April 2004

25/04/2004
Bahraini women finally making mark on political scene
Vol XXVII NO. 36 Sunday 25 April 2004

By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

Women, the better half of society, finally make their mark on the political scene in Bahrain with the appointment of Dr Nada Abbas Haffadh as Health Minister.

This recognition is long overdue and to be frank, is rather belated, considering that formal education for girls was introduced in 1928.

In fact, the first Bahraini women to get a formal education had to wake up at dawn and walk to the nearby American Mission School, Manama, about 20 years before this date.

A quick calculation shows that it has taken women about 100 years to climb the corporate ladder and reach the pinnacle of the civil service hierarchy! Nevertheless, better late than never.

Thank God, we have another clear-cut job for us which doesn't take a century to qualify for - and that is baby-sitting all those men with big moustaches and pumped up muscles.

On a serious note, women have worked alongside men in making Bahrain what it is today and it is only just that the day has finally come when a woman sits alongside her peers in the Cabinet to draw up plans for a better Bahrain and make decisions which affect both men and women.

I hope all men out there won't think that the charismatic Dr Haffadh is only a pretty face to look at because her appointment is truly a dream come true for women in Bahrain.

Having a woman minister means that Bahrain has finally started grasping the fact that society is made up of men and women and both could be relied on to serve its interests.

The only concern is that Dr Haffadh will be expected to prove herself every step of the way, just because she is a woman.

She will have to work harder than all the other ministers to ensure that a woman can become a minister - and a successful minister too. Just because she is a woman, her every single move and smile will be scrutinised.

And as the first woman minister with a portfolio, she will also be expected to make it work - simply because she is the first to shoulder such a post and her success could determine whether or not more women ministers will follow.

To Dr Haffadh and all the other women who will follow in her footsteps, I have one thing to say: The recipe to success is easy.

Dr Haffadh can bank on her experience, knowledge and, of course, the all-powerful X chromosome, women have inherited and passed on from one successful matriarchal generation to the other.

No matter what men say, women have amazing organisational skills (we can walk and talk on the telephone at the same time); a sixth sense that is never wrong (especially if there is something fishy) and foresight (even without using the skills of a clairvoyant).

Women can also withstand pressure and have the resolve to make things work - even when men say they won't.

To all the pessimists out there: from now on, it is an onward march for women and the sky is the limit.



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12/04/2004
Bahrain crime scenes outdoing Hollywood thrillers
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.