As the world prepares to commemorate the Sept. 11 attacks in the US, I’m reminded of a conversation I had with a young Muslim several days ago. The young man in question had asked me, upon learning that I had worked with Saudi institutions, if “I was scared of being converted to Islam?”
That comment struck me. In the two-years that I have worked with Saudi institutions, I’ve met a range of people from Saudi Arabia and at no time has my status as non-Muslim been an issue. How did this young man get the idea that I should be fearful that I would be forced to convert to Islam?
This clearly illustrates the gulf in understanding between different civilizations. The Sept. 11 attacks have made this gulf deeper and this is particularly true when it comes to the Arab world and Saudi Arabia. Why is this so?
I believe the blame for this should lie with the fact that Saudi Arabia and other Arab societies appear closed to the outside world. The only information that I had about Saudi Arabia and Arab society came from my own reading. I like to think that I’m confident enough to name the Saudi kings after Abdulaziz Al-Saud, talk about the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia and hold a superficial conversation about Islam. However, did I know what the average Saudi citizen thought of these things? I didn’t, simply because I never got the chance to meet any Saudis nor had I been to Saudi Arabia.
I’m glad that this situation is changing. I’m glad that Saudi Arabia and the Arab world want to engage the outside world. Thanks to this effort, I’ve had the chance to meet with Saudi people and have had the opportunity to think of Saudis and Arabs in general as people — husbands, wives, mothers and children instead of caricatures of a Hollywood producer’s imagination.
The first time I dealt with Saudi Arabia was two years ago when Saudi Aramco held an exhibition in Singapore. I was engaged as a public relations consultant and had to work with members of the Aramco communications department. It was here when I started to see Saudis for what they are — people who were not too dissimilar to me.
Earlier this year, I had the honor of working with the Saudi Embassy in Singapore in the organization of Crown Prince Sultan’s trip to Singapore. I was the only non-Muslim in the group and yet, I was given a fairly prominent position in the organization of the royal visit. Here, I met with members of the Saudi media. I won’t hide the fact that at times things were tense — I don’t speak Arabic and many in the delegation spoke limited English, so communication was challenging.
But when it was time for the media delegation to move onto Pakistan, it was an incredibly sad moment. I was saying goodbye to people who had become close. Every time I was told, “Inshallah, we will meet again,” I wanted the Almighty to be willing for a reunion.
I’m not ignorant to the fact that Saudi society, like other societies I’ve lived in, has its issues. I’m also not ignorant to the fact that a good portion of the Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi citizens and the price of oil, Saudi Arabia’s most lucrative export has been at an all time high for the past three years.
But there is more to Saudi society and I’m glad that companies like Saudi Aramco are working hard to promote that fact. I hope that Singaporeans and other Asians will get the chance to know Saudi people as people during the National Day when Saudi Aramco’s cultural event known as “Saudi Aramco: Tradition, Innovation and Inspiration” is held later this month.
President Bush’s policies since Sept. 11 have made the world a more divisive place and even if the president were more enlightened, people would still draw comfort in having stereotypes of each other. In Singapore, our main ethnic groups indulge in popular stereotyping. Malays laugh at the apparent “materialism,” of the Chinese while the Chinese laugh at the apparent lack of “economic success,” of the Malays. However, our cultures have been so used to intermingling that our people have internalized various festivals from each other’s cultures. Chinese will visit their Muslim friends during Ramadan while Muslims will visit their Chinese friends on Chinese New Year.
There will always be stereotypes of Saudi Arabia and Arabs in general. However, as long as the Arab world engages the world outside, we will adopt many things from Arab culture as our own, thus ensuring the ongoing “Dialogue of Civilizations.”
The increase in the efforts to create that dialogue in spite of the efforts of the Sept. 11 hijackers and President Bush’s policies will, “Inshallah,” be the legacy of Sept. 11 2001.
— Tang Li is a public relations consultant based in Singapore. He can be reached at: [email protected].
