Moslems celebrate their "Lunar food & drama festival" aka Ramadan

Next will be surrounding the Ka'ba with advertising billboards like football stadiums to milk out petty pilgrims, why not?

If it was a matter of dedicating certain delicacies (Qatayif, Samosa …etc) to this season then I wouldn't have given this despicable state of affairs a flying thought, but what we're witnessing here is an outright exploitation of the holy month of fasting with total disregard to the true essence of it.

And mind you, despite my usual rhetoric tone, I'm not enflamed by the fact that the commercial exploitation of Ramadan is on the expense of its Islamic and sentimental values, no… for this only worries those who cohere to the Islamic doctrine on a daily basis, whether off-Ramadan or during the month, in which Ramadan act as a catalyst to do more of the good stuff they usually do.

But for others, it seems fair that during the month of Ramadan, if one feels unconvinced (too young, too hot or too tired) or simply can't be bothered with fasting, then the least that one could do is to refrain from doing so and go about his/her day as business as usual, but this isn't exactly what happens.

What we see before our blatant eyes is the transformation of Ramadan to a total different entity, with nothing left of its Islamic origin or its cultural evolvement, but a mutant commercially exploited month-long celebration driven by greedy corporates and oblivious recipients (that'll be us).

From a more analytical perspective, Ramadan became what it is now from right from the capitalising of two underlying features that engulf the fasting community: hunger and boredom, that's of course what's left for those who blindly practice fasting, others subtly find themselves stricken by those two.

It sounds fair that our heritage have in its luggage allot of dedication for Ramadan along other occasion, some with valid grounds, like serving high energy food and thirst-bashing & nurturing drinks and some merely found out of the blue, no harm in that, every other culture have its fair bit of seasonal food and drinks.

Here in Jordan, Circassian have their Shibs-ibwasta, typically served in winter time (seems like year round back in the Qoqaz though) and Christian minorities serve a special home-baked biscuits during their seasonal occasions, but I'm not sure how many cultures out there have Vimto and contemporary commercial products as a Ramadan household item?

I'm not sure either; if many other cultures allow themselves to be exploited and be manically rushed into a "a pre-Ramadan shopping spree", as if supplies will run out at some point in the near future, to the point that some supermarkets here rationalise the despising of Vimto at the rate of one bottle per shopper!

The amount of advertising spending for fast-moving consumer goods double, especially drinks, they litter the littered billboards with drinks and Ramadan-inspired food, as if to say that the sunset marks the cadence of one's average Ramadanian day… petty really.

I'm not disputing the commercial viability and what used to be a marketing ingenuousness of placing food & beverages products right in the face of hungry folks who are about to have their first meal after a long day! But how ethical is that I ask? Not from an Islamic perspective but rather in terms of the corporate responsibility towards respecting others beliefs and try not to exploit it.

If anything, demand should decrees during Ramadan, work the math out, people should be consuming less since they'll be eating less, how we managed to challenge the laws of supply & demand, I think I have a clue or two.

Then comes the matter of entertainment and TV, cinema, tents & theatrical drama (will its mostly comedy I know), and again I'm not disputing the business sense behind investing heavily on aligning premier stuff for Ramadan TV schedules and line up a number of movie releases and performances especially for this month.

This is a normal continuum of the despicable state of affairs of Arabs & Moslems in general, where the only industry they seem to be "good" at is the entertainment one, if only this accompanies some quality content… but alas, mimic societies are bound to have the cultural contribution of an amphibian frog.

So I have no problem (will I do, but you should know my theme by now) with Ramadan TV specials and all, except with the fact that its dedicated for and named after the month of Ramadan, it sounds utterly awkward and incoherent with the general theme of Ramadan and what it should typically entail and stand for.

The least that can be done is to continue offering the usual stuff without dedicating anything to the month! Its very disrespectful to those who adhere to the month and try to observe it thoroughly.

I humbly think that Moslems and non-Moslems alike (living in Moslem societies), the fasting and the can't-be-bothered-with-fasting folks alike, we should all take a strong stand against all greedy companies and supermarkets that try to milk us out during this holy month and gradually diminishing its genuinely distinct essence.

A boycott movement if you like, against every exploitation of the month of Ramadan, in sheer respect for what Ramadan stands for and what it means to those who try to sincerely observe it, and happy Lunar food & festival everyone, and Ramadan Kareem to the observing few.

A glitch in the Matrix? The windowless houses of Riyadh

The photos speaks for themselves, but mind the awkward angles they're taken at, they were shot in a drive-by fashion as I thought to myself that those who put too much effort "covering" up their houses will probably be really pissed-off if they found someone –a foreigner especially- taking photos of the very entity they're "covering" away from voyeuristic intruders!



Let's start with this one, the owner of this house decided to have some windows but with an angle to cut any line of sight! people inside probably suffer from a stiff knick when looking outside the window.



Your average apartment building comes in two window fitting flavours to fit your lifestyle: noisy "window" air-conditioning or a blinded window.



The guy decided to artistically & permanently place a metal sheet in front of the windows adjacent to the main street.



No need for air-flow, single-sided darkened windows.



To be fair, this is how the majority of houses have their windows done, fair enough I assume!



This is from the inside of an apartment building, to come and think about it, methinks the reasoning behind such practice is not to detour nosy neighbours but actually to prevent whose inside from looking outside!



At least this one is different, L-shaped, very very original, remember these are not see-through glass, they're all darkened or "امبزر".



A wall was porpously constructed to hide away the window and block any chances of sight in either direction.



This is another typical in-the-box boxed house.



The little window is for the toilet probably.



Keep the window arches to maintain the architectural visual harmony (if such thing exist) probably; but do with glass! I swear I didn't touch any of the photos with Photoshop, this is sheer reality.



Another creative use of metal sheets in shading one's windows.



One must be fair, this villa have a huge lobby area to the right side covered out with glass, but the rest of the house (especially the sleeping & living quarters) is hidden away as it seems.



Another typical setup, notice the metal shading to the left, this is very common in between most adjacent houses.



Had a change of heart? This one inspired the "glitch in the Matrix" title, from the trap scene when the Machines changed the attributes of a building in order for it not to have any exists (doors, windows ..etc) causing a "glitch" Dejavu.

So… a visual account of a strange phenomenon here in Riyadh, I used to find the huge concrete fences around house to be repelling, but these are nothing compared to being stuck in one of them houses for days & days without a hint of sun shine or allowing a breathe fresh air to replace the AC-intoxicated & rotten air in the house (if you don't mind the desert dust).

An anomalous divine intervention: America vs. Italy!

“عدالة السماء” (heaven’s mercy/justice) apparently took revenge last night for the hundred of thousands of massacred Iraqis & Afghanis killed by US forces while fighting terrorism (and as a bonus: bringing them justice while at it), along with the chronic oppression of Palestinians that was only made feasible by the American support of the Israeli apartheid!

I despicably hate America’s guts (not its people); I oppose its invasion of Iraq, & the poking of its reddish nose in everyone’s business. But I must admit that I couldn’t but help siding with whoever team the American team was playing against, I know it’s just sport & not politics, but I just couldn’t swallow it. (Beside who ever heard of an American football -soccer- league as famous as the NBA?)

But would I go to the extent to be a God’s spokesman & claim that the two red cards & the canceled goal were part of God’s wrath against American atrocities around the world? I wouldn’t dare doing so...

But it seems the commentator of the ART exclusive airing of the match thought so, he rhetorically screamed “يا لعدالة السماء” as the fond-with-red-cards referee waived the 2nd card during the match (kicking out the first american player).

For a split second there; I was rather amused by the whole thing, but as the 3rd red card was waived (kicking out the 2nd american player) & the 2nd American goal was canceled, the commentator reiterated that he couldn’t help but view this as a vengeance against America’s foreign policy! He interrupted my blatant sense of entertaining joy out of the American team’s misfortune!

Is that so? Why did God allow the American team to make it to the world cup finals in the first place (an achievement on its own even if suffering an 8 to nil defeat like another supposedly a Godly loved country), huh smart commentator?

Why wouldn’t God take revenge by weeping off a whole battalion in the middle of the desert in broad daylight or a couple of them super carriers cruising the gulf? Why choose an almost politics-free football game & not some skirmishes on the frontlines?

I’m also reminded of the fallacy in the proposition of those who found it in themselves to claim that Katrina was God’s answer to America, little did they appreciate the human tragedy in it, or the difference between the ill-fate of fellow humans & the arrogance, deficiency & failure of the government ruling them who couldn’t deal with the crisis (something worth cheering upon).

The fatalist mindset we’ve been oriented with throughout our lives is just incredible, we seek easy victories achieved by others (including non-deserved divine interventions) to heal the wounds of the utter loss we’re solely (as people & not governments) responsible of.

God may well be capable of humiliating an American team during a worldwide event, or even soak America up to its chest with floods & “natural” disasters, and frankly he is capable of doing so, he is the almighty, the sustainer of the universe, but why ridicule our creed in him to merely serve a momentous ecstasy out of mocking our enemy’s misfortune that has nothing to do with the very struggle we have against them?

For some reason (I wasn’t born back then) the scene of the kidnapping of the Israeli Olympic team during the 70s came to mind, yes; the righteously rebellious Palestinians had every right there is to bring the world’s attention to their injustice as it was slowly slipping out of the world’s consciousness & into the ancient-history injustice category that sounds ludicrous to be discussed in contemporary terms.

But the targets were civilians, and not the type of soldiers-on-standby civilians living (occupying?) Palestine as we speak, and the arena they were targeted in was of a civilian nature, I think if one choose to take the Olympics or any internationally-observed sporting activity as a retaliation front, then the game should be played otherwise: lobbying to have Palestine listed as a participating nationality (before the Oslo accords), decide to take part (after being listed) & work hard enough to humiliatingly defeat the Israeli team with pure sportsmanship! or better still, boycotting the event that the Israeli teams are taking part in altogether.

I personally would opt for the latter; I think despite official international endorsement of the Israeli state, non-political events should still recognize the oppression of the people in a politically neutral basis, under the premise that the Palestinian cause is just & humane even before being politicized. But that’s off the subject.

Personally, I only watch the world cup matches while exercising at the gym, I occasionally find myself purposely watching a football match (it must be potentially a really really good game that include mainstream-ishly recognized as good teams), but I’ll definitely not watch the American team in play again, because I don’t want the blatant part of me to have even the tiniest of American-demise midgets out of an insignificant event…

I’d rather flick the channel, watch some news of the Iraqi or afghani resistance "teams" showing their own type of red cards that harvests American mercenaries occupying their sovereign states with the “real” aid & blessing of an ever so merciful & just God.

The man-made maid dilemma

Following the topic led by a number of entries about the maids (domestic workers, huh?) in Jordan, methinks that being sympathetic towards those we hire to work for us in our homes is rather a flawed approach to a circumstantially unique issue; what’s needed is a degree of empathy, beside the social aspect of the issue!

In my case, our house back home is rather large, and I must confess we had two maids at one point, all of my 2 married sisters & sister in-law have maids too, though their household is comprised of their non-working selves, their husbands & 1 to 2 loud & demanding kids living in a 200sqm apartment (at best)! A typical well-off family setup, my fiancée’s sister also has a similar situation!

Being sick-off & fundamentally opposed to the excessive dependency on maids, I started the discussion with my fiancée at an early stage to establish a provisional agreement upon which I can keep poking her with once we’re married! Perhaps not; but I’ll use it to negotiate my way out of it when I’m cornered with the possible demand of hiring a maid…

The thrust of my premise & opposition stems from the fact that the size of the household of my sisters does not require the hiring of a live-in maid, neither their age or their health condition, as a matter of fact, the maids they hire are either their age or older, probably has left behind kids of the age of my nephews & nieces… at best, a per-hour hiring of a maid ONCE needed seems more sensible!

The problem with such proposition is that you get instantaneously hit with the heavy brick of “If you think it’s THAT easy, why don’t you do it for yourself?”, and to my "feminist" naysayer readers; I plead for a hint of a benefit of doubt here…

The other premise I argue my case with is the fact that when a maid is available –typically- 16 hours a day increases our dependency upon her service, intriguing laziness, and lack of intuition in house-keeping and swarms of other deficiencies, not to mention the cultural, linguistic & general negative influence over the kids & the household in general!

No I’m not xenophobic-ally worried that my kids will be deluded & start carrying a cross or worshiping Jesus –peace & blessing upon him- or rub a deformed golden elephant statue every morning for luck! Rather, I’m worried that my kids would fall into the comfortable feelings of superiority over a consistent observation of maids coming from certain backgrounds, among other issues...

It took me a 4-year solo stretch living on my own & 6 month washing dishes at a restaurant while studying abroad to appreciate & understand the very household demanding necessities that I’ve took for granted the whole of my life! statements like “Leave the dishes, SHE will take care of them”, “Never mind the untidy living room, SHE went out to walk the dog & SHE’ll tide it up once SHE’s back” or “Oh, I’m late to work, never mind turning the bed, SHE’ll take care of it” creeps a fit into my knick.

And my closing paradigm is rather economical, as I don’t understand how a country with a per capita GDP as low as $4k is capable of paying (on average) $120 monthly for over 50 something thousand maids coming from a country –Philippines- with a higher per capita GDP (ok, slightly higher)! Probably the math works out the same way we ended up with 10 H2 Hummer vehicles for every 1000sqm of Amman costing JD14 to travel for 100km distance (the per litter cost for premium unleaded is JD0.6 & the H2 mileage is 22litters per 100km, fire-up Google & get your calc. out if you find me unworthy of your trust)

On a lighter note, I utterly demise the hierarchy of the hiring process which is based on prestige in essence (and hence the pay they get): Who decided that the Iraqi widowed maid is better than the dark-skinned young woman from Ghour? Who decided that an Indonesian maid is better than the Iraqi widow? Who decided that Chandra & her sisters are better than their Indonesian counterparts? Flippin heck… who decided that their Filipino counterparts are more hardworking & prestigious?

Oh, with the hurl of exceptions of Moslem Filipinos who are mostly dump & will probably churn at an early point, along with the niche Egyptian couple (a guard & his wife) being a spot-on preference of differentiation! That’s infuriating& out-righting pathetic…

Now, despite a (believe it or not understandingly) probable disposition with regard my humble self being not so feminine-friendly, yet I’m still a firm believer in the distribution of roles between the –equal in rights- men & women of society, where in the majority of typical families, the man is a provider while the woman is a sustainer, the man provides a living to the family, while the woman makes this living possible!

Why should a woman leave her home and kids to work in order to afford a maid that will fill in for her where she is mostly needed? I’d like to emphasize on the use of the term “needed” as opposed to being obliged or required to; for this distribution of roles stems from an intrinsic (and I sincerely believe: instinctual) understanding of the capacity of being a wife & a mother!

Why should the whole family suddenly become so dependent on the service offered by the maid or even the –mostly- helpless housewife or the dozen of sisters, while each and every member of the household should take care of his or her bit and contribute towards the general welfare of it!

Obviously, I understand the need of a maid for a larger households, like having a 400+ sqm home, with half dozen or more kids, I can understand the need for a maid with an elderly living alone, I understand the need of a helping hand with a young woman whose either pregnant or recently gave birth, so on & so forth…

FAST FORWARD >>

So you hired a maid, huh? Obviously you shouldn’t treat them as slaves, common sense one might think, yet a good chunk of our oblivious society take such things for granted & end up treating their maids as such!

All that’s needed is a principle understanding of the contractual obligation between both parties, you hire a woman regardless of the circumstances that led her to taking such job, you pay her fairly, give her the agreed upon leaves (be it the weekly, monthly or bi-annually) & don’t force her to work over hours.

Along with the essential good manners & no-brainers tactfulness of recognizing that she also may suffer from a crippling fatigue after a Jordanian family feast or gathering even if she was being paid to do the job she’s doing at such occassion(s).

On the other hand, the maid should understand that she’s not being done a favor or being subject to a charity pay camouflaged in a form being paid for a job! it might not be the best job in the world, but it’s her reality; a cumbersome job that provides the money needed to support the very family she left behind.

Now this was strictly business talk, and that’s too crude and does not address the uniqueness & intimacy (in the family sense of it) of the situation, therefore the family who decide to hire a maid should acknowledge the fact that the woman they hired did actually leave her house to serve in another thousand of miles away…

No, that doesn’t mean to be arrogantly be sympathetic or pampering her with insincerety, it means that the environment where she works at should be capacitating:

Ideally, it should feel like her second home, for her to feel considered as part of the family (for she is), as she wakes up wit them, live with them, eat with them (yes on the same table & at the same time while the food is hot) & essentially being allocated a decent & acceptable place to sleep (the washing machine room is not a sleeping quarter) while she carry out her due diligence!

All that is needed is a level of empathy (I can’t emphasize more on the essential difference between it & sympathy) and understanding! Rubbing a JD10 note in her face on Christmas or Krishna’s anniversary wouldn’t cut it as being nice! It’s the general attitude & overall good-mannered treatment that counts and should be widely recognized as important.

Finally, if you’re a non-working elitist mother who's out'n'about doing her nails at Perfect-nail (they should start paying me for over mentioning them) or the hair at TONY&GUY while the entourage of specialty maids are taking care of the dog, the kids & the house… (respectively) I'm inclined to speak of your likes viciously, yet the more articulate & well-spoken “foreigner” among us had it better...

Guest Entry: My fiancée’s reaction over the latest “uncovering” of Hamas activity in Jordan

Last Wednesday, my fiancée called me up; utterly irritated by some segregating gibberish she heard over the radio "البث المباشر" on her way to the university, folks were speaking of how “we” helped the Iraqis & Palestinians and this is how “they” pay "us" back by terrorizing “us”!

She wrote the following piece and in my unbiased –could it be?- humble opinion, I think it’s crude & cordially sincere:

قالوا صباحا في الأذاعة أنهم لم و لن يهزيمونا! لا صواريخ, لا متفجرات ولا حتى مؤامرات, لا ولا ولا،،، 0

قالوا أنهم (من هم أصلا؟ و ما هدفهم؟) لم و لن يستطيعوا زعزعة أمن الأردن المستقر الباقي الحبيب،،، 0

و قالوا أنهم (من هم؟) لم و لن يستطيعوا تدمير أحلامنا و تفكيك قوانا ولا حتى زحزحة حجر من أحجار بنيان "الأردن أولا" 0

ولكنهم فعلوا (من هم؟)0

زعزعوا (من هم؟) الأمن بدون صواريخ ولا تفجيرات, زعزعوا (من هم؟) الأمن في بلدنا بزرع الشك في نفوسنا الضعيفة و قد نالوا من بنيان "الأردن أولا" بزرعهم الفتن بين أفراده وزرع الكره والحقد والعدوان

فلا نقول أنهم لم ينالوامنا ,بل نالوا وفعلوا وحققوا

لتكن نظرتنا للأمور أعمق, ولتكن حكمتنا بالحكم أقوى و أوجه, لنفكر و نحلل لندرك،،، 0

لندك أنهم (من هم؟) بقدرتهم أن يخططوا اعوام و أعوام لزرع فتنة واحدة ممكن أن تدوم حتى و لو لساعات بين أفراد المجتمع فيزيد الكره و العدوان بين أفراد المجتمع الواحد

فننشغل بأنفسنا عنهم (من هم؟), و نضع بأيدينا الغشاوة على أعيننا حتى نصبح من الذين لا يرون خلف الأسوار

و نقول أنهم لم ينالو ؟؟؟؟

Fastlink’s success is the highlight of the Jordanian consumer failure!

During my last trip to Amman, I called an electrician to come and fix something & when I gave him my mobile number –not on Fastlink (Zain)- he reiterated in protest “ما في عندك خط فاست؟” “Haven’t you got a Fast number?”… I paused for a second & thought to myself; either Fastlink (Zain) has a one hell of a cult-following inducing marketing strategy or we are just a bunch of easily milked taken-for-granted consumers!

We stand today at a market place were –technically- four different mobile operators are burning themselves out to the verge of bankruptcy to keep their pace in the competition to lock-in as many customers as possible, yet what we get in the end is an erratic –guesstimate- market share of 61% Fastlink (Zain), 27% MobileCom, 9% Umniah & 3% XPress!

Have it been the case that Fastlink (Zain) is a decent operator that provides a quality service with a matching customer service & fair competitive pricing; I wouldn’t have given it a flying thought if Fastlink is leading the market or not, I’ll even applaud their success!

Yet Fastlink (Zain) treat its taken-for-granted customers like old mules (Examples from the blogsphere: here & here), their network performance is poor (despite the comprehensive coverage they boost) & their pricing is based on the premise that everyone is using Fastlink & no other network exist!

Allow me to elaborate by briefly –not- telling the Mobile story of little Jordan:

Once upon a time, a company called Fastlink was granted a license to operate a mobile network in a lovely little country called Jordan, at the time, the cost of building, operating & maintaining such a network was costly, so obviously their target customers were a niche, hence the vulnerability of their business that required it to be protected by a 5-year exclusive monopoly over the market.

During those 5 year golden years, Fastlink (Zain) managed to milk the slowly growing niche of customers with a ridiculously high pricing & no emphasize on the service it offered or the quality of it... but everything has an ending, and so did its monopoly by the entry of another operator MobileCom, both took part in a duet of a further 5 years of duopoly with exclusivity over the market place.

At the time, Fastlink (Zain) recognized it will be loosing it’s customers rapidly, after all the advent of competition is tempting for the previously choice-less punters, so they did overhaul their service, most notably was the introduction of a real customer service call-center with adequate number of sweet-talking agents to meet the demand of their 85k punters at the time.

Yet Fastlink (Zain) found itself in a situation facing an incompetent competitor unable to penetrate the market while competing over simple-minded consumers! Fastlink (Zain) spared no effort in capitalizing on those two underlying factors.

By launching a new pricing plan that made it ridiculously expensive to call anyone not on Fastlink (Zain) in comparison with the relatively cheaper – but still expensive- price for calling its own customers, they rendered any good rate plan offered by MobileCom irrelevant because punters who sign up with MobileCom assumed that they will not be called by their Fastlink (Zain) counterparts!

How imbecilic is that! Since when the feasibility of anything is based on the savings made for others! If company A charges you a very high for calling company B & charging less for calling its own, while company B is charging you adequately to call both, which one will you choose?

Why should you care if 100k out of a potentially growing market were initially signed up with company A out of no choice, why not create a balance in the market place to keep a truly dynamic competition in place!

Our incompetence as Jordanian consumers stemmed from the fact that we allowed ourselves to be restrained into a thinking pattern that jstified our worrisome if those who will call us will refrain from doing so because they’ll be charged a premium!

Why should we care if those calling us made the wrong choice by opting for the company that charges a premium while they had the CHOICE otherwise!

Yes, MobileCom didn't capitalize the full potential of it being a new entrant or utilize the environment dictated by the duopoly they enjoyed along with Fastlink (Zain)!

It’s out-of-place marketing strategy & complex –yet cheaper- pricing did not make it easier for punters to make the choice either, so MobileCom is liable within this context.

Whether the government came to the aid of MobileCom, or the latter came up with the novel idea of offering the army personnel a special rate-plans -something that was almost unheard of in this industry-; the strategy worked & the company stayed afloat… until today!

The failure of the Jordanian consumer turned Fastlink (Zain) into a mammoth that enjoyed 5 years of monopoly charging premiums for a service that rapidly cost-ed less to offer, with further 5 years of pity competition that could’ve been more considerable!

And even today, while MobileCom is boosting the best network quality a GSM network can offer, & while Umniah is literally burning prices beyond feasibility (trust me on this one: any cross-network minute sold under 5 piasters doesn’t cover its cost) & XPress is offering a differentiated flat-rate professional service to corporate customers that does actually save money and improve the way business is done, yet with all that on offer you still find a cult-like following for Fastlink (Zain)!

Mr. Electritian, if Fastlink (Zain) is charging you so much for doing the unthinkable act of calling punters on other networks, then for Allah’s sake switch to another provider that charges you fairly for calling anyone!

Damn this number of yours that you have cherished for oh-my 2 years or so… no one cares if you changed it, your prestige will not shatter into pieces at the gates of dunes club, no one will think that you’re a Hafartali except for this insignificant lady, and definitely you’ll earn more by saving on your telephony costs!

A fellow blogger once commented on the lack of innovation in the Jordanian telecom market, but I don’t blame the telcos of Jordan, why should they through another dime while they see the incompetence of it’s potential customers whom are happy even when they’re treated like old mules overlooking the choices they have in a competition-driven market-place.

For Allah’s sake we’re content and even easily amused with merely premium SMS & “new” valued-added services (VAS) such as playing a dreadful song instead of the ringing-tone for those who have the courage to call outside Fastlink (Zain)! Why should any of the networks invest in 3G…

At the end, if you’re a Fastlink (Zain) customer, I have some FACTS for you:

Fact No. 1 No, not everyone is on Fastlink (Zain)! that might’ve been the case few years back thanks to people who think like you do.

Fact No. 2 You have a choice of 3 other operators whom will probably give you a free massage if you decide to opt for their service.

Fact No. 3 Yes, Fastlink (Zain) have superior network coverage, but unless you venture allot outside cities & main highways, you shouldn’t be worried to be left in the cold.

Fact No. 4 Their network is congested! Again, thanks to people who think like you do.

Fact No. 5 What’s the point in having a mature regulatory body, compitition & a maturing sector while consumers are not.

We don’t even know how to mourn…

I feel as awkwardly estranged from our society as I would if I was to partake in a gay parade through Rainbow Street; that is the case every time I find myself in a collision course with some of the rottenly deluded norms and axioms taken for granted in our oblivious society! Even when I know for a fact that I’m righteously... right and the stream I’m up against is explicitly wrong.

Almost one year ago, my father passed away, even the sheer drama and engraved grief that still perpetuate; was not enough to contain my utter disgust and distress from the way our society perceive death and react to its occurrence!

The concept of “عزا” itself turned bad in our contemporary society, it lost its purpose and viscously turned into yet another social event that seems to require careful consideration & planning! Leaving no space for the immediate family of the deceased to cope with the gap that has suddenly popped into their lives, or sense any breather of normality in the midst of the brouhaha...

The thoughtful & purposeful practice of preparing & bringing food for the family of the deceased and their guests is a heart-filled custom that our tradition endorses, we unfortunately, turned it into a worrisome affair that needs to be taken care of!

The term “catering” pops into my mind, and I feel like vomiting… I still feel touched by the sincere & spontaneous measure taken by our Nasayib from Salt on the very first day; who fed us and our guests from their very own households, honoring this tradition with utmost modesty & compassion! in contrast to what others have done in the next few days turning it into warfare of who caters what and when in the midst of our mourning!

Another erratic practice during “عزا” is the continuous playing of Quran recitation tapes, or bitter still… bringing someone to do it live! What’s the purpose of this? If Quran is being recited, then we’re obliged (out of piety that is) to be listening… but no one does during the “عزا”.

The event of DEATH is surreal on its own without tampering with it, why then do we think that a melodic recitation of anything would help in stimulating more grieve or add a touch of sadness to the scene? Alas… if only our oblivious society stop abusing this deen and the holy Quran!

In fact few seem to have the tactful decency to observe silence if nothing considerate or worthy of the occasion can be said during "عزا"! In contrast to the almost-intentional exchange of dirty jokes and senseless sayings, I assume as a sort of sick relief to the family of the deceased. Put aside of course opportunists who will not miss such an occasion to discuss business endeavors.

Methinks that offering condolences have turned into a mere social obligation that lacks compassionate flow of feelings and essential sincerity, possibly due to how we’ve belittled the matter of DEATH in our subconscious to the point that we could no longer identify with it more than being a traumatic sudden event that we need to pull ourselves from without any contemplation and as soon as possible!

The crowds disperse in a couple of days, and the fresh gap that they’ve come to remedy suddenly turns into a merciless & mammoth arpeture! Then comes the dilemma of the very first “Eid” minus the deceased just to highlight the arrogance of our society when it comes to DEATH!

It’s a widely common practice to purposely not celebrate the very first Eid –or any other happy occasion- after the death of a family member, even if weeks separate the two events! not because one does not feel like celebrating it, but purely because of the exerted social pressure not to do so out of sheer embracement to display true feelings! Ensuring that the sorrow and suffering stay inflected for as long as possible even during happy occasions such as Eid.

You’ll find family members celebrating Eid among themselves but not with the immediate family of the deceased, or you may find the family of the deceased having fun few nights before Eid, but as it dawns, they reorient themselves to feel as if the man has just passed away! Feelings and behaviors cannot be more spuriously dissimulated, and for what? In the hope of getting over DEATH! Never...

Little do our oblivious society know that it is obligatory to celebrate Eid as much as it is obligatory to fast during Ramadan… but common sense doesn’t cut it with our society’s intrinsic appeal to rotten code of conduct? Better still; why not resort to what some Hindu sects used to do and burn the wife of the deceased alive to make sure she’s sincerely feeling the grief and prove that she was emotionally attached to her deceased husband!

For a change, why not leave one in peace to deal with his emotions as he sees fit! Why oblige one to make him feel guilty for something that is natural to occur; that is feeling happy of course!

Why make one feel confused about his feelings and feel at fault for disrespecting the legacy of the deceased if one decide to enforce order to his life and recognize that there’ll always be times to grief and will also be times to have fun and enjoy life!

Why not recognize that the eventuality of DEATH is nothing that can be mitigated and dealt with at face-value! as the aftermath of intimate and momentous emotions requires sincerity and true compassion and sometimes tough measures that may seem hurtfully crude at start, but in reality it tackles the real issue rather than flirting with it from far! The process of overcoming the death of a beloved one involves allot of aspects...

For the record, the very first Eid after my father’s death was celebrated, at least I did, as I ensured that our home was oozing with Eid-feel and ready to embrace guests despite their rarity this very Eid due to our society’s arrogance!

My late father’s legacy motivated me to catalyze the morale of my whole family despite the lack of constructive and sincere support from our society...

I was faced with resilience as I was portrayed with notions of misconduct and breaking the "norm', but little do I care... I’m barely trying to adhere to an instinctual doctrine that is divine in essence! (a flare of dogmatism; some might think)

Jordanian English “Life Style” Magazines: Elitism manifested, deluded & superimposed!

When I sample through such magazines, I immediately imagine an English single mother dating a Frenchman with a troubled sex life and a financial leverage to drink tea at the Dorchester hotel in London, in contrast with the profile of their potential readers from Jordan’s upper spheres!

First of all, why are they in English? I feel the big “I am Hypocrite” superscript floating on top of me right now since I am blogging in English, yet I still don’t get it, many magazines around the world are specialty magazines with limited readership that targets a limited specifically-interested niche willing to pay a premium for a magazine that wobbles about the bizarre interest they may have, and I know for sure that there’re business that exploits such interests whom are willing to pay a premium to advertise on these specialty magazines…. Nothing wrong with that (in terms of business)

But this is not the case with “life style” magazines; by definition they should be generic, variant and diverse in essence, as the sum of its material and editorials should have the widest circulation and appeal possible! So how could this be the case when the first thing such magazines do is minimizing their readership circle to the English-speaking niche only!

Perhaps they publish in English in order to "reach out" to the assumed-to-exist like-minded mindsets? and I ask; since when does mentalities can be profiled based on language?

They might be profitable for some awkward reason that mostly has to do with the conjured dynamics of the Jordanian marketplace… but definitely they have no clue who are they selling their magazines for and who's reading it.

I still feel mystified whenever I have the opportunity to vigilantly read through these magazines (frankly to avoid obscene imagery) as I am not sure who are they targeting? Just for once, I would like to plot a pattern of potential readers that fit a certain trend in our Jordanian society that can be identified by the publishers as a potential customer?

I feel disgusted every time I quote glimpse of the disgraceful publication “Layalina”, though I applaud the way they have conceptualized the magazine and how it gained steady foot in the market, the people behind it obviously did their homework, they identified a paying niche that would like to see people and be seen with people around town, and envisaged a magazine that fits their level of intelligence and involvement; minimum reading and maximum visual stimulus at a rather small premium with lots of potential advertisers! Later on, the poor "Layalina" punters are now paying to get their pictures floated on it while the magazine itself is being franchised around the region… a fine entrepreneurship example... alas in the wrong direction.

But the case of “Layalina” is solid even in the face of a fundamentalist like myself, I can confront its editors and ask them “Who reads your magazine?” and they’ll have an answer ready for me; I’ll give away my new car for anyone who can concisely outline the profile of the potential, say “Luxury” or “living well” magazines readers without referring to the fact that they have money to fork around on pointless publications!

Then comes the issue of content: The etiquettes of eating deserts? How to dump your boyfriend painlessly? 10 ways to enhance your sex life? 54 ways to know that he was cheating? Things to consider before buying a Yacht? How to get over an affair? Choosing the perfect Cigar to go with your cocktail party?… Oh’please… where do they think we're living at, my stomach is aching!

Thier professoinal look and feel, and the high caliber writing they may sport is not in question here, it just doesn’t make sense, which part of our culture do these magazines represent? What background do they come from? Do they reflect our reality as a whole society or just samples of unique individuals or phenomenas from it, or perhaps a mere imaginary society that is assumed to exist in the superb of Amman?

Why can’t they address serious issues rather than mimicking editorials and superimposing them upon the helpless niche that barely understand proper English yet alone to comprehend what it means to have a genuine “life style” in the first place?

Why can’t they tackle issues that are truly crippling the niche society they are targeting and the society as a whole: issues like the social inequality we live in, the surge in divorce rates, premarital sex, teenage pregnancies, insect sex, and tragic stories of gambling & alcohol poisoning… mind the cant-see-but-pure-evil rhetoric here

This might be too much to ask from a revenue seeking magazine, a publication full of such gibberish won’t sell for sure, but at least, when these magazines decide to get serious with their editorials, then at least they can pick issues and stories from our local environment!

At the end of this indiscriminate bash on a whole industry, I find myself obliged to credit “Jo” Magazine for they truly stand apart from its peers, despite the fact that they suffer from the same confused image they reflect, in general however; they exhibit sincerity, objectiveness and a professional editorial feel throughout the magazine, as they mostly seem focused on whom they’re targeting… I wish they do away with the semi/naked imagery and pointless articles!

Entrepreneurship from the midst of the deceased.

Sabri Hakim’s capture of the business card from heaven induced me to talk –with a hint of rhetoric tendency- about the individual behind this free gracious service.

Abu-Islam is actually in the funeral-service business. In fact his company’s name is quiet novel and catchy “موْسسة عالم البرزخ”, I am not sure if there is some sort of a biblical equivalent to this term, but the company’s name translates to “The Intermediate World Company for funeral services”. (Intermediate between this life and the afterlife that is)

With a couple of make-shift vans for funeral transports and a small team of employees, the guy goes about his subtle –yet modestly profitable- business which thrives when people unfortunately die.

Remember the early days of Meals-on-wheels of the late ninties that later evolved to Aramex@home? The after-hours shy service that the folks at Aramex envisaged to utilize the parked assets after business hours; sigh, it was a very novel idea for sure, at worse would have been a modest revenue stream, little did they knew at the time that it’ll become part of their core business! Will, our friend Abu-Islam did just that, but with charity in his mind!

I don’t know him personally, but I would reckon that at one point, he thought to himself “Those parked in-between-deaths vans can be used to transport excess food from the extravagant feasts of the rich”… immediately he materialized his thoughts to action and the service promoted in the card above was established!

What interests me most about Abu-Islam’s approach to this type of charity work -beside the fact that it is charity and community centric- is that he have developed pretty interesting and thoughtfully efficient techniques and procedures in the way he go about collecting the excess food, in contrast to the profiling image you might have in mind of a foot-long bearded sheikh with black garbage plastic bags vulgarly dumping the food into an unpleasant stew of mixed leftovers!

First –he sports a pretty long beard by the way-, he comes prepared with plastic bags of all kinds and sizes, the small ones double as make-shift gloves for hygienic and tidiness purposes, then he cleans up the platters from inedible leftovers, then homogeneously segregates the available food; rice is packed separately from meat and decorating extras such as pecans and nuts, the saucy stuff are also packed separately in a shanineh-yogurt-from-Jarash-Ajloun-road style!

Then comes the efficiency in doing the above, I saw his crew (comprised of a man with his 10 year old kid) clearing up 10 20-inch Mansaf platters –sdoorit mansaf- in exactly 15 minutes, not to mention the circus-magician-like swift hand trick that rolls the food into the plastic bag in a very pleasant scene, talk about style...

His tactfulness extends to the way he serves the collected food to the needy, in which he -despite the petty origin of the second-hand food he’s serving- ensures that the people he’s about to feed do not feel agitated from it’s scene, the hungry also have feelings and differentiate between a mouth-watering meal and an abandoned leftover.

Overall, Abu-Islam seems to ooze with courtesy and thoughtfulness concern towards the less fortunate tenders of our society, his concern did not translate to a mere nagging mental midget when one is suffocating-ly full and can't even eye the food left on the table, but rather into tangible action that delivers nutrition and perhaps a hint of joy to many hungry mouths.

I wish the service offered by Abu-Islam was not needed in the first place! Or at least not to be evolving around collecting excess food! I wish for the well-off circles of our society to revise their arrogant habits of ludicrously sized feasts and perhaps reform their corrupt set of social standards and missunderstanding of graciousness and hospitality while they’re on it!

May Allah the most merciful bestow his mercy upon Abu-Islam for his pious work… a truly novel example of selfless dedication and passion towards society that deserves everyone’s acknowledgment.

The Virgin tea-boy.

His name is Shafiq, our company’s eastern region branch office tea-boy and cleaner, due to the limited scope he have during the day, he usually naps his way out day-long utilizing one of the empty desk spaces available. Shafiq pushes aside the keyboard, mouse & pad of an abandoned PC (the monitor would be too heavy though tempting to be pushed aside) to make room for his arms-cum-pillow, and lay his head venutring into another dimension.

For months, I have failed to recognize the screaming contrast! Here you have a poorly educated man with a subtle job, putting aside a computer connected to the internet that at least would be an entertaining ride not to mention its potential as a learning and life-changing experience!, why? Why he never thought of turning it on instead? perhaps out of fatigue (which I doubt), or out of comfy laziness and lack of ambition, or sheer shyness and humbleness that is intrinsic in south-east Asian cultures… perhaps I was the one who was not motivated enough to offer him to use the PC, after all, it is under my jurisdiction until the IT folks find out about it that it is an abandoned asset…

"Shafiq" I shouted "Do you know how to use a computer" in a cross- gulf-arabic-Tagalug-hindi-urdu-english dialect,
"No" was his answer with sheer shock out of surprise,
"Do you know what’s the internet ?” i reiterated and he replied with an unanticipated "Yes"!

Next step, I needed to fuel his interest So I asked him where he's from and he answered that he's from Bangladesh, no need for search engines, a quick www. & .com pre & post fixes to both ends of “Bangladesh” should lead us somewhere interesting... and it did, it was a Bangladeshi portal. Thanks to auto-foreign text detection, the mystic Bengali script appeared, and the looks at his gazing eyes where a carbon copy of my own when I first experienced the internet back in 1994, maybe with a hint of bitter homesickness I assume.

At the risk of no longer recognizing the sincerity of the motives behind teaching the guy how to use the PC and the internet during his lengthy free times, I cannot help but add that I found it very humorous how he oriented himself to use the mouse… not as funny as my aunt's husband who bought a brand-new computer for his kids back in 1997… he wanted to give it ago, so he picked up the mouse mid-air away from the table, started pointing it at the monitor with intermittent clicks on the mouse in a very hilarious abstract scene of people falling preys of "new" technology in the midst of his kids vivid laughter...

3 weeks onward, Shafiq no longer required my assistance to log him into the computer, as he picked this skill up himself, in fact, he now prints the articles of interest to take home with him, I was astonished today that he started fiddling with MS Office, nibbling a bit with spreadsheets on Excel, digitizing the hand-written handbook that seems to be written by his Mom, but for a 3 week newbie, I must admit it is an impressive progress..

All I hope for now is that he guides himself intellectually through the internet and his use of the computer, to better develop himself and his knowledge... the possibilities are endless…

This entry was written back in early October, Yesterday I came to know that the “vigilant” IT department has already identified the unassigned and unused asset in that particular branch, and so recalled it, leaving our friend stranded with more desk space for him to nap on, and shattering my dream of Shafiq the tea-boy becoming an IT guru in his spare time…