Mahmood's Den

I couldn’t be arsed (that’s supposed to be the “hip” thing to say nowadays – ask my daughter) so have a wonderful, peaceful, healthy and prosperous twothousandandsex!

Love you all.

and more than ready to fire:

Interviewer: “You have been accused of heresy by some places… some Internet forums.”

Ghada Jamshir: “So what? Even in mosques they accuse me of heresy. So what? You think that if they accuse me of heresy, it affects me?”
MEMRI

but wait, there’s more, in the above interview she lambasts the Shi’a for Muta’a and the Sunna for Misyar and accuses both of child molestation, I honestly didn’t think that it could even remotely be interpreted like that! And then, this morning’s papers have the happy news when our resident almost blogger Tariq Khonji reports:

Court clears Jamsheer of defamation
WOMEN’S rights activisit Ghada Jamsheer was found not guilty of defaming a Sharia judge by the Lower Criminal Court yesterday. The court ruled that there was not enough evidence to prosecute Ms Jamsheer because the judge only had one witness who supported his claim that she had used bad language and accused him of using prostitutes.

The alleged incident is supposed to have taken place at the Justice Ministry’s premises in the Diplomatic Area, but only one witness would testify that he had heard Ms Jamsheer insult the judge, although another did say that he only heard her call him an ‘oppressor’.

“The judge ruled in favour of my client because there wasn’t sufficient evidence against her,” said Ms Jamsheer’s lawyer Mohammed Al Mutawa.

Ms Jamsheer had always denied any wrongdoing.

“I’m very pleased with the results. The fact that I have won a case against a Sharia judge shows that the courts are transparent and just.”

The rulings came from the criminal court but Ms Jamsheer vowed to continue her fight for the reform of the Sharia courts and its judges, which she and other critics say are given too much scope for interpretation.

This is the latest in a string of cases against Ms Jamsheer and the first in which she was actually found not guilty.

The previous cases were either dropped or dismissed by the court as illegitimate.

This leaves only one case remaining against Ms Jamsheer. It was filed by the same judge, who claimed that she had called him on the phone and sworn at him.

Ms Jamsheer is one of Bahrain’s most vocal advocates for a personal status law to replace the current Sharia system, which has often been criticised for being unfair to women.

Campaigners say that Sharia judges often rule unfairly in favour of men in custody, divorce and inheritance issues, and allow husbands to get away with emotionally and physically abusing their wives.
GDN

Good on ya lass!

Or did they not get the memo, because middle managers are meddling once again? After emailing respective managers at the circuit to get their input as to why they can’t fill the stands and offering our brain-storming input to help in this national dilemma, I got shuffled into the system, put through the “proper channel” it seems and no response was forthcoming with a not-so-veiled message which essentially says that “we know best” and leave us alone, while we shuffle your concerns to PR.

In the mean time of course, attendance numbers continue to drop, while other countries and brands are fighting hand over fist to sign up even Karthikeyan to boost their brand exposure, even though they don’t have a circuit which they could turn into a proper brand equity.

And we’re still waiting for meddling middle managers to pull their fingers out and involve us in doing good for the country, and to allow them to keep their jobs.

Are the board listening? Or are they too being sidelined because an MMM knows best?

EGYPTIAN SYSTEM:
You have two cows. Both are voting for Mobarak!

DUBAIAN SYSTEM:
You have two cows. You create a website for them and advertise them in all magazines. You create a Cow City or Milk Town for them. You sell off their milk before the cows have even been milked to both legit and shaddy investors who hope to resell the non-existent milk for a 100% profit in two years’ time. You bring Tiger Woods to milk the cows first to attract attention.

QATARI SYSTEM:
You have two cows. They’ve been sitting there for decades and no one realizes that cows can produce milk. You see what Dubai is doing, you go crazy and start milking the heck out of the cows boobs in the shortest time possible. Then you realize no one wanted the milk in the first place.

SAUDI SYSTEM:
Since milking the cow involves nipples, the gov’t decides to ban all cows in public. The only method to milk a cow is to have a cow in on one side of the curtain and the guy milking the cow on the other.

BAHRAINI SYSTEM:
You have two cows. Some high government official steals one, milks it, sells the milk and pockets the profit. The gov’t tells you there is just one cow and not enough milk for the people. The people riot and scream death to the government and carry Iranian flags. The Parliament, after thinking for 11 months, decide to employ ten Bahrainis to milk all the cows at the same time so cut back on unemployment.

LEBANESE SYSTEM:
You have two cows. One is owned by Syria and the other is controlled by the government.

YEMENI SYSTEM:
You once had a cow.
But then it got kidnapped.

051229L2132: guys, thanks for your contributions, we can make an encyclopedia of the Arab version of “two cows” here!, thanks to the Religious Policeman for the Yemeni cows, and anons for the ones below (if you want to be credited, declare your names or register!!

KUWAITI SYSTEM:
Upon hearing how popular cows are in the Gulf region, a group of young male Kuwaitis buy a herd. Unfortunately, they attach so many accessories (ski-racks, 3500 watt sub-woofers, nipple lights, etc) that the cows almost collapse under the weight and/or embarrassment. The herd are all tragically killed in a massive pile-up whilst their owners are attempting to perform donuts by the Towers.

IRAQI SYSTEM:
The British Government sends in a herd of 20 cows in a trial run to help a village outside Basra. The villagers are extremely grateful for the extra milk and the health of the children improves daily. A terrorist group then kidnaps the cows and accuses them of being traitors to “the cause� (whatever that is). The terrorists then produce signed confessions from the cows and systematically assassinates each one of them in front of Al Jazeera television cameras.

OMANI SYSTEM:
You have three cows, they are all healthy and produce good quality milk for sale at the market. Unfortunately, your son discovers that the money he received at the market can be used to buy beer. Your grand expansion plans for a new high-tech farm are put on hold indefinitely.

this is going around the internet at the moment and I’m sure there are different versions for each region of the Earth. Good fun though! — thanks Rami

نزع فتيل المشكلة بعد لقاء نائب رئيس الوزراء بالشيخ سند

المنامة – حيدر محمد، بنا

نزع أمس فتيل المشكلة التي أدت الى توقيف الشيخ محمد سند في مطار البحرين الدولي مساء الأحد الماضي بعد اجتماع استغرق ساعتين عقد في وزارة الشئون الاسلامية حضره نائب رئيس الوزراء وزير الشئون الإسلامية الشيخ عبدالله بن خالد آل خليفة ووكيل الشئون الاسلامية الشيخ فريد المفتاح من جهة، والشيخ محمد سند من جهة أخرى، وحضر اللقاء رئيس جمعية الوفاق الشيخ علي سلمان.

وكشف سند لـ «الوسط» عن اتفاقه مع الحكومة على «تشكيل لجنة مشتركة في القريب العاجل لمراجعة التطرف في بعض المناهج الدراسية الدينية في المراحل التعليمية الثلاث، وتدريس القواسم المشتركة بين المذاهب، وفي حال الاختلاف تذكر وجهتا النظر». كما تم الاتفاق ­ بحسب ما ذكر سند ­ على ضرورة التوزيع العادل لرخص المساجد وحلحلة المشكلات الاجتماعية بجدية اكبر ضمن جدولة زمنية ومن بينها: «رفع مستوى الاجور المتدنيةً من 80 إلى 250 ديناراً وحل مشكلة عديمي السكن بدعم الإيجار، كما تمت مناقشة ملف تقسيم الدوائر الانتخابية الا انه لم يتم التوصل الى اتفاق محدد بشأنها».

وقالت الوزارة إن سند «أكد عروبة البحرين وسيادتها واحترام نظامها السياسي».، بينما استنكر الشيخخ علي سلمان عمليات العنف والتخريب.
Al-Wasat

What is this, the government must wait for an action like this before it does the glaringly obvious right thing? This is stupendous stupidity on the government’s part if this is an actual policy, and there is nothing that convinces me that it is not an actual policy any more.

The government knows that one of the major problems we suffer from in Bahrain is sectarian descrimination, and it has been advised of this dangerous situation in no uncertain terms time and again over a period of decades and it chose to completely ignore that advice, now because of a demonstration at the airport due to the apprehension of the Shi’a cleric Shaikh Mohammed Sanad and his demand that this should be immediately fixed it suddenly wakes up from its deep slumber and gives this issue its full attention? Even though that suggestion has been comprehensively (wrongly but intentionally) defeated by parliament, thus giving credance to rule by demonstration or force or catastrophy rather than the rule of law, logic and common sense?

Part of me does not want to look a gift horse in the mouth as I am happy that they have at last seen the light and are going to create a high-level committee to review all religious education books in schools and remove all sectarian as well as extremist issues from their content, however I am absolutely insensed that they have once again kowtowed to a “situation” rather than engage their collective brain and logic.

So that’s it then. If anyone wants any change in this government, forget democratic means and institutions, hire a cleric and have a demonstration and pooof the situation which we have suffered from for decades and centuries will suddenly disappear.

Cowards.

picture credit: Al-Watan Newspaper

What rule of law? It seems now that every issue we have in Bahrain is politicised and invariably turn to violence. Why? Do we not have any culture of discussion and dialogue to resolve issues?

It certainly didn’t look like it last night; a mob rioted at the airport, terrorising other users of the airport and destroying some fixtures in the concourse because public security detained a leading cleric (Shaikh Mohammed Sanad) arriving from Iran.

While I totally respect the right of the individual and groups to demonstrate as a final resort to highlight their issues and get their messages heard if all other avenues fail, I strongly object and do not condone acts of violence. Even in this case. If a dissident is apprehended, then legal channels must be utilised to gain his release rather than resort to violence and various unwarranted civil disobedience acts.

What’s all this about anyway and who is Shaikh Mohammed Sanad?

Shaikh Mohammed Sanad’s Office Communique:[arabic]بيان مكتب سماحة آية الله الشيخ محمد سند
( حول حادث الإعتقال لسماحته )
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

وبعد …
Ù?اشكر عواطÙ? جميع المؤمنين وما ابدوه من عناء ومشقة ØŒ وأرجو ان تزال كل أشكال الطائÙ?ية الإبادية العنيÙ?Ø© من هذا البلد ومنها تكÙ?ير الشيعة Ù?ÙŠ المنهج الدراسي المقرر لمادة الدين ØŒ وسأ ظل صامداً أمام الإبادة الطائÙ?ية ولو كلÙ?ني أغلى ما عندي ØŒ وأما التهمة االتي أطلقوا عليَ Ù?هي تحريض الجماهير على النظام ØŒ Ù?طالبتهم بإثبات ذلك ولو بكلمة Ù?ÙŠ هذا المجال ØŒ Ù?لم يدلوا بشئ !!! وأما الإستÙ?تاء الذي دعوت له تحت إشراÙ? الأمم المتحدة والمنظمات الحقوقية والدولية Ù?هو أمر تقره الشرعية الدولية من دون إدخال المجنسين بتجنيس غير شرعي . أرجو من الله العزيز أن يشاÙ?ÙŠ المجروحين Ù?ÙŠ حادثة المطار كما وأطالب بإطلاق سراح جميع المعتقلين Ù?ÙŠ هذه الحادثة

محمد سند[/arabic]

My translation of the salient points of the communique:

Shaikh Mohammed Sanad thanks those who stood with him last night for their trouble. He also hopes that all violent sectarian discrimination to cease to exist in Bahrain, including the States propagation of hate against the Shi’as as demonstrated in their approved school religious education caricula which calls for the apostasy of Shi’as.

He also confirmed that the State Security charged him with incitement of hate against the ruling regime which he comprehensively denied and asked them to provide him with proof which they failed to produce. He also confirmed that he did indeed ask for a new national referendum under the auspices of the United Nations and other international rights organisations to ask the Bahraini people to approve or refuse the continuation of the Al-Khalifa rule.

This is my translation of the salient points of the communique and if there are any errors they are purely mine. The gist of it is as far as I can ascertain is correct.

There are two important points he raises here: (1) the religious education in Bahrain is completely one-sided where it comprehensively ignores the existence of an ancient and valid Muslim sect, the Shi’a, and that this particular curriculum is overseen by non-Shi’as, he suggests that it is overseen and set by Wahabis who regard the Shi’as as apostates (the intermediate religious education books for instance calls “those who visit graves apostate” in clear reference to the Shi’a custom of visiting the dead out of respect to the dead and ancestors,) and (2) he calls the legitimacy of Al-Khalifas in question and demands that the UN and other organisation mount a public referendum to determine their legitimacy by the Bahraini people.

picture credit: Al-Watan Newspaper

It is worth noting that the UN has conducted a referendum in 1970 when Bahrain applied for UN membership to determine whether Bahrainis wanted to be part of Iran or become an independent country. Needless to say that Bahrainis chose to be independent.

It is not the first time Shaikh Mohammed Sanad actually went on a rampage against the rulers of Bahrain, the carricula and society. In a speech he delivered in the Sanabis Ma’atem on November 6th, 2005 he amplified these points sufficiently to make that speech the benchmark of dissent. It is no surprise to know that Shaikh Sanad is affiliated with the “Shirazi” movement and is joined by various Bahraini dissidents including Hassan Mushaimi (who resigned from Al-Wefaq in protest on the society’s determination to re-register under the new Political Societies Law) and long time dissident Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja amongst others.

So Shaikh Mohammed Sanad’s agenda is quite clear: the removal of Al-Khalifas from rule, and is quite vociferous in his demands.

To me, as long as his demands for these changes are conducted in democratic and non-violent methods, I have no problem with him or his demands. It is democracy and he has his right to voice his concerns. These demands to my mind does not make him a traitor. A dissident to the status quo to be sure, but not a traitor to the country.

Others around the world have the same agenda and are even much more vociferous in their demands, most notably in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and I think other countries as well, yet no one in those countries would dare call them traitors, hinder their political gatherings, websites, or detain them on arrival in their countries. The rule is engage in non-violent debate and reach a consensus.

In Bahrain we continue to flounder to find our political footing, but that is becoming increasingly difficult by the intransigence of both sides, and we, the people, are held hostage in the middle just going from one disaster to the next, becoming perpetual headless chicken.

My conclusions regarding this incident is that there are hard fissures that must be recognised first in order for them to be mended. Continuing this game of chicken is very tiring and disenchanting.

After his success in securing the 2005 Thunder Arabia Formula Ford Championship Title, young Raed Raffii, the 16 Years Bahraini Champion is now on his way to the International World of Motorsport.

Raed tested on Saturday and Sunday in the Formula BMW Race car with Meritus Team, and was witnessed by Formula 1 World Champion Nigel Mansel, and GP2 Driver Bruce, where he proved to be a real talent.

Raed in his first test in the Formula BMW car managed to go around the same track used for the FBMW world finals, in just under 2 seconds from the time of the World final Winner.

“For a young driver to overcome the fear of a new car, and be able to master it after only 20 laps, and manage to achieve a time of 1:29.168, only 2 seconds behind the Formula BMW world final winner, is a remarkable achievement, and I am sure given more time to practice on the car, Raed will manage to get the BMW World Final Winner Best Lap Time” Said Bruce the French GP2 Driver who coached Raed during the Test.

“What Thunder Arabia are doing now in the Middle East, in terms of placing young drivers such as Raed at the age of 16, to the International world of motorsport, will definitely have a very positive impact on motorsport in the Middle East” Said Hassan El Wardany, Thunder Arabia Chief Executive Officer.

“It is nice to see a young Bahraini testing at the same time and on the same cars as my own sons, this is the way to start building champions at the young age” Said Nigel Mansel Formula 1 World Champion.

“Raed will be the first Bahraini Driver to start competing in Europe at the age of 16, as we believe Europe is the right place to go, in order for the driver to reach the level required to be an International Driver, and we all believe that Raed has the talent and the ability of raising the Kingdom’s flag on the International Level, as he will be competing in the Formula Renault in Belgium and the UK throughout the season of 2006” said Sherif Al Mahdy, Thunder Arabia Marketing Director.

“We would like to thank Bahrain International Circuit management for allowing Raed to have his first test on the circuit, by organising the Formula BMW World Final, which showed our young drivers the competitiveness of the young drivers in Europe, so they can be prepared to what they will go against, once they cross the regional border” Said Mohammed Hussein, Thunder Arabia Communication Director.

As for Raed, he was really happy and commented saying: “I could not believe that I am testing on the same cars as the formula 1 world champion sons, and at first it took me sometime to get used to the car, but after some time I got the hang of it, and was able to go fast, but the track conditions did not allow me to go as fast as I could.

I really thank Thunder Arabia for giving this chance and their trust , I also would like to thank my teammates in Bahrain Young Guns Team, my family and all my friends for their support and I promises everyone that I will do whatever I could to raise my country’s flag anywhere I go”

Hassan Al Wardany confirmed that “such a step with Raed will pave the way for many other young drivers from all over the Middle East to follow his steps, and I am not revealing a secret when I say that we are preparing for similar plans for other young talents from Bahrain , Jordan , Egypt and KSA in our search for the first Arab Formula 1 Driver”

Remember this? Well, leading businessmen had their inaugural meeting in which they announced the formation of their charity organisation and agreed on its objectives, which I am extremely happy to note is not just limited to traditional giving of alms, as the various charities and Islamist societies on the island have been doing for ages, but the businessmen’s version will include not only that but building of further education sponsorships, building of cultural calls, health and medical centres, sponsor cultural programs and above all fighting poverty by providing training and education to those in need.

رجال الأعمال يتفقون على أهداف وآليات جمعيتهم الخيرية

المنامة – عباس المغني
اتفق تجار ورجال أعمال على أهداف وآليات عمل الجمعية الخيرية التي تمثل دورهم في تنمية وتطوير المجتمع، في اجتماع لهم بمبنى غرفة تجارة وصناعة البحرين يوم أمس.

وقال رجل الأعمال المعروف فاروق المؤيد: »تم خلال الاجتماع إقرار أهداف الجمعية ووسائل تحقيقها وإقرار النظام الأساسي إلى جانب تكليف اللجنة التأسيسية بمتابعة إجراءات إشهار الجمعية مع وزارة التنمية الاجتماعية«. وتم اختيار 6 أعضاء للجنة التأسيسية وهم فاروق المؤيد، جمال فخرو، محمد الكوهجي، جواد يوسف الحواج، جمال الحسن، محمد بوزيزي. وأضاف »هناك اقتراحات لاختيار اسم للجمعية له دلالات واضحة تعبر عن دور واسهام التجار في المجتمع كاسم جمعية قطاع الأعمال للتنمية وغيرها من الاسماء، سيتم دراستها من قبل اللجنة«.

وأشار إلى ان الجمعية تهدف إلى تنفيذ برامج للتنمية الاجتماعية ومحاربة الفقر بما يساعد في تحقيق برامج التنمية المستدامة للمواطنين وتقديم جميع أشكال الدعم للمحتاجين من أبناء البحرين للمساهمة في النهوض بمستوى معيشتهم. وأوضح أن الجمعية ستقوم بتقديم المنح الدراسية والتدريبية للبحرينيين بهدف مساعدتهم في توفير فرص العمل لهم إلى جانب إنشاء المراكز الاجتماعية والصحية والثقافية لخدمة المواطنين البحرينيين في جميع أرجاء المملكة.

ومن جهته، قال رئيس غرفة تجارة وصناعة البحرين عصام فخرو: »إن الغرفة ترحب بتشكيل الجمعية وإنها لن تتوانى عن تقديم كل دعم ومساندة لجهود تأسيس الجمعية، وتحقيق أهدافها«. وأضاف »أن الغرفة مفتوحة لاجتماعات الجمعية متى ما دعت إلى اجتماع«.

وأشار إلى أن مشروع الجمعية يعكس رغبة قطاع مجتمع التجارة والأعمال في تطوير اسهاماتهم في خدمة المجتمع البحريني.

وأوضح أن الجمعية ستحظى بالتفاف ودعم مجتمع التجارة والأعمال، وتوقع أن تكون الجمعية من أبرز مؤسسات المجتمع المدني الفاعل في خدمة المجتمع البحريني
Al-Wasat Newspaper

The founding members of this new society are Farouq Al-Moayyed, Jamal Fakhro, Mohammed Kooheji, Jawad Al-Hawwaj, Jamal Al-Hassan and Mohammed Buzizi, all of whom well known on the island and I wish them luck in their new and worthy endeavor. I, as well as many on the island of course, remain at their disposal to grow this society and bring our community out of the pervasive poverty and into secure jobs and community wealth.

Good job.

In the year-end fun department:

It turns out that looking at the aggregation of billions of search queries people type into Google reveals something about our curiosity, our thirst for news, and perhaps even our desires. Considering all that has occurred in 2005, we thought it would be interesting to study just a few of the significant events, and names that make this a memorable year. (We’ll leave it to the historians to determine which ones are lasting and which ephemeral.) We hope you enjoy this selective view of our collective year.

Google Zeitgeist

Mahmood, originally uploaded by HaniAlYousif.

I don’t know how old I was then, and didn’t expect this picture to EVER surface, but thanks to my youngest brother Hani, it did.

Yes, that’s me!

Shut shops for Friday prayers

Shops, restaurants, coffee houses, garages and other workshops could be forced by law to close for two hours for Friday prayers, if MPs get their way. Those caught opening from 11am to 1pm on Fridays would be fined or their establishments closed for a week, under proposals backed by parliament yesterday.

Petrol stations could also be closed under the proposed new law, which will now be submitted to the Cabinet.

MPs said the proposal was in keeping with what is written in the Quran.

It has been submitted by parliament public utilities and environment affairs chairman Abdulaziz Al Moosa, foreign affairs, defence and national security committee vice-chairman Abdulla Al Dossari, Ahmed Haji, Hamad Al Mohannadi and Ahmed Hussain.

Mr Al Moosa said the Quran was clear that all selling should stop during the Friday prayer.

“People’s feelings are hurt by the fact that these places are near mosques and are open while they are performing their prayers,” he said.

“These two hours a week wouldn’t harm anyone or affect anyone’s business and will encourage people to go for prayer.”
GDN

According to Al-Wasat too, this motion has already been overwhelmingly approved and sent to the Cabinet by parliament.

My question is, as I’ve got a new business idea of selling cane sticks, those that are favoured by the muttawas in our big neighbourly country, would they allow me to sell them outside of mosques during prayer time? I mean, wouldn’t I assist them in chasing all those who don’t want to pray, or prefer to pray at home, or can’t pray and beating them with these sticks to “encourage people to go for prayer” too?

I’d even give them quantity discounts, 20% for a bundle of 5, 30% for a bundle of 10, and I’ll guarantee that the bundle would have different thicknesses, the thicker ones of course are there to beat their wives with “who are disobedient” and refuse to share their beds, or any excuse they might whip out.

Once I’m done with the Friday prayer business, I would move my stalls to BMMI and other off licenses and invite these muttawas to beat the bejeezus out of anyone in the area, thus forcing these businesses to close and result in job losses etc. We’d be doing our religious duty and we won’t care for the resultant effect on the economy and unemployment. I must warn you that I shall not be offering any further discounts there, because surely God will compensate the chasers with life everlasting in the gardens of Eden which of course have rivers of the good stuff flowing.

Then we might as well close hotels while we’re at it. Oh wait, that’s been done by Abdulghaffar as punishment for their temerity of selling booze during Ramadhan. Damn, selling those sticks at the entrances of hotels would have been a good revenue stream for me.

Ah well. You know what they say: Islam is the solution right?

Can anyone suggest a country I might consider emigrating to that will allow me just to live my life without anyone imposing their interpretation of whatever religion on me and my family? A country that is tolerant that might appreciate its citizens and protect their freedoms, rather than one whose parliament has made it its mandate to rule by and from pulpits?

While the Gulf has become the location for some competitive real estate booms in recent months, Bahrain has been anxious not to get left out. Yet with several projects under construction and more in the pipeline, there seems little chance of that.

This is a follow-on article discussing the results of the Speed post. For a full picture please read Speed and its comments.

Although I don’t have “the answer” on how to popularise motorsports primarily, or the BIC secondarily, I’ll share with you my thoughts on the excellent points and suggestions raised. If you have some more please do post them, and that goes for your own methods of getting things sorted as well.

The assumptions I shall keep in mind here are: (1) The BIC must turn a profit, (2) Increase the country’s revenue from tourism, (3) Increase the country’s profile as a tourism destination, and finally and most importantly (4) create new business opportunities and their resultant job creation activities.

I also do not subscribe to the idea of “Bahrain does not have any motorsporting heritage” at all. Judging by the number of cars on the road in various states of serviceability, and by the active shunning of public transportation in favour of driving one’s own car leads me to believe that Bahrainis love their cars. I have known people who still live with their parents, have a job whose salary barely cover their daily needs yet they go out and buy muscle cars on loan. That to me demonstrates either fiscal irresponsibility, showingoffness, passion for cars or all of these factors!

I have seen documentary footage of rallies and drag racing going back to the 1930′s as well as the huge crowds, who by word of mouth, flood to the old airstrip in Sakhir with numbers in the thousands on the possibility of a drag race happening that day.

To this day you see the tell-tale signs on asphalt of screeching tyres, and after midnight which highway, or neighbourhood that has a straight enough road, does not have road-racing?

Have you also peeked into any of the hundreds of garages all around the island and not seen a chassis waiting to be spruced up? That’s why the 140J is such a ubiquitous platform although it went out of production probably in the 1970s! I’ve known some fanatics put a 280Z engine on a 140J platform and then use that for drag racing! Okay, sometimes they leave their wheels behind, literally, but they do build their own dragsters and muscle cars with their limited resources. The same goes for rallying. How many Evolution 7s are there on the island and do you notice the number of people watching these events when they happen, even sometimes unadvertised by the Bahrain Motor Federation?

Yes, Bahrain has had a good history of motorsports, so the presence of the BIC is not a fluke, it was built I think based on the illustrious history we have had in this arena, and in an attempt to take motorsports to the next level here. Building the BIC is a grand vision for not only elevating motorsports we already are passionate about, but also a hard-cash generator when you consider not only the circuit itself, but the business and leisure parks to be built around it. The problem is, that vision, I personally think, is not being sold properly, and it is this, rather than the details which must be given full attention.

Let me now address some of the points you raised, and do remember please that this is my personal opinion. I have not discussed these points with the BIC management yet and I might be completely off the mark and going off at a tangent:

1. Absence of availability of transport from various cities to the BIC.

This I think is the most important point raised here. I honestly didn’t give it a moments’ thought before but I realise its importance now. I too would like to just jump on a bus or a tram which run at regular published intervals to get to the BIC and back to my house or work. I don’t know if bus transportation is actually available to the BIC at the moment but I suspect that this service does not exist, or at least I have not noticed any bus stops at or near the BIC. I don’t know if the BIC has looked into this issue, nor do I know if the CARS company which has been given the franchise to run the public transportation has looked into this either. This is a point well worth investigating.

Unfortunately if you clicked the link to the CARS company above, you would have noticed that the site is only a placeholder with no information whatsoever.

2. Requirement of public involvement in the motorsports activities and the BIC, access to pits and paddock cited.

Would I be able to go to “the bench” during football matches played in the National Stadium? Ok, how about the bench at the Juffair Dome for any basketball or voleyball tournament? Of course not! That doesn’t stop me from being “involved” in the game or match just watching and rooting for my team or player from the stands. So why should the BIC or motorsports be any different? And given the speeds that racing cars go at, is it even wise to want to go to the pits during a race? Or watch the race from the pit wall? If you haven’t done that yet (yes you stupidly did have that chance last weekend) then let me tell you that you need to wear goggles to protect your eyes at least because of the flying debris and “marbles” that get thrown at you there. What if a car crashes into the pit wall, do you think you will have the required reaction time to pull yourself away from the wall before possibly your head or any of your limbs depart from your body?

I’m sorry but I don’t buy the “involvement” bit by getting lay spectators in or near the pits, pit lane, grid, or even the paddock. There is nothing elitist in here, just simple down-to-earth safety, your safety, more than anything else.

YES, I agree, that being able to do so is extremely sexy and the ultimate accolade you can receive, being so close to those machines, people who run them, and the “beautiful people” who are and forever be around them. But I would see that as a privilege rather than a right. It is the ultimate marketing tool in motorsports arsenal through which teams can milk their sponsors for the the huge wads of cash required to stay and compete in motorsports. They made it exclusive as a marketing ploy, nothing more and nothing less, so what makes lay people think that they deserve to be in there? Are they going to contribute to the millions of dollars required to run a team?

But even with that the BIC gives you the opportunity to come that close to the machines and the glamour, yet not a lot of people take that opportunity.

Did you know for instance if you buy your F1 tickets now you will be able to go to the paddock and possibly the pits on the Thursday before the race? Name me one circuit in the world that even comes close to allowing people to do that.

My answer to this involvement requirement is that as we do have a vibrant motorsports hobby (if it cannot be classified as an industry in the traditional sense) we do have that involvement in the sport by default. We also have the passion. We need to translate those into bums on seats, and it doesn’t require the right of going to the pits and mingling with the teams and the rich and famous.

3. Access to track for people to race on using their own cars.

We already have that, the circuit runs almost a monthly “track day” where you can take your car and whizz around the circuit. You do need to satisfy the safety requirement of course, and pay the fee to get on the track, but you can do so. The fee is very reasonable too and possibly the cheapest in the world.

Consider this, no car is allowed on track for the purpose of racing without the following being present:

a. Race marshals.
b. Emergency personnel.
c. Emergency equipment and vehicles.
d. Functional race control and communications equipment and personnel.
e. Maintenance equipment and personnel, and,
f. the various other required support services.

Don’t you think that all of these services and people require funds to function? The last I heard is that it costs the BIC BD 4,000 per day as a minimum to run these track days, possibly a bit less for the drag strip, but with the number of cars taking part in the open track days at the moment I doubt very much that they are turning a profit from these open days. And yes, the BIC must turn a profit in order for it to survive. Fact of life.

4. Absence of proper advertising. More advertising recommended.

I don’t know what their advertising budget is, but it must be huge. I see an event advertised by full/half-pages in ALL the papers, sometimes even the front or back pages which are even more expensive in full colour, I see street hoardings specially designed to be eye-catching using primary colours and uncrouded to be seen all over the island, certainly on the main roads I drive on every day which are the major arteries from Budaiya all the way to the centre of Manama, I’ve also heard their ads being repeated time and again on 96.5 and 93.3 and in fact the Arabic adverts on 93.3 are especially good. I have not seen any ads on TV simply because I do not watch TV but I assume, based on the the overall advertising campaigns they run that they must use TV ads as well.

I am really surprised by the number of comments entered in response to this topic that say that they were not aware of motorsporting activities at the BIC. Are you not looking? I am really at a loss here, I’m not being fascetious or difficult here and I’m not defending the BIC in any way whatsoever, they are more than capable of doing that themselves, but I fail to understand how most people just didn’t know about these activities. Can you please enlighten me, seriously, why you don’t see/hear the ads? Please let me know (1) what station do you listen to on the radio and when (driving to work, driving home, 6am – 7am, etc), (2) what newspaper/magazine do you regularly read, (3) do you actually notice any other advert on a road hoarding? What made you notice it rather than ones advertising the BIC’s activities? (4) do you watch TV? Which channels and what times do you do that?

5. Timing of events should be carefully chosen.

Did you notice that ALL motorsporting events in the world run on Saturday and Sunday, but in Bahrain they run on Thursday/Friday? Other than the F1 of course and that is because of the world-wide coverage it gets and it is contractual, every other event is run on our own weekend, and as the government, schools and the vast majority of businesses take Thursday and Friday as their weekend, why should the BIC change its activities to Friday and Saturday? If they do do that, I still would attend, but I probably will be the only one there! Until the government unifies the weekends (I’m so looking forward to that) then the BIC must run its events when the majority of the public are off.

I know that some businesses, like mine, don’t take a two-day weekend, we work 5.5 days a week and take Thursday afternoon and the full day Friday off, so a lot of people won’t be able to attend until Thursday afternoon. But it is still better than no one around at all on Saturday.

I think timing of BIC events is chosen well and take the country norms into consideration when running their events.

6. Absence of motorsporting culture in Bahrain.

see above

7. Failure of media coverage to create the required “buzz”.

This is the most important failure but it is hardly the BIC’s fault entirely! Bahrain TV is the only broadcaster on the island and they suck, their so called sports channel is anything but professional. Yes they have done some programs and broadcast them live from the circuit and those were good enough for a fledgeling activity by BRTC, but they seem to completely ignore putting motorsports in between race weekends, and as there are no real statistics on who watches the Sports channel anyway, you cannot ascertain penetration and you cannot even work on improving the service. As far as I can see they depend completely on 2 people in every broadcast, Haitham is one, and another guy whose name escapes me. The other guy is very well informed and is a petrol-head for sure, which makes listening to him a pleasure, but more is needed.

I think even more important than the TV coverage, is the absence of motorsporting programs in the radio and the coverage in the papers is simply a joke. They don’t have anyone who understands the sport and publishers don’t want (it seems) to spend the required time and money to get proper motorsports writers.

Ok fine, then the BIC should feed them continuous press releases in both Arabic and English, provide them with publishable pictures as well as provide video feeds and documentaries to the TV stations (not just for Bahrain TV).

I think this failure is squarely at the BIC’s doorsteps, not the media completely. The BIC must take the blame for 90% of this failure and it must improve its PR and Media efforts immediately. As we have seen above, advertising by itself does not work and PR at this stage in the game is much more critical than advertising.

8. Absence of alcoholic beverages.

They’re available and always have been available, but due to the country’s culture alcoholic beverages are only available through the hospitality suites which are very affordable (for a continuous open tap) for the normal events. BD 40 per person for food and drink and an excellent vantage point is not bad no matter how you look at it. The F1 is a different kettle of fish of course.

It is hardly proper as well to allow people to BYOB, that will invite chaos.

9. Food thought to be expensive and not enough food outlets.

Even during the 2005 F1 event food was very reasonable. A double cheeseburger meal from Dairy Queen was BD 2. The same price for the meal during last weekend’s event, which is the same price as getting the meal from any of Dairy Queens’ other outlets around the island, and the same approximately for similar meals from any other fast food shop.

The perception of expensiveness was borne from the stupidity of the 2004 event prices, that has changed almost immediately because the management immediately took steps to sort it out.

10. Absence of “big names/stars”

I stood next to, and took pictures of Dr. Thiessen last weekend. Yet not many people even knew who he was! I bet if Michael Schumacher walked throughout the Seef Mall he probably will only be recognised by less than a handful. We don’t have the same “wild fan” mentality here as they do in the West. Look at Michael Jackson for instance, he was seen several times at Seef and he was not mobbed. He was also around during the Karting 25-hour Endurance event at Seef and the most he got was a few fans asking politely for his autograph and a picture with them.

What I’m trying to say is that we give “stars” space, we don’t mob them as they are possibly used to elsewhere. And we don’t put stars next to God that we must have them to make the event successful. I certainly don’t. I would personally feel privileged if and when I meet someone I admire, but I would not make that a condition for me going to, and subsequently enjoying an event.

Sure stars would add some pizzaz to the event, but when the engines roar, they might as well disappear as I wouldn’t care what they’re doing and whether they are still around. If they are, I hope that they enjoy the activity and then go home to their families.

11. Public “Ownership” of the BIC and its events.

Yes, this is one of the problems that need to be hashed out.

People feel affinity to all ball sports because they feel that they can participate in them for next to nothing but are afraid or at least hesitant to indulge their passion of motorsports.

I personally don’t believe that a person must actually participate in a sport to actually feel that s/he belongs in it. I don’t play football but enjoy watching the matches and become really passionate when Bahrain’s national team is playing (ask my kids and wife, they won’t sit next to me while I’m watching the match as I sometimes get emotional!) and the same in virtually any other sport that has Bahrainis competing. Do I have to be a footballer, a runner, a steeple-chaser, or a dressage king to be able to enjoy and be “involved” in the sport? Not at all.

But I’m not everyone, and yes, in order for an event to succeed, you would need people to be involved in it somehow, or at least pushed or enthused enough to bother to attend. Look at the (mostly) crappy fireworks we have every National Day, hundreds of thousands come out and watch the display. Let’s leave that, do you realise that tens of thousands go every single sunset to the location where they fire the Iftar Cannon in Manama, forsaking the immediate chance to stuff themselves after a full day of fasting to just listen up close to a cannon firing blanks? What is these people’s involvement in either event to get them to come out? They’re both free? Well, the BIC events other than the F1 are virtually free, but they don’t come!

Maybe what they should promise people is a huge fireworks display to get them to come? Oh hang on a minute, they tried that, together with laser shows, bunjee jumping and everything in between. There was a fantastic contraption that allows children to really soar over trampolines and elastic ropes last weekend that made me wish that I was that young again!

12. The BIC hosts elitist sports which naturally alienate the “normal” people.

see above

13. Clash with Friday prayer and inavailability of a mosque at the BIC

there is actually, and several rooms have been dedicated to prayer at both the Oasis and Main grandstands. Friday prayer is conducted as well and imam led at the Oasis prayer room. just wanted to comment on this important point now rather than later.

14. People need to know the purpose of the race.

No they don’t, they need to realise that it is a sporting event which ultimately results in one or more people holding aloft a cup proudly. What happens after that with the cup, or how much a competitor gets is immaterial.

15. There are too many events at the BIC.

Sorry I don’t follow this one. The BIC is providing almost weekly public events (there are many in-between corporate and private events at the facility as well) for almost nothing where the whole family is involved and people complain? What would you rather do? Vegitate in front of a TV? Well fine, you sometimes need to do nothing to unwind, but remember that we are a population of over 700,000 people, wouldn’t you think that 20,000 – 50,000 from that number could be enticed to come and spend their weekend or at least one day of their weekend at the BIC and not necessarily the same crowd all the time?

16. There are clashing international events during the same weekend (Horse Endurance, Golf, Tennis, etc.)

Someone reminded me that the world does not revolve around motorsports exclusively (thanks) and he’s completely right. As there are many leisure pursuits, it is only right that we expect variety and we can pick and choose which event we would like to go attend. At any given weekend (other than the summer) you would expect that a lot of activities are running at the same time. Before the BIC there has been weekends where there were important football matches, basketball games, yachting or speedboating events, horse racing, showjumpting, dressage and maybe tens of other events going on at the same time, yet no one complained. You just go to the events you like to watch on that particular weekend.

Running many events or “too many events” actually gives you an unbelievable choice. The more the merrier I say.

17. The supposition that as the F1 is an elitist sport, then all events at the BIC must be the same.

Well yes, there is some truth to that, but it is the same with horse racing, showjumping, football, and every other sport there is. If you mean that it’s only for rich families then I must differ with you, if you imply that motorsports in Bahrain is presided over by a member or members of the Royal family, then list the sporting activities that they do not! And realistically what should this matter anyway? Regardless of rich people or royal family involvement, these are sporting events, not political events. Go and enjoy yourself!

18. Need to develop the racing personalities to create affinity.

Last weekend we had not one, but TWO budding motorsport local champions: Salman bin Rashid and Hamad Al-Fardan. The first from the Royal family, the second is commoner. Salman unfortunately crashed out on the first lap while Hamad started at almost the very back of the grid due to a penalty yet clawed his way from 32 and finished 18. Both guys are Bahraini regardless of their familial connections and sect they belong to, why not just support them as Bahrainis who are making a name for themselves and lifting the name of these island up high? Does an engine or a gearbox actually give a damn if someone is sunni and the other is shi’a or that one is a royal and the other a commoner? Not one bit, in fact, they both are absolutely equal in the motorsporting arena, sports is the only activity that does not distinguish titles, beliefs or descent. Why didn’t more Bahrainis come and support their fellow Bahrainis?

19. No motorsporting awareness on the island.

See above

I must emphasise again that these are my personal points of view which to you might be completely wrong, or right. In either case I would like to read your comments please.

Can we expand objectively on the points raised and discussed above?

Ward Mohammedi, originally uploaded by malyousif.

Ward Mohammedi, they are in full bloom now, the first in my garden. I gifted these two to my two roses: Amna and Hanan.

This rose’s scent and texture are out of this world. Gorgeous light smell that you would assume that all flowers SHOULD smell like, and it’s petals feel like velvit on both faces.

There are a lot of stories associated with these rose bushes, one I like is that if the local Bulbul birds nest in its bush, then its chicks will have the most wonderous song and will even look much better than those who hatched in other trees.

This certainly now qualifies as one of my favourite flowers.