You know you are in Jeddah ...

By KHALAF AL-HARBI | OKAZ, KLFHRBE@GMAIL.COM

If you boarded a plane and fell into a deep sleep and then woke up at the end of the journey, then it is most likely you will not know which city you have arrived in unless this city is Jeddah where you will see people disembarking in their white pilgrim sheets. This was definitely in the past. Today there are many things that will tell you that you are in Jeddah.

If you checked into a hotel room and found a mosquito repellent, then be rest assured you are in Jeddah. The destruction of the sea, the land and the environment is part of this city’s tourist activities. Meeting various species of mosquitoes and talking about new epidemics are normal in Jeddah.

If you found the district municipality doing nothing and acting like a guiding station in which employees say that “everything is in the hands of the municipality,” then be rest assured you are in Jeddah because the municipality has no hands, even though the city is home to a massive hand monument.

If you found the price of land more expensive than in other cities because of bureaucracy, which is given the fancy name of “development,” then know you are in Jeddah.

If you came to know that historical sites were not open to visitors and that people know nothing about them unless they are hit by fires, then be rest assured you are in Jeddah.

If you found libraries containing archives and documents being hit by fires with smoke concealing the flames of truth and reality, then know you are in Jeddah. If you found a city in constant need of the Civil Defense, then know you are in Jeddah.

If you discovered that the congested road in which you stopped for two hours or more is leading to nowhere, then be rest assured you are in Jeddah.

If you found a company asphalting a street while another one was simultaneously digging it, then know you are in Jeddah. If you fond a city dumping all of its rubbish and sewage into the sea, then also know you are in Jeddah.

         

Comments

ZORKOR

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It pains to see such a great city like Jeddah crumbling day by day. I was born here and I miss the smoothness of its roads, the quietness and cleanliness.

From such a hospitable city to the most unlivable city you have become my Jeddah.

MARYAM

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if u are in the city of palaces that means ur in jeddah , if ur a pilgrim that means ur in jeddah, if u see women clad in abaya that means u r in jeddah, if u are stucked in corncihe traffic jam that means u r in jeddah and still nothing bad happens , gateway to the holy mosques is jeddah,. im not a resident of jeddah but once i lived there for 3 yrs..and im a pakistani by nationality and i love that place just because it is the land of our prophet and i admire it to the fullest..love jeddah!

MOHAMED MUKTHAR

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yes, absolutly rite.... but peoples from jeddah have to do for their own place...
its not only the muncipality but also each persons living in jeddah....
so first try to clean ourself..... everything wil be ok.... inshah allah....

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I just want to add a line or two that you forgot to mention. "If your Iqama or residence permit expired and you can still free to walk like a rat without hindrance from the cat....then rest assured you're in Jeddah".

If you see a group of teen boys and girls in the malls particularly in RED SEA Mall, who're exchanging their BB Pin#, mobile # etc....then you're not in Eastern or Central region...but you are in Western region...JEDDAH!

MINAKSHI SHIRODKAR

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Dear Khalaf Al-Harbi, your writing is indeed indicative of the changing times in the Kingdom. And I appreciate these changes which may not have come about without the right initiatives of His Royal Highness King Abdullah.
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