In My Opinion

 Vol XXVIII

By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

Bahrain is once again making the headlines for hosting the biggest event in racing history - and it is the number one race on the Grand Prix calendar.

While thousands of people are working behind the scenes to make the event a success, a smaller number of locals are openly rallying support for a demonstration to coincide with the race - to call for banning the newly drafted Family Law, which seems to be getting closer to reality by the day.

What is it they are calling for exactly? A race against time and a trip back to the dark ages?

Have we gone totally mad in Bahrain or it is just me getting negative vibes from everything happening back home?

What are the turbaned clerics against exactly? A written codified personal law which guarantees the rights, responsibilities and duties of every member of the family?

Or the fact that the carpet will be swept from under their feet and they will lose the unchallenged control they have over people's life and destinies?

The fact that we are in the year 2006 and there isn't a written law to safeguard family rights is a joke, especially when legislators are busy calling for covering up mannequins and segregating institutes of higher education.

They could have better used their time and our public funds on discussing more worthwhile issues.

Why is a family law such a threat to the clergy and men in general? What are the side effects they are so worried about? How will it upset the family unit in Bahrain?

What will outlining what the duties and rights of the husband, wife and children in line with Islamic Sharia upset the clergymen so much?

And what baffles me is why have so many women gone out on the streets to demonstrate against a law which will finally give them recognition as wives and mothers - and some standing in a court of law, which will have a written code of conduct and not depend entirely on the whims of one man?

Sigh! The future looks bleak indeed if we have reached crossroads where our people are actually rallying behind oppressing women and not giving mothers and children their legal rights, as ordained by the Holy Quran and Islamic Sharia.

*Amira Al Hussaini now lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

By Amira Al Hussaini

It is great to see common sense prevailing at last and the Doulos being allowed to sell books!

But I still cannot bring myself to understand the rationale behind the decision to allow the world's largest floating bookshop to dock at Mina Salman, but ban it from selling its books!

It was like chopping someone's hand off and giving him a pen!

What have we got against the written word? Wasn't it the Holy Quran that ordered the believers to read? Wasn't it Prophet Mohammed who instructed his people to seek knowledge?

Why was the Doulos allowed to call on us, if we were to snub it and show the rest of the world our fangs and our "great sensitivity" towards books as if they were the plague?

Why were people who read in Bahrain herded like horses to water, but denied to drink from it? It's not like we are spoilt for choice when it comes to books in Bahrain so that the floating bookshop posed a threat to local businesses.

The sad fact is that if anything, we need more cultural activities and books to encourage people to learn, expand their horizons and fight intolerance and backwardness.

Revising the decision will not eradicate it overnight, but is a step in the right direction.

A quick search on the web exposes a sad reality, not only in Bahrain, but in the rest of the Arab world.

According to the 2002 Arab Human Development Report, Arab countries produced 6,500 books compared to 102,000 in North America and 42,000 in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Citing Unesco figures, the report says that book production in Arab countries is only 1.1 per cent of world production, although Arabs make up 5pc of the world's population.

To add insult to injury, Arabs produced no more than 1,945 literary and artistic books, making up 0.8pc of international production.

This is less than a country such as Turkey produces - with a population about a quarter of that of Arab countries, according to the report.

What a shame!

I will never forget how, after every holiday abroad, my bags were searched at Bahrain International Airport - not because they contained contraband items, but because they were full of books that made custom officers jump up and down with excitement!

The fact that the books were in English and contained very little graphics made them ponder on them longer than they would with other items, until I intervened and told them they were for my studies.

And I wasn't lying, for it was from books that I have learned more than I have at school, university and my working experience - all put together.

*Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

For the 40,000 families on waiting lists for government housing, there can't possibly be better news than the BD100 monthly windfall promised by the Premier.

While the amount will go a long way towards helping them meet increasing rent and possibly even afford better accommodation, I can't bring myself to imagine the costs the government would have to shoulder to meet this gesture, considering housing projects are coming up at snail's pace and the waiting lists and periods are, if anything, just increasing.

But it is a gesture, which once again reinforces the government's commitment to ensuring a decent dwelling for every Bahraini family, as stipulated in the Constitution.

Because of a lack of lands, haphazard planning, poverty, unemployment and the sad reality that there are so many dilapidated homes - which I will not bring myself to call slums - in many areas of Bahrain, it brings hope to many impoverished families which would otherwise have to continue stomaching appalling living conditions.

It is a remedial measure, which will at least help many families make ends meet and move to better accommodation.

It will be particularly helpful for the swarming families, who live like sardines in one room in an ancient family house that is too shocking, but accepted as reality in many villages and even towns in Bahrain.

BD100 a month will help them rent another shanty dwelling, which they will finally be able to call home, as they continue to wait for their promised home.

I really wouldn't want to be in the shoes of housing officials in Bahrain, for the issue is really a sticky one.

Most lands are privately owned, land prices are escalating at breakneck speed, the harsh arid desert climate is taking its toll on existing homes faster than government homes are actually being built and people are getting more and more frustrated with the long wait for a refuge, which will elevate their status from sardines to people who can at last aspire to dream of a better tomorrow.

For all the pessimists out there, who think that this gesture is another cosmetic fixture to appease the disgruntled, I say that something is surely better than nothing.

It is a laudable move that will enable the poor to breathe a sigh of relief at last.

My only hope is that the government itself deals with paying the deserving citizens their housing allowances in a transparent and systematic manner as soon as possible and not leave it to parliament or the municipal councils to fight over.

*Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

I am so annoyed and disgusted at the sheer ignorance of some parents, who would rather see their children die than allow medical intervention to save their lives.

I couldn't believe my eyes yesterday when I read the GDN's report of the Sitra parents who refused to let doctors operate on their five-year-old despite being diagnosed with appendicitis.

Doctors had to snatch her away from her parents and operate on her without her loving parents' approval, five days after she was first diagnosed and her parents refused to allow the doctors to do their work.

Had this happened in the West, there would have been a major outcry.

The police, social services, child rights groups and every Tom, Dick and Harry would be up in arms, calling for the rescue of this poor child.

But our civil organisations seem to be a tad too busy waging war against Denmark than looking into more pressing issues at home.

I really can't understand what was going on in her parent's head, but their excuse that operations were conducted unnecessarily is so lame, adding insult to injury.

This is a government hospital. Doctors don't get paid per patient. Doctors don't even get paid proper doctor wages, compared to other doctors in the region.

It is also a central hospital, where doctors don't perform surgeries as a recreational activity.

Had it been a private hospital, I would have been more sympathetic towards the parents.

But turning down free surgery that would have left a scar and meant immediate relief to a child in pain? This is really unbelievable.

I just feel like screaming. People like this baffle me and being of a poor background and from a village is no excuse.

A parent is a parent is a parent. How did they bear their daughter's screams and pain for so long without doing the right thing?

Why did they return to the same hospital again, if they knew deep in their heartless hearts that the operation was unnecessary?

How could they have sat back seeing their child in agony for so long, before budging and coming down from their lofty towers and seeking help from the same hospital they refused treatment at earlier? Why didn't they seek a second opinion?

And how do they feel now that their daughter, a young innocent child who had no say on what had fallen upon her, is lying in a critical condition in intensive care at Salmaniya Medical Complex.

Some people would do just anything to get children of their own, while to others it obviously means nothing to lose a child.

Or is it because she is just a girl? Had she been a boy, would the attitude of her parents been any different? Just wondering.

*Amira Al Hussaini now lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

It is no wonder that advertisers are shunning Bahrain satellite television and Channel 38, whenever Shura and parliament sessions are being broadcast.

Even though I haven't conducted any research, I am sure they are right in anticipating a low target audience.

Personally, I have never seen anyone rush home, the way they do here when yet another season of American Idol or Survivor starts, to tune into the latest discussions at Shura or parliament.

I can't help but laugh when I hear that MPs have actually spent their precious time drafting a request to have their sessions broadcast in full, which is customary in many countries around the world, where parliaments really debate and reflect society's woes, concerns, needs and worries.

Even then, the average Joe isn't very keen to know what legislators are going on about, but Bahrain's unique experience and the quality of some of our representatives could draw attention and make a few jaws drop and tickle some, should the MPs manage to make their long-cherished dream come true.

Having covered the sessions for years, I understand the concern of advertisers.

Even journalists were caught dozing off and trying hard to suppress their yawns, as one honourable member after the other repeated the same argument, using more or less the same words.

My biggest concern after covering each session was facing the music from the deputy editor, who would cross-examine me as if I had control over what they discussed and not.

"Is this all they had to say ?" he would ask.

"Yes," I would reply, not knowing what else to say to hide my complete disappointment and even embarrassment at the level of some of the discussions.

"Didn't anyone stand up and challenge this?" he would continue.

"No. Not really," I would tell him, fully understanding his exasperation at the childish amateurish exchanges we had to sometimes report.

I used to envy television reporters covering the sessions, because they just had to broadcast what they filmed and not try to decode some of the encrypted messages uttered by the members.

Giving television audiences 90 minutes of sessions, which sometimes exceeded five hours, is enough punishment I suppose, especially when many members echo each other and rarely come up with something new, outrageous or even ridiculous to say.

When this does happen, television officials censor it, protecting the public from some of the fun we journalists used to experience first hand.

A better programme, which would guarantee a full house, would be a two-hour show summing up four years of squabbles, fights and heated exchanges between the members, as well as all the juicy scenes censored by Bahrain Television! It could even be dubbed "Bahrain's Funniest Home Movie."

By Amira Al Hussaini

It really is appalling to see what I presumed to be mature professionals resorting to name-calling in their bid to solve a gigantic problem, which touches the lives of the most vulnerable people when they are in genuine need of help.

People, at least most people, only go to the Salmaniya Medical Complex's Accident and Emergency Department, when they are in dire need of professional help.

The last thing they want to think about is whether the doctor is more concerned with their medical condition or with internal politics on the ward.

To think that doctors of all people are squabbling in the open and resorting to name-calling and tarnishing their reputations in public is sickening.

I am all for letting people know about all that concerns them, but to shake their trust in the medical system and the men and women who have dedicated their lives and energy to taking care of them, is really uncalled for.

I also don't understand why the Health Ministry did not intervene earlier and try and solve the issue before it escalated to this level, especially that it has been bubbling for a few months.

Personally, I turned down the opportunity to study medicine because I really didn't think I had the dedication and selflessness to be part of this noble profession.

I guess I was wrong in giving low grades to my character, as time and time again doctors are showing us that they aren't infallible and that they too can attack below the belt, with or without reason.

What is all this talk about some emergency doctors allegedly "bringing Arab women to the ward at night"?

This certainly is a far cry from the days when a doctor refused to treat my sister about three years ago, when a wok full of oil tipped on her, giving her second and third degree burns all over her thighs and legs.

I immediately rushed her to the SMC's emergency, where a bearded male doctor reluctantly glanced at the injury and sent her to the dressing room for further treatment.

He didn't even take a second look at the scalded thighs, which made me mad, especially when the wounds got infected the next day and another doctor said that she should have been hospitalised there and then for a skin graft operation.

My sister still carries the gruesome marks on her thighs, a daily reminder of how a modest doctor could damage a girl's self-esteem.

Now parliament is debating whether to discuss the issue of the squabbling doctors at SMC or not.

Oh please!

Let the doctors solve their own problems and get back to doing their jobs.

Parliament too has a full agenda and issues to discuss, as their days are numbered.

l Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

How long will we just sit back and read stories about housemaids being abused in Bahrain? I realise that the Migrant Workers Protection Society is doing all it can, after the plight of runaway housemaids comes to their attention and the damage is done, but not before and I am in no position to blame them for that.

They are doing a great job, something which is much needed if Bahrain wants to live up to its reputation as a safe haven for migrant workers, who have left their families and lives back home to look for a better future overseas.

Like everything else in Bahrain, whatever happens behind closed doors is a shameful secret and homes are a protected sanctuary, which they should be.

But householders are responsible for all that happens under their roof and such abuse should not be tolerated. The perpetrators should be punished.

Bringing in someone from a Third World country to slave all day for BD40 is ridiculous by all standards.

While in Bahrain, I have come across horror stories of families forcing their maids to sleep on kitchen floors, of couples who lock their fridges and of sick people who actually have so much time to spare and hearts full of spite and hate, that they actually count the tea bags and cans of tinned food in their cupboards.

Having a housemaid is really a widespread phenomena only in our part of the world and is considered a luxury beyond many elsewhere, including here in Canada.

People here frown at me when I shamefully have to admit to them that I have never had to wash dishes, clean my room or do laundry in my life, because we had what amounted to a live-in slave.

When I tell them about the virtually free domestic help we get at home, they are appalled.

You should see the expression on their faces to realise the parasitical existence we indulge in day in, day out.

Even doctors and professors here have housework to do when they return home, something I was ashamed to do when I first came here.

I actually contemplated for a while whether I should seek some domestic help to clean, sweep, dust, wash, cook and wipe my dirt for me.

What put things in place was that everything here has a price tag. If I wanted domestic help, I would have to pay through the nose and give up that Louis Vuitton bag and much more.

I don't know whether the Canadian model is applicable in Bahrain but the plight of housemaids could disappear overnight if their work and services were dignified and they were paid proper wages for their effort.

After all, how much respect do we have for BD40 ?

*Amira Al Hussaini currently lives with her husband in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

Hurray! With 10 months to go for the parliamentary elections, a woman has already voiced her plans to run the race - against an Islamic fundamentalist, that is. As much as I adore the courage shown by women's rights activist Mariam Al Rowaie, the last election has proved to us without doubt that bearded men fared better than those who prefer a clean shave.

And women? Well, out of the eight women candidates, not all are blessed with facial hair and not a single one won a seat, making me wonder whether we as a Bahraini nation are more prejudiced towards body hair.

While the constitution gives men and women equal political rights, society has seriously undermined the democratic reforms by unilaterally deciding that only men get the votes and the right to join the legislative branch of governance.

It has automatically alienated half of society, leaving issues of concern to women and families away from the debating floor.

Yes, some people may argue that women have made some hard-won gains, thanks to the direct intervention of parliament.

We now have veiled women driving cars on our roads and this was only possible because the issue was raised and rubber-stamped by the 40-man strong parliament.

Too bad, women cannot go to women-only classes at Bahrain University, female patients cannot be seen by women doctors only and girls cannot shop in women-only malls.

But there is always hope that these issues can still be debated and approved by parliament, if hardliners get their way again and the silent majority continues in its hibernation.

If you want a blunt opinion, the truth is that parliament does not reflect society and doesn't give outsiders or even Bahrainis for that matter a true picture of the real Bahrain.

But the fact also remains that it is our own doing. Not enough women stood for the last elections for many reasons - the very same reasons why some competent men shied away from ridiculing themselves and standing for an election they knew before hand they would not win.

If you are a believer in the theory of probability, then you know as much as I do, that if enough women join the race, there are likely to be some who will make it to the finish line. Let's see how many women play their cards right this year.

By Amira Al Hussaini

Doctors say that the only way to fight cancer is by early diagnosis. While they cannot guarantee a 100 per cent success rate in the treatment of all cases, the fact remains that patients whose illness is detected early fare better than those who have unknowingly suffered the disease until it was way too late.

Having said this, confronting cancer takes a lot of dedication, a strong will and an optimism to face an unknown tomorrow - whatever challenges it may bring.

It also takes the skills of a dedicated medical team, whose members know exactly what they are doing and the size, scope and implications of the vicious disease at hand.

In Bahrain, sectarianism, prejudice and discrimination are what are gnawing at our flesh, sapping dry our resources and tearing our nation apart.

Calls for a one-family spirit have proven to be a short-term balm for a cancer which is spreading by the day and which may prove terminal to the dream of a true democracy, adherence to human rights and a decent quality of life for all citizens and residents alike.

Fingers point out to one culprit when it comes to all the vices and problems at home and that is discrimination.

Every individual sees any concern or issue from his own perspective and is not ready to see the picture as a whole or to reach a compromise.

Every faction feels it is being wronged.

We seem to be at loggerheads and the future and reputation of Bahrain are far too dear to squander because of the egos and vanity of some.

When I was growing up, I had no clue what my sect was. All I knew was that I was Muslim, Arab and Bahraini - in no particular order.

My ethnic and religious background made no difference to me then, as it doesn't matter much to me today.

But society does not and never will judge me on who I am, but on who my parents are and on which part of the spectrum of ethnicities and religious ideologies they belong to.

I grew up in a truly cosmopolitan society. At school, we had Shias and Sunnis, Catholics and Protestants, Hindus, Buddhists and Jews, amongst others.

In my Utopia, we were all equal. It didn't matter what our colours or tongues were. We were all students with one goal - to get the out of school as fast and out into the world.

To be realistic, I could say the same about society at large, where people of different backgrounds are supposed to work together and co-exist peacefully.

The only difference is that real life is nothing like school. Maybe it is time they started mirroring each other.

Isn't it time to identify common goals and work towards achieving them?

By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

What a way to usher in the New Year. For one Bahraini family, the year 2005 has been blackened forever in their memories.

I don't know the full story, but what I know from newspaper reports is that a 16-year-old boy was handed over to the police by his own father for raping his 13-year-old brother and sister, 14, on the same day.

According to sources, it is one of the worst incest-rape cases police have ever had to deal with.

And it should be, for the very son who was entrusted with caring for his siblings, while his parents were outside the house, turned out to be the person who should have been least trusted - yet another one of life's shocking ironies.

I don't know what was going on in this young man's head, but to brutally attack his younger brother and sister and rob them of their innocence and shock an entire society in the process, is something I cannot comprehend.

What gave this 16-year-old monster the right to ruin the lives of both his brother and sister and bring shame and heartbreak to his parents and society?

Did he think his siblings would stomach the pain and humiliation?

Did he think his parents would cover up his criminal act?

Did he really believe his gruesome act would go undetected and unpunished?

Who is to blame for such a tragedy?

Should we blame it on his upbringing, or point the finger at society?

Do we blame our clergymen, who have become too involved in politics and have put the serious job of shaping the characters of youngsters on the back burner? Should we blame an education system which has failed to teach young people - especially boys - the simple principle of respect?

I am so disgusted by this sheer act of violence against everything all the decent people out there hold dear, that they are working hard day in, day out for - a dignified and better tomorrow for each and every Bahraini.

I am extremely annoyed that this act has come to shame our society at such a critical time, at the end of an already bumpy year.

Even the pessimist in me did not expect it to plummet to this level. Even I was looking forward to a fresh start for the year ahead. I hope this menace, though he may be only 16, rots in jail for a long time to come.

By Amira Al Hussaini

Can someone, anyone, explain to me why plans for a shelter for battered women are still on the shelf when mothers, wives and daughters are still being abused by husbands and fathers, even as I write?

I don't buy the excuse from the Social Development Ministry - which is headed by a woman minister - that a permit is being denied because the group (Al Sharaka Amnesty International) which has applied for it is not registered with the ministry.

I think there are more sinister forces out there who do not want to see women given a choice, a safe haven to turn to when life becomes too miserable to bear and the walls of a horror house they are forced to live within become too suffocating.

In our society, a woman has no other place than her father's or her husband's house - or her grave.

Any woman living outside the parental or marital home is seen as a source of shame and an object of suspicion.

Women are continuously monitored, least they decide to take charge of their own affairs and bend some already twisted rules.

It is sad that in a country which has gone a long way to give women equal rights, including free access to education and the right to vote or stand in parliamentary or municipal elections, women still lack so much when it comes to protection from domestic abuse within their own homes.

It is the norm for families and friends not to get involved in family disputes, even when they turn violent - even when bones are broken and spirits are crushed.

With family and friends turning away and refusing to interfere, the problem is compounded by the lack of a written family law and penalties to punish those involved in domestic abuse, though parliament has at last taken up the cause.

Even doctors say they can't do much when women are admitted to hospital with broken bones and bruises, when the women themselves are too afraid to press charges because they know it won't get them anywhere and may bring them more trouble when they go back to the hell called home.

What is better, a temporary shelter for abused women, which gives them a chance to clear their heads and seek a permanent solution to their suffering away from threats, or continued abuse simply because they have nowhere to turn for protection?

The choice is simple and is obviously in the hands of the Social Development Ministry, which should come up with a solution matter quickly, since family affairs come its umbrella.

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

Finally, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. According to Works and Housing Minister Fahmi Al Jowder, 35 per cent of the 1,175 families who will benefit from housing loans worth BD31 million are headed by women.

This is a sizeable proportion, considering that traditionally a woman cannot be seen to live on her own in our society.

Should her marriage fail or her husband die, God forbid, she should automatically return to her parental home.

Shelter is one of the fundamental human rights in the Human Rights Charter, a right many women were denied in the past, simply because they were women.

The fact that they are mothers, with children, parents and other relatives to care for, meant nothing to many decision-makers who believed that a Utopia existed where all men were responsible and provided for their families and ensured that there was a shelter over their heads.

The fact that there are single women out there who are not destined to be married and who have no homes of their own, did not make a difference.

When marriages turn sour, women and their children are usually the first and only victims, with some cruel men actually throwing their families on the street.

With archaic property and housing laws which stipulated that government homes must be in the name of the male head of the family, some women found themselves on the streets with their children.

I have seen with my own eyes what has happened to women turned away from their families' homes and told to fend for themselves, in a world which is not and has never been charitable to divorced and widowed women.

I know of a woman who has been moving apartments every few months for at least 18 years, because every time she applied to the Housing Ministry for a home, her application was turned down because she was not married!

I am delighted to see that women are finally being treated with a little bit of justice and that they will be given nearly a third of housing loans approved by the government.

This will give those women and their children safety, security and peace of mind.

It will go a long way towards ensuring that justice, government support, human rights, independence and dignity are not restricted to men alone.

Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

By Amira Al Hussaini

Excuse my ignorance but I really don't understand all the fuss over the personal status law. Why is it taking this long to pass a law which is aimed at safeguarding the cornerstone of society, the family unit, stipulating the rights and responsibilities of every member of the family (be it man, woman or child)?

What is wrong with unifying a code of conduct which helps deal with domestic issues in a civilised and organised manner?

Why are some people so opposed to the idea of giving men, women and children their social, legal and religious rights in the form of a written law, which could give people an idea of what their rights and responsibilities are - even if it is only on paper?

We all agree that there are problems in some homes which cannot be solved amicably and which should be taken to another level and we all know how long it takes for our courts to process cases, from petty thefts to gruesome murders.

Divorce, abuse and custody battles take their toll on family life and should be resolved in a systematic manner - not according to the whims of certain individuals.

Why are clergymen so against having a unified written family law in a country like Bahrain, where the population doesn't exceed 700,000 and where the majority of people are Muslim?

And why is the government, which had no reservations in passing the controversial societies and demonstrations and public gathering laws, playing the waiting game and allowing this issue to be blown out of proportion?

It is in the interest of all parties to ensure that families are stable and that people know what their rights and obligations are within the family unit.

I realise the issue isn't as simple as I make it sound. I also understand that there are a few subtle differences in the way clergymen interpret family law in Islam.

But what I can't accept is how can a problem, which has remained unsolved for so long, be blown out of proportion when its declared purpose is to ensure the rights of men, women and children in a state of law.

To all those squabbling factions out there, stop fretting and get down to work. The more time wasted on issuing a law of this magnitude, the more women, children and even men will suffer. Injustice isn't a good feeling to grow up with, not when the next generation is at its receiving end.

Let's set our differences aside and try and settle scores on bigger issues - issues which don't involve breaking homes, slamming of doors and social stigma and scars that the victims of divorce and domestic abuse have to cope with for the rest of their lives.

Freedom? It's your choice...

By Amira Al Hussaini

Apparently the fight is now on in Bahrain to protect personal freedom and safeguard the very values the reforms of 2002 are based on.

These include respect for human rights, adherence to international conventions ratified by Bahrain over the years and giving people a shared responsibility in the decision-making process, by electing their own representatives to parliament and municipal councils.

On paper, all this looks great, but something is amiss. People are not happy with their representatives or the decisions being shoved down their throats.

Where have we really gone wrong?

What has happened now which has made people think that those very rights which have been granted following the National Action Charter referendum of 2002 are infringing on personal freedoms and hurting the very economy they were supposed to have catapulted to new heights?

We can continue to stick our heads in the sand, or we can take a good look at ourselves and assess the situation and see how it has reared its head and turned against us, the very people yearning for freedom, respect and equality.

We can't and shouldn't blame it on Islam, because at the end of the day it was us who elected these people to office.

Before someone jumps the gun and attacks me and my religious beliefs, let me make a few things clear: Islam is a great religion. It is an encompassing way of life.

If followed properly - the way Allah decreed and not the way practised by power grabbing men who have twisted it over the centuries to meet their petty selfish needs - is a very balanced way to live life to the fullest while respecting others, protecting human rights and even complying with contemporary international conventions and charters.

Islam isn't the opponent to progress. It isn't that ugly hairy monster which comes in handy for parents wanting to scare their children and should not be abused as such.

The choice is after all up to the people of Bahrain. They can make or break their country.

With 2006 round the corner, I really do hope that people will think with their minds and not their religious affiliations when they entrust another 40 men and hopefully women, with running their affairs.

Amira Al Hussaini now lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

A friend of mine called me yesterday wailing and crying.

I had thought that there was a catastrophe, or perhaps someone had died.

But no. Her problem was with a colleague of hers…who was cooking her lunch in the office during lunch break.

Before my friend knew it, she was gasping for fresh air. The entire office reeked with the smell of cooking fish. There was smoke everywhere. And the fire sirens didn’t go off, because there simply wasn’t a fire siren in the building! But we will not go on about safety in the work place now because it was no longer an office. It was a dirty old kitchen with very bad ventilation.

And what was worse, was that my friend had a business meeting scheduled in 10 minutes.

She had to cancel the appointment and evacuate the office and was still angry about the situation way into the night. 

When she told me about her ‘situation’ I was simply speechless.

It took me back to the days when I was at university and had to teach in a government school for three months as part of the requirements for my Bachelors degree in English and Education.

Do you know what I saw in the teacher’s room everyday? No. This isn’t a scene from an Egyptian sit-com. It was real. The honourable teachers had their vegetables sprawled all over their tables and were busy chopping cucumbers, aubergines and lady’s fingers to name a few. Of course, they were also peeling potatoes and carrots and exchanging recipes, among other things!

What is it with people who have ZERO respect for their workplace? If the aforementioned woman was mad keen to fry her fish and eat it, why didn’t she go home to cook her offensive meal? And if those teachers were so torn between wifely duties and their teaching profession as teachers, why did they find it so difficult to make a choice?

A woman’s place is in the kitchen indeed but this is no excuse to bring the kitchen to the office.

Make up your mind woman…there are a lot of jobless people out there! Who says you are indispensable?

BY Amira Al Hussaini

My grandmother died just a few days ago. I did not go to the burial ceremony. I just couldn't bear it. I couldn't muster enough courage to see how we will all end up one day, so I stayed at home and wallowed in self-pity.

It is so hard to imagine that she has gone, that the day I once had nightmares about has come.

I keep waiting for someone to pinch me and tell me it's a bad dream, that it's not true.

She lived a simple life and left this world without much fanfare.

Though she was a grandmother to us all, she was actually my mother's aunt.

My real grandmother died at the age of 35, when my mother was young.

So when we were children, my mother's aunt took the place of granny and lived up to the role and more.

She is the only granny I have known, but she was even more than that.

She is the past that has gone, never to come back. The true spirit of Bahraini women.

At a young age, she was married off by her father to a much older pearl merchant, from a seaside village.

A few years later, her husband succumbed to bad debts and misery and eventually died, leaving her with two boys sick with sickle cell anaemia and a daughter.

They continued living in the village because in those days, that was it.

A woman's fate was sealed with marriage - wherever that took her.

Despite the terrible times, she held her head high and never once complained.

Her eldest son died just after getting married and starting a family.

Her second son died few years later and her daughter got married to a Saudi relative and moved to the Eastern Province.

My mother became a daughter to her and she became the mother my own mother missed and for us, she took the place of the grandmother who died before we were born.

She stayed in our house when we were growing up and then moved back to her real grandchildren when we were old enough to stand on our own feet.

I was the most attached to her because, to tell you the truth, I would actually sit down when told to sit, shut up when asked us to be quiet and do chores as best as I could - and I owe all that to her.

She taught me how to stitch and embroider. She would bring all this fabric out and thread of all hues and together we would stitch motifs and flowers and birds, on everything from pillow cases to my T-shirts.

Now she is gone.

She would tell me tales of the past - the Bahraini version of fairy tales - which she spiced up and altered to fit the mood and situation.

Now she is no more.

She lived to be old and deaf and her tongue got heavy with the passage of years.

Every time I saw her lately, she would ask me if I had just come back from school and whether I had finished my homework - even though I finished school 15 years ago.

I can always remember her being old. She saw her own children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, yet I would have loved for her to have hung on still longer, to see my own children yet to come.

She was there for me as a child, picking up after me, teaching me right from wrong, giving me lessons in life and opening my mind to interesting hobbies.

I owe her a lot, but the truth is that as much as she was good to me, giving me and brother and sisters her unconditional love and care, I have let her down badly.

My visits to her grew infrequent, even though she lived close to places I go to regularly.

I was selfish and couldn't bring myself to see her sick and bedridden.

It broke my heart, but as much as I loved her, I shunned her.

At my hour of need, she was all there for me... at her hour of need, I was too busy.

May Allah bless her soul in peace and may he forgive me for being the ungrateful grand-daughter I had become.

May he forgive me for being just to too busy with life to look back and care for someone who meant and gave so much.

By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

Here's a small lesson in mathematics and a big lesson in life. There is no need to put your thinking caps on because I will take through the problem step-by-step.

Apparently, resident doctors working at the main government hospital, the Salmaniya Medical Complex, are being paid BD800 a month for putting up with workloads of up to 120 hours a week.

This means that they work for a phenomenal 480 hours a month on an average - for peanuts.

I am saying peanuts because if you divide BD800 by 480, the result is BD1.600 per hour - or a packet of those salted roasted peanuts. In comparison, the person who washes your car makes BD1 for roughly 20 minutes of work and a part-time houseboy may earn BD1 an hour for dusting the house and watering the garden.

People look at to doctors wherever they go and say: "Wow ! It must be great being a doctor!"

Please don't get me wrong, for those I know in the profession - my husband included - tell me it is great being a doctor.

I am saying this not because it is a noble profession, but because many of those selfless people are doing it because they believe in the cause and are putting their lives on the line to spend more time with patients and ease their pain.

What is not great about being a doctor is the meagre pay cheque at the end of the month, for no-one can ever be satisfied with not getting what he is worth.

Discussing the plight of the over-worked and under-paid doctors is timely today, when you consider the demands being made by the jobless, along with the calls for social aid for those earning less than BD300 a month.

Everyone deserves to live a decent life. Everyone deserves an opportunity to improve his/her standard of living, but to do that, they have to be equipped with the essential skills necessary to ensure a place in the job market.

If qualified doctors are putting up with a demeaning situation and accepting it with a pinch of salt, while working in silence to improve their situation and redress the balance, why are others making so much noise?

Whoever said empty vessels make the most noise was right on the mark when it comes to the current situation in Bahrain.

Instead of dealing with the jobless protests with batons and teargas, it would be ideal to sit those people down and see exactly what they want.

A detailed study of their experience, education, training and work ethics would call their bluff.

For people who want to work are more systematic, organised and patient while working towards a long-term solution.

By Amira Al Hussaini

Would you do a 90 to 120 hour week for between BD600 to BD800 a month?
I know I wouldn’t, especially if my job description sets a normal working week of 37 hours and the rest is unpaid overtime.
But for hundreds of resident doctors in Bahrain, this is a fact of life.
Imagine that’s all you are worth slogging through school for 12 years, finishing the top of your class; six to seven years of intensive study at university and a year of training at Salmaniya Medical Complex for NO PAY.
Add to this five years of being rotated from one department to another, working 36 hour shifts with no sleep or time for a decent meal and seeing up to 50 patients a day – all for a pay cheque of a maximum BD800 a month.
There is only one word to describe a situation like that - demeaning.
To add insult to injury, those doctors are not even registered as medical doctors at the Civil Service Bureau and are treated as other Health Ministry employees.
There isn’t a cadre for them, there are no hazard allowances, there is no work insurance and because of the enormous workload, many don’t even get a thank you from many of their disgruntled patients.
To rub salt into an open wound, doctors in Bahrain are actually being paid only a third of what their counterparts in other GCC countries get !
I am happy to see that the Bahrain Medical Society (BMS) is finally taking a serious interest in the situation of doctors in the country, instead of paying lip-service to their plight.
Comments made by BMS president Dr Abdulla Al Ajmi is yesterday’s GDN are encouraging and should be followed through to the end.
Although it would not redress the balance, a 30 per cent increase in salaries would be a step in the right direction.
All the doctors I know have entered the profession with one goal, to serve their nation and their people and ease the pain of patients in their hour of need.
According to Dr Al Ajmi, at least 25 consultants and other doctors have already left Bahrain looking for a better future elsewhere.
It would really be a shame to lose more, especially in a country which counts its own people as its only real asset.

By Amira Al Hussaini

I have always thought that something is better than nothing ... but perhaps I was mistaken.

The hundreds of Bahraini boys and girls who are shunning jobs in the hotel sector are obviously seeing something I fail to comprehend.

For them, it is much better to sit at home, get bored, create trouble in their otherwise harmonious households and live off their parents, older brothers or old rich uncles, than wake up in the morning and go to work - a thing people the world over do without a second thought.

Those youngsters are giving up the opportunity to embark on careers which could open a whole new world for them, just because they don't want to work.

We are not talking about jobs for people with masters and PhD degrees here. I am referring to the jobs available in hotels, resorts and restaurants.

These are jobs suitable for school dropouts, who have made the wrong choices in life and who could now be rehabilitated and trained at the expense of others, to ensure that they do something useful with their lives which are going to waste anyway.

But they will not have that, for it really is a hassle to wake up at the crack of dawn and go to work for BD200, especially when you have had an easy ride through school, refused to do your homework, had total disrespect for your teachers and had zero aspirations to go to university and do something useful for yourself and society.

Statistics released by the Specific Council for Training in Hotel and Catering in yesterday's GDN show that out of the nearly BD300,000 allocated for training Bahrainis in the hotel industry last year, only BD163,000 was utilised.

To add insult to injury, in a country where the unemployment figure looms around 20,000, jobless people are actually snubbing opportunities offered to them on a silver platter.

No matter what excuse they give for their reluctance to work in hotels (low salaries, problems with transportation, working shifts, mixing with expatriates, etc), the real reason is that they don't want to work.

Jobs offered in hotels are varied, ranging from reception and office jobs to those in housekeeping and the kitchen and there really is no shame in working for a living.

I fully realise that there are miraculous employment initiatives and labour reforms in the offing, but the truth is that if those people are not ready to get out of their beds and start somewhere, all these efforts are going to waste.

Hopefully, it isn't too late and youngsters will realise that they do have a choice and that their lives and futures are really what they make of them.

Vol XXVIII NO. 99 Monday 27th June 2005

By Amira Al Hussaini

A woman is kidnapped from the street, literally wrenched from her husband's grasp. Thugs pull a girl from a car and attack her in front of other passers-by, ripping her clothes, punching, kicking and biting her.

A student is gang-raped and a 12-year-old girl vanishes, with no trace even three years on.

Armed robberies in broad daylight, illegal drugs bought and sold, drive-by bag snatches and muggings almost every day.

New York? No, welcome to Bahrain - once a peaceful oasis in the Gulf, where people used to leave their cars and front doors open and go to sleep free of the fear of crime.

Rising crime is a reality in this modern age and a threat to the national security, economy and overall development of any country.

It doesn't take a genius to figure this out, just as it doesn't take a wizard to realise that something must be done if we are to be able to sleep in peace again.

My aunt's house was robbed a couple of years ago. The thief drove his car into her garage and emptied her house - stealing everything, right down to perfume and anti-wrinkle cream.

It was obvious he was comfortable in the knowledge that should he be caught, there wouldn't be much done to him.

It was evident that he was not afraid, not worried, not the least concerned about society's protective shield - its police force.

Every day people approach us with complaints about crime and when we ask them whether they have been to the police, they shrug their shoulders and ask: "What for, what will they do?"

It is a sad state of affairs when those men in uniform no longer have the respect the job demands, as the protectors and guardians of society from all the ugly faces of harm.

There is now talk about increasing the number of policemen to combat crime. That might be a short-term solution.

But the truth is that no matter how many times you increase the size of the police force, there is very little that can be done to reform people bent on breaking the law.

For in order to obey it, they must first respect it.

Even decent people will not help the police, if they do not respect them.

So the police must now fight on two fronts, to combat crime on one and to win the respect of the community on the other.

It is high time we stopped beating around the bush and got to the crux of it.

For the sake of Bahrain, for a better tomorrow, for a safe haven for our children, please bring back respect for the law - and the men who should enforce it.

Vol XXVIII NO. 95 Thursday 23 June 2005

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

II have had it with people who only want to see their photographs in the newspaper, whether they deserve the coverage or not. I am disgusted by some who pretend to be champions of noble causes, when all they really want is to promote their shallow selves and get some free publicity out of their sorry attempts to provide shoddy services to society.

In my career, some of my most stressful experiences have been with such publicity-seekers, who believe in their own lies and fall prey to their own propaganda.

On the one hand, they are actually doing something and as such this warrants the publicity they get. On the other, they give us so much grief and push the limits just to have their events covered and their pictures plastered all over newspaper pages - even when we know that the motives strip their attempts of any decency.

There are people who will leave no stone unturned, resorting to everything from sweet talking to threats, for some self-publicity.

I wish I had the courage to publish their photographs here and name and shame them, for the heartache they have given me over the years excuses such an extreme measure.

It is so sad to see people who are supposedly working to serve the community, eat at each other's flesh and back stab each other for no reason other than to climb the social ladder and be the centrepiece of events.

I don't know what is more sad, their total lack of understanding of the concept of community service, or their constant struggle to out do each other in being the centre of attention - even when their attempts are ridiculous, petty and embarrassing to say the least.

No matter how many times I have encountered these hollow people who try to impose themselves on the social scene, they still continue to give me the creeps.

I still can't get them out of my mind and can't bring myself to try and understand this concentrated level of malignant narcissism, especially when I see many people working silently every day to bring humanity, dignity and respect back to voluntary work.

There are several examples of people who have worked in silence to help others and bring a quality to their lives, while refusing the publicity which others take for granted for their noble deeds.

Two immediately spring to mind. One is an Indian businessman who covered the expense of a cornea transplant to save a Bahraini woman from blindness.

The other is a local company which is without fanfare footing the bill to treat Baby Khadija Ali Radhi, whose plight was reported in the GDN, for a rare disfiguring disease..

Vol XXVIII NO. 83 Saturday 11 June 2005

By Amira Al Hussaini


Why is it that we have to keep up with the Jones' in everything we do?

Can someone explain to me why Bahrain is a nation in debt, with BD1 billion outstanding in personal bank loans?

The question here is how much of this money is the size of the actual debt and how much is interest incurred by unscrupulous banks, who try to sell poor people castles in the clouds?

Also, how much of this money actually went on necessities and how much more was spent on luxuries, from cars to expensive, sprawling homes, honeymoons and holidays to exotic locations, lavish weddings and education and treatment abroad?

I personally hang up on salesmen who call asking me if I want yet another credit card, or up to 20 times my salary in personal loans, with no questions asked.

I don't need to even think about it because I know that I don't want to get sucked into a vicious circle which will tighten a noose around my neck and make me regret every fil I borrowed, once the creditors come knocking on my door.

If I regret anything, it may be the rude way I attack those salesmen, who are probably working to pay off loans themselves.

People have the right to dream and fulfil their aspirations, but taking loans to make those dreams come true is like sinking into an abyss.

I know people who are scraping the floor to make ends meet and to pay those parasitical banks their loans, topped by an interest very close to the amount they borrowed, just because they wanted to show off with a flashy car and enjoy the perks of a first-class holiday.

My heart breaks every time I see a young couple borrowing money to start their lives and I wonder who really is behind this debt culture, which is reducing people to slaves, who work and toil all day just to pay off ridiculous interest rates.

I know that waiting to achieve a dream is difficult and not many people have patience, especially when advertisements for personal loans are so tempting and are now seen on billboards in the streets.

They even intrude into your privacy in the form of SMS messages on your mobile, whetting your appetite and making you drool for what you can have instantly in exchange for a cut of your income forever after.

Loans may be an easy solution for a sticky problem which is available over the counter without the need for a prescription.

But they are a hard pill to swallow and will impose dire consequences on a young nation, which will be shackled for years paying the price of what they enjoyed for only a few hours, days or months at the most.

Vol XXVIII NO. 80 Wednesday 8 June 2005

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

There is so much to thank God for this morning. The MPs finally have a reason to gloat. You see, I strongly believe in justice and it is only right that when someone pushes for something correct for a change, he gets rewarded.

Thanks to the MPs' persistence, combined with threats of angry protesters pelting the National Assembly with eggs and tomatoes, the government has finally bowed to pressure and agreed to do the right thing.

Giving government staff their rightful bonus should be taken for granted and not be a smelly fish dangled in front of thousands of hungry mouths, or used as a means for political pressure and extorting more from the government.

The fact that it is a one-off BD200 bonus, which will cost the government BD12 million, is scary though, because I strongly believe that not all civil servants deserve to be rewarded for doing nothing.

For instance, government workers on salaries of no more than BD800 a month, yet who live in lavish homes, whose children go to private schools, who spend their holidays in Europe and drive to their humble jobs in top-of-the-range cars, already take their annual or even monthly 'bonuses' - with or without the blessings of the MPS.

I hope they will do the right thing and donate the BD200, once it has been credited to their accounts in a legal manner, to charity.

I get angry every time I walk into a government organisation.

My pressure rises from the moment I step into the smelly foyer and walk up to the dirty elevators, or the smoke-filled staircases.

On my way to my final destination, my blood boils as I pass by near-empty offices, with staff either flirting on the phone, praying, off sick or have gone out to run errands for their families or private businesses.

While bonuses have become the norm in many companies and organisations - even in Bahrain where bosses are known to skimp and not share the spoils with their slaves - I don't think that everyone deserves them.

They should be given to those who work, who turn up on time, who serve their nation and who respect themselves and their jobs. I know this won't be possible here because there can't be a system of checks and balances to ensure a fair deal for deserving employees.

And I know that instead of grumbling, I should be thankful that it will be given to all equally - including women.

Vol XXVIII NO. 67 Thursday 26 May 2005


By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

Our honourable MPs continue to baffle me.

On Tuesday, parliament met to discuss air pollution in Bahrain, among other trivial matters such as our national budget, caring for the elderly and salary increments for civil servants, to name a few.

The problem is that there is so little time left and so much to discuss before they take their long-awaited summer recess, thanks to their endless squabbles on whether music concerts should be allowed or banned in Bahrain.

As a result, issues have to be rushed.

All that time wasted discussing legitimate entertainment activities, which have been approved by the state, could have really been utilised to carefully scrutinise an issue as serious as the quality of the air we are forced to breathe.

Figures issued to MPs by the Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife about the quality of air make no sense whatsoever.

However, not a single MP stood up at the meeting to question what they meant.

For instance, figures for the Southern Governorate show that the level of hydrocarbons (other than methane) in the air was 686 times above internationally acceptable levels, in a year.

What the report fails to mention is how many times the level of these gases was checked in a year, to give people a clear indication of what the level of pollution really is.

Another glaring omission is the lack of any data about the levels of such emissions in the Central Governorate, which covers the heavily populated areas of Isa Town and A'ali and the heavily industrialised areas of Sitra and Ma'ameer, because "equipment to measure them has broken down".

Excuse me?

It is a common fact that no matter how smart you are, you cannot continue to fool people all the time.

But our MPs continue to surprise us because again, they have been fooled by a few figures which they couldn't decode to begin with.

Not one of them stood up at that meeting to ask why those figures were incomplete.

They should have asked why one of Bahrain's heaviest industrialised areas has been left without checks on the level of air pollution since 1997.

They should have called for the questioning of officials who year after year have pledged cleaner production and close to zero pollution.

If that is the case, and our industry is really clean, how can it be proved in the absence of figures.

If the pollution levels in those villages were really within regulations, why are the figures being hidden from the public.

Or, are the lives of people of Sitra and Ma'ameer cheaper than others?

Vol XXVIII NO. 51 Tuesday 10 May 2005


By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI


"Amira, hasn't the GDN gone a bit overboard with stories about pimps, brothels and general prostitution?"

This is an SMS message I got on my mobile from a friend the other day.

In addition to being a dear friend, the sender is also a distinguished businessman and someone whose opinions I value and take to heart.

Instead of answering him in person, I chose to respond to it here, as I am fully aware that many readers find such stories disturbing.

As a Bahraini, I am shocked every time we hear about such incidents, even though they have become recurrent themes.

It hurts every time I hear about yet another woman being terrorised by thugs or a young boy or girl's innocence smeared by some human monster who thinks he can get away with his horrible act just because nobody is watching.

I am sorry we cannot change reality and the reality is that such things occur - even in our close-knit Muslim society.

Whether we like it or not, there are children being sexually abused, women raped and young boys sodomised and keeping quiet about it will not solve the problem overnight.

The latest story we carried in the GDN is about a muezzin, the very man who calls for prayer, who made sexual advances to a nine-year-old Bahraini boy at a Hamad Town mosque.

The case was heard in court and the judge jailed the 24-year-old muezzin for two years as a punishment for his hideous crime.

Did the GDN make up this story?

The answer is NO. We did not fabricate this story. In fact, it is not the first time that such a thing has happened in a place of worship and I am sad to say that it may not be the last time because there are hypocrites everywhere - even in mosques, churches, temples and government offices.

Instead of asking a newspaper to cover up on corruption in society, let's face reality and learn how to deal with it.

Maybe then we can come up with solutions and try and educate people about their rights and their responsibilities.

Covering up horror stories happening behind closed doors is not the solution. Sticking our heads in the sand won't take us anywhere and will definitely not take such problems away.

Not reporting those stories in newspapers will not mean that such ugly crimes are not happening in Bahrain.

Instead of blaming the GDN for carrying such stories, let's take a serious look at our society and see what it is that those perverts find sexually exciting in little girls and boys who should be left alone playing with their toys rather than be subjected to such life-damaging experiences.

Vol XXVIII NO. 50 Monday 9 May 2005


By Amira Al Hussaini


I would like to applaud Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa for having the courage to call a spade a spade.

In an unprecedented move, he has called for a full and thorough investigation of misconduct and criminal activity at the General Directorate of Traffic.

Now the allegations are not the usual ones we hear about, like someone having influence over someone else to change traffic accident reports, or cancel violations before they are entered into the computer system, or even to pass someone who should have failed the driving test.

No, they are much more calculated crimes, involving heavyweights with the influence and means to abuse their power and look like the innocent flower, while they are the serpents under it.

Shaikh Rashid has ordered a probe to investigate a string of car thefts, involving traffic officials and other influential people.

They have allegedly created a web to steal cars, change their number plates and chassis numbers in traffic records, register them in the names of foreigners who are living here or have left Bahrain and then resell them in the market!

Wow! That's a cracking plan - a great one had it been masterminded by the Mafia and not by the very people employed to safeguard people's rights and protect them from such criminal activities.

It is the fact that those people were entrusted with the responsibility to protect law and order that hurts most.

Who are we to turn to next time our car vanishes from outside our home? You see, not everyone is privileged enough to have a garage with a top-of-the-range security system.

Personally, I wasn't the least bit surprised when I heard about the scandal.

What has surprised me is that the Interior Ministry has actually announced it and is taking steps to stamp such practices out once and for all.

This is a step in the correct direction and corruption should be exposed to set an example for others that such unscrupulous behaviour will not be tolerated in our new democracy.

Just as the crime was announced in public, I hope that the results of the probe will also see light in order to bring respect to a ministry whose main job is to protect law and order.

There will always be certain individuals who are corrupt and who will abuse their positions no matter where you place them, just as there are people who respect themselves, their jobs and their uniforms.

I hope that the purge against corruption at the Traffic Directorate will be extended to cover other directorates at the Interior Ministry which have not moved with the times and are not ready to embrace the doctrines of this new era!

I also wish other officials would show such resolve to stamp out corruption in their ministries.

Vol XXVIII NO. 37 Tuesday 26th April 2005

By Amira Al Hussaini

It is disturbing news that Bahrain has decided to clamp down on websites, just as the country celebrates World Book Day.

Yesterday's stern warning to all webmasters to either register their sites or face legal action, has sent shockwaves down my spine.

To camouflage a law bent on infringing on the rights of people to express their opinion with clichés like protecting public freedom and safeguarding the rights stipulated in the 2002 reforms initiated by His Majesty King Hamad, is worrying.

It makes me and many others wonder what type of democracy we want to tell the rest of the civili-sed world we have.

Do we have a real democracy, or a tailor-made one under which people can do, say or think anything they want, as long as it falls in with the official line?

Instead of taking the opportunity of World Book Day to encourage people to read and write, express themselves and expand their horizons, the Information Ministry has now appointed itself as custodian of the worldwide web (www) and has created new restrictions to a service which provides people with information and entertainment at the click of a button.

The amusing question is how does the ministry think it can monitor and control all that appears on Bahraini or Bahraini-related websites, which number anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 and which can double in size overnight?

In the cyber world, which acknowledges no boundaries, censorship or secret police, where the word pours out from the heart and goes directly to the people, how does Bahrain expect to enforce this law, particularly on websites hosted by domains in other countries ?

What signals are the authorities sending to the rest of the world about democracy and freedom of expression and human rights in this country?

How will it punish people who refuse to register their on-line diaries, especially if they are personal or frivolous, such as details on their everyday lives, or the antics of their pets?

Why is Bahrain stubbornly disrespecting its citizens and refusing them space to breathe and develop and learn to respect themselves and others in the process?

Democracy is not born overnight.

It is a long learning process and trial and error are acceptable as long as mutual respect and the will to make things work for the benefit of all are there.

Is freedom of expression just a sound bite under our own version of Bahraini democracy?

Vol XXVIII NO. 35 Sunday 24 April 2005

By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI


Bahrain's rich traditions were splendidly showcased in the annual heritage festival, which celebrated old weaponry and falconry this year.

The festival, which attracts thousands of visitors from Bahrain and abroad each year, is always a great opportunity for the young and old to rediscover the country's vibrant past.

It is hosted in a mock village, especially designed to take visitors to the old alleyways, homes, mosques and courtyards which made up Bahrain's neighbourhoods before the discovery of oil and the development it has brought with it.

As we toured it, the smell of kebab and khanfaroosh led visitors to a line of women preparing the delicacies in a corner in the village.

Traditional craftsmen could be seen going about their business, preparing everyday items the way they have been made for hundreds of years, with the skills passed down from one generation to another.

It was with this nostalgia for the simple days of Bahrain of the by-gone era that I took my five-year-old nephew to the heritage festival, which ended on Friday.

Yes, it was a very successful theme, with a lot of things related to weaponry and falconry available in abundance.

We found the women preparing the traditional Bahraini kebab and the falconers posing with their birds of prey.

We saw the camel, the donkey, the pony and the horse - things which would excite any boy of my nephew's age.

But he would not be tempted to ride any of them. I tried to bribe him with a kite in the colours of the Bahraini flag.

I offered to buy him a talking parrot. I even bought him lots of trinkets... but he was adamant that he wanted to leave.

"I want to go home," he grumbled.

"Don't you like the music and the animals?" I asked.

"I do, but this is a very dirty place," he replied.

I took a deep breath and then a look around me. It was a dirty place indeed.

There was waste paper and plastic bags flying in all directions.

In fact, litterbugs were everywhere while litter bins were rare.

I wasn't surprised that my nephew wanted out.

On our way out, he pointed to the waterfront.

"Look at all the rubbish here," he said.

"Why are you bringing me to dirty places? Let's go to Seef."

So much for an educational outing to instil some pride in a youngster about his country's heritage and history!

Vol XXVII NO. 358 Sunday 13 March 2005

By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

The alarm goes off. You are fully awake and are ready for the beginning of a long week at work.

You get into your car. Something makes you pause: "Is it really worth it?" you ask yourself.

I am not speaking here about the futility of going to work and repeating the same chores everyday; I am not talking about the monotony of life where every day repeats the day before it and I am not even going anywhere near the stalemate we feel in some quarters as far as real development of any value is concerned.

Leaving your house in the morning, every morning, is inevitable - if you muster the energy to get out of bed, that is!

Do you know what it is that drives me crazy every time I am in my car going somewhere?

It is the way other people drive. Their selfishness and their arrogance gets under my skin. Their total lack of manners and respect for other road users, be it pedestrians, drivers, cyclists or even cats, makes my blood boil.

Look at the way they zigzag through traffic at full speed, totally oblivious to the lives of other road users; how those little silly boys in flashy cars flash their headlights at you, even on highways where you are driving at the maximum speed limit; how some creepy crawlies drive at a snail's pace even on open roads - blocking two or sometimes three lanes of the highway; and the way people talk on the phone, while meandering from one lane to the other, without using signals. Signals? What signals?

The fact that some drivers think they own the road and are not responsible for their actions is a slap in the face for humanity and decency. It doesn't matter what make of car you drive; what makes a difference is how you drive it.

What adds insult to injury is when some policemen abuse their powers and use different yardsticks to punish different people.

How many times have I seen policemen turning a blind eye to people breaking traffic rules, just because they and those supposedly responsible for upholding the law, think that they are a cut above the rest!

Traffic Week started yesterday under the theme "Your driving reflects your manners" - a perfect motto for a world full of lunatic drivers.

People with no manners should lock themselves up at home until they acquire some.

Driving in a reckless manner is a serious offence as people's lives - even poor ones and labourers - are not that cheap.

Vol XXVII NO. 335 Friday 18 February 2005

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

Here we go again! History repeats itself so often in Bahrain. The monotony of the situation is exasperating, to say the least.

Every time a public holiday is announced, we are inundated with telephone calls.

"When is the holiday?" and "How many days for the private sector?" ask callers.

On Wednesday, the government announced that Ashoora would be marked by a three-day holiday, from today until Sunday, with civil servants going back to work on Monday.

What about the private sector ? Do they get the normal two-day holiday? Shall we make that three?

This is causing total confusion with everyone picking up the phone to call the GDN and ask when the holiday for the private sector is.

Well, we don't have a magic answer. The Labour Ministry is not available for a comment and every time the Chamber of Commerce and Industry issues a circular regarding holidays, it specifically says that the holiday announcement is for itself, meaning the private sector may follow suit, if they choose.

The last two Eid holidays caused real confusion, with many people still in limbo as to whether the holidays should have applied to public or private sectors or both.

To mark Eid Al Adha, the chamber jumped the gun and announced that the holiday would begin on Thursday and continue until Sunday - giving private sector workers a total of FOUR days off.

The following day the government announced that the Eid Al Adha holiday would begin on Wednesday and continue until Monday - giving civil servants SIX days off.

Traditionally, Bahrain has always marked the Eid with a three-day holiday. If the holiday period fell on Friday, then we were compensated by an extra day, making the holiday a total of FOUR days.

Now, the government sector must compensate its workers for Thursday - another brilliant idea from our elected parliament.

With more occasions, celebrations and the deaths of national leaders, come more days off.

The real problem here is lack of communication. Why can't the government and private sectors agree upon holidays and decide which days are public ones and which are not.

Surely, some prior announcement would give people - both government and private sector workers - the chance to plan better.

I fully understand that Eid and Ashoora are dictated by a Lunar calendar and depend on moon sightings but come on, they fall within a limited period of time.

The holiday could be announced in advance, provided it embraced the actual Eid day, or whatever occasion it may be.

We surely don't need magicians to come up with such a simple solution.

Vol XXVII NO. 211 Sunday 17 October 2004

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

IT can't get any better than this? Or can it? The National Assembly opened to much fanfare last week with renewed promises for a better deal for Bahrainis - women, workers, the downtrodden, the whole lot.

But our honourable MPs sure know how to take cues and work hand in hand to create a better Bahrain for the people who freely elected them.

In fact, they are already working on marvellous proposals to make the lives of their fellow citizens better.

With Ramadan here, people take it for granted that life in the Arab World comes to a standstill.

Conferences, exhibitions, meetings, seminars, business trips and all the rest of the activities, like going to work, which ensure that there is Iftar on our tables, come to a complete full-stop. You can't work and fast at the same time. It is that time of the year when many people take their annual holidays because they are in no mood to go to work while they are fasting.

Forget about the real reasons for Ramadan (that's only in textbooks and mosque sermons). Without being specific whether it implies to many, most or all Bahrainis, it seems to be the time to eat (while you are awake) and sleep (while you are fasting) and meet family for Iftar and friends for Ghabgha parties, which continue until the early hours of the morning.

Thanks to the MPs latest suggestion, the Holy Month is now expected to get even better. In their first session ever for this bright new term, they have come up with a proposal which will enable us all to scale greater heights and save humanity and the Muslim world.

They now want to 'decrease' working hours in the government sector from six to five hours during the Holy Month. I really don't know whether to cry or laugh at this. The reasoning behind this proposal: According to parliament second vice-chairman Shaikh Adel Al Maawda it was aimed at helping working women meet their family needs during Ramadan.

But then those proposing the idea saw that it wasn't fair to discriminate between men and women and decided that both men and women should be treated equally and thereby should both "work" fewer hours during Ramadan. Am I really reading, writing and understanding this right? Do you see light at the end of the tunnel the way I am seeing it? Men should be treated equally to women, cries the MP. After all, he says, they "decided to include everyone to be fair, because fasting is for everyone."

Yes, I cannot agree more. Fasting is for everyone but nowhere in the Holy Book does it say that He Who Fasts Shall Not Work.

To add insult to injury, the MPs drafting the proposal claim that reducing working hours would not affect productivity. Oh, PLEASE!

Vol XXVII NO. 186 Wednesday 22 September 2004

By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI


BD200 a month? No thanks, I would rather sit at home.

After 12 years at school, four to five years at university, three to four years' searching for a job, is this all a Bahraini is worth?

A survey has just been completed on ways to reform Bahrain's labour market and the results seem to read like a page from the Doomsday Book.

Peasants will have to toil in private sector companies, if they are lucky to land a job, that is, for BD200 a month, says the study.

Seventy-five per cent of all jobs in the private sector pay less than BD200 a month, with labour productivity at one-third of that of the United States, it adds.

Food for thought, I would say. I hope this is not interpreted that many Bahrainis are lazy because this is sure to guarantee an avalanche of sleazy abuse as I have discovered first-hand. "We don't like the message, so let's kill the messenger," seems to be the attitude in this forward-thinking nation.

In all, the private sector will have to produce jobs for the 100,000 Bahrainis entering the labour market over the next 10 years. Throw a few MPs into the picture who will come up with ideas on how such projects could be un-Islamic, and businesses and development come to a standstill. After all, leaving money in a bank vault in Switzerland is much better than creating havoc, riots and rallies in the country - even if it will mean that jobs to feed hungry mouths could also be created. No patriot would allow that or is the gamble worth it?

If the current trend continues (whatever this means), only 800 jobs paying more than BD200 a month are churned out, continues the study.

That is very optimistic, especially when you consider how many thousands graduate from schools, universities and training centres every year.

What will the others do if all those 800 jobs went to Bahrainis that is? Now, I am not good at mathematics but let me see how far this BD200 can go for a Bahraini with dreams and aspirations for a better tomorrow. Will the BD200 be enough to pay for food, rent, car instalments, instalments for that personal loan the bank readily gave you despite not meeting the criteria, clothing, school expenses, health care, etc? You sure don't need a mathematician, a magician would be handy to solve this dilemma.

Not everyone wants to be a doctor - not that doctors are paid enough in Bahrain to begin with. Not everyone wants to continue a university education and not everyone wants to sit at home knitting either.

Every person deserves a decent living but current projections look grim. Without being abusive, I just hope people could be realistic and start at the bottom ranks and make their way upwards. Needless to say, not everyone will make it to the top and the climb, though not scenic all the time, is worth it.

By hard work and persistence, dreams can be achieved. I started with a salary of BD150 and am proud of it. If the clock was turned back, I am sure I would do the same again.

Vol XXVII NO. 180 Thursday 16 September 2004

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

I've been threatened, abused and cursed just for saying the truth - that not all Bahrainis want to work.

Yes, I am adamant that many Bahrainis are living in Never Never Land and are finding excuses to remain lazy and live off the hard work of other people - be it mummy and daddy or their older sisters and brothers or inheritance or very soon a social security system which may possibly give them as much as they would get should they "accept" to work for a minimum wage of BD150.

There are many people out there, who are in perfectly good health - regardless of what their mentalities are like - who simply do not want to work.

For them, it is too much to ask them to wake up early in the morning, dress up and drive to work for a job which would give them BD350 a month.

I have heard that over and over again from many Bahrainis, who think they are too precious, smart and god-sent to accept work for such meagre allowances.

They prefer to stay up the whole night counting the stars or doing whatever people with insomnia do and then sleep the whole day in air-conditioned rooms other people pay the electricity bill for.

Even many of those who do turn up at work, feel it is not their duty to do a full day's job. Whatever can wait for tomorrow, can wait forever. The day is also not all work and no play for them as there should be time for a sumptuous breakfast, constant cigarette and coffee breaks, hours surfing the Internet, continuous chatting on the office phone and mobile, running errands for everyone under the sun and then like devout Muslims who have toiled all day and done themselves and their God justice, they turn to Mecca at prayer time and thank Allah for his endless blessings - all in company time.

Maybe I wasn't writing in English in my previous column but nowhere did I say that ALL Bahrainis are like that. I said many. I did not say the majority. I said many. I did not say most. I said many. I hope this emphasises the point I am trying to drive home to people who cannot and will not ever be civilised enough to accept or even try to comprehend an opinion which is in anyway different from theirs.

When I wonder aloud about what this society is coming to, it is not to fill newspaper space. It is also not to hang our dirty underwear out for all to see. The aim is to highlight issues which are of concern to us Bahrainis - I happen to be a Bahraini too - and gauge opinions to collectively study a way of moving forward and changing perceptions and attitudes to make Bahrain what it always was - a beacon for change and development in this part of the world.

We have been the pioneers. We have had the first schools. But it is all in the past. To those still living in 1919, when the first boys school was opened in Muharraq, let's remove those blinkers and go to 2013.

Projections say there will be 100,000 unemployed people in Bahrain. See you then!

Vol XXVII NO. 176 Sunday 12 September 2004

By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

Many Bahrainis, even those from modest backgrounds, are behaving as if they were born with a silver spoon in their mouths.

They do not want to study. They demand a job. And they do not want any job. They expect a good office job with a fat pay cheque simply because they are Bahrainis and there are expats filling positions in companies across the board. Those very expats, most of whom are in menial jobs, are filling the shoes of Bahrainis, who are not willing to be garbage collectors, work in retail shops and as mechanics, carpenters, fishermen and plumbers.

Once they 'accept' a job which is suitable to their high level of education - usually something equivalent to a high school certificate if not lower - they do not want to be told how to do the job, because they simply know. They are after all Bahraini and have the right to work in their own country which they know about more than those expats.

At present, 15 per cent of Bahrainis hold jobs that do not match their qualifications. If this isn't horrific, gloomy projections show this figure will leap to 70pc by 2013. Brace yourself. If normal people are complaining today, I don't want to even bring myself to think how bright our tomorrow will be.

Many Bahrainis, if you allow me to be blunt, have no work ethics, no manners and above all, don't think they should wake up early in the morning to make it to work on time.

Many of those 'professionals', do not accept being told to report to work on time, and even when they eventually turn up, they watch the clock and leave at finishing time on the dot - if not before. Here you should also not forget that they are Bahraini and they have another life outside the office.

Unlike expats, who are expected to remain at work at all times because they were brought to Bahrain specifically to work, Bahrainis have extended families, friends and other interests to pursue during and after working hours.

When they do turn up, they are the ones doing their boss a favour. Without them, the institution they work in will not run.

In return, they want to live their lives. They want to have a mobile or two, a luxury car, a nice place to live in, a beautiful wife to show off and a few children into the bargain.

To those dreamers, it is time to wake up and smell the coffee. Hang on to that job and try and improve your skills and attitude at the very least.

Reality in the shape of figures published in black and white yesterday show that unemployment will quadruple in Bahrain by 2013.

The government sector - where bureaucracy reigns - is saturated with Bahrainis. There, 92 per cent of the workers - who don't work - are Bahraini.

Vol XXVII NO. 157 Tuesday 24 August 2004

By Amira Al Hussaini

Chaos and confusion. This is what yesterday's major blackout - sorry for using the word as it insults some officials - brought to Bahrain.

The phones did not stop ringing all morning, as if they ever do in our office. People who couldn't get through to the Electricity and Water Ministry expected to find instant answers to their questions with the GDN. They wanted to know what happened, how long will the cuts go on for, what to do and where to go. Somehow, we had lost our crystal ball and had no answers for them because we too found it difficult to speak to officials in the confusion which followed.

Among the callers was my granddad, who was stuck in his fourth floor office, because the lift wouldn't work.

"Take the stairs," I ventured.

"And how do I return back to my office if the power is not back soon. I will not climb up the stairs again," responded my old wise man.

Yes, climbing downstairs is easier than climbing upstairs and every person who has made his way to the top, on his own, would know that.

My young sister too announced that she will pamper herself with a candle-lit bath. Great, I thought to myself, the last thing I would want is a fire at home if the half-wit forgets to put them off afterwards.

Others decided to spend the day around pools. Those too were complaining that they weren't comfortable because the filters were not on. Those more privileged, who wanted to go out on boats too, had their dreams shattered when they discovered that their air-conditioned luxury yachts ran on fuel and most petrol stations were shut.

Contacts described themselves as being warm and "sitting like lemons" in their offices, too afraid to leave for cooler pastures, thanks to "gridlock traffic" because the lights were not working. Like we need the traffic lights to go off for the maniacs on the street to show off their acrobatic skills behind the wheel.

The area around Seef Mall and Al A'ali Shopping district was also literally "raided" by people, who were excused from their offices until the electricity was back on. Unfortunately, for them all, the malls too were SHUT. At least, they could test their driving skills in the mayhem caused by road works in that area.

Despite the complaints, our office was cooler than usual. The generators kicked in as soon as the power was off. Never mind we were confused, had no peace, felt the pain others were going through and could not order food because most restaurants were closed thanks to the blackout!

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI
Published: 17 May 2004

It really is a national disgrace that an MP can literally walk away from serious criminal charges - thanks to a law which grants him immunity.

How long will this farce go on? What do we tell all those women out there about democracy and upholding the civil rights of individuals, when women cannot speak up about being harassed by men in power.

A Syrian woman has been wronged - just because she did not have the backing of the law. Perhaps, if it was another woman with a social standing and the backing of an influential family, the case may have differed.

Her case against an MP, accused of pestering her for sex and making lewd suggestions was thrown out of the Lower Criminal Court - because he has immunity.

Do you know how difficult it is for a woman - any woman - to stand up for her rights in this society, which is controlled by men who indulge in their own petty, selfish, embarrassing pleasures?

I am sure that this woman thought a million times before speaking to anyone about the harassment she has allegedly endured from this respectable MP. She then had to go through the humiliation of explaining to one man after the other about how he fondled himself in front of her. She had to re-tell the story and re-live the horror and shame over and over again.

When the case went to court, she finally took a breath of relief. Justice will be seen to be done at last. But she sure was wrong.

Let's just look at the hundreds of cases in court involving women for a proper definition of the word justice.

Back to our respectable MP. How could a 47-year-old man be elected to public office despite being accused of fondling himself in front of a woman, repeatedly pestering her for sex and making lewd suggestions on a number of occasions.

How could he be let off the hook, just because he has become an MP since it all allegedly happened in 2001.

Why hasn't Parliament met and discussed lifting his immunity in a session and passed a decision on it?

Isn't this part of the democratic process we have been churning out front page after front page on?

Or is the role of MPs, who promised their constituents 101 things before their election, restricted today to flexing their muscles at the government?

Next time I am in parliament, I wouldn't want to cross paths with this MP nor with all the others who covered up for him and brushed away this woman's complaints, just because she was a woman.

Had he not been an MP, what would the punishment have been like?

I will recount to you a personal horror story which happened to me and my sister one night not in the too far past.

We were chased by five Saudi thugs, who pulled my sister out of the car and started hitting and biting her. When passers-by stopped to rescue her, they escaped. We filed a case at the Hoora Police Station, the culprits were arrested, rushed through court on a Thursday and released on BD 40bail each.

The follow-up to the case? My lawyer cannot do anything because the case papers have disappeared.

Will anyone respond to my queries and complaints for justice? No.

Me, my sister, the Syrian woman and all the other women out there should just swallow their humiliation and accept the fact that if they want to live, go out, drive, go to college or go shopping, they have to put up with harassment and shut up.

There is no one to hear their complaints and no one to stand up for them. Bravo, Bahrain. Welcome to the new era of democracy and reform.

Vol XXVII NO. 23 Monday 12 April 2004

By Amira Al Hussaini

LIVING in Bahrain now seems like being forced to take part in a three-dimensional American movie.

I realise that not many Arabs (and most people who have lived here) want to be players in an American world, but reality has to be accepted and the truth has to be taken with a pinch of salt.

The fact remains that we are all enlisted to play a role in this huge production - whether we want to or not. Some may take the leading roles, while others would agree to work as cameramen, voice engineers, support cast, stunt men and directors behind the scenes.

There are a lot of vacancies and the roles you take depend on how far you want to get along in life.

After all, everyone has a different plot, a different script and a different role and no one has time to see what the others are doing or to put one and one together to draw a full picture of what is happening around.

In this no-expense-spared Hollywood hit, there are armed robberies in Muharraq and Riffa during the day and night, drug hauls of hashish worth millions - if not billions - in Budaiya, muggings, rapes, vandalism and abused housemaids.

There are also masked men robbing coldstores at knife-point, paedophiles sodomising school boys, jewellery shops broken into at night and women being harassed as they walk down busy streets in broad daylight.

The crime scene unfolding right now is too complex and full of intrigue and suspense - which could make the likes of NYPD Blue and Law and Order look shallow and lacking in substance.

We are all now living in a big reality television show, where anything and everything is possible - even things which are haram and totally alien to our Bahraini traditions and culture.

And when you think of it, our MPs went on a rampage and booted out Big Brother without bothering to get down from their ivory towers to investigate what is happening behind Bahrain's closed doors. We are living a full-scale movie, with all the Islamic and not-so-Islamic scenes and the censor is fast asleep.

Three armed robberies on banks in the span of a month? Impossibly huge hauls of drugs in two days? What is next? What is happening to my country? Until a few years ago, our front door at home used to remain open round the clock. Today, it is locked - day and night.

This movie is quickly turning into a horror film and the good cops must swing into action to ensure that such incidents remain isolated crimes perpetrated by sick minds. Those behind such grave violations should be immediately caught and put on public trial - and the punishment should be harsh and equal to the damage those criminals are bringing to the kingdom's reputation.

They should be named and shamed, to set examples for the ill-minded and to continue to ensure that Bahrain is the oasis of peace all decent Bahrainis aspire to live in.

Vol XXVII NO. 9 Monday 29 March 2004

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

Politics can be a dirty game which gets even messier when novices jump on board to play. A few days ago I had the pleasure of speaking to the creme de la creme of political and social society heads in Bahrain to gauge their reaction to Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin's murder.

They were all united that it was a cowardly act perpetrated with full US support and that the masses would be enraged. They all warned of the consequences of lack of Arab governments' support for the Palestinian cause - a highly sensational issue for all Arabs. And they spoke about rallies, which they cautioned, may get out of control and turn into riots if nothing is done! Like Bahrain could free Palestine and is not doing anything about it.

What really intrigues me is the outpouring of emotions from these Bahraini reactionaries who represent a broad spectrum of political backgrounds. Secularists and the Islamists shared the same views - if not the same agendas.

The next few days showed that their prophecies were true. There were huge rallies, sit-ins and even riots and acts of sabotage and vandalism.

The question I wanted an answer for is why? What do those little boys who went on a rampage know about the Palestinian cause? What did they know about Sheikh Yassin and his politics? Was it really the murder of Sheikh Yassin which drove them out to the streets or was it something else which needs to be closely examined if we are to overcome this stage of political reconciliation in a calm and dignified manner?

One of the society heads spoke about pent up anger among the young. He brought up every issue under the sun - from lack of job opportunities to discrimination, poverty, vice and concerns about the constitution. What I could not connect then was what has the murder of Sheikh Yassin got to do with all the problems Bahrainis suffer from.

Now I know it was only an excuse to make a scene. I should have known that when one of them told me that there would be a rally staged next to the Seef roundabout. The naive me immediately reacted: Why Seef? It is already congested there and traffic moves at a snail's pace any time of the day or night. His knowing answer was: To draw attention to our plight. To make our voices heard.

We all know that Sheikh Yassin was a terrorist in the eyes of Israel and its close ally, the US - but for all Arabs he is a hero who has literally given up his life to fight for a just cause. It is a shame that such a man is being used as a scapegoat by masked mobsters who only want to make trouble.

Vol XXVII NO. 1 Sunday 21 March 2004

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

What does a father do when his son goes on a rampage at home? How would he behave when the spoilt brat breaks his favourite vase, burns his prized book collection or digs up the flower bed?

Should he pat him on the back and apologise to him for being a bad father and for cheating on his mother?

Or should he deal with him using fist and leg or any other sharp object that comes to hand?

Or maybe he could reason with him to see what made the little boy have a tantrum in the first place. After all, everyone knows that boys cannot think, let alone plot for anything.

Those boys who went on a rampage on Wednesday, terrorising restaurant patrons and destroying public property, are mere puppets in the hands of bigger shark who are playing a game too big to be digested in one go.

The problem is that there are too many players at the moment and if we don't have a confession session and sit all together around a table, we will never know who is behind what is making Bahrain take one step forward and two steps backwards.

Reform and change take time. A child learns to crawl, then sit, then stand, then walk and when he finally gains his balance, he can conquer heights - only if he has the courage to do so and leaves all his phobias and insecurities behind.

Those people behind Wednesday's events are not freedom fighters. They cannot be calling for more political rights for Bahrainis because if they had anything logical to call for, there are civil ways and channels for making their voice heard.

That is how a 'democracy' works and not by burning cars, trespassing on public property and terrorising women and their children.

Vol XXVI NO. 362 Tuesday 16 March 2004

By Amira Al Hussaini

Our legendary Tree of Life is being vandalised and no one is taking any notice. With nothing much to do in Bahrain during the holidays, we decided to visit Sakhir and pay homage to the tree which is celebrated around the world and virtually ignored at home.

True to its legend, the lofty tree - which is now old, fragile, a picnic spot and a refuse disposal point - continues to attract scores of people during the weekends and holidays.

Every tourist who visits Bahrain makes it a point to visit this mysterious tree whose source of water has continued to baffle scores of scholars over decades.

To my dismay, I wasn't at all pleased with what I saw. The tiny fence put up by Tourism Affairs a few years ago has done little to fend off vandals, who still climb the tree, break its branches and pen their names on it. The mighty tree, which can be seen from miles, is now a dying shrub which is being treated in an undignified manner by many of the people who visit it.

The place is like a garbage collection point, with plastic bags flying around it and caught in its broken, dying branches.

Fat people, well past their childhood, are using its branches as a jumping castle. Those people, most of whom were foreigners when I visited the tree, should be ashamed of the way they are re-paying Bahrain for its hospitality. This isn't what we Bahrainis expect from you.

Some of the Bahrainis there weren't faring better either, driving their four-wheel drives up to the tree - like it would hurt them to park their cars a few metres away and walk up to it.

But I am losing the point here and instead of lashing out at the illiterates who are vandalising the tree, I would like to know what the authorities are doing to prevent these atrocities being committed against our Tree of Life.

Bahrain is trying hard to draw clean tourism and I don't see this possible by keeping the Tree of Life area dirty. It is one of the few, if not the only, natural attractions in this country.

Plans to set up a small museum, a souvenir shop and a guards station near the tree must have been forgotten now. This is what we have been promised by officials years ago and it is the least we expect.