The appearance of the Saudi young man who recently emerged as the winner in Lebanon’s Star Academy show at the Kingdom Mall in Riyadh some days back created quite a stir. Contestants in this show are drawn from several countries in the region and are selected on the basis of their “star” appeal. They have to perform before live audiences by singing, dancing or performing other stunts and after some weeks and several elimination rounds, only one emerges the overall winner.
The show is broadcast live; in a reality TV sort of format, and in some circles it is a show that is never to be missed. And so it was natural that throngs of men and women quickly surrounded their native son, heaping words of praise and showering him with tributes ranging from admiration to outright adoration.
In that this event was taking place in a public place, it wasn’t long before the members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice arrived to investigate. And in the ensuing moments, they expressed their displeasure at what was happening before their eyes by dragging this young man into a waiting commission jeep and off to their headquarters.
The crowd was severely admonished for what they perceived as sinful and un-Islamic behavior and quickly ordered to disperse. The young man, after a lengthy interrogation, was then ordered to leave town. Put on an aircraft, he was booted off to Jeddah!
Jeddah is quickly acquiring a reputation of being the most liberal of cities in the Kingdom, sometimes too liberal and decadent, among some of the visitors from the other regions of this country. It has been successfully drawing millions of visitors annually both from within and outside, and to some, this latest incident appears to be a feather in the cap of that liberated status.
I went to cast my vote for the elections last Thursday. After obtaining the ballot forms and retreating into the polling booths, it wasn’t long before I had tick-marked the candidates of my choice. Observing some of the other voters deeply engrossed in the ballot forms, and perplexed at the high number of candidates in each district while they mulled over the choices, I was quickly feeling smug.
You see, I had come prepared. In the days preceding the elections, I was carefully evaluating the candidates for each district. I had called quite a few of them and after weeding out what I had thought to be people not worthy to be elected, I had formed my list.
But soon at the polling booth, I was in for a surprise. The number of candidates I had selected on my list totaled 6, one for each district. But there were 7 districts to be decided, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how I could have missed such a minor detail. And with my smugness evaporating with each minute, I resigned myself to go through the list of names on the last ballot, and try to select a competent candidate. There was no opportunity here for calling any of the candidates or the luxury of pre-screening them. This had to be decided on the trot.
As I scanned the names, and there were plenty of them, I quickly disregarded those with tribal surnames, and those who considered themselves fortunate enough to be promoted by some religious factions. I am not anti-tribal or anti-theologian but the city of Jeddah needs care by those who understand it, the long-term residents of the city or established Jeddahites if you will.
Sadly, there were no such names. As I kept moving my eyes up and down the list and kicking myself for this minor omission in my preparations, my eyes locked on someone named HabHab (watermelon). Whether it was an intuition or a calculated act of fate or the passage of resignation, I don’t know, but I selected him for the final slot.
The results will soon show how successful my choice of candidates was. But wherever you are, Mr. Watermelon man, rest assured that I did cast my vote for you.
