Why? Why? Why?

Dear friends,

Some people have emailed me with some of the following questions, which are more out of curiosity than anger. I will not answer all of the questions, but categorize them in major groups and explain to you about my recent articles.

Q1: Why do you write about Saudi Arabia?

A1: I write about Saudi Arabia, because that is where I grew up. That is my 2nd homeland, after my birth homeland, which is Pakistan. I grew up in Saudi, did all 11 years of schooling there, and continue to go back to Jeddah on my breaks. I love Jeddah to pieces, and I become sad when I see certain things which I never got to see when I was growing there. Maybe there were still things happenings, I was just not aware about it when I was young. I write about Saudi, with an attitude that of helping, love and care. When you see something that upsets you, you naturally want to deal with the issue. If your child does something bad like getting into drugs, you would naturally talk to him about the problem, the effects of it and provide an alternative or solution. In the same way, I would like to talk about the problem facing the Saudi society, the effects it creates and provide my ideas of how to deal with the problem. I don't write out of hatred, anger (although some issues make me angry when left untreated). There are some people who would argue that there is nothing wrong with Saudi Arabia, which is why when I read articles in the local papers, I see why these people are naive about it.

Q2: Where do you get your ideas from?

A1: I have these things running around in my head, which is why I write them out here. This blog is an outlet for my thoughts. I base my writings upon my own experiences, from Arab News and Saudi Gazette, and from experiences other people have. Now, I have to admit I am not scholar, and a scholar would be able to do a better job than me. However, that doesn't stop me from writing about my thoughts here. I take pride in the fact that I am at least writing about it here, instead of (a) being in denial, or (b) complaining about issues without doing anything about it. My articles are NOT essays which I have written earlier, they are NOT copied from anywhere else, and I don't sit writing about my articles the night before. They usually come right out of head, onto the blogger, right at the spur of the moment.

Q3: Do you hate Saudi Arabia so much that you would write about such things happening in Saudi Arabia?

A3: There is no question of me hating Saudi Arabia. Some of my most wonderful memories are from Saudi. I don't hate the Saudi people as well because I have indeed met some amazing Saudis in my life who have been, well, amazing. I live in a compound of 80 villas of which 78 are Saudi families. So, there is no question of me hating Saudis. As I have explained above, I write my articles here about Saudi out of love, because I care for the country, I want for it to sort itself out. Now, I know I am in no position to make rules and policies, we have the Shoura Council to do that, but when I see widespread issues, I feel something needs to be done. If I were in another country, another city, another continent, I would probably be writing about that other place!

Q4: Why don't you tone down your cotent and keep it safe?

A4: If I did that, then it would be pointless. To deal with a problem, one needs to be brutally honest and open about it. If I start to deny some things here and there, I would be going around in circles. I like to keep it out in the open, and that is the only way we can progress further, instead of being in denial about some of the issues.

Q5: Why don't you write about other countries, like Pakistan, instead of Saudi Arabia only?

A5: Like I said above, I grew up in Saudi, which is why I base my writings on Saudi. I can write about Pakistan, or London as well, but because I am not living in these places now, I cannot write articles with substance. It will be merely an overlook of the issue.

Q6: Why don't you write about the religious topics, or even topics that show the postive sides of Saudi Arabia?

A6: Religion is something that is a very sensitive topic. I know to talk about religion, women and politics (including Israel) are three burning topics that can get someone into a nasty situation. If I start writing about religion, it will be based from the Sunni perspective. A shia might say something else to me, a sufi might say something else, a more liberal minded Muslim would say something, and a more conservative one would say something else. I did write an article on Music and Islam and everyone voiced their opinions, and every claims that they have the right answer. While I appreciated everyone's input, it still creates confusion in some of the readers. I think there are loads of forums out there who deal with religious topics more professionally. So, religion is something I am avoiding. The second part of the question; well, I did write about two recent articles, one about my love for Jeddah and the other one in defense of the teenagers. If I find some positive stuff to talk about I will write about it. Surely you don't want news on my blog, for example, about Saudi Arabia launching six mini satellites.

Guys, I have several other questions as well, which I will not answer here. I hope you can understand where I come from when I write these kind of articles. Freedom of speech is a great thing, and one thing about it is that everyone can voice their opinions, and one needs to respect that. If you say something which I don't agree with, I would repsect your opinions, but then it should also work the other way around. If you all can look at the comment "nzinghia" left for me in my previous article, you can see that he has written it respectfully, even though he disagrees with some of my ideas. I totally appreciate that, because only then can we actually enter into a dialogue and come to a conclusion. As it is, tolerance is something that is slowly developing in this country, and I am glad about that!

Thanks for understanding,

Mansur