There is nothing that gets the Saudi government to act like shining the western media spotlight on it. Once the spotlight dims, things usually go back to the way they were. A while back there was all this attention about who I call the child bride of Onaiza, and accordingly the marriage never took place [...]
Posts Tagged as ‘Saudi Society’
August 20, 2009
They always have been winning and probably always will…
If you read anything related to Saudi Arabia or have a conversation with someone living there, inevitably this remark comes up”but change is coming soon”. Well from my perspective, it’s just not true. Short of an outright war or a western invasion, women will never get their rights. I remember a Bahraini friend of mine [...]
July 12, 2009
The Saudi college system
Right now is the time of the year when many households in Saudi Arabia are worrying about their high school graduates getting into a good college. Recently the system has gone through a few changes. In the 80s and 90s it was rather stable especially the girls’ high schools. The boys on the other hand [...]
July 1, 2009
Love in KSA
Yesterday Riyadh Newspaper carried a story about a couple. Their relationship ended horribly when the guy blackmailed the girl into meeting him on a secluded roof. Only she came with a bottle of acid. She agreed that he would be there first waiting for her and when she got there he had already gotten down [...]
April 7, 2009
Divorce in Saudi Arabia
No matter how many reports you read about the rise in numbers of divorce cases in Saudi Arabia, it still remains a dirty word that Saudis are taught not to even contemplate. For my generation and those younger, there is a growing number who rebel. But for older couples it is still very true. No [...]
March 21, 2009
Hayat (PVPV) al Badiah assualts a citizen after he dropped off his wife at a mall
This article was in Al Riyadh newspaper on Thursday and I fully expected it to be translated and published in Arab News on Friday. As it hasn’t been, I thought I would do the honors:
A Saudi citizen, Al Qahtani, has requested that the authorities open an investigation with members of the PVPV, Badi’ah Branch, accusing [...]
February 17, 2009
The recent changes in the ministry of education
Former minister of education: Dr. Al Obaid
NO CLEAR PHOTO AVAILABLE
New deputy minister of girls’ education: Mrs. Nora Al Faiz
So the dust has settled and now that we can look more closely at the changes made, we can see that there is a new position that wasn’t there before. It’s not the position given to the [...]
December 24, 2008
Suicide in Saudi Arabia
What brought this to mind is that recently someone in my circle of acquaintances committed suicide. Attending the funeral, no one, not a single person used the term suicide. They would mention things that were so obvious like that the departed sat her older sister down just a few days before dying and told her that [...]
December 3, 2008
Making Light of Gender Discrimination
The Saudi woman cartoon: Please insert one riyal + a letter of permission from your male guardian authenticated by a stamp from his office of employment + 2 photocopies of the family registration card + a certificate of commendable conduct authenticated by the protection of fungal life association + an aerial photo of your house [...]
November 24, 2008
Religion is morals
This month the Education Ministry instructed all religion teachers to spend five minutes of every class they teach to lecture students on how to dress properly and avoid western clothes. These instructions are strange considering that all Saudi public schools have very strict dress codes that even govern hairstyles. Girls have to wear a uniform [...]
