JEDDAH, 8 August 2003 — Be it a poetry reading contest, literary-musical show or a Filipino cagefest, Arab News Editor in Chief Khaled Al-Maeena takes time out to share in the fun and once-again it was a Filipino community gathering he visited last Friday.
Whenever he has time, he would go out of his way to watch Filipinos perform. Last Friday, he surprised a lot of spectators when he showed up unannounced to watch the games of the ongoing Inter-Color Basketball Tournament of King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital at the Crowne Plaza basketball court.
His decision to visit was handsomely rewarded. The game he was watching developed into a “cardiac” ballgame. Around the court the spectators were animated and noisily rooting for their teams. To add a merry atmosphere to a humid afternoon, Jojo Ligan was his usual babbly self doing the blow-by-blow account of the game’s progress.
In addressing the crowd, Maeena expressed his admiration to the knack of Filipinos in planning quality diversion activities. “The Filipino community is the most organized community in Saudi Arabia. We have to learn from them. They have the NGO’s, sports organizations and the like,” he said.
After thanking the sponsors, participating teams, and spectators, he concluded his short address and remarked that having visitors in the Kingdom offers interesting things to learn about. “We appreciate those who came from other countries….we learn a lot from and they learn a lot from us,” he observed.
Maeena didn’t finish the basketball game he was watching. Had he, it would have been another learning experience for him in terms of perseverance. Pfizer eked out a convincing 74-67 victory over Crowne Plaza, but not until overcoming 12 deadlocks and losing three players to fouls.
The tournament is sponsored by Samsung Electronics United Matbouli Group with the support of Arab News, TFC, Giordano Fashion, Nova water, Powerhouse, and Crowne Plaza. The Filipino Organization for Community Unity and Services (FOCUS), an in-house community organization at the King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, headed by Seth Bentayen manages the games; in cooperation with The Overseas Filipino Sports Association (OFSA) headed by Jojo Ligan, with Mohamed Bayoumi as adviser.
