When I joined, we were using typewriters to write our news stories, but less than two years later the first generation of computers were installed.
Using typewriters was a tiring business, especially if you wanted to correct, change or restructure your stories. You can imagine the misery of our lives then. I left Arab News in May 1993 and took another post at a financial institution in Jeddah.
After an absence of about 15 years, I rejoined Arab News in January 2009. Much water had run under the bridge during this time. When I left, Arab News was a single newspaper but when I came back there were two editions of Arab News: on hard copy and online.
When I left Khaled Almaeena was the editor in chief. When I rejoined he was still at the helm. He had not changed either in physical appearance or finesse.
He still has the same preoccupations:
— Maintaining the leading position of Arab News in the Kingdom and the Middle East.
— Headhunting young Saudi men and women with journalistic talent to give them opportunities in the newspaper.
— Ever calling for the training and qualifications of young Saudis.
— Keeping a sharp eye for young men and women with unique talents in sports (other than soccer) so he could draw attention toward them.
— Giving top priority to the welfare of his staff members.
— Staunchly defending Islam, the homeland and the Arabs.
— Helping poor and needy families.
Almaeena is still the man of humanity as I have known him for more than quarter of a century. He is the kind of man who finds it difficult to say no unless it compromises his basic values and the welfare of his staff.
It is not unusual for big companies to make layoffs from time to time according to financial reasons. I remember in 1988 there was a massive retrenchment. He was asked, among other editors in chiefs of the company, to relieve some of his staff.
I have never seen him more pained. He would not do it. The pressure was too much on him but he would not acquiesce. To save him the embarrassment, two Indian staff members decided to quit. He tried to convince them to stay but they were adamant in their stance. So instead of the 26 Arab News staff we should have laid off, we only lost two and by their own choice.
This is Khaled Almaeena. A man whose destiny is tied to Arab News. One of my colleagues told me that when he was relieved of his post as editor in chief and appointed director general of the Saudi Public Relations Company on Hail Street, he would many times find himself driving toward Arab News. When he reached the premises, he would remember where he was going and change direction.
Going back to before and after. When I left, Ahmad Mahmoud was the director general of the Saudi Research and Publishing Company (SRPC).
When I came back his son Mahmoud, who was a student in the US, had become the National Desk Editor. When I left, L. Ramnarayan Iyer was the sports editor. He is now the associate editor.
We only had one woman journalist when I left who was Faiza Amba, a bright, dynamic and talented young Saudi female journalist. When I rejoined, there were many woman journalists. More significantly, the managing editor is a woman: Somayya Jabarti. When I left, I was Mohammed. When I came back, I am Uncle Mohammed! The hair is white and the tummy protruding!!
Few of my veteran colleagues are still with Arab News. They are: Ramnarayan, Ram Kumar, P.K. Abdul Ghafoor, Abu Bakr Koya, Khalil Hanware, Shiraz Hassan, Abdul Mateen, Laique, Abdul Majeed and Sayed Muhammad Mujahid. We were more than 40. Some of them took other jobs. Some left for home or migrated to Europe or the US. Some of them died.
I have many memories in Arab News. Some of them can be revealed, others have to be kept hidden. I remember that we received a letter from an Indonesian reader who spoke very highly of the then Indonesian president.
The letter was appreciative of the president from beginning to end. However, the last two lines were in his own language. We thought they were in harmony with the body of the letter and they must have meant long live the president or something of the sort.
The next morning all hell broke loose, as the Indonesian Embassy was upon us. The writer had been calling the president all the bad names in the world. This was a lesson for us. Never publish anything you do not fully understand!!
The pleasant memories include our coverage of the first Gulf War. By the time we thought Saddam Hussein would destroy the entire region. His power was overrated. Khaled Almaeena led the company's team consisting of representatives of a number of its publications.
The team comprised Khaled Nazer (Arab News), Hani Nakshanadi (Asharq Al-Awsat) and others. When I was asked to join them my wife objected.
"Did we come to Saudi Arabia to make money or to die in its wars?" she asked. When the team came back safely and were greatly honored by the management (including financial bonuses) my wife started to regret it. But it was too late.
Arab News is an establishment of its own. I have always felt committed to it. Even when I left, I was deeply attached to the "Green Truth", as some readers prefer to call it.
Finally, when I came back, there is much press freedom, thanks to the reforms of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. This is not limited to Arab News. All Saudi newspapers can now publish things they would never dare to touch in the past.
