Bahraini Transformers

It’s not too strange to see that people you knew in the past have changed, for better or worse. It’s become a simple fact of life. Yet there are also those who remain as steadfast in the face of time. I’m not in the process of judging which is wrong or right here, I’m just observing how events erode characters. Or better yet, do events erode masks and show the faces behind?

It amuses me how I see people around me change, not that it’s a bad thing, but how easily they do. Changing ideas, ideals, and principals is not an easy feat in my humble opinion, so how about changing characteristics for example? So the question still remains, what does change people? I have seen in my life people change with positions for example, like when a simple employee that seems to be friendly turns into a power hungry, all controlling superior, but that has become normal I believe. I have also seen people change the way they see other people after a major experience like an accident or quick wealth, yet my real question is how can hundreds, not thousands change in such a short time? This is what I have noticed in my tiny country Bahrain. The mass transformation of thousands of individuals.

I have to admit that the events that took place in Bahrain in 2011 will bring change to any who have lived through them, for better or worse. Some have developed political awareness; some have grown a hatred for all that are different; some discovered a patriotic nationalistic sense, etc. so now the logical next question would be, how would Bahrain be shaped by its ever transforming people? No one can deny that we somehow miss the old Bahrain, and that bringing it back is going to be as successful as bringing a dead person to life. I also believe that dwelling in the nostalgia of old Bahrain is not very productive. The only way available is always forward, but forward does mean more change, and that is something for the future to decide.

I do believe that we as Bahrainis have been naïve for long, I also believe that some form of consciousness of the outside world is always a positive thing. Developing racial divides is never a good thing, nor does religious confrontations. But how about those who never changed? Will they eventually change or will they be swallowed up by the tide? Or will they feel like strangers surrounded by familiar faces? The future is not ours to decide, and we shouldn’t be vain in thinking that we can control it.

The Cupcake Society

Everyone can see that during the last year or so Bahrain have had so many cupcake shops that you might think they are mushrooms that spring out after a heavy rain. Of course this new, and abused idea, is exclusively one that is associated with Bahraini women and girls. It seems that most girls are experts in photography, fashion design and art. Not that it's a bad thing, its just a bit overdoing it when all of a sudden they become experts in those fields. Before I get scratched to death by hundreds of girls, I have to say that this post is NOT about girls interest these days. This post is rather about how our Bahraini society has taken the shape of those yummy cupcakes, and how as delicious as it seems, it is not a healthy society if you think more about it.

Imagine holding a cupcake, or better yet, get a cupcake in your hand while you read this post, but do resist the urge to eat it until the end. The basic shape of this cupcake is basically a lovely designed top, filled with the sweetest ingredients, and a plain sweet bottom. What attracts you most? The top. What part tastes the best? The top. For one I personally enjoy only the top part and tend to discard with the bottom part, simply because it's not as tasty as the top part. Now imagine Bahraini society as having the same shape, same substance and same structure. It's only the top part of society that is attractive, luxurious and all round delicious. But what about the rest? Just like the bottom of the cupcake, it's hidden, plain and sometimes discarded. Yet if you think about it, the bottom part is the one holding the top part up to be seen. By the rest of the world. Not very fair for the bottom part of the cupcake, or society for that matter.

Bahrain as a society have transformed several times during the last century, these changes have not all been bad or have been good as well. But nevertheless it is only the recent changes that have provided the "top" with more sugar and more glamour to be sprinkled on. And all the time the "bottom" looks on as the top becomes prettier and tastier than it can ever be. This wasted, hidden part can have such great potential as to achieve greater heights for all the cupcake, if only it had a fair shot. It doesn't mean that it will trade places with the top part, just a chance at being as sweet and beautiful as its top brother. The fear is that the top is now too vain to allow for any to take its place or to have a chance at showing its potential for fear of being discarded and left uneaten. This fear have transformed into less chances for anyone to achieve or for anyone to improve his or her position in the cupcake system. This stifling of creativity and youth can have grave consequences if society does not try and fight this cupcake mentality and introduce more opportunity to any who is willing to roll up his sleeves to think and work. Just remember that if the dinosaurs started thinking they wouldn't be museum exhibitions.

Now imagine if the cupcake you are holding is all sweet and pretty just as the top. Wouldn't that be amazing? It's impossible but very nice to imagine. But what can be achieved is to take a spreading knife and spread all this yummy cream all over the cupcake so that you can equally enjoy it all, without thriving any leftovers or any waste, except the paper wrap that was standing in the way of enjoying the rest of the cupcake. It would definitely not be a cupcake anymore, and be more like a chocolate bar that is lovely all over, from start to end. That would be a better choice than the cupcake you are holding right now, the one you will eat and enjoy but think differently of from now on. Did I just make you feel like eating something sweet? Yeah me two.

Learning from Beauty

The Arabian Peninsula is known for something that is more valuable than its rich oil fields, more elegant than its noblest lady, more sensitive than the delicate butterflies and a lot smarter than many who call themselves decent human beings. It’s the Arabian horse. This famous creature have captivated all who lay their eyes upon it and cast an eternal spell that will keep them bound to it. If we should look more and appreciate it we can learn quite a lot of how a simple beast of burden turned into an obsession of millions.

The graceful Arabian horse strides elegantly in between its ugly cousins. It raises its head always even when in battle, announcing to all that it is here and it would never bow down to any other. Its eyes scream with the most wondrous poetry that can sooth even the most savage beasts all while declaring its superior pedigree. Its strong bone structure and amazing endurance warns of those that will take beauty as a sign of weakness. Its sensitive nature is kin only to the most eloquent of poets that rise over the average sensitivity of human beings. Yet we seem to not notice that we can learn quite a lot from this creature, and this happens when ignorance is a state of mind not a statistic on a table.

Something to be noticed about the modern Arab is the lack of desire to learn and the inability to adapt rather than copy our western opposites. This fact has left us from being the center of the universe at one period of history into sadly a rock that orbits a bright sun. At first it was because of too much pride and the foolish sense of superiority, and then it developed into a feeling of despair and a dreadful inferiority. Yet we can still pick up the paces and shine again to become the lighthouse that once attracted the eyes of all of those that are beyond our borders. Just like the old myth of the phoenix that rose again from the ashes we can reclaim our rightful throne. It needs education, development and more importantly an open eye and mind.

The Arabian horse is but one treasure that we seem to have ignored in the pursuit of copying those who we believe to be superior to us in order to become superior like them. There are many other gems of our Islamic civilization that sadly have become objects to hide out of shame. As George Orwell famously says “He who controls the present controls the past. He who controls the past controls the future” can only be the way forward if we are looking for a brighter future for our future generations. If I’m wrong then I’m open for debate, because what I see is definitely is not right.

A Nation Divided

A picture, that’s all what I needed to force my hand to start typing this post. A picture on a website that was supposedly showing how thousands of so called “revolutionaries” are protesting in their cars. What it really showed was just a simple traffic jam on one of the roads to Manama. This is of course a blatant lie but what is sad about it that people willingly believed it as an actual fact. It’s been seven months since the start of the protests here in Bahrain, and the story is still to be continued. Only question is until when?

The Arab Spring came and turned to an Arab Winter and still we see Libya is still on hold until they catch or kill Gaddafi, Syria loses its sons daily and Yemen is looking more and more like the old Yemen of the civil war era. But what about Bahrain. You see if you really understand Bahrain then you would realize that there was never a spring, it was only a continuation of something that never ended. People who understand Bahrain know that there are three types of people; people who do not want the status quo and are constantly looking for a change in their direction, then there are those who are more than happy with the status quo, and then there are those who are just trying to live. And those of the last category are what matter the most. The term “Arab Spring” actually comes from the “Springtime of Nations” that was referring to the liberal movements of nineteenth century Europe. So can you explain to me again why the radical liberal governments of both Tunisia and Egypt were toppled?! Okay so it’s a movement towards more democracy, this I can totally relate to. But what if this democracy brings in radical elements of socialists or any other extremist elements? Makes you think doesn’t it?

I was debating with a lawyer a while back about how corruption, profiteering and backwardness didn’t help our government, but in having this debate we were actually believing that there is always a better way, and this is what constructive thinking is all about. We did not refer at all to the so called “revolutionaries” simply because we knew that willingly or unwillingly those that are against the establishment have divided this nation, and you should only look up the map towards Iraq to see how dividing a nation into Shiaa and Sunni would result into. Just like a separated couple, the children are the ones who bear the consequences.

On a final note, I do apologize for my rusty writing; I do also apologize for disappearing from this blog.

Potatoes to Make Cranberry Juice

During the time I was away from writing, I was in the process of trying to absorb as much about Bahrain as possible. It is still a work in progress. But this does not necessarily mean that I haven’t developed a few ideas or noticed a few misconceptions here and there. One of these misconceptions is the idea that democracy would bring us a better life; another misconception is that democracy would never bring us a better life. Interested yet? I sure hope you are by now.

The idea of democracy or political freedom in any shape or sense (including a constitutional monarchy) is a brilliant and noble ideal, except that it should always be after two important prerequisites before it can be achieved. First and most important prerequisite is the need to fill the people’s stomachs, not in the literal sense of course, but rather the idea to fill the people’s needs and achieve some economical advances for the benefit of the people, not just the few and selected capitalist fat boys. The second prerequisite is the idea to fill the people’s minds, again not to literally open up their heads and stuff them with confetti, but rather to fill them with knowledge and information. These two prerequisites in my opinion need to be there when you would like to eventually fill your heart with the ideas of freedom and liberty. Neither of which have happened in Bahrain before the introduction of the national charter and its reforms. This means that as the cliché goes, you have brought the cart in front of the horse. If you still don’t understand what I’m saying then just try and imagine and remember how many times we have seen in the news about a coup d’état or a civil war that would rage on for decades. This all is the product of forcing democracy before meeting its two prerequisites; which are again fill their bellies, and then fill their minds before filling their hearts.

Bahrainis look to their immediate neighbors with envy as to their superior standard of living, and this is true when we have basic salaries that go back to the eighties and nineties, and inflated basic goods that are most probably being monopolized by someone out there. I agree that Bahrain is such a small market, but look at Singapore and how a country roughly our size could have planted itself firmly in the global scene, and to think that we have had a head start on them as well. So basically, it is ever too late to try and take serious measures to raise the standard of living for your people and in that sense, give them enough tools and the means to further develop your economy and GDP.

We were once a country that has prided itself on the standard of education when compared to our neighbor’s Stone Age methods. Underline the word “once”, as in once upon a time. Our neighbors now host some of the most prestigious educational facilities and institutions in the world, and they don’t look like stopping at that anytime soon as well. Our own educational reform initiative is only 3 years of age, which is headed by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Mubarak Al-Khalifa the deputy prime minister. It is a very brave and hopeful idea but one that also needs more backing in the form of funds and cooperation from all sectors of Bahraini society for it to succeed. Remember that science and enlightenment was always a game changer when it comes to the rise and fall of civilizations. We should not lag behind in that department. Education also would be the stable land that freedom needs in order to grow up into a mighty tree of hope.

Look to our democratic practices now and you would hopefully understand my idea and what I am talking about. We are basically being ruled by people who have virtually no serious education and certainly no political knowhow. I am talking about our esteemed representatives in parliament, or their much worse colleagues in the upper house or the Shura Council. All of this takes place while the people of Bahrain are sitting there watching what is happening around them with open mouths or with little interest and trust in what is taking place. Why? Because they either struggle so much for their living that they have no time or interest in politics or that they have little education that would make them armed with the necessary tools to improve on their nation. What is sad though is that people who have become politicians have filled their pockets with bribes and gifts while the people stay suffering and confused with simple ideas such as politics. So remind me again how I can make cranberry juice out of potatoes!!

Wake me up when slavery ends

I apologize to all my readers, few as they are, but I have been lacking any inspiration, not because of anything, just that I guess my mind went blank. Now that’s out of the way I would like to come straight to the point. Most of us work, and most have office boys in our places of work. Almost all of those office boys are Indians or coming from the subcontinent. The question is have you ever had a conversation with him/her? I mean a true person to person conversation, not the regular hello or good morning. It could be an eye opening conversation if you only would listen to them.

Most of you wouldn’t have heard of a company called "Basma" or Bahrain Services and Maintenance Company. Actually it's very ironic that it's called Basma, which is Arabic for smile. I certainly don’t see any real smile on any of their janitors or office boys, although they do have to have a fake smile on their faces when greeting you. I have a different name for this company, how about "Bahrain Slave Driver Company"? Sounds just about right when you see their ugly faces. In my work place we have got several janitors from this particular company, and I have had befriended some of them who I see on a regular basis. I have noticed one thing about all of them though; they all seem like circus animals that have been whipped so many times that they are laid broken, tamed and helpless. They have a constant fear in their eyes even after working with us and knowing us for so many years. I have tried to talk to some of them honestly but they seem to think that I would go behind their back and talk to their company, but some of them have opened up slightly to me and I didn’t like what I heard. I have learned that they have to wake up every day around 4:00 AM, and they go back to their labor camps after 11:00 PM. All of these hours of course are hard working labor with little or no rest periods in between. You might see your office boys work in your workplace and think that like you they head home to rest after working hours, the answer is no, they have to go somewhere else to either clean or some other hard job until every drop of energy in their body is taken and some more. Our office boys have to work here for 11 hours, and then go to Standard Chartered bank to clean up and come back here to secure all doors and windows before leaving for some place to clean up again and finally go to City Center to clean up. About their pay, just take my word that they get very little. So little that they are practically slaves with a tip. If you must know its 40 BD but wait, they got free food and accommodation. So basically a prisoner with unemployment pay here in Bahrain would get a better deal. They also get sacked for the least mistake, and get shipped back to their home on the first flight.

So now that you have known, what do you think about your life? What do you think about your work or your boss? More importantly what would you want to do about it if you think this is wrong? Sadly not many people care nowadays to do much about it. This might only be one example of many here.

Oh and just when I was about to upload this post, one of the office boys have told me that he might have his contract terminated because he refused to go stay in another camp located in a crappy area. WOW!

Deus Vult (God Wills It)

This is the mantra that the crusaders have taken up as the permission to go to the holy lands In Palestine and murder thousands upon thousands there and on the road. Back then wars were fought under the disguise and collaboration of corrupt religious leaders who pretend to get their orders directly from God, or who spread lies that they have a mandate from God to kill people. Back then people fought believing that they were insuring their place in heaven. Other types of wars didn’t involve religion as much but had involved race as a major factor, or to despise a certain type of people just because they might have another shade of skin color or even just another language. In reality though, it was just for power and money, and those who did the actual fighting were better dead anyways. Then with the dawn of the twentieth century, humanity witnessed another reason for killing, this time it had nothing to do with God, this time it was about ideologies. Except here in the warm waters of the Arabian Gulf, we still fight for race and religion; why? Because "Deus Vult" of course.

Admittedly we did get some stints and hints of Arab nationalism movements in the area and even some communist influence here and there, but on the major part it was failed attempts in the six GCC countries. Nowadays we have reverted back to what seems like a religious struggle once again. I have to admit though that one big catalyst to this religious struggle is the so called Islamic revolution in Iran, which if you would notice hasn't finished "revolting" since 1978; I wonder why. Lines were drawn again dividing religious beliefs and creed, which have halted so much progress in this particular region. Ever since, we have gone from developing nations to nations locked together in a state of cold war. What's more is that within these GCC nations we have seen more and more divisions of religion take place. So in a nutshell we have went from developing countries to countries struggling from religious zeal. You might notice that I dedicate a fair amount of time to criticizing religious leaders, and that does not come out of nowhere, to be honest with you all I have found out that most of the blame should be placed on religious leaders who have pretended to be politicians in our society, although I do believe that religious leaders could be politicians only if they start to accept that religion is a private matter and that the people are not just a bunch of ignorant sinners who need spiritual guidance when all they want is food in their stomachs. All of those against my point of view can only look to our greatest teacher, the Prophet (PBUH) and tell me the shape of his government when he ruled Medina or when he eventually united the Arabian Peninsula. He has never proclaimed himself king and he sure never held elections to the office of God's prophet nor did he have a Soviet style "Politburo". He did though rule and die in Medina while so many Jews were freely practicing their own religion. So now tell me again, you think those religious leaders you love so much are better than the Prophet? Ask yourselves another simple question; why do they mostly preach fear of the other? Be it another religion or another sect or even just another language. It's simple really; "Fear" has always been the door that religious leaders use to accept them as the ultimate authority.

On the other hand there are many religious leaders who I have only the utmost respect reserved to them. Simply because they have understood what this religion is talking about, and that the people need more than spiritual guidance for them to survive. People need jobs, education, security, health and much more which is no less important than spiritual guidance. But these other ignorant clerics of hate foolishly think so much of themselves that they actually believe that they can achieve what the Prophet and his companions could not achieve.

One thing for sure is that when politicians try to meddle with religion and/or money they become corrupt. One last thing that has made me laugh so much is when the Grand Ayatollah in Iran commended the Egyptian revolution and has claimed it to be influenced by the Islamic revolution in Iran. I tell you dude that the Egyptians have risen up because they want to live, not because they want to know where the Qibla is.

The Land of the Cruiser

Qatar, where the Toyota Land Cruiser is considered a proof of citizenship just as much as a passport. Where new skyscrapers are pointing towards the hot sun. Where in some areas the spaces between neighbors is a block. It is considered by many Bahrainis as the land of milk and honey, the land of opportunity. It also happens to be where a good chunk of my family calls home. I came back last night from Qatar and this is what I felt.

It wasn’t long ago that I last visited my family there and the scenes of downtown Doha was not a surprise to me, nor was the new road networks being built to facilitate the establishment of new suburbs. What struck me was the fact that Qatar has got plenty of two main things, oil/gas which is evident in the wealth of this little populated country and the amount of land being opened up for new communities. Just like the UAE they do lack the native population and so they are forced to import labor from overseas. From the basic Asian blue collar laborer to the blue eyed Brit CEO, they all now call Qatar home. It is known that Qatar is also one of the major upcoming economies in the region and is a major competitor to Dubai. What makes it so different from Bahrain is only three words. Standard of living. Across the little stretch of water that separates Bahrain from Qatar we usually look to our neighbor with envy at the high standard of living. Not long ago though we Bahrainis thought ourselves superior to Qataris in term of education, not anymore. The huge steps taken up by HH Shaikha Moza towards overhauling education is simply amazing. She has single handedly, with little support from the people I should point out, she has taken it upon herself that the Qatari educations programs be improved ten folds with new and upcoming high standard universities take Qatar as a home away from home. All of this does come at a cost, and I do not mean monetary cost. More education means more open minded people, means more distance from the old habits and traditions of the past that go against education. It can be seen that there is a crisis of identity being fought in the hearts and minds of Qataris with both sides giving valid points to its respected arguments. Nevertheless I consider it only as a generational struggle that will pass, like so many generational struggles in the Arab countries.

During my visit there I have noticed that not once had I heard any reference of wanting or needing any form of representative government or that of democratic flue that seems to have infected so many minds around here. Who needs politics when your standard of living is that of Sweden if not more? Even in the UAE, you can notice the same feelings. Also in Qatar it can clearly be noticed that their royal family of Al-Thani considers itself as citizens rather than super citizens or aristocrats, yes they do have wealth but so does many Qataris who are not from Al-Thani. They have so wisely chosen to share the wealth and blessings that their country holds and in doing so have become as inseparable as the sand that covers Qatar. On one occasion I have personally greeted their Amir and their prime minister once in the Four Seasons hotel as they were having lunch next to our table. He greeted me with his traditional big warm smile and welcomed me to Qatar along with my colleagues. You can hear many such stories of his warm friendly feelings from any Qatari should you ask.

When taking all those facts about Qatar and more that I have failed to mention you could clearly see an emerging country. Ready to stake its claim in the world scene, not just because of its mass wealth but rather that Qatar has adapted the form of a huge land cruiser; it can fit all the family and can ride through any hardship. I only wish that everyone can learn something from them.

The Keyboard Warriors

I have a daily ritual these days. I tend to log onto two forums whenever I can and read what people are posting. These two forums are bahrainforums.com and fajrbh.com, and they represent two opposite views of what is happening in Bahrain. Sometimes it’s very informative and sometimes it just makes me want to punch the screen of my laptop. I do talk about both of them, as I'm neither with this nor with that one. I try to be a neutral in a time when there is no such thing. In this post I would like to convey what I have noticed and observed from months of closely watching the cyber space battles take place for the hearts and minds of confused Bahrainis.

They say that the Egyptian revolution started out with a facebook event invitation or something like that, and it grew to cover the millions of accounts of Egyptians until. It wasn’t so far ago that we saw the first signs of using facebook and twitter to fuel a revolution as what had happened earlier in Iran. All of this brings to my memory the old song by the late Gil Scott-Heron "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". Of course the song's name should not fool you as it speaks about changing what is in your skull before you think of making your life better, but nevertheless even after more than 40 years since that song came along, and with so much technological advances in the field of communication we still can see that there is no such thing as a "fashionable revolution", and that a revolution that is not involving everyone is not a revolution at all. The use of social media is a must part in our daily life these days; I don’t think there are many here in Bahrain who do not have a facebook and/or twitter account. Ok now that we have settled that point we can safely go to the other more interesting one, which is how people have been fighting on those social media networks. I was blown out of the water reading some of the comments that people are so happy to write with their own fingers aiming at another human being. Sometimes I feel that the internet is a sort of a channel to let some steam off, but this is beyond steam, because if half of the comments on facebook and twitter were true then I would not be surprised to see fighting on every street in Bahrain. But funny enough it's a lot more quieter on the real world. When did people get so scared of saying what they have in their minds? Why do people lie so much on the internet? Why are people so violent on the internet? I do not expect a direct and clear answer to these questions, but they are nowadays considered to be facts of life. Do you know what is the major efforts people are doing on the internet to help heal this country? By "liking" and "disliking" a page on facebook, oh and they actually call these concentrated efforts "battles" where one side would celebrate all night long over closing a facebook page that belongs to the opposite side. "Reporting" someone's twitter account is another weapon in the glorious arsenal of those who are so brave to fight for their cause.

How hard is it to use the internet to a more noble cause. How stupid it is to research on the internet how to rebuild a shattered community. On the other hand God will reward you if you send a message to all your contacts urging them to report a page or twitter account and show the world that we are right and the other is always wrong or that there is no other in the first place. Arabs sure do know how to abuse technology.

One thing should be said about something I have noticed on my daily scanning of the internet is that this is an Apache  

 And this is an Apache

And we got neither here in Bahrain.