Persian Gulf Financial Markets Inspire Poetry, Egypt's Sensible Culture Minister
Gulf Markets:
GCC markets closed the weak uncertainly, with investors not knowing what to expect in the coming weeks. The markets have fluctuated wildly. Gulf markets have been anemic for some time, with the overall trend ratcheting downward. Several regulatory issues having to do with accountability, transparency and corporate governance remain unresolved, especially in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It is odd that the Kuwaiti market, by far the oldest in the GCC, and having faced several crises that forced the government to interfere and save the private sector from its own folly, is still faced with serious unresolved regulatory and ethical issues. The probelm is that as the private sector has grown more dependent on the state for support, so has the govermnment institutions grown fatter, more bureaucratic, and more corrupt. The Kuwaiti market has recently been awaiting an official report about listed companies flagrantly breaking certain regulatory rules, and it looks from press reports that the authorities are releasing the report piece-meal. In Saudi Arabia, investors and traders complain that market authorities in shy away from publishing information about companies that break the rules and regulations, preferring to deal with them discreetly and in the process depriving the market of valuable public information.
Poetic Saudi Market:
Recent stock market declines have deeply affected the health and mental well-being of many Saudi citizens, according to Saudi media, more recently Alarabiya. Medical sources indicate that cases of depression and other psychological ailments have increased noticeably over the past year. Visits to psychological clinics, in the past unheard of in Saudi Arabia, have increased- unlike witches and witchcraft which could lead to beheadings, psychiatry is not considered a capital crime. A new phenomenon is the number of female psychiatric patients. Many women, who often are not savvy and do not have easy access, use male relatives to trade for them, and they have lost fortunes. Some husbands have threatened their wives with divorce presumably because they entered the market without their approval (Q: would they threaten divorce if the wives had actually made money in the market?)
Market losses have led to the destruction of confidence among people, even among the closest relatives. This is not new, and it is reminiscent of the aftermath of the stock market crises in Kuwait in the 1980s. Some studies have gone so far as to claim that cases of divorce and family disintegration have multiplied because of stock market losses. There is talk of increased suicidal tendencies, but no reports about people actually jumping from tall buildings. The studies claim that more than 37 thousand Saudis have sought psychiatric treatment over the past 9 months, a record, and they also cite the great and unusual increase in the occupancy rate of hospital beds in the past year.
This has led to a new take on an old and rich Arabian literary custom. Arabs have always been good at using one of their main points of strength, their versatile language, to compose poetry that reflects their moods and the moods of their societies. This is partly a result of the dearth of natural beauties (there is not much drama about the hot sun or a sand dune), but it is mainly a product of the rich and extremely expressive Arabic language. Nowadays, the media report that Saudis compose verses, in both classical Arabic and the local vernacular, about the trials and tribulations of the stock market. These are the kinds of trials and tribulations that most third world citizens can only dream about. Those Saudis who do not compose verses tend to read and recite them, as a means of escape and of sharing their own misery with other like-minded people.
Cairo:
Egypt's Minister of Culture Farouq Husni has finally made some sensible and brave remarks that are sure to enrage Egyptian fundamentalists and conservative Arabs. He is quoted by the AFP to have said that the 'Hijab' and Niqab are not Islamic, and that they are tribal things that came from Arabia. He said that Egyptians must stop imitating this Arab custom which is native to Egypt. He also said that "A woman's beautiful hair is like a rose..why would you want to cover a rose?" (something his French interviewers probably agreed with heartily- well, who wouldn't?). He also said that true Islam is what is inside a person, how he behaves, not how he or she dresses. These are sensible words, and brave words in the context of present-day Egypt and the Arab world. I wonder if Dr. Husni had expected a cabinet reshuffle before he made the statement?
Already a female Professor at al-Azhar University is being sued by Islamists for making statements aganist the Niqab, the sack-like container a woman's covers the head (a la Taliban) and is favored by Salafis. The niqab covers the whole head, the way only a person's crotch should be covered, not her brain. Professor Suad Salih had said that wearing the niqab is disgusting.
Cheers
Mohammed
GCC markets closed the weak uncertainly, with investors not knowing what to expect in the coming weeks. The markets have fluctuated wildly. Gulf markets have been anemic for some time, with the overall trend ratcheting downward. Several regulatory issues having to do with accountability, transparency and corporate governance remain unresolved, especially in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It is odd that the Kuwaiti market, by far the oldest in the GCC, and having faced several crises that forced the government to interfere and save the private sector from its own folly, is still faced with serious unresolved regulatory and ethical issues. The probelm is that as the private sector has grown more dependent on the state for support, so has the govermnment institutions grown fatter, more bureaucratic, and more corrupt. The Kuwaiti market has recently been awaiting an official report about listed companies flagrantly breaking certain regulatory rules, and it looks from press reports that the authorities are releasing the report piece-meal. In Saudi Arabia, investors and traders complain that market authorities in shy away from publishing information about companies that break the rules and regulations, preferring to deal with them discreetly and in the process depriving the market of valuable public information.
Poetic Saudi Market:
Recent stock market declines have deeply affected the health and mental well-being of many Saudi citizens, according to Saudi media, more recently Alarabiya. Medical sources indicate that cases of depression and other psychological ailments have increased noticeably over the past year. Visits to psychological clinics, in the past unheard of in Saudi Arabia, have increased- unlike witches and witchcraft which could lead to beheadings, psychiatry is not considered a capital crime. A new phenomenon is the number of female psychiatric patients. Many women, who often are not savvy and do not have easy access, use male relatives to trade for them, and they have lost fortunes. Some husbands have threatened their wives with divorce presumably because they entered the market without their approval (Q: would they threaten divorce if the wives had actually made money in the market?)
Market losses have led to the destruction of confidence among people, even among the closest relatives. This is not new, and it is reminiscent of the aftermath of the stock market crises in Kuwait in the 1980s. Some studies have gone so far as to claim that cases of divorce and family disintegration have multiplied because of stock market losses. There is talk of increased suicidal tendencies, but no reports about people actually jumping from tall buildings. The studies claim that more than 37 thousand Saudis have sought psychiatric treatment over the past 9 months, a record, and they also cite the great and unusual increase in the occupancy rate of hospital beds in the past year.
This has led to a new take on an old and rich Arabian literary custom. Arabs have always been good at using one of their main points of strength, their versatile language, to compose poetry that reflects their moods and the moods of their societies. This is partly a result of the dearth of natural beauties (there is not much drama about the hot sun or a sand dune), but it is mainly a product of the rich and extremely expressive Arabic language. Nowadays, the media report that Saudis compose verses, in both classical Arabic and the local vernacular, about the trials and tribulations of the stock market. These are the kinds of trials and tribulations that most third world citizens can only dream about. Those Saudis who do not compose verses tend to read and recite them, as a means of escape and of sharing their own misery with other like-minded people.
Cairo:
Egypt's Minister of Culture Farouq Husni has finally made some sensible and brave remarks that are sure to enrage Egyptian fundamentalists and conservative Arabs. He is quoted by the AFP to have said that the 'Hijab' and Niqab are not Islamic, and that they are tribal things that came from Arabia. He said that Egyptians must stop imitating this Arab custom which is native to Egypt. He also said that "A woman's beautiful hair is like a rose..why would you want to cover a rose?" (something his French interviewers probably agreed with heartily- well, who wouldn't?). He also said that true Islam is what is inside a person, how he behaves, not how he or she dresses. These are sensible words, and brave words in the context of present-day Egypt and the Arab world. I wonder if Dr. Husni had expected a cabinet reshuffle before he made the statement?
Already a female Professor at al-Azhar University is being sued by Islamists for making statements aganist the Niqab, the sack-like container a woman's covers the head (a la Taliban) and is favored by Salafis. The niqab covers the whole head, the way only a person's crotch should be covered, not her brain. Professor Suad Salih had said that wearing the niqab is disgusting.
Cheers
Mohammed
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