As a person who has lived in Saudi Arabia for about 13 years, I’m pleased with the formation of the new monarch rule by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. From the opinions published in Asharq Alawsat Newspaper, the King seems to have a good figure among Saudi people. He is described as a “sincere, honest, and well-timed” King. I didn’t know before that he has such a nice and respected figure among his people. He hardly smiles, his face is “too serious”, and maybe he’s strict too. All I could imagine was he is an old-fashioned and stubborn person who will very much enjoy his life as a king and has no interest or whatsoever in the development of his almost-broke-country. Yes, don’t judge a book by its cover! I made a false impression about His Royal Highness.
I was impressed to read about his determination of Saudi Arabia’s economy and his concerns over problems that occur in the Kingdom such as high rates of unemployment, extrimism, and human rights. Saudi people are likely to be optimist for the future development of the Kingdom reign by His Royal Highness. He had ordered a salary increase for all Saudi government employees and allocated billion of dollars for education, health, and other sectors. A very good start, I reckon.
But what about women rights? I just hope that he would give more freedom for women in his country. It’s so sad, really, to see them hiding behind those unbreakable walls. Let them choose what their future will be and make their status higher and at least, respected. Women are born to stand beside their husbands, not to be followed nor placed behind their husbands!!
There are a lot of problems that need to be addressed and solved by the new King. Democracy, equal opportunities, and women rights are issues which have been ignored by Saudi government over the past few decades. With the new monarch, we all hope there’ll be positive impovements for the future of Saudi Arabia. And they’ll hopefully be brought by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.
