Dear People, Would you please stop asking me when I will get married. Please?! I still can’t comprehend why people ask me this question over and over again. Will it make any difference if I get married? Will it affect you in any way, directly or indirectly? Will you get ANY benefits from it? NO, right?! What makes it even worst is that, when some people ask me whether or not I have a boyfriend (and I say no, forRead more
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 criticised 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 easyRead more
Who have never heard of a Saudi royal by the name of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal? If you're not familiar with his name, let me give you a brief introduction about him. Prince Alwaleed is the nephew of the current King of Saudi Arabia and the grandson of the founding King of Saudi Arabia. He was born to Prince Talal bin Abdul-Aziz and his Lebanese wife. Although the father has been trying to push for reform in his country (andRead more
Few years ago, I wrote about a number of accomplished Khaleeji women who became the leader of their men-majority society. Inspired by this post, I decided to wrote one about Saudi women. I previously asked in that post: When will Saudi society appoint their first woman leader? The truth is that, they already did. Well, they're not quite there yet, but it's unarguably a milestone for women in Saudi Arabia. So let’s now meet some of the distinguished Saudi women…
Two months ago, I got a job in an event management company. I was offered an interesting temporary position whereby I had a chance to develop a good connection with important people in Saudi Arabia and abroad. I actually had been dreaming about working in an IT company, so this major step was surprising for me. I was bored and had nothing to do at home. I had been searching for an IT job, but perhaps I was not luckyRead more
I got a tag from Mulia about wearing a headscarf. It’s interesting that she brought this issue up because people have been asking me about it a lot, especially when I was in Australia. And I never thought about writing this issue on my blog. I would like all my friends who wear a headscarf to continue this tag: teh Senaz, mbak Ina, Mika, and for those whose names are not mentioned (sorry if I missed out some ppl).
An Enduring Love: My Life with the Shah – A Memoir is a personal account of the life of Shahbanou Farah Pahlavi, wife of the last emperor of Iran. Born in 1938 to a middle class Iranian family, queen-to-be Farah met Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Shah of Iran for the first time in Iranian Embassy in 1959 on his official visit to France. At that time, she was a student at Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture in Paris. The king, 40, wasRead more
Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi In November 2004, Sheikha Lubna Khalid Sultan al Qasimi became the first woman in the history of United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be appointed in a cabinet position as Minister of Economy and Planning. Sheikha Lubna graduated from the California State University with a BS degree in Computer Science and received an Executive MBA from the American University of Sharjah. I admire her not only because of her successful careers but also because she is one ofRead more
The world was stunned when King Hussein of Jordan, who was suffered from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, named his eldest son Abdullah his successor, replacing Abdullah’s half-brother Hamzah as crown prince. On 7 February 1999, Abdullah, who became a crown prince on 24 January, ascended the Jordanian throne shortly after the death of his father. His wife, then Princess Rania became the world’s youngest living queen at the age of 29. Just like her step-mother in law Queen Noor, she is knownRead more