* Disclaimer: This post was written in October 2010. So a lot of things, including KAUST policy, might have changed.

About a week ago, I got a chance to visit the campus of King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. I had always been wanting to visit KAUST, but as the university was closely guarded, it was impossible to go there without knowing anyone who lived in the campus. Lucky for me, during an Indonesian gathering in Jeddah, my dad met one of the KAUST students so we quickly demanded for a visit!

KAUST, dubbed as the new “House of Wisdom” (in Arabic Bayt Al-Hekma), is the result of SR 10 billion ($2.7 billion) endowment from the current leader of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. For the King, KAUST is a dream come true, as he had …

About two years ago, I wrote a post about the Saudi government’s plan to abolish its infamous sponsorship system (kafala), which has been constantly criticized by human rights groups. The plan to cancel the system was immediately welcomed by many people. However, two years have passed and nothing came out from it. In the beginning of this year, it was announced that the possibility of cancelling the sponsorship system had been ruled out. The government argued that it’s not easy to scrap the current system as Saudi sponsors spent a huge amount of money for the recruitment of foreign workers. Upon reading the news, I honestly felt so hopeless about this and towards the government. Any major changes would not be easy, but if nothing was done, how could improvements be made?!…

So delighted I was to have the chance to spend this year’s Eid in Jeddah! It all seemed perfect when my whole family was reunited again. It felt ages ago when we spent our Eid together as a family. As for me, this was my first time to be with them during Eid after 6 years (straight!) of absence. I just couldn’t imagine spending another Eid without my family. So when opportunity came (i.e. I had to come back to Saudi Arabia to renew my residence permit), I promised myself I wouldn’t want to miss it again!

I arrived in Jeddah via Jordan on the day of Eid (10 September). I booked the flight ticket a month before, so I was practically “gambling” on the Eid date! Somehow, I had a feeling that Eid was going to fall on the 10th, instead of the 9th. Alhamdulillah, I was right! My …