on do not drink water that doesn't taste or smell like water even if it comes from a water dispenser.

Wadi Hanifa

For the most short-term visitors, Riyadh appears as a dry (scorchingly hot during the summer months) and dull car-oriented mega city. Too many ten lane highways, too many people with "only me" attitude, chaotic driving habits, awful traffic jams... you name it.

From this perspective it might be a bit odd to hear that Riyadh literally means "gardens" in Arabic. But as in any good Thousand and One Nights story, Riyadh is a city of hidden treasures. One such treasure is Wadi Hanifa, a some 120 km long valley cutting through the city from north to south.

The January/February 2012 issue of Saudi Aramco World (a periodical published by Saudi Aramco - the world's largest oil company) includes a very interesting article about Wadi Hanifa, its history as a Riyadh's collective garbage dump and sewer and a 10-year-long restoration project with a budget of around $1 billion.

Definitively worth the read!

Where have all the muttawa gone, long time passing? (sing to the tune of Where Have All the Flowers Gone?)

Wanted to share this picture taken in Riyadh a few weeks back when we went muttawa hunting. We (well K mostly) wanted to see some angry muttawa telling people to go pray, so we on purpose timed our arrival at an expensive shopping mall just as the evening prayer was starting. Shops were closing and shop assistants were gently asking customers to leave because of the prayers. We hovered around the main entrance the entire 25 min in hopes that we’d see some muttawa come in. We have been told that they love this particular shopping mall and that there might sometimes be two patrols in this mall at the same time making sure that nothing sinful happens. To our disappointment they never showed up. But we managed to snatch a picture of people sitting around waiting for the shops to open up again…



And a picture of some ladies praying in front of a shoe shop…

Hashing

Hashing is a very popular pastime here in Riyadh. Contrary to what you might suspect based on the name it actually has nothing to do with hashis. Hashing is a term for a random bunch of foreigners who get together in the middle of the desert and do some running/walking together in the nice dry Saudi scenery. There is usually a run/walk leader called “hare” who leads the way. Hashing is a nice way to spend one of the 360 sunny afternoons of the year. It’s a good place to meet people and friends and spend some time together. Today’s hash took us to place called End of the World. Check out the pictures. I overheard some Americans actually saying that it looks a lot like the Grand Canyon. 

Kuwait Under The Clouds

A beautiful time lapse film of Kuwait City:

(via 2:48AM)