15 seconds of fame = 1 billion?
Hardly, but a twit at the municipal council is vehemently opposing it for some farcical excuses, wrapped up in Class A Xenophobia. Here are some of Mr. Hameed Al-Basri brainfarts which he is using in the hope of putting the kibosh on the project:
it would result in the area being “invaded” by foreigners with different cultures and moral values
He also wants the land to be used for more “useful” projects which could benefit the surrounding villages:
“It could be used for a public park, car parks for residents or a government housing project,” he said.
“But the Northern Municipal Council members have taken the worst decision and that’s approving an investment project without properly studying it.
“I am worried that nearby neighbourhoods, whether in my constituency or Daih village, where the project would be built, will be invaded by people from different nationalities who don’t understand our culture and moral values.
“That’s not all. The area will see more traffic jams, more than what is making people complain at the moment.”
Aha. Okay, I agree that the country needs to revamp the road network and consider the traffic in 25, 50 and even 100 years from today, and they are doing a lot of roads network expansion now, much to the chagrin of a lot of drivers, but one hopes that with these developments we’ll be much better off in a few months’ time. But this ludicrous objection to a huge investment of over a billion dinars is, well, ridiculous. Having an elected councillor whose main job is to suggest solutions to zoning and the various other municipal matters object to such a lifeline in his area is insane.
He doesn’t stop there of course, he’s now dug himself a hole so he must proceed to dig even deeper:
Mr Al Basri said just because the investor was promising residents jobs, it did not mean the project should be approved.
“What jobs can the project offer? As security guards or ushers, or cleaning plates after the rich finish their food?” he asked.
“In the end, the area’s unemployed will not get good salaries because the investor is not there to offer high salaries, but to make a profit.”
He said that from his experience and the projects he has approved in the Seef District, Sanabis and Daih, only 100 Bahraini jobseekers had been employed.
While 100 jobs created is much better than none at all, and while his suggestion that of those 100 the majority received menial positions might be true, what he should be concerned with, especially in that area of Bahrain which is renowned for “skirmishes” with the police in almost every single weekend, he should be happy that projects are being considered for that area and that its local residents are receiving the benefit of coming out of unemployment. But he ain’t happy.
Mr Al Basri hoped other councillors would review their decision and stop the project.
Well, thankfully someone from his own party is rejecting his brainfarts wholesale:
However, Northern Municipal Council towns and villages development committee chairman and the project’s area councillor Sayed Ahmed Al Alawi said that Mr Al Basri’s push to halt the project would not affect it.
“We are both from the same municipal bloc – Al Wefaq – but Mr Al Basri has never given me a call saying that he has a problem with the project,” he said.
“I have talked with Al Wefaq bloc president and area MP Shaikh Ali Salman and he was in support of the project, saying that he would work on securing the benefits for the people, which I am also currently working on.
“So far, we have managed to reach an agreement with the investors to have a public park and a mosque built.
“The hotel will not offer alcohol and will abide by Islamic and traditional values.
“The investor has agreed to our terms without any fuss, so why is Mr Al Basri – who is approving similar projects in his constituency – upset?”
Mr Al Alawi said that the Royal Court had recommended the project and when it came to the council, it was just a formality to look at it.
“This project has been supported by the government, so it wouldn’t leave the area without a proper infrastructure and other services. On the contrary, it is an opportunity to have new roads, sewage networks and other facilities in the area,” he said.
“Mr Al Basri should quit fighting the project because he will not change our decision. He should instead focus on getting public services from investors in his constituency.”
In short, he’s told by his colleagues to shut the hell up and not to be such a complete eejit.
I hope he listens.
Incidentally, if you want to see some very nice pictures of current and future projects happening in Bahrain, scoot on over to my friend’s Fred Haentjens’ Flickr set. Well worth having a look.
That’s sad. oh well back to our own lives then.
for those who think study will work in bahrain, read this report in alwaqt newspaper today and find out how the system is managed
“Hassan, you’re not just stupid, but you are also a grade-A ass hole too”
wth?? Mahmood, you opened up the debate.
I know its your blog, but perhaps one could expect you not to get worked up and start hurling insults. I noticed you removed “intelligent, informative” from your banner. Talk about sinking to someone else’s level and starting to dig.
I went over the top there and I apologise.
not related to the topic; Mahmood, i seem to be having issues reading some of the comments, they seem to veer off towards the right and out of the border, so some of them are cut off. all comments from #16 till about #99 are cut off; does anyone else have this issue?
ok in FF, did you clear your cache?
(The dust is starting to settle
)
Nothing to add, just the line above!
Wow! Best debate ever. Exposed mahmood for what he truly is… a lot of hot air!
He is easy to condemn the people for their protests but never heard him condemn the violence committed by the government and riot police. the furthest he goes to is condemn the events themselves saying oh its horrible that violence happens in Bahrain but never is able to directly blame the government for their violence and torture. Well he obviously is waiting for the day when they knock on his door and give him a well deserved position and salary for his canny services.
In fact this so called blogger fighting for freedom and human rights is able to demand freedom for a detained Saudi blogger and give regular updates on him whilst his own countryman Bahraini blogger Abdullah Mohsin is not an issue for him even though he has been detained since December last year over the mysterious and magically “stolen weapon” case and he is in a dire state in prison due to his health problems. why is he not an issue? Well he obviously is an “uneducated” blogger who did not work hard enough to not be shot at, caught and tortured! He could have used his time more wisely by getting a “proper education” rather than waste it being a relentless activist for the unemployment committee. Did I also mention he is too polite and doesn’t call people names and maybe that is why he is viciously tortured in his prison.
mahmood you are a hypocrite! Now you can indulge yourself in brainfarting by calling me names..since you’re gonna become one of the governments brainfart producers very soon anyway might as well start with your blog readers.
And I can’t wait to read Hassan’s “Arabic” response..He has one of the best Bahraini blogs ever! His writings are pieces of art and a true representation of Bahrain today.
Go Bani Khuza3a!
Well it seems Mahmood is the bigot here! Just because someone disagreed with your opinion, sheesh!
Abdulla Mohsin was not detained for his blogging activities, unlike Fouad. Abdulla blogged anonymously, not many people knew who he was. Abdulla also stopped blogging more than 6 months before he was detained. So you will forgive me for reserving judgment on this particular issue, even though I asked for humane treatment of all detainees and called for their release immediately the observing doctors declared that they might have been exposed to torture.
You might want to use the pretty good search function on the site to find the information for yourself, should you wish to do so of course.
Thanks for your comments.
I readup this full debate… in the end I have to agree with Mahmood(wise old’ man),
Mahmood – Looking towards the future, Bahrain’s eco. growth. who with his blog has championed many a cause towards highlighting Bahraini citizen’s & their issues.
Hassan – Looking at every investment as an extension to his pocket ! In short “A useless bigot ! ”
The rest of the idiots supporting Hassan, are just here lamenting the sad state of affairs they really have got themselves to blame for, none else. Hardwork pays off, learn to make it a habit & get sucessful, not whine about who’s investing & why the shares of a big investment shouldn’t be an extension to your own pocket !
Ray,
“Us”, “who “agree” with “your Hasan” and whom you have called as “
” reflects nothing but your “inner way of thinking”, where you call someone with a lack of “usefulness” when you have nothing to reply them with, other than a reply of reason & debate – and calling us IDIOTS is not helping & useless as well! Try convention, it works better when you try to make someone change his / her mind about something! Being called IDIOT will not help a bit in delivering Mahmood’s thoughts!!!! At the contrast, we will become BIGGER BIGOTS than the BIGOT you have just mentioned! It’s a matter of human psychology you know… Even if your thoughts were correct!!
I don’t want to get into the “file” once again… But I have a series of articles that states “Bahrain is not for the Bahrainis”, we believe that the land of our beloved Bahrain DOES NOT BELONG TO US ANYMORE! Maybe you don’t feel that because you are not one – if I am not mistaken, not been handled a red booklet recently – those investments are not going to be target for the normal humble Bahrainis who “work hard” day & night to pay their debts for the banks in order to get a car or a piece of land to get another loan to build a house and another to get his son / daughter to college and another to get him / her married and another fo… OK! Those people who work hard WILL NOT BE AS BIG AS THOSE WHO WOULD BUY THOSE BUILDINGS! IN BAHRAIN IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE PROPER CONNECTIONS AND / OR BEEN DECENDED FROM A CERTAIN RACE / FAMILY YOU WILL NOT GET “THE CHANCE” TO BE WHAT YOU DESERVE! RAY!!! THAT’S THE FACT HERE IN BAHRAIN & I DARE ANY ENLIGHTENED BAHRAINI WHO KNOWS HOW THINGS GO AROUND TO PROVE THE OPPOSITE! Because I know I will hear alot of “no no no” here & there,
Then tell me why; why a “certain sect” here in Bahrain are not allowed to “work hard” & join the army, for example???
Much to be said but I don’t have time for this. Hope this doesn’t last longer.
Bye bye!
…but its ok that alkhalifa can keep filling thier huge pockets with the limited assets of this country.
..yes so final conclusion of this debate: those against this investment are uneducated whingers hindering the progress of this country. Those for this investment are the progressive hardworking success stories. Funnily enough all private-school educated but who cares.
I used to live in Bahrain. When I graduated, I came back to Bahrain and found a job. I made BD 450/mo. It was okay, as a fresh graduate, living with his parents. I did, however, feel the resentment Bahraini’s had for expats ‘stealing’ the good jobs. Namely, jobs they are not qualified to do. No, not because they can’t do it.. it’s because they tend to focus on certain disciplines and there are plenty others that need to be filled.
So, I left, to pursue my ‘dreams’ in Dubai. It is far tougher to make it here. That 450BD could hardly get me through the month. I toughed it out (I actually made BD 400/mo. in my first year here).
I worked hard. I worked very hard, for every fils I made. I still think about going back to Bahrain and actually opening up shop there. I love the country beyond recognition. I just don’t feel a lot of sympathy for the Bahrainis who complain about how tough life is. If life is tough in Bahrain, get out and make your fortunes elsewhere. Otherwise, tough it out and better yourself where you are. I just don’t understand this victim mentality.
I’m doing okay now, thankfully. I’m self made, so I’m happy and more satisfied. Yes, every time a new major project comes up in Dubai, it drives prices higher. It makes it more difficult for me to pay the rent. Yes, prices go up and out of control. You know whaat, I either move out or find a better source of income.
Put out or get out, is all I can say.
Much love to Bahrain. It gave me a free world-class high school education. I am coming back. I just hope that MP’s like Hameed Al Basri don’t get in the way.
No it’s not okay, but that is not the point of discussion here.
It might be your conclusion, it’s up to you to make of it what you will. I certainly do not think you are correct in that assumption. And again it is not the crux of the discussion here; you might want to re-read the main post.
I suspect that you are one of us. At least, you have/are enjoying excellent education at one of the world’s top universities. Would you now give that up and come to the street level and leave all of that behind? Hardly. And I would never condone that action should it ever be considered, let alone taken.
Well done Dubai Entrepreneur!
Qasim Ahmed A. Rasool >
To your reply “try using convention”… instead of calling you guys bigots…
Well you seem to have a very warped sense of thinking & identity… & trying to reason with you is what alot of the above people have been doing already, all you have been doing is… waffling about alot of other nonsense.. unrelated stuff to the point of this discussion.
What’s heartening to see is how many people have actually seen the light & posted their experiences on how they attained that success that’s proof enough…!
Why don’t you try walking through the front door of this project’s recruitment division & give it shot… surely you can’t advocate every opportunity is being discriminated against… if you have what it takes surely you will get that chance…
just admit it guys hard work PAYS OFF whether you like it or not. Don’t go all racist over the subject because this kind of talk is whats driving down progress in any country.
If African countries can do it what makes us any different???
sorry i will write in arabic
السلام عليكم ..
قضيت أكثر من ساعة في قراءة الموضوع، وأريد أن أشارك بالنقاط التالية:
أولا: الأستاذ محمود اليوسف، أظن أنه ليس من اللائق أن تصف من يخالفك الرأي بنعوت يستحي المرء أن يفكر بها فضلا عن كتابتها
ثانيا: أظن أن الموضوع قد خرج عن محوره الأصلي وهو رفض الممثل البلدي (المثل الشرعي للناخبين) إقامة منشآت سكنية خاصة بدعوى أنها لن تفيد أبناء دائرته ماديا، كما أنها ستسبب لهم ازدحاما مروريا. وأرى أن هذا حق ديموقراطي – في الأساس – كفله الدستور والأعراف الديموقراطية في جميع الدول التي يكتب بها المدون لغته.
ثالثا: هناك فهم خاطئ فيما يخص التعليم، فالتعليم – كما أحسب – - ليس لتفريخ موظفين فقط، أو هو طريق للإثراء، وإلا فإن جلّ أصدقائي غير الدارسين لا يحق لهم أن يكسبوا أكثر مني، وهم كذلك!!
وإذا كان ذلك كذلك: فإن التعليم ليس هو المشكلة الرئيسة هاهنا، نعم هي من ضمن سلة مشكلات يعيشها الشاب البحريني.
رابعا: التعليم الخاص: مخطئ وغارق في التيه من يحسب أن المدارس الخاصة هي أفضل من المدارس الحكومية. أقول هذا بعد تجربة لي في التعليم في إحدى المدارس الخاصة باهظة التكاليف، ولقد وجدت أن معظم طلابها مهملون كسولون، تافهون في تفكيرهم، لا يتعدى نظرهم سيارة آخر موديل، وتلفون آخر موديل، وحذا آخر موديل. فأصبحوا بذلك طلبة آخر موديل. وما زادني حيرة هو ضعفهم في اللغة الإنجليزية، فهم فقط يتحدثون بلغة (سلانغ لانغوج – slang language)
هم فقط يحصلون على فرص أكثر من غيرهم للدراسة في الخارج
خامسا: أما ما يتعلق بالراتب والكفاح لأجله، فأنا قد درست في جامعة البحرين وكنت أعمل براتب 70 دينارا لتغطية تكاليف الدراسة. بعد التخرج لم أجد فرصة كالمعتاد، لكنني لم أيأس فعملت في نفس الشركة بدوام كلي براتب 180 دينار. الآن أعمل براتب 600 دينار، لا تكفيني لنصف الشهر، علما بأن لدي طفلة وسيارة سني – مو آخر موديل – 2001
ختاما: أقول أنني كنت أن النظام هو من يسيره الحاكم، لكنني توصلت أن هناك طبقة برجماتية تكونت من السنة والشيعة وهي بذلك ليست طائفية. لا يهمها سوى الربح ولو بعرق الكادحين. طبقة لا ترى سوى السحاب حيث تصل منشآتهم، وترفض أن يشد ثوبها من هم على الأرض ملتصقون؛ لتتوسل لقمة
Thank you Osama.
Allow me to disagree with what you have posted. For one thing, the councillor in this case is not of the constituency where the project is planned, it is in a neighbouring village.
Second, he was the only one who objected, while his compatriots at the council – who all belong to the same political bloc I believe – were all for the project. He was the only objector.
While I agree that some students, regardless of school are more interested in things other than studying, and I do not fault them in that, it is the nature of teenagers, I absolutely do not agree with your characterisation of students in private schools. You are unfairly generalising. As I absolutely do not agree with your opinion that private schools are absolutely not better than government run schools! You need to study your facts a bit more thoroughly before jumping to such conclusions. Don’t get me wrong, I fervently wish that your view is correct, that would have been great for the country and everyone concerned, but no, you are very wrong on this account too my friend.
I must congratulate you on your hard work and your ability to go against odds to reach where you are. You are an example that must be emulated. More power to you.
I suspect that part of your success must be attributed to greed, which is a healthy thing and without that particular trait, a lot of people will just stand still. It is the same faculty that those people whom you harangue have subscribed to. Alas, they probably did not know when to push the stop button and got drunk on their success. So be more kind in your view of them. If you read “Merchants of the Gulf” a very good book that was (is?) banned in Bahrain, you will understand that the very people you have a quarrel with started from very humble beginnings and have worked extremely hard to get where they are today.
“I suspect that part of your success must be attributed to greed, which is a healthy thing”
No mahmood, i disagree with you. striving to make one’s life better is not necessarily about greed but could be the be in the pursuit of happiness or could be the responsibility of feeding one’s children and family.
reading through the heated comments I had a sense of a the old class structure being ever more accentuated in Bahrain. its not merely the poor vs the rich but it is a proper class system where each class has a distinctive economical and social status and its own culture even.
I think working hard and getting rich is not something to be ashamed of. In Bahrain there are many rich and wealthy people who are loved and adored by all because they do not subscribe to this class system just because they have extra cash in their pockets. they live with the people on the street and mix with them. they share their joys and sorrows. one name springs to my mind is Hajji Hassan Al Aali who passed away recently. In his life and still now he has built new houses for people, rebuilt old houses, sent their children to universities home and abroad, took care of their sick and looked after the needy..he walked their streets while still making millions..certainly God bless his soul as he showed that you don’t need to be in government to make peoples lives better. no poor guy would feel that hajji hassan was being greedy in gaining his millions. so why do these same people have hatred towards other big wealthy names? it is simply because those others are greedy.. greedy because they are not just increasing their fortune for that is not a sin but they are making other peoples lives and especially the poor miserable. these people are buying and selling property and shooting prices up the sky with no care to what it does to others..one day owning your own house would have been a dream to work for for some of there poor folk.. now it is impossible with the prices these hawamer are setting.. and oh does no one learn from economic crashes that one day some may pay more than they bargained for..
in bahrain being rich is not and was never a sin..but when greed starts to ruin other peoples lives that’s when people don’t appreciate the “big investments”..
anyway i thought that it was unfair by some to take a shot at mahmood just because he has his own business and God has bestowd him with a bit of wealth (which is incomparable to a hamoor has obviously) in the end it is God who makes you rich or poor but it is your moral values that set your position amongst people.. mahmood didn’t hurt anyone! on the contrary he has a kind heart and is doing good with his blog. he just needs to clean up his language maybe
It’s no wonder there are people stuck in the middle ages such as Hasan Khuza3i and his cronies. They just cannot accept the fact that if we don’t grow with our country we will die out. I think the koran has the best line for you people
ان الاعراب اشد كفر ونفاق
To anon@123, Haji Hassan is indeed loved by a lot of people in Bahrain and he deserves their love because of the good deeds he’s done over the span of his life. I would like to point out one important thing. Haji Hassan used his “Khoms” which is 20% of what he earned for accomplishing these deeds. For what I heard of the size of his wealth I don’t think he spent it all in Bahrain as his Khoms would be in the hundreds of millions. If only the Bahraini Shia merchants would spend their Khoms in Bahrain on the poor in their villages we wouldn’t have so many poor in Bahrain, and a village like Aali would be paved in marble.
Amen.
Guys,
For your note;
my “points of view” they were “calculated in a political point of view” more than an “economic point of view”, which would be wrong to scale many others opinions with the way I gave my opinion, this was made for clarification! And this goes specifically for Ray.
Dubai Entrepreneur;
You were like an expatriate there in Dubai, right? I mean, you are not an citizen of the UAE nor have a passport with certain rights & certain responsibilities, and correct me if I am wrong! You should have the same rights of those who come from any where else in the world, but hey! You still have another home, still have a place to get back to if – لا سمح الله – a war happened there – for example – you can simply leave the country & get back where you came from, in the time UAE nationality holders “can’t”, LOYALTY – and I mean loyalty to the country, not to the rulers – is the real difference that should be considered between those who deserve to be given the nationality of a certain country or not, in the time the government is getting more people into Bahrain illegally & give them Bahraini Passports; therefore having the same rights of free eduction, free health care and other “free” things… Seems innocent so far? OK! But when these New Bahrainies add an extra problem to the limited sources of health an education in which such increase of population “was not planned for”. Since 2001 Bahrain’s population has doubled!!!
I don’t want to take much time in this again, but once again, I believe that those in power are looking for “ready made options” with no real well to have a plan for empowering Bahrainies except making them “the ones who follow” other than “The ones to be followed”, and I am not speaking in “short-term” where that Bahraini is a fresh graduate, but on the longer terms where those people have spent like 10 years in the industry. And if you said that “no other country did that” I would say “did you see a country with 600 thousand Bahrainies (and with the expacts 1 million something) and have such rich sources of oil???”
That’s in short,
BTW Mahmood, off the topic:
You never shed the light on those 44 “fired” from Batelco, or just I couldn’t search your blog well…?
Qasim, your post has nothing to do with the main post but I’ll react nevertheless.
Rubbish. How exactly do you measure “loyalty” ? Counting the number of mugshots on your bedroom wall? The amount of times you make “loyal” references to the country in every day conversation? A measure of loyalty is NOT a criteria for Bahraini naturalization.
Well of course – That’s how it should be done in a non-discriminative way. Who are Salmaniya or any other public service to question a Bahraini’s citizenship status?
Qasim FYI:
Bahrain resident: Someone who lives and/or works here.
Bahrain citizen: Your a citizen of Bahrain either through birth, or marriage, or naturalization etc.
Bahrain passport: IT IS ONLY A TRAVEL DOCUMENT! If you do not hold one, this does not mean your not Bahraini. Many people here have never applied for their passports because they’ve never left this island. People from all parts of the world have never applied for their passports.
Mahmood,
I know very well that there is no “loyalty measurement tool” but the when i is mentioned in the constitution that gives the right for the Bahraini passport for those of “certain conditions” rather than distributing passports in newspaper, black bags & in “bulk” for you-know-very-well reasons in you-know-very-well-when-times. In the constitution Mahmood the right to get a Bahraini “nationality” – referred by you as a “travel document” and used by “others” as a proof of identity & rights in a “certain geographical piece of land”…
Those certain conditions include staying of Bahrain for the past 25 years for none-arabs (if I am not mistaken) and 15 for Arabs. Other conditions apply – which are not present in my mind at the moment – and they all seem fair for me, because 15 & 25 years are enough to develop some kind of “relationship” between the person & this land; in which his children will grasp the Bahraini culture, and then can be called “real Bahrainies”.
Mahmood, that’s exactly what those who trick themselves doing so thinking “being loyal to their country”, in the time they are loyal to people, not a home. When times of hardships come it’ll be very obvious who’s-who.
No one has the right to question your or mine or anyone’s loyalty. It’s a matter of that “traveling document” info stated within that makes life harder for those who have been going through hard times in Salmanya with it’s limited resources & capabilities; by bringing people from outside – thinking they will be loyal to some other people – give them houses that were suppose to be given someone else – consume water & electricity that is already suffering from outages; and the list goes on…
(You didn’t reply on my little off-topic comment @ my previous post. Would be nice if you do
)
Sorry guys!
That wasn’t for Mahmood, that was for Sam
Cheers!
Qassim, it was Sam who you should have replied to, not me. For the record, I agree with Sam, generally.
As to your off-topic question, I’ll ignore it.
You are right Mahmood,
And about that article, no problem!
Personally, looking forward Hassan’s reply in his blog!
Cheers all
you want mahmood to criticize the policies of some of the people he meets at the club?!! you don’t seem to understand how mahmood operates then!
Interest its all about vested interest.
Like this for instance, “noone”, very pretty observation. I chose not to discuss that issue because I have not followed it, therefore, without me having the facts, I did not form an opinion. And having someone like you or Qassim try to dictate the conversation is simple pressure that I do not appreciate.
You have my respect brother. I apologize.
peace!