beggars with class

Saudi Arabia is fabulously rich as a country. In spite of that, or maybe because of that, you see a lot of beggars at street intersections and near the entrances of supermarkets or grocery stores. Islam discourages begging. But it encourages helping the poor, which is why begging is a profitable business here for foreigners. Foreign organised gangs bring in children from poorer countries and use them to collect alms. The gangsters appropriate a share of their earnings. But there are local beggars as well. According to one report of the Ministry of Social Affairs, 3459 beggars, all of them citizens of the Kingdom, were arrested recently. I could not ascertain the period during which the arrests were made. Most of those arrested were, not surprisingly, divorced or widowed women and physically disadvantaged, the section of society that is most vulnerable and helpless. One hopes the government would do more to provide opportunities and channel private donations (zakat etc.) to keep these people from begging and retain their honour and self-respect.

But there is another class of beggars that I am not sure if the Ministry of Social Welfare is aware of. They don't roam around in the sun or sit on the pavement. They drive around in their cars, sometimes quite expensive ones, accompanied by their family members, looking for prey. They speak a smattering of English and it seems their preys are foreigners who from their appearance seem to have cash to spare. I met one of those in front of the Jarir Bookstore at Khobar Corniche. He slowed down his big US-made car beside me and wanted to talk. At first I thought he would be asking for directions. But no, he was asking for money. He said he was returning from Bahrain to his native Qatif, and he somehow lost all his money and needed some dough to replenish his fuel tank and feed his son (who was seated beside him in the car). Hmm....

A few days later I was accosted by another Saudi guy, this time a muttawa-like, ostensibly religious, person with flowing beard and no black band over his headgear. I was in the parking lot of the HyperPanda at Rakah, approaching my car, and he was in a big SUV accompanied by his children and several abbaya-clad women, apparently his wife or wives and/or daughter(s). After some trivial pleasantries, he came to the point. He was travelling from the holy city of Mecca, and his vehicle broke down and he had to spend all his money in repairs. Now he needed some help to take his family back home or whatever. He lifted his hands heavenwards and promised to pray for me to the Almighty if I helped him in his distress. I offered him some money, against my instincts, and heard him reciting supplications as I turned back and walked towards my car.

photo credit: Omar Chatriwala, Al Jazeera English

day trip to bahrain

Khobar City in Saudi Arabia is connected to neighbouring Bahrain with a causeway over the shallow coastal waters of the Gulf. The 28 km long King Fahd Causeway connects two peoples who share a common language, religion, culture and customs. However, as soon as one drives out of one country and enters the other, the changes one notices are very strong.

This is what I felt when, a few weeks ago, we made our first trip to Bahrain. It was a day trip, we just visited a few malls, watched a couple of movies, dined in restaurants and came back satisfied and determined to make more trips in future.

The first change you notice as you enter the island dwarfed by neighbouring Saudi Arabia is the discipline on the road. Drivers on the roads of Bahrain are saner and less inspired by car-chase scenes from Hollywood movies. One can drive in Bahrain with a lot more peace of mind.

The second thing that is in stark contrast with Saudi is the greater freedom enjoyed by women. You can see women driving cars, working in shops and offices and moving about without veils or the long black dress called abaya. My wife shed her abaya as soon as we got out of our car, which unsettled our kids. They had become so accustomed to see women in black, it was unnerving for them to see mom without her wraps in a Gulf Arab setting.

Bahrain has a number of movie theatres (cineplexes), something that you won't find in Saudi. We had missed the pleasure of wathcing movies on the big screen for so long that we decided to watch not one but two movies--How to Train Your Dragon (in 3D) and Nanny McPhee. The younger members of the family thoroughly enjoyed both.

There is one more big difference between the larger and the smaller kingdoms, although it is of no significance to me :). Bahrain is not a dry country. There are bars and nightclubs where alcohol is available and consumed, many of the consumers allegedly being nationals of the neighbouring country.

rain drops keep falling on the eastern province

Last week we had light-to-moderate drizzles several times over three or four consecutive days. I guess this is an unusual time of the year for precipitation around here. But it was a welcome relief, especially for us from the wetter part of South Asia who are accustomed to, and appreciate, the beauty of dark, overcast skies and heavy showers. The drizzles here were even accompanied with flashes of lightning! The sound of rain drops and the smell of wet earth added to the sensuous quality of the downpour. I couldn't help being nostalgic. Back home, however, the weather wasn't that pleasant. There were reports in the local press of a cyclone (wrong, it was in fact a nor'wester) that wreaked havoc in West Bengal, India, and to a lesser extent in Bangladesh.

Photo Credit: Ian Britton, FreeFoto.com

access to the service of the prospects for DSL

I am used to bad English. I've been to many places in Asia, and seen samples of weird English everywhere. They can be confusing; sometimes they are funny, sometimes outrageously so. Some people have the hobby of collecting samples of funny English and have published books or created Websites based on real life Engrish.

Examples of bad English can be found in Saudi Arabia too, but perhaps they are not as numerous as in China or Japan, the Meccas for Engrish-hunters. English is certainly not a fashion statement here. The credit for the weirdest English that I have come across in the Kingdom goes to the Saudi ISP and Telecom giant STC. Their Website promises you "access to the service of the prospects for DSL", an offer that I have happily accepted. See more details in the screenshot below (click on the image to enlarge it).

jurassic night at scitech

There is a nice science museum at Khobar Corniche. Like most important landmarks in the Kingdom, it's named after a royal figure: Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Science and Technology Center (aka Scitech). The 35,000 square ft. facility is a nice, modern building housing an IMAX theatre and a number of galleries. Currently it's hosting an exhibition on dinosaurs, so I took the kids for a visit last evening. They were thrilled to see the big moving and roaring monsters and the replica of a T. Rex skeleton. The permanent exhibits were also interesting, most of them interactive with bilingual explanations and descriptions. My younger son, the more adventurous of the two, and I posed with a live snake, about a meter-and-a-half long, for a photograph. It's a nice place to spend an evening with the family. The gift shop and cafeteria were disappointing, though.

A bonus attraction last night was a street performance in front of the Museum by a Saudi dance troupe.

saudi hospitality

My mother-in-law is visiting us and a few weeks ago we went to Mecca and Medina with her to visit the holy sites and perform umrah. We went by bus through one of the many umrah tour operators. It's a lot cheaper by bus, and you can view the landscape during the daytime. The downside is it's very tiring if you're travellling from the Eastern province. The journey to Mecca takes about 10 hours from Dammam.

The spiritual association and splendour of the holy sites would move anybody emotionally. You feel like you are a part of the humanity surrounding you. The physical structures instils inspiration, but the openness and the brightness does not make you feel like you are entrapped in an enclosure. What was disturbing is the towering structures abutting and dwarfing the holy site in Mecca. I hear that one of them (under construction) is going to be the world's tallest hotel building.

On our way back, the bus developed some mechanical problem, and we were stranded at a wayside service station while a team of mechanics were trying to fix the problem. We were in the middle of nowhere and were worried about how long we might need to remain there before the bus could move again. Meanwhile, I noticed a rustic-looking Saudi, who had driven in to refuel his battered, ancient station wagon, was talking to one of the passengers or our bus. The way they were talking and shaking hands seemed to me like they had known each other for ages. Though I am sure that cannot be true. About half an hour later, the Saudi reappeared with his car and parked right beside our bus. Then he handed over a bag of dates to one of the pilgrims standing near his car and asked him to distribute them among all the passengers. We thanked him profusely. I took one of the dates, which was, in significance if not in taste, one of the best dates that I ever had in my life.

After four hours or frantic efforts by the mechanics, we were back on the road and the driver rushed us to Dammam to reach there almost in time. Unfortunately, he received a speeding ticket on the way.

Photo credit: Mumineen.org

don't lose your stc sim card!

I had posted my experience with obtaining an STC sim card, which was bad enough, but, apparently the experience of losing one and trying to replace it is even worse. Our expatguru relates his harrowing experience.

prejudice in saudi arabia?

I have been asked by a reader if the tribulations I have faced in various government and commercial officials have anything to do with my being a South Asian. In other words, whether they were manifestations of the alleged prejudice Saudis hold against Asians.

This is a bit difficult to tell, because it is always hard to guess what's happening in a person's mind. Unless someone acts in a blatantly prejudiced manner, or utters something explicit to that effect, I would prefer to give him or her the benefit of doubt. In the incidents that I have mentioned in my blog, I guess only the bank clerk who refused to entertain my application for opening an account may have acted in a prejudiced manner. May be, because I am from Bangladesh, he was worried that he was dealling with an imposter with doctored documents.

Otherswise, I think my problems have more to do with ignorance of the system, lack of wasta and inability to communicate in Arabic.

I have mentioned in an entry about the maltreatment and indignities Bangladeshi workers endure in Saudi Arabia. The same can be said about other South Asian workers here and in other Gulf countries. But this has more to do with what they do than where they are from. Menial workers in South Asia often receive the same kind of treatment from the more affluent sections of their society. Nonetheless, this is prejudice, no doubt.

Saudis come in all sorts of facial features and complexions. This is probably because, in the past, people from different parts of the world came to this region and became assimilated into its society. Slaves were brought in from Africa and Europe. Muslim from East, South and Central Asia had arrived on pilgramage and never went back. They all became part of Saudi society. Islam is an egalitarian religion that strictly forbids discrimination based on class or race. I'm sure there is prejudice (and racism) in Saudi society, but my guess is it is relatively rarer than, or on par with that in many other societies. This my guess only, I have to admit that my knowldege of Saudi society is too poor to form an informed opinion in this regard.

kind-hearted bangladeshis

Saudi Arabia is probably home to the largest number of non-emmigrant Bangladeshis outside Bangladesh. It is estimated that close to 2 million Bangladeshis reside in this country. The vast majority of them work in the lowest rungs of job hierarchy. Cleaners, sweepers, construction workers and so on. Many of them have spent a lot of money to come here, only to find that the pay promised is not what is actually paid. There are Bangladeshi workers who earn 300-400 rials a month, which is not enough for their own survival, let alone feed their families back home. Consequently, they have to resort to moonlighting, doing odd jobs. Some work at homes cleaning, cooking, washing cars etc. This is not legally allowed, so there are arrests every now and then.

They face a lot of indignities in their life. As menial workers they are often abused verbally and discriminated against. However, my family and I have often been touched and moved by their kindness and generosity. There is one petrol pump attendant who would always buy a bagful of snacks and drinks for my children whenever I go to fill my tank. There was another supermarket worker, whose job was to stuff shopping bags with the items bought by the customer, who would do the same. Saying no to them is futile. The alternative is to avoid the places when they are on duty. At one intersection, while waiting for the signal to turn green, my wife asked for a rose from a street hawker selling flowers. She asked about its price, in Bengali, and realising that we were from Bangladesh, the guy left saying we didn't need to pay. There are many other examples that I can cite. The kindness shown by these people motivates us to reciprocate the favours.

Photo credit:Construction Week Online

no more deshi doctors

The Saudi Gazette recently reported that the Ministry of Health will no longer recruit doctors from Bangladesh, citing low qualifications and poor training as the reasons. I am not sure if it is true, but I have heard that the pay of Bangladeshi doctors had been lowered some time in the past. If that is true, I am not surprised about the dearth of good doctors willing to come to Saudi. It may sound surprising, but good doctors in Bangladesh (thousands of them) earn much, much more than their compatriots do in the Kingdom. So why should they forsake the comfort of living in their own country if there is no lure of lucre?

Photo credit: WPClipart.com

one year completed

Today marks the first anniversary of my coming to Saudi Arabia, although, within this period, I have actually spent a little less than 10 months here. It seems like I came here just the other day. Time passes really fast. I am deeply indebted to all those who have, in many different ways, helped me to adapt to the new environment. They include my friends, colleagues, family, service providers and netizens who I've never met face-to-face. Thank you all.

Coincidentally, today is also my birthday.

Photo credit:FreeFoto.com

tal bukra

I was warned by a Pakistani colleague, several months into my sojourn in Saudi Arabia, that I'd frequently hear the phrase 'tal bukra.' It means, come tomorrow. I remember two lines from a verse I had read decades ago, "Put up in a place where it's easy to see, the cryptic admonishment TTT." TTT, the next couple of lines explained, stands for 'things take time.' The admonishment is more relevant here than in most other places. I have already related my experience regarding opening a bank account. More recently I had a similar experience with an even simpler task--buying a mobile phone SIM.

I went to a small STC (Saudi Telecom) outlet to buy a SIM. The shop was manned by only two persons, who didn't seem to have much work at hand, since apart from myself, there were no other customers. I expressed my intention to buy a SIM, and one of the guys told me to bring a photocopy of my residence permit. I was not prepared for this; on the two occasions that I had bought SIMs from a different company, the shop attendants themselves made copies of my residence permit. I pointed to the scanner/copier in the shop, but was told that it was out of order. So I went out to find a copy shop, but when I spotted one, the call for prayer rang out from the mosque loudspeaker. I decided to come back the next day.

The following day, a Thursday, I went back to the same shop only to be told to come back on Saturday. No explanation was given, but I guess since government offices are closed on Thursdays, STC outlets, like the banks, may offer only limited services on that day. I came back on Saturday, but they had run out of SIMS. "Tal bukra," they said. The next evening found me back at the same shop, and yes, this time they could issue me a SIM. "But you cannot use it today," I was told, "you have to activate it tomorrow." Well, at least I won't have to make the trip to the shop again!

The slow pace of things can get on your nerves. But getting agitated won't help you move any faster. And one has to admit, the laid back attitude and easy-going pace is a definite attraction of living in Saudi Arabia.

consumption of white cloth

Arab News recently carried an essay translated from the local press. The writer, Ali Al-Mosa reports, "Saudis top the entire world in the consumtion of tea and coffee. They also top the world in the consumption of Viagra, spending about SR 150 million on it annually."

It appears, though it is not clearly stated, that the top rank secured by the Saudis is in terms of total, not per capita, consumption. That is really hard to believe. With only some 25 million people, including expatriates, try to imagine how much tea or coffee each Saudi would have to consume to beat, say, the 1.3 billion Chinese. With a large majority of the population under the age of 30 and with so little opportunities/inclination to be promiscuous, it is hard to understand why Saudi men would have such a need for Viagra pills.

But then the title of the story was 'Unreliable consumer statistics', and the 'facts' were cited to drive home the point that consumer statistics published in the local press need to be taken with a grain of salt.

However, if the press reports that the Saudis top the world in consumption of white cloth, I, for one, would be inclined to believe it. Except for the very brief period of the year that can be termed winter, Saudi men are always clad in ankle-length white robes, with white undergarments underneath, and around may be half of them sport a headgear made of a large white scarf-life piece of cloth (the rest wear a red-and-white pattern).

Photo credit: Hassan Ammar/AP

visit visa for family

I wanted to issue a visit visa to bring in my mother-in-law for a short trip. The process to do so, like so many other things here, is shrouded in mystery, at least for an expatriate like me with no connections and no knowledge of Arabic. I tried to learn about it from other people's blogs and experiences. Each had his own version of the process, in particular in relation to the documents that I would need to submit. I decided to believe all of them in order to minimise the risk of my application being turned down, so I went to the relevant government office carrying a big stack of papers including copies of my residence permit, my passport, my wife's passport, my mother-in-law's passport, my educational certificates, my marriage certificate, a letter from my employer etc. I had filled a form on the Internet and was given a number for future reference. When I handed my papers at the designated window, they gave me back everything except for the letter from my employer and the copies of my passport and residence permit.

I was advised to check their Website after 10 days to see if the visa advice is issued. Others waiting in the lounge told me that the process actually takes much less time, typically not more than 3 days. In my case, however, it took almost a month. But better late than never.

back to the kingdom

I returned to the Kingdom yesterday after a two-month long vacation. The flight from home, which was delayed by four hours, took around six hours. The wait at the passport control took about two hours. Some families spent more than four hours there. There were only 2-3 officers working at a time for hundreds of arriving passengers waiting in horrendously long queues. I am tired, but I'll have to spend a good part of the next few days cleaning up our flat. Belated Eid greetings to all!

more thoughts on traffic

I'd been away from blogging for sometime mainly because I was away from the Kingdom. For some time, I was in Thailand. I'd been there on many occasions in the past, but this was my first time since arriving in Saudi Arabia. This made me appreciate the driving habits of Thais more deeply. They are courteous to each other, and to pedestrians. They stop at zebra-crossings to let pedestrians pass. Honking of horns is a rarity.

The public transport system is also very good in Bangkok. There is an extensive network of bus routes. You can find taxis anywhere, and in the central part of the city you can use BTS (SkyTrain) or MRT. There are also boats carrying passengers along the canals, and limited train services. They are testing a newly installed train line from the city centre to the new airport.

In spite of this, there are lots of cars on the roads and traffic jams are increasing, though they are nowhere near the levels seen here decades ago. The infrastructure for surface transport--the multiple levels of elevated roadways, the overpasses, multi-storied car parks, etc.--have created a very unpleasant (visually) urban landscape. It shows that cars should ideally have a very minor role in plans for urban transportation, particularly in big cities.

thoughts on traffic

Expatriates always complain about the traffic in Saudi Arabia. It's not the congestion that irks people, although that can be a pain in the neck on certain streets at certain times. There are no dearth of cars on the street. You can buy cars on installment and petrol is dirt-cheap. But what irritates most people is rash driving. Many drivers leave their common sense when they enter their cars and flout traffic rules with impunity. It may be a bit scary driving in such a milieu. Especially when you see mangled wreckage of cars surrounded by police vehicles and ambulances every now and then.

Apart from that, however, driving is a pleasant experience when seen from a South Asian perspective. Here you have to mind other cars only. Back home you would be required to watch out for pedestrians, especially those who suddenly decide to cross the street in a great hurry. Some of the pedestrians would be four-footed. Some of the vehicles are slow human-powered ones. All of them would be competing for space on the narrow roads bursting with traffic. In this chaotic mess, drivers would be honking their horns constantly. It's enough to drive you crazy.

Coming back to the scene here, I think the congestion would worsen considerably when women are evetually allowed to drive (I believe the ban would be lifted sooner or later). The number of vehicles would double almost immediately. Parking cars would become impossible in the core areas of cities.

Public transport and a network of pedestrian paths with a high sensuous quality must be given serious consideration.

Photo credit: mliss

how many days do you need to open a bank account?

It varies from bank to bank or from case to case depending on I don't know what.

When I arrived here and received my residence permit, one of the first things I had to do was open a salary bank account. There is small branch of a bank near our administrative building. I went there and met the manager. He was very courteous and helpful. He gave me a list of the documents I needed to bring (letter from my employer, copies of my passport and residence permit and original residence permit). The next day when I brought the required documents, he filled out my application form and the account was created within minutes. He said my ATM card would reach my mailbox in a week. Two weeks later I still hadn't received my card. I was planning to see the manager when I received a call from the bank with a request to see them. At the bank I met the manager (a new one, the earlier one was apparently transferred). He handed me the ATM card saying that no one recognized me at the address where the card was mailed to. The helpful manager had given the wrong address in my application form (and I heard from colleagues that it was not the first such case), so I gave them the appropriate address to rectify my records.

Unfortunately, an account in this bank is useless when it comes to paying sundry government fees (eg., visa fees, driving license fee etc.). Every time I need to pay a fee to the government , I have to request a friend holding an account in either of the two banks from which such payments can be made. So I thought it would be convenient to have an account in one of the two banks.

First, I tried to do so at the bank that I heard is government owned. The guy who received my papers took a long look at my residence permit and asked me who had written my name on it. It was a strange question and I replied that there was no way I could know who at the government immigration office was responsible for writing my name in the permit. He left his desk and talked to a senior colleague. He came back to inform me that I needed to get a seal from the immigration office next to my name. I was not amused. I had used the same document to open my first bank account and couldn't understand why I couldn't do so again. I said goodbye and decided to go to the other bank.

The first day there I was told that their system was down, so I had to come back later. I went there again the next day. The person responsible for opening new accounts asked me whether I had opened an account on the Internet. I said I didn't know something like that was required. So I came back and opened an account through the Internet, and took the number generated to the bank on the following day (day 3). This time the guy told me that they had a new system installed and he was still not familiar with it enough to process my application. He advised me to come back after one day. So I went back two days later. This time he opened my account without any further ado. When I asked about my ATM card, he said it was already prayer time so I had to come back half an hour later. I left the place and came back the following day, which was a Thursday, to find that only limited services were available and obtaining an ATM card was not one of them. I needed the card, without which I cannot transfer money to government accounts. So I visited the bank again on Saturday. I was informed that that particular branch had run out of ATM cards but I could get a card from any other branch of the bank. The next day (day 7) I located a different branch of the bank and finally succeeded in getting the coveted card after nearly two hours (including the noon prayer time). Whew!!

Photo credit:Bongani/stock.xchng

cold is hot, hot is cold

When I arrived in the Kingdom, it was winter and the weather was pleasant. It wasn't too cold, a light jacket was enough to keep you comfortable outside in the evenings. But the water in the bathroom or kitchen was a different matter. Fortunately, there are 'geysers' installed in those places, so I can get running hot water.

Now it is summer, and the sun outside is scorching. The wind blowing in your face seems like a blast from the furnace. And the water from the fawcett is scalding. We can't take a shower during the day, even washing hands requires a get deal of mental strength.

The other day I was relating this problem to some friends, and one of them, an old Saudi hand, gave a simple tip that solved the problem without the need to spend a single halala. This is what he had suggested: turn off the geysers; since the geysers are inside the building, the water in the storage tanks will become cool if the power line is disconnected. Now if you use the cold water tap, you will get hot water from the overhead tank, but use the hot water tap, and you will get colder water from the geyser tank.

That was a nifty solution to what seemed to be an intractable or expensive-to-solve problem. I wish all problems here had such easy solutions.

Photo credit: stock.xchng

party saudi style (almost)

Last night I attended a party hosted by a young Saudi colleague to celebrate his engagement. There were about five dozen guests, mostly colleagues and friends of our host. There was no seggregated space for women because there were no women; it was an all male affair.

The event took place in a rented hall that was designed to resemble a castle, with high boundary walls complete with battlements. There was no moat, but a footpath along the frontage, and a moderate ramp from the gate to the road vaguely resembled a drawbridge.

Inside the gate was a nice green lawn. Our host and his family (well, half his family) were waiting there to greet guests. The intricate rules of Saudi style greetings are still a mystery to me. You just shake hands and say 'Assalamu alaikum' (peace be upon you) or 'Keifa Halak' (how do you do?) if you meet somebody you are not very familiar or intimate with. But in other cases you either kiss each others cheeks with loud smacking noises, or bump each other's cheeks several times in quick succession. What I still don't understand is how they decide whether to kiss or bump cheeks. And how many times.

My host kissed me several times, but I remained silent. When they kiss, they don't really seem to place the lips on your cheek, but make the noise of kissing from a slight distance.

Another very tall colleague stooped low to bring his cheek next to mine on my 5'-5" frame. After three bumps I thought that was enough and was moving apart, but he firmly drew me closer for a fourth and final bump.

I noticed that some students kissed their teachers on the forhead or on the top of their heads.

We (I went there with two other expatriate colleagues) were led into a long, rectangular hall room with sofas arranged along the walls. Guests who had arrived before us were sitting there and we went around shaking hands with each of them. After we took our seats, we were served with endless rounds of sweets and gawa, a very refreshing type of Arab coffee served in tiny little cups.

More guests continued to pour in and every few minutes we had to rise and shake hands with the new guests. Good exercise to whip up the appetite before dinner. About an hour and a half later we were herded to the lawn where dinner was served. I was expecting, rather hoping, a Saudi style dinner, where we would sit on the floor aound large platters of food, from which all of us would be eating with our hands.

Instead, the arrangemetn was for a western style buffet dinner. The food was eclectic, with Lebanese bread, Chinese spring rolls, Indian samosas, italilan style lasagna, several types of salads, hamur, chicken, vegetables and a platter of rice topped with a cooked lamb.

Our host and his father came to see how we were doing during our meal, just as we would do in our country. They thanked us for attending the party, which was of course our pleasure.

After the hearty meal, including desserts and a cup of tea, we took leave from the hosts and headed back home.