On my first day at Arab News last week, I published a column about my impressions coming back home following a 20-year absence. I've written about the impressive buildings, roads and infrastructure that were developed over the past two decades that I have been away. These massive efforts shouldn't be taken lightly nor should people simply say that these are not achievements given Saudi Arabia's massive wealth. At the end of the day, there are other rich countries in the region which sadly have nothing to show for their wealth but turmoil, destruction and rising death tolls.
I have been here for nearly a week now, and I can now feel exactly where the ambitious and recently announced Vision 2030 fits in. If the past few decades were about building infrastructure, i.e. hardware, then one could argue that this massive and all-encompassing vision is about updating Kingdom's 'software' and ready the nation for a sustainable, prosperous and safe future.
Today, our newspaper carries two stories which perfectly reflect these thoughts and we carry them with much joy given that as journalists, we mostly and sadly are the bearers of bad news. However, I never thought that — as a Saudi and a journalist — I would see such remarkable achievements happen... so quickly!
The first is an announcement that the Saudi civil service will finally be reformed, and that government employees will finally be regularly assessed according to key performance indicators (KPIs) and rewarded according to the achievements of their goals. This is excellent because it means that civil servants will be motivated to excel at serving the end beneficiary (the citizen) and will be placed on a performance improvement plan or eventually face termination as a last resort, should the civil servants fail to meet their targets.
This maybe a given. However, in a local context, it is a massive reform which will end the previous stigma associated with the ineffectiveness and inefficiency of many public sector employees.
The second story, which we carried a few days ago and continue its coverage in today's issue, is related to a live-show — or rather a live visual extravaganza — by the name of iLuminate, which has come straight from New York to play in Riyadh. Yes, you read it right... there is a live stage show happening right now in the Saudi capital. This is significant because when the government formed a body to look after nationwide entertainment, many people were skeptical and thought nothing will eventually materialize of this announcement.
Well, iLuminate is happening at the state-of-the-art conference hall of the Princess Nourah University in Riyadh, and is continuing until October 8 before it travels to Jeddah to play at the King Abdullah Sports City. Not only that, but the show is open to everyone (that is males, females, students, non-students). Of course, the show shouldn't be taken for granted, it has wowed audiences in the US with its impressive special effects and moves.
There are more exciting things happening around the Kingdom: Next month the wrestling superstars of WWE return to Riyadh and other events which we are told will be equally as impressive. This is good news because it means that for the very first time, Saudis can get the best world-class entertainment at home, without having to travel abroad.
To conclude: Yes... there is much reform and development that still needs to take place in the Kingdom; after all, when you are a regional heavyweight (and Saudi Arabia fits that description in every way), you need to accept that people will hold you accountable to higher standard, but from everything happening around, we should rest assured that change is happening at a rapid pace.
So for now, let us sit back and enjoy the show!
—
Faisal J. Abbas is the editor in chief of Arab News. He can be reached on Twitter @FaisalJAbbas
I have been here for nearly a week now, and I can now feel exactly where the ambitious and recently announced Vision 2030 fits in. If the past few decades were about building infrastructure, i.e. hardware, then one could argue that this massive and all-encompassing vision is about updating Kingdom's 'software' and ready the nation for a sustainable, prosperous and safe future.
Today, our newspaper carries two stories which perfectly reflect these thoughts and we carry them with much joy given that as journalists, we mostly and sadly are the bearers of bad news. However, I never thought that — as a Saudi and a journalist — I would see such remarkable achievements happen... so quickly!
The first is an announcement that the Saudi civil service will finally be reformed, and that government employees will finally be regularly assessed according to key performance indicators (KPIs) and rewarded according to the achievements of their goals. This is excellent because it means that civil servants will be motivated to excel at serving the end beneficiary (the citizen) and will be placed on a performance improvement plan or eventually face termination as a last resort, should the civil servants fail to meet their targets.
This maybe a given. However, in a local context, it is a massive reform which will end the previous stigma associated with the ineffectiveness and inefficiency of many public sector employees.
The second story, which we carried a few days ago and continue its coverage in today's issue, is related to a live-show — or rather a live visual extravaganza — by the name of iLuminate, which has come straight from New York to play in Riyadh. Yes, you read it right... there is a live stage show happening right now in the Saudi capital. This is significant because when the government formed a body to look after nationwide entertainment, many people were skeptical and thought nothing will eventually materialize of this announcement.
Well, iLuminate is happening at the state-of-the-art conference hall of the Princess Nourah University in Riyadh, and is continuing until October 8 before it travels to Jeddah to play at the King Abdullah Sports City. Not only that, but the show is open to everyone (that is males, females, students, non-students). Of course, the show shouldn't be taken for granted, it has wowed audiences in the US with its impressive special effects and moves.
There are more exciting things happening around the Kingdom: Next month the wrestling superstars of WWE return to Riyadh and other events which we are told will be equally as impressive. This is good news because it means that for the very first time, Saudis can get the best world-class entertainment at home, without having to travel abroad.
To conclude: Yes... there is much reform and development that still needs to take place in the Kingdom; after all, when you are a regional heavyweight (and Saudi Arabia fits that description in every way), you need to accept that people will hold you accountable to higher standard, but from everything happening around, we should rest assured that change is happening at a rapid pace.
So for now, let us sit back and enjoy the show!
—
Faisal J. Abbas is the editor in chief of Arab News. He can be reached on Twitter @FaisalJAbbas
