By Joseph A. Kéchichian, Special to Gulf News
No visitor to the Saudi capital can ignore police roadblocks and other intrusive security measures throughout the city. Yet, no one can miss the serenity of Saudis who go about their business and, after work, go out to enjoy themselves in what is surely an austere environment. The image that we have of the kingdom is so convoluted that few bother to decipher epoch-making changes under way. "The kingdom is a terrorist breeding ground," insist those who know little of the place, and care even less about learning whether their perceptions are accurate. "Saudis are lazy and inherently happy to play the role of rentier merchants," maintain others. Neither image is entirely true.
| Yet stereotypes usually start out with a basis in fact. An individual might not fit the mold, but it accomodates most members... |
On the contrary, this society is growing in numbers, as well as in sophistication. Gone are most of the petty restrictions that made life so miserable just a few years ago. Today, one is able to access the Internet, read various uncensored newspapers, watch a multitude of television broadcasts and, more important, speak out with relative ease. I was pleasantly surprised to engage in several heated conversations with folks who barely knew me but who felt comfortable enough to speak out.
| That's a pretty pastel picture... |
Visits to shopping malls and ostentatious palaces provided with useful interlocutors and insights. As I always do during my visits to the kingdom, I walked for several hours in malls to observe and, if possible, converse with young folks. After I adjusted to the visible/invisible segregation of Saudi women – one never gets used to it but one adjusts as best as possible – what struck me was the number of unescorted women going about their shopping. To be sure, there was the occasional teenage boy who escorted his female relatives, but there sure were fewer of them.
Huddled around food courts were several young men arguing happily with loud laughter. This too was different. I mustered enough courage to introduce myself and ask whether I could speak with them. I literally was besides myself when a young man not older than 22 stood up and gave me his seat. This had never happened to me in Saudi Arabia. What was on their minds? Jasim insisted that he and his friends were looking for good paying jobs. These high school graduates could only land offers that paid too little to "save face" in front of relatives.
Abdulrahman acknowledged that better paying posts required additional education and training and that he, for one, was seriously considering college. Mohammed was the more pragmatic as he pointed out to expatriate workers milling around, serving and cleaning, "we first need to abandon the notion that the work they do is menial." When I asked him whether he would consider such a job, he insisted that he would, as long as the pay was decent.
I related this encounter to a prominent member of the ruling family when I sat down with him in a crowded majlis. "Our problem," his highness underscored, "is not lack of jobs but persuading the private sector to pay decent wages to those willing to work." When I asked whether the State had a minimum wage law, he stressed that the time was ripe to have one, "lest we find ourselves overwhelmed." The kingdom's estimated unemployment rate hovers around 30 per cent with no relief in sight. "All of the security measures that are deployed," my interlocutor insisted, "will not provide us peace of mind, unless we address our society's primary concern – the state of our economy." Is this the face of the new Saudi Arabia where ordinary folks realise that they have to accept job offers – even if they are not of the desk variety – and where the ruling family reconciles with the notion of paying them decent wages? For if it is, we will surely witness a gradual evolution of the ruling family's practiced paternalism and, equally important, an awakening of internal needs as never expressed before by most Saudis. |