MUSCAT // Herdswomen in rural areas are struggling to keep their traditional livelihoods as the market for meat and livestock in Oman is increasingly dominated by imports.
With the help of her three younger sisters, Zeena Salah, 36, a herdswoman from Mahut in the al Wusta Region, takes her flock of 250 sheep and goats from their pen to graze in the wadi every day, just 2km from her family home.
Ms Salah said she had been a herdswoman since she was 14, a livelihood she inherited from her mother, who died nine years ago.
In Oman’s rural areas, men often work on their farms growing vegetables and fruits while the livestock rearing is left to women because it is seen as less strenuous work. The farm, said Ms Salah, does not fetch enough money to provide for her extended family.
“So the livestock business makes up for the rest, which is much needed. But in the past five years, the business is being squeezed by traders importing cheap animals from abroad they literally flood the market. Our sales now depends only on rich folk who prefer locally bred livestock because we feed our animals with chemical-free feedstock,” Ms Salah said.
Statistics from the animal wealth department show that about 1.45 million livestock are bred in Oman, a country with a population of about three million people. About 25 per cent of the livestock are sheep, 30 per cent goats and the rest cows and camels.
Traders who import livestock argue that the statistics show there are not enough animals bred in the country to satisfy local demand, especially in the festive seasons.
“In the two Eids, the demand soars to more than a million goats and sheep slaughtered for private people and hotels celebrating the religious occasions,” said Khalfan Marhoobi, distribution manager of the Muscat-based Livestock and Meat Supply Company. “Then there is the daily consumption of meat sold at butchers and supermarkets. Locally bred livestock cannot cater for this demand.”
The key difference between the imported and locally bred meat, however, is the price. “A local live sheep or goat costs 60 Omani rials [Dh595]. You can get the same animals imported abroad from Somalia or Iran each for 40 rials. The difference is about a third of the price,” Hussain al Lawati, a 42-year-old customer, said.
This economic reality has created a thriving market for imported meat and livestock, which is dominated by imports from Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and India, butchers said.
“Butchers in Oman sell only meat imported from abroad because it is cheaper to buy from distributors bringing it from overseas than directly from Omani breeders. I don’t know any distributor supplying meat from local livestock,” Saifullah Khan, a Pakistani butcher in Muscat said.
There are no statistics available to the amount of meat consumed in Oman or total livestock slaughtered, but Mr Khan estimated that only a quarter of locally produced meat finds the market in the country.
“To me, local meat ensures freshness and is free of chemicals usually injected to foreign livestock to make animals fat. Besides, if we buy locally produced meat, we keep alive the tradition started by our ancestors,” Salim al Brashdi, a 36-year-old Omani consumer said.
As for the high price of local livestock, Mr Brashdi suggested the government grant subsidies to herdswomen, the same way farmers and fishermen get free farming and fishing equipment.
“I think something like that to suit herdswomen can be worked out,” Mr al Brashdi said.
Some herdswomen have urged the government to put a cap on the import of livestock or fresh meat from abroad to help them revive their trade but they are yet to approach a government department to file a complaint.
“The government must regulate the meat market and put a levy on imported meat and livestock to protect us. We cannot compete with importers who are dumping the livestock at a cheaper price from abroad,” said Sharifa Farah, 46, a herdswoman in Fanja, a town about 70km from Muscat.
Government officials were not available to comment, but livestock experts blamed local meat distributors for not doing enough to promote locally bred animals.
“Herdswomen rely heavily on selling livestock directly to consumers or they auction the animals in the local souqs in a town’s square. These women are not educated and they only know to sell the way it has always been done for centuries. Distributors need to help by cutting down on imports and promote local meat,” Khamfar Jaalan, 74, a retired ministry of agriculture official, said.
Mr Marhoobi agreed with this assessment but said all meat distributors must be required to sell local meat and livestock.
“What is needed is the compliance of all distributors. After all, the attraction of locally bred animals is that their food is not tampered by chemicals to fatten them up,” Mr Marhoobi said. “Besides, as nationals, we have the obligation to make sure this ancient trade survives.”
salshaibany@thenational.ae
Source: The National: An uphill struggle for Omani herdswomen
Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Oman to Fund a New Library in Uzbekistan
MUSCAT — A new library at the Oriental Studies Institute in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent will be built with funds provided by the government of Oman, according to an agreement signed between the two countries on Monday, the second and final day of an official visit here by Islam Karimov, the President of Uzbekistan.
The ‘Abu Alraihan Albairuni’ library will house more than 26,000 manuscripts, 85,000 historical messages, most of them in the Turkish, Uzbek and Farsi languages, as wells as 10,000 manuscripts in Arabic, currently in the possession of the institute.
Most of these rare documents date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. UNESCO has listed them in its World Heritage List as there are no similar copies anywhere else in the world.
The accord was signed by National Economy Minister of Oman Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki and Vladir Norov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan.
Several other deals were also concluded between the two countries including regularising air transportation and to promote cooperation in tourism.
The two leaders, during the meetings, also exchanged views on the latest developments at the regional and international levels, an official statement said.
Source: Khaleej Times: Oman to Fund a New Library in Uzbekistan
The ‘Abu Alraihan Albairuni’ library will house more than 26,000 manuscripts, 85,000 historical messages, most of them in the Turkish, Uzbek and Farsi languages, as wells as 10,000 manuscripts in Arabic, currently in the possession of the institute.
Most of these rare documents date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. UNESCO has listed them in its World Heritage List as there are no similar copies anywhere else in the world.
The accord was signed by National Economy Minister of Oman Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki and Vladir Norov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan.
Several other deals were also concluded between the two countries including regularising air transportation and to promote cooperation in tourism.
The two leaders, during the meetings, also exchanged views on the latest developments at the regional and international levels, an official statement said.
Source: Khaleej Times: Oman to Fund a New Library in Uzbekistan
Monday, 5 October 2009
Oman urged to preserve its crumbling old houses
SAMAIL, OMAN // Historians are urging Oman to include privately owned ruins, crumbling in rural areas, in the government’s preservation programme to stop the erosion of the country’s heritage.
The sultanate spends 25 million rials (Dh249.5m) a year renovating and maintaining such historical buildings as forts, mosques and watchtowers all over the country, but the programme does not include privately owned buildings in abandoned villages.
In towns like Tanuf, Bid Bid and Barakat Mawz in the Al-Dakhaliya region, as well as towns in Dhofar, some ruined buildings lie in isolation, abandoned by descendents now living in modern villas.
Most of them are severly damaged, and if they disappear, so will the last glimpse of Oman’s rich heritage.
Historians say some of the ruins are 700 years old and were occupied by noted Omanis who shaped the history of the country.
“These houses were occupied by dignitaries of the areas and preserving them will help make the residents proud of their heritages,” Mohammed al Siyabi, a historian based in Samail, a small town about 150km from Muscat, said.
“The government should not allow them to crumble just because they are owned by the descendants of the previous owners. If they go, then a large chunk of our heritage goes as well.”
By way of example, Mr al Siyabi cited the houses of Ahmed bin Majid and Ahmad bin Naaman that are now lost forever. Bin Majid was a sailor who helped Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, find his way from Africa to India in 1499.
Bin Naaman was the first Arab envoy sent on a goodwill journey to the United States, in 1833 by the sultan of Oman.
But government officials said the preservation programme managed by the ministry of national heritage and culture did not have the jurisdiction of renovating privately owned houses.
“We only manage the state-owned old buildings and we cannot interfere with private areas no matter how old they are unless the owners of these ruins are willing to hand over the ownership to the government.
“We cannot spend state money to renovate private houses,” Said al Farsi, the head of the ministry’s planning unit, said.
In Nizwa, just 400 metres from the foot of the massive citadel built in the 17th century by former rulers of Oman, are ruins that, according to one of the descendants of the houses, were inhabited by the town’s traders 500 years ago. They say the ruins are the reason the Al-Ya’arubi imams built the fort because of the thriving trade of the time.
“One of the ruins was a home of my family for six generations. The last of the inhabitants moved out just 30 years ago when it was too uneconomical to maintain the houses. That was the beginning of the decay and abandonment of the village,” Salim Yousuf, a 71-year-old silversmith in Nizwa, said.
Some observers are questioning how people like Mr Yousuf could afford to build modern two-storey villas just a kilometre away from the old ruins but do not have the money to repair the homes of their ancestors.
“The majority of these people are either well-to-do businessmen or well-paid civil servants who prefer to live in luxury rather than in cramped and ancient little houses.
“They can afford to repair their ancestral homes but want government grants to do it for them. They would rather watch local history crumbling down than spend their money,” said Khamis Fraish, a retired gatekeeper of the Bibi Maryam mausoleum at Qalhat, a town near Sur, in the Eastern region.
Some companies help the preservations of local ruins, such as the mausoleum, a site that does not fall under the government grant nor is claimed by any private owner.
“Out of a social responsibility programme, we donated money for the repair of this mausoleum because we produce gas from the town and we would like the locals to be proud of their heritage.
“But we don’t do the privately owned ruins for obvious reasons,” Nasser al Kindy, head of corporate communications of Qalhat LNG, said.
salshaibany@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Oman urged to preserve its crumbling old houses
The sultanate spends 25 million rials (Dh249.5m) a year renovating and maintaining such historical buildings as forts, mosques and watchtowers all over the country, but the programme does not include privately owned buildings in abandoned villages.
In towns like Tanuf, Bid Bid and Barakat Mawz in the Al-Dakhaliya region, as well as towns in Dhofar, some ruined buildings lie in isolation, abandoned by descendents now living in modern villas.
Most of them are severly damaged, and if they disappear, so will the last glimpse of Oman’s rich heritage.
Historians say some of the ruins are 700 years old and were occupied by noted Omanis who shaped the history of the country.
“These houses were occupied by dignitaries of the areas and preserving them will help make the residents proud of their heritages,” Mohammed al Siyabi, a historian based in Samail, a small town about 150km from Muscat, said.
“The government should not allow them to crumble just because they are owned by the descendants of the previous owners. If they go, then a large chunk of our heritage goes as well.”
By way of example, Mr al Siyabi cited the houses of Ahmed bin Majid and Ahmad bin Naaman that are now lost forever. Bin Majid was a sailor who helped Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, find his way from Africa to India in 1499.
Bin Naaman was the first Arab envoy sent on a goodwill journey to the United States, in 1833 by the sultan of Oman.
But government officials said the preservation programme managed by the ministry of national heritage and culture did not have the jurisdiction of renovating privately owned houses.
“We only manage the state-owned old buildings and we cannot interfere with private areas no matter how old they are unless the owners of these ruins are willing to hand over the ownership to the government.
“We cannot spend state money to renovate private houses,” Said al Farsi, the head of the ministry’s planning unit, said.
In Nizwa, just 400 metres from the foot of the massive citadel built in the 17th century by former rulers of Oman, are ruins that, according to one of the descendants of the houses, were inhabited by the town’s traders 500 years ago. They say the ruins are the reason the Al-Ya’arubi imams built the fort because of the thriving trade of the time.
“One of the ruins was a home of my family for six generations. The last of the inhabitants moved out just 30 years ago when it was too uneconomical to maintain the houses. That was the beginning of the decay and abandonment of the village,” Salim Yousuf, a 71-year-old silversmith in Nizwa, said.
Some observers are questioning how people like Mr Yousuf could afford to build modern two-storey villas just a kilometre away from the old ruins but do not have the money to repair the homes of their ancestors.
“The majority of these people are either well-to-do businessmen or well-paid civil servants who prefer to live in luxury rather than in cramped and ancient little houses.
“They can afford to repair their ancestral homes but want government grants to do it for them. They would rather watch local history crumbling down than spend their money,” said Khamis Fraish, a retired gatekeeper of the Bibi Maryam mausoleum at Qalhat, a town near Sur, in the Eastern region.
Some companies help the preservations of local ruins, such as the mausoleum, a site that does not fall under the government grant nor is claimed by any private owner.
“Out of a social responsibility programme, we donated money for the repair of this mausoleum because we produce gas from the town and we would like the locals to be proud of their heritage.
“But we don’t do the privately owned ruins for obvious reasons,” Nasser al Kindy, head of corporate communications of Qalhat LNG, said.
salshaibany@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Oman urged to preserve its crumbling old houses
Friday, 2 October 2009
Love is the tender trap in Oman
MUSCAT // It should be the happiest day of their lives but for many young Omani couples the custom of paying exorbitant dowries is placing their marriages under huge financial strain and leading to a growing number of unmarried women.
Across the Gulf, bride’s families receive money from the groom’s family, but in Oman the dowry sums can be as high as 10,000 rials (Dh96,000) in cash. The brides also expect to receive expensive jewellery that costs thousands more and, in most instances, a lavish ceremony that lasts several days.
“It is not right. It is time we break this bad habit because it works out negatively in our society,” said Fatma Fallahy, a 74-year-old marriage counsellor. “It is just pure greed that has got nothing to do with our tradition or religion. It also ruins the prospective marriages of many young people.”
One Omani man said that it cost him nearly 20,000 rials to marry his college sweetheart, money that would have moved them out of a rented accommodation and helped pay for their own house.
“By the time I paid the dowry, the five-star hotel’s reception cost, traditional ceremonies and gifts, I ... used up almost all my savings,” said Rashid al Habsi, a computer software engineer. “The message from my father-in-law at the time was: ‘you want her, then you pay for her’, but the money ended our dreams of owning a house for many years to come.”
Some men take crippling loans from banks to finance marriages they cannot afford so they can be with the women they love. More well-off families tend to help the grooms with the payments. In extreme cases, such marriages end in matrimonial disaster.
“My brother’s marriage ended just a year and a half later from both the financial constraint of running a family and blaming his father-in-law for putting them in a dire condition,” Mr al Habsi added.
Matchmakers, who are still used by most Omanis, say some men avoid marrying their compatriots, preferring low-cost weddings with foreign women.
“It is getting popular and the number is growing,” said Rahila Saif, a Muscat-based matchmaker. “They get married to Indian, Pakistani, Filipino and European women, and who can blame them? They get a fair bargain while our women struggle with local suitors.”
The number of unmarried women in Oman is growing. Although the government does not keep statistics, thirty years ago the age of marriage for women was between 18 and 22. Now, Mrs Saif said, women in their mid thirties are still looking for husbands.
The potential bride’s father usually sets the dowry fee when he wants to finance an expensive purchase or simply boost his bank balance, turning daughters into costly commodities. In villages, the most common purchase with dowry money is a farm, and in cities a property that can provide an income from rent.
“In some cases I know, fathers of the brides even buy bonds or invest the money in shares, things as ridiculous as that,” said Nasser al Khaboori, a Muscat-based investment banker. “They don’t really care that while they enrich themselves, they give their daughters and sons-in-laws a bad start to their marriage by cutting down their financial resources.”
Some women know nothing about their future husbands and are forced to marry by fathers eager to cash in.
Such marriages, which are usually practised in villages, involve much older men giving marriage proposals to the father, who chooses a groom for his daughter from the highest bidder.
“[It is] just like a goat auction. These men treat their daughters as livestock rather than humans,” Mr Khaboori said.
Fathers who demand huge dowries defend themselves by claiming the payment is their right.
“I have spent thousands for the upkeep of my children and I need a little compensation.” said Hamdani al Mansoori, a 66-year-old retired civil servant who married off three daughters at an average dowry of 4,500 rials each. “Besides, who says marriages are cheap? A man looking for a wife needs to prove his financial standing before making a proposal,” he said.
Mr Mansoori, who lives in Muscat, said he used the money to help buy a property from which the rent augments his pension.
sshaibany@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Love is the tender trap in Oman
Across the Gulf, bride’s families receive money from the groom’s family, but in Oman the dowry sums can be as high as 10,000 rials (Dh96,000) in cash. The brides also expect to receive expensive jewellery that costs thousands more and, in most instances, a lavish ceremony that lasts several days.
“It is not right. It is time we break this bad habit because it works out negatively in our society,” said Fatma Fallahy, a 74-year-old marriage counsellor. “It is just pure greed that has got nothing to do with our tradition or religion. It also ruins the prospective marriages of many young people.”
One Omani man said that it cost him nearly 20,000 rials to marry his college sweetheart, money that would have moved them out of a rented accommodation and helped pay for their own house.
“By the time I paid the dowry, the five-star hotel’s reception cost, traditional ceremonies and gifts, I ... used up almost all my savings,” said Rashid al Habsi, a computer software engineer. “The message from my father-in-law at the time was: ‘you want her, then you pay for her’, but the money ended our dreams of owning a house for many years to come.”
Some men take crippling loans from banks to finance marriages they cannot afford so they can be with the women they love. More well-off families tend to help the grooms with the payments. In extreme cases, such marriages end in matrimonial disaster.
“My brother’s marriage ended just a year and a half later from both the financial constraint of running a family and blaming his father-in-law for putting them in a dire condition,” Mr al Habsi added.
Matchmakers, who are still used by most Omanis, say some men avoid marrying their compatriots, preferring low-cost weddings with foreign women.
“It is getting popular and the number is growing,” said Rahila Saif, a Muscat-based matchmaker. “They get married to Indian, Pakistani, Filipino and European women, and who can blame them? They get a fair bargain while our women struggle with local suitors.”
The number of unmarried women in Oman is growing. Although the government does not keep statistics, thirty years ago the age of marriage for women was between 18 and 22. Now, Mrs Saif said, women in their mid thirties are still looking for husbands.
The potential bride’s father usually sets the dowry fee when he wants to finance an expensive purchase or simply boost his bank balance, turning daughters into costly commodities. In villages, the most common purchase with dowry money is a farm, and in cities a property that can provide an income from rent.
“In some cases I know, fathers of the brides even buy bonds or invest the money in shares, things as ridiculous as that,” said Nasser al Khaboori, a Muscat-based investment banker. “They don’t really care that while they enrich themselves, they give their daughters and sons-in-laws a bad start to their marriage by cutting down their financial resources.”
Some women know nothing about their future husbands and are forced to marry by fathers eager to cash in.
Such marriages, which are usually practised in villages, involve much older men giving marriage proposals to the father, who chooses a groom for his daughter from the highest bidder.
“[It is] just like a goat auction. These men treat their daughters as livestock rather than humans,” Mr Khaboori said.
Fathers who demand huge dowries defend themselves by claiming the payment is their right.
“I have spent thousands for the upkeep of my children and I need a little compensation.” said Hamdani al Mansoori, a 66-year-old retired civil servant who married off three daughters at an average dowry of 4,500 rials each. “Besides, who says marriages are cheap? A man looking for a wife needs to prove his financial standing before making a proposal,” he said.
Mr Mansoori, who lives in Muscat, said he used the money to help buy a property from which the rent augments his pension.
sshaibany@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Love is the tender trap in Oman
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Female beggars on the rise in Muscat
MUSCAT // Women from Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan, many of them covered from head to toe in black abayas, approach cars and people at petrol stations, ATMs, shopping malls and even knock on the doors of private houses to beg for money.
Some of them cradle babies with tears in their eyes asking for compassion from “fellow Muslims” for help, pleading that the infants are orphans whose fathers were killed during the occupation of their countries.
“We are the victims of the American injustice who made our children fatherless and we have nowhere to go but come here,” begged one Afghan woman named Zulekha, standing outside a shopping mall.
Observers say that many times, the begging women refuse to accept small amounts of money, which is increasing resentment among locals, raising questions about whether they are genuine and in real need.
“Genuine poor people accept whatever they can get. I think they are fakes and scroungers who are looking to take advantage of our conscience. We should not give them anything since that will encourage more of them to come here,” Ahmed al Raisy, a security guard at the Lulu shopping mall, said.
The beggars are part of a racket organised in the host countries by people paying the beggars’ travelling expenses, some local expatriates claim.
But other residents disagree. “These women have no other choice but to leave their countries since they live in appalling conditions with no one to depend on after the deaths of their husbands during conflicts in places like Iraq and Palestine,” said Hussain Abdulrasool, an Iraqi expatriate in Oman. “Oman is one of the prime targets because it is easy to get a visa for Arab nationals and its people are much more tolerant than in other GCC countries.”
Some expatriates, however, blame their own for the appearance of the aggressive beggars, saying that they send their wives out to beg and make them wear veils to conceal their identities and increase their income.
“I know for a fact, one or two of my fellow expatriates, out of pure greed, have their own wives beg in the streets to increase their income. It is a shameful practice but it is the truth,” Abdullah Khaliq, an Afghan transport supervisor, said.
Oman has a population of just over three million people, about one-quarter of wºhom are foreign workers, according to official statistics. Oman also hosts more than a million visitors a year, mainly people from Arab states and South Asian countries visiting their relatives.
The sultanate relaxed visa rules three years ago to encourage tourism and help diversify the economy.
“We should not blame the government for allowing more people to come to Oman. We should blame expatriates and visitors for taking advantage.
“If it goes on for too long, these women may turn the begging racket into prostitution. Then we will have a real problem,” Mr al Raisy, said.
Places of worship are a favourite haunt for foreign men waiting at the door after prayers with outstretched hands. One middle-aged Iraqi man, who identified himself as Qassim, pulled his shirt up to reveal two ghastly scars across his stomach and ribs outside a mosque.
“This was a bullet from Saddam’s soldiers six years ago and the other wound was inflicted three months ago by the Sunni terrorists in Basra. They killed my family and wrecked my home … now I am not fit for work,” he told worshippers leaving a Shia mosque in Muscat.
Religious leaders fear that beggars with stories of sectarian violence from their homelands will encourage tension among people of the three major Islamic sects – Ibadhi, Sunni and Shiite – practiced in the sultanate.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Female beggars on the rise in Muscat
Some of them cradle babies with tears in their eyes asking for compassion from “fellow Muslims” for help, pleading that the infants are orphans whose fathers were killed during the occupation of their countries.
“We are the victims of the American injustice who made our children fatherless and we have nowhere to go but come here,” begged one Afghan woman named Zulekha, standing outside a shopping mall.
Observers say that many times, the begging women refuse to accept small amounts of money, which is increasing resentment among locals, raising questions about whether they are genuine and in real need.
“Genuine poor people accept whatever they can get. I think they are fakes and scroungers who are looking to take advantage of our conscience. We should not give them anything since that will encourage more of them to come here,” Ahmed al Raisy, a security guard at the Lulu shopping mall, said.
The beggars are part of a racket organised in the host countries by people paying the beggars’ travelling expenses, some local expatriates claim.
But other residents disagree. “These women have no other choice but to leave their countries since they live in appalling conditions with no one to depend on after the deaths of their husbands during conflicts in places like Iraq and Palestine,” said Hussain Abdulrasool, an Iraqi expatriate in Oman. “Oman is one of the prime targets because it is easy to get a visa for Arab nationals and its people are much more tolerant than in other GCC countries.”
Some expatriates, however, blame their own for the appearance of the aggressive beggars, saying that they send their wives out to beg and make them wear veils to conceal their identities and increase their income.
“I know for a fact, one or two of my fellow expatriates, out of pure greed, have their own wives beg in the streets to increase their income. It is a shameful practice but it is the truth,” Abdullah Khaliq, an Afghan transport supervisor, said.
Oman has a population of just over three million people, about one-quarter of wºhom are foreign workers, according to official statistics. Oman also hosts more than a million visitors a year, mainly people from Arab states and South Asian countries visiting their relatives.
The sultanate relaxed visa rules three years ago to encourage tourism and help diversify the economy.
“We should not blame the government for allowing more people to come to Oman. We should blame expatriates and visitors for taking advantage.
“If it goes on for too long, these women may turn the begging racket into prostitution. Then we will have a real problem,” Mr al Raisy, said.
Places of worship are a favourite haunt for foreign men waiting at the door after prayers with outstretched hands. One middle-aged Iraqi man, who identified himself as Qassim, pulled his shirt up to reveal two ghastly scars across his stomach and ribs outside a mosque.
“This was a bullet from Saddam’s soldiers six years ago and the other wound was inflicted three months ago by the Sunni terrorists in Basra. They killed my family and wrecked my home … now I am not fit for work,” he told worshippers leaving a Shia mosque in Muscat.
Religious leaders fear that beggars with stories of sectarian violence from their homelands will encourage tension among people of the three major Islamic sects – Ibadhi, Sunni and Shiite – practiced in the sultanate.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Female beggars on the rise in Muscat
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Omanis frown on ‘half-naked’ expats
NIZWA, OMAN // The marketplace in the conservative town of Nizwa, in central Oman, was bustling with the commotion of shoppers and the noise of hammers hitting silverware in repair shops.
An American couple with their children strolled in the ancient courtyard browsing over silver trinkets. The man was wearing khaki shorts and was shirtless. His wife was wearing a blue skirt showing off most of her suntanned legs.
She had on a matching sleeveless blouse that failed to cover the straps of her black bra. Their two boys were frolicking at the foot of an old mosque that was standing vigilant over the courtyard. They played with water taps attached on the outside wall used by worshippers to perform ablution before prayer time.
An old trader sitting cross-legged at the entrance of his spice shop tugged his white, flowing beard, his eyes fixed on the American couple. He shook his head and said to his Omani customers, “What is Oman coming to? Is this what the Muscat bureaucrats call progress?”
Western expatriates are a minority in Oman in comparison with workers from the Indian subcontinent, but they travel around the country during weekends and bank holidays, including farflung towns such as Nizwa.
Though there is no specific dress code in the sultanate, some western expatriates, according to a retired ministry of national heritage official, Marhoon al Kaabi, “take advantage of the good nature of the Omani people”.
That’s why many locals say South Asians are more accepted in the country than other nationalities. Their cultures, he maintained, are much closer to the local ones.
“Don’t get us wrong. We don’t resist changes. Oman has known changes for centuries. My father and grandfather traveled to East Africa and India most of their lives as seafarers. We have seen many visitors since oil was discovered.
"But it is getting worse and their numbers are increasing. What is annoying is the way they dress up and [their] lack of sensitivity towards our cultures. I don’t have a problem [with them] if they respect our culture,” Sheikh Mohammed al Sayyafi, a tribal elder in Sur in eastern Oman, said.
Shiekh Sayyafi, a man in his seventies, is one of the traditional shiekhs who is on the government’s payroll as a minor official in his area. He settles local disputes, signs passport application papers, acts as arbitrator on local business affairs and even leads prayers at his local mosque.
A historian who sells old books in the courtyard in Nizwa said, “I am probably of the last generation to do this dying business, thanks to the government’s new initiative to build hotels and modern shopping malls in the small towns to attract foreign visitors. They explain to us that this is how they can create employment for our children. All the government is attracting is half-naked people walking in our streets.”
Government officials respond to such criticism by saying that local dignitaries are to blame, too, for the erosion of traditions in their hometowns.
“The majority of the sheikhs and other tribal leaders of some towns are driven by greed. They sell off family lands and farms to wealthy Muscat business people that are converted into hotels and shopping malls. The government is doing its best to keep the tradition and untouched. We [have] just renovated the castles, built road networks in these places and perhaps improved the beaches,” Ali al Nabhani, a planning officer at the housing ministry, said.
A resident of Oman’s industrial city of Sohar agreed with Mr Nabhani’s position, and said that tribal elders are the wealthiest people in the smaller cities of Oman.
“Tribal elders possess most of the prime lands. They are now rich and powerful from that wealth. They are the ones that brought in what they call ‘foreign elements’ in towns with their greed,” said Khamis al Nahar, a taxi driver in Sohar. “It is a double standard meant to pull wool over our eyes when they feel guilty about it. Now they pretend they are the guardians of the heritage!”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Omanis frown on ‘half-naked’ expats
An American couple with their children strolled in the ancient courtyard browsing over silver trinkets. The man was wearing khaki shorts and was shirtless. His wife was wearing a blue skirt showing off most of her suntanned legs.
She had on a matching sleeveless blouse that failed to cover the straps of her black bra. Their two boys were frolicking at the foot of an old mosque that was standing vigilant over the courtyard. They played with water taps attached on the outside wall used by worshippers to perform ablution before prayer time.
An old trader sitting cross-legged at the entrance of his spice shop tugged his white, flowing beard, his eyes fixed on the American couple. He shook his head and said to his Omani customers, “What is Oman coming to? Is this what the Muscat bureaucrats call progress?”
Western expatriates are a minority in Oman in comparison with workers from the Indian subcontinent, but they travel around the country during weekends and bank holidays, including farflung towns such as Nizwa.
Though there is no specific dress code in the sultanate, some western expatriates, according to a retired ministry of national heritage official, Marhoon al Kaabi, “take advantage of the good nature of the Omani people”.
That’s why many locals say South Asians are more accepted in the country than other nationalities. Their cultures, he maintained, are much closer to the local ones.
“Don’t get us wrong. We don’t resist changes. Oman has known changes for centuries. My father and grandfather traveled to East Africa and India most of their lives as seafarers. We have seen many visitors since oil was discovered.
"But it is getting worse and their numbers are increasing. What is annoying is the way they dress up and [their] lack of sensitivity towards our cultures. I don’t have a problem [with them] if they respect our culture,” Sheikh Mohammed al Sayyafi, a tribal elder in Sur in eastern Oman, said.
Shiekh Sayyafi, a man in his seventies, is one of the traditional shiekhs who is on the government’s payroll as a minor official in his area. He settles local disputes, signs passport application papers, acts as arbitrator on local business affairs and even leads prayers at his local mosque.
A historian who sells old books in the courtyard in Nizwa said, “I am probably of the last generation to do this dying business, thanks to the government’s new initiative to build hotels and modern shopping malls in the small towns to attract foreign visitors. They explain to us that this is how they can create employment for our children. All the government is attracting is half-naked people walking in our streets.”
Government officials respond to such criticism by saying that local dignitaries are to blame, too, for the erosion of traditions in their hometowns.
“The majority of the sheikhs and other tribal leaders of some towns are driven by greed. They sell off family lands and farms to wealthy Muscat business people that are converted into hotels and shopping malls. The government is doing its best to keep the tradition and untouched. We [have] just renovated the castles, built road networks in these places and perhaps improved the beaches,” Ali al Nabhani, a planning officer at the housing ministry, said.
A resident of Oman’s industrial city of Sohar agreed with Mr Nabhani’s position, and said that tribal elders are the wealthiest people in the smaller cities of Oman.
“Tribal elders possess most of the prime lands. They are now rich and powerful from that wealth. They are the ones that brought in what they call ‘foreign elements’ in towns with their greed,” said Khamis al Nahar, a taxi driver in Sohar. “It is a double standard meant to pull wool over our eyes when they feel guilty about it. Now they pretend they are the guardians of the heritage!”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Omanis frown on ‘half-naked’ expats
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
On the Road: Traditional Omani Food
One aspect of travelling I particularly enjoy is the opportunity to try a plethora of new foods, especially of local cuisines and traditional foods. Oman being a very diverse nation-state offers the traveller many different cultural foods from Arab to Indian to East African and beyond. I have located some literature on Omani food which is pasted below. Much of it seems enticing and sounds delicious, especially the Maqboos and Laban. Yallah!!!
The Omani people are well known for their hospitality and offers of refreshment. To be invited into someone's home will mean coffee (kahwa), a strong, bitter drink flavoured with cardamom, and dates or halwa, a sticky sweet gelatinous substance which is made from brown sugar, eggs, honey and spices. It can be flavoured with many different ingredients, such as nuts, rosewater or even chocolate. Lokhemat is another accompaniment to coffee, which are balls of flour and yeast flavoured with cardamom and deep fried until golden then served with a sweet lime and cardamom syrup. The sweetness of this dish often counteracts the bitterness of the kahwa.
The Omani people are well known for their hospitality and offers of refreshment. To be invited into someone's home will mean coffee (kahwa), a strong, bitter drink flavoured with cardamom, and dates or halwa, a sticky sweet gelatinous substance which is made from brown sugar, eggs, honey and spices. It can be flavoured with many different ingredients, such as nuts, rosewater or even chocolate. Lokhemat is another accompaniment to coffee, which are balls of flour and yeast flavoured with cardamom and deep fried until golden then served with a sweet lime and cardamom syrup. The sweetness of this dish often counteracts the bitterness of the kahwa.
It is fairly simple, but by using various marinades and impregnating meat with spices, the result is a mouth-watering concoction which stimulates the tastebuds. Chicken, fish and mutton are regularly used in dishes. A favourite drink is laban, a salty buttermilk. Yoghurt drinks, flavoured with cardamom and pistachio nuts are also very popular.
Although spices, herbs, onion, garlic and lime are liberally used in traditional Omani cuisine, unlike similar Asian food, it is not hot. Omani cuisine is also distinct from the indigenous foods of other Gulf states and even varies within the Sultanate's different regions. The differences between some of the dishes prepared in Salalah, in the south, and those prepared in Muscat, in the north, are so market that it is difficult to find anything common between them. However, one delight that remains a symbol of Omani hospitality throughout the country are the ubiquitous dates, served with khawa, or Omani coffee. Khawa is prepared from freshly roasted ground coffee mixed with cardamom powder.
Special dishes are prepared for festive occasions. The Islamic world celebrates two main religious festivals - Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha. Eid Al Fitr is celebrated following the Holy Month of Ramadan when people complete their obligatory fasting for 30 days. Eid Al Adha is celebrated on completing the Haj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca, commemorating the sacrifice of Abraham. Dishes prepared during Ramadan are very seldom cooked on other occasions.
Food cooked on important occasions, such as Eid, is of an infinite variety. Omanis across the country serve an array of dishes. In Dhofar and Wusta, the festivities start with ruz al mudhroub, a dish made of cooked rice and served with fried fish, and maqdeed, special dried meat. In Muscat, Al Batinah, Dahira and Sharqiya regions, muqalab, a dish of tripe and pluck cooked with crushed or ground spices (cinnamon, cardamom, clove, back pepper, ginger, garlic and nutmeg), dominates the menu. Other dishes served during Eid festivities include arsia, a dish of lamb meat cooked with rice, and mishkak, skewered meat grilled on charcoal.
Lunch on the first day of Eid is usually harees, which is made from wheat mixed with meat. Lunch on the second day is mishkak, while on the third and last day, shuwa forms the whole day's meal.
However, it is during Ramadan that one can experience Omani food at its best and two of the most popular traditional dishes served at Iftar, the breaking of the fast include sakhana, a thick, sweet soup made of wheat, date, molasses and milk and fatta, a meat and vegetable dish, mixed with khubz rakhal, thin Omani bread, made out of unleavened dough.
Shuwa is a typically Omani delicacy prepared only on very special occasions. Whole villages participate in the cooking of the dish which consists of a whole cow or goat roasted for up to two days in an special oven prepared in a pit dug in the ground.
The method of preparing shuwa is elaborate. The meat is marinated with red pepper, turmeric, coriander, cumin, cardamom, garlic and vinegar and then wrapped in sacks made of dry banana or palm leaves. These sacks are then thrown into the smoldering oven, which is covered with a lid and sealed so that no smoke escapes. In some villages, the meat is cooked for 24 hours while in others it is believed that meat tastes better after 48 hours.
Everyday Omani cuisine includes a wide variety of soups - vegetable, lentil, lamb and chicken. Salads are also popular and are usually based around fresh vegetables, smoked eggplant, tuna fish, dried fish or watercress. Main course dishes are extensive and range from marak, a vegetable curry, to assorted kebabs, barbecued, grilled and curried meat, chicken and fish dishes.
Rice is used widely and is served in a variety of ways, from steamed to elaborate concoctions bursting with meat and vegetables. Breads rage from the plain to those flavoured with dates, sesame, thyme and garlic. For desert, Omani halwa, or sweatmeat, is a traditional favourite.
Source: www.omanet.om
The Omani people are well known for their hospitality and offers of refreshment. To be invited into someone's home will mean coffee (kahwa), a strong, bitter drink flavoured with cardamom, and dates or halwa, a sticky sweet gelatinous substance which is made from brown sugar, eggs, honey and spices. It can be flavoured with many different ingredients, such as nuts, rosewater or even chocolate. Lokhemat is another accompaniment to coffee, which are balls of flour and yeast flavoured with cardamom and deep fried until golden then served with a sweet lime and cardamom syrup. The sweetness of this dish often counteracts the bitterness of the kahwa.
The Omani people are well known for their hospitality and offers of refreshment. To be invited into someone's home will mean coffee (kahwa), a strong, bitter drink flavoured with cardamom, and dates or halwa, a sticky sweet gelatinous substance which is made from brown sugar, eggs, honey and spices. It can be flavoured with many different ingredients, such as nuts, rosewater or even chocolate. Lokhemat is another accompaniment to coffee, which are balls of flour and yeast flavoured with cardamom and deep fried until golden then served with a sweet lime and cardamom syrup. The sweetness of this dish often counteracts the bitterness of the kahwa.
It is fairly simple, but by using various marinades and impregnating meat with spices, the result is a mouth-watering concoction which stimulates the tastebuds. Chicken, fish and mutton are regularly used in dishes. A favourite drink is laban, a salty buttermilk. Yoghurt drinks, flavoured with cardamom and pistachio nuts are also very popular.
Although spices, herbs, onion, garlic and lime are liberally used in traditional Omani cuisine, unlike similar Asian food, it is not hot. Omani cuisine is also distinct from the indigenous foods of other Gulf states and even varies within the Sultanate's different regions. The differences between some of the dishes prepared in Salalah, in the south, and those prepared in Muscat, in the north, are so market that it is difficult to find anything common between them. However, one delight that remains a symbol of Omani hospitality throughout the country are the ubiquitous dates, served with khawa, or Omani coffee. Khawa is prepared from freshly roasted ground coffee mixed with cardamom powder.
Special dishes are prepared for festive occasions. The Islamic world celebrates two main religious festivals - Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha. Eid Al Fitr is celebrated following the Holy Month of Ramadan when people complete their obligatory fasting for 30 days. Eid Al Adha is celebrated on completing the Haj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca, commemorating the sacrifice of Abraham. Dishes prepared during Ramadan are very seldom cooked on other occasions.
Food cooked on important occasions, such as Eid, is of an infinite variety. Omanis across the country serve an array of dishes. In Dhofar and Wusta, the festivities start with ruz al mudhroub, a dish made of cooked rice and served with fried fish, and maqdeed, special dried meat. In Muscat, Al Batinah, Dahira and Sharqiya regions, muqalab, a dish of tripe and pluck cooked with crushed or ground spices (cinnamon, cardamom, clove, back pepper, ginger, garlic and nutmeg), dominates the menu. Other dishes served during Eid festivities include arsia, a dish of lamb meat cooked with rice, and mishkak, skewered meat grilled on charcoal.
Lunch on the first day of Eid is usually harees, which is made from wheat mixed with meat. Lunch on the second day is mishkak, while on the third and last day, shuwa forms the whole day's meal.
However, it is during Ramadan that one can experience Omani food at its best and two of the most popular traditional dishes served at Iftar, the breaking of the fast include sakhana, a thick, sweet soup made of wheat, date, molasses and milk and fatta, a meat and vegetable dish, mixed with khubz rakhal, thin Omani bread, made out of unleavened dough.
Shuwa is a typically Omani delicacy prepared only on very special occasions. Whole villages participate in the cooking of the dish which consists of a whole cow or goat roasted for up to two days in an special oven prepared in a pit dug in the ground.
The method of preparing shuwa is elaborate. The meat is marinated with red pepper, turmeric, coriander, cumin, cardamom, garlic and vinegar and then wrapped in sacks made of dry banana or palm leaves. These sacks are then thrown into the smoldering oven, which is covered with a lid and sealed so that no smoke escapes. In some villages, the meat is cooked for 24 hours while in others it is believed that meat tastes better after 48 hours.
Everyday Omani cuisine includes a wide variety of soups - vegetable, lentil, lamb and chicken. Salads are also popular and are usually based around fresh vegetables, smoked eggplant, tuna fish, dried fish or watercress. Main course dishes are extensive and range from marak, a vegetable curry, to assorted kebabs, barbecued, grilled and curried meat, chicken and fish dishes.
Rice is used widely and is served in a variety of ways, from steamed to elaborate concoctions bursting with meat and vegetables. Breads rage from the plain to those flavoured with dates, sesame, thyme and garlic. For desert, Omani halwa, or sweatmeat, is a traditional favourite.
Source: www.omanet.om
Monday, 15 June 2009
This is the tavern...Ali Mehdi
I received an email with a beautiful poem by a late Omani poet, Ali Mehdi. He was a well known poet and a prolific blogger under the pen name of Sleepless in Muscat. The poem below I translated with additional clarification provided by a dear friend. The poem is six stanzas in length, although I only translated the first. The remaining five stanzas, and the poem in its entirety may be read at Diwan al Arab.
حانة
هذه الحانة ُ والليلُ وأصنافُ الهموم
رحلة ٌ تفتحُ لي بابا ً..
لكي أغفو على خدّ النجوم
طائرا ً ما بين أرض ٍ و سماءِ
وليكن تحت حذائي
كلّ ما كانَ ..
فلا شىء مع الوقت يدوم
أيّها النادلُ كأسا ً ..
وليكن للثلج فيها ما يكون
قطعة ٌ تكفي .. أو اجعلها اثنتين ِ
الآنَ ناولني الثريّا
واتركِ الأرضَ لمن يسكنها منذ قرون ..
إنّني أسكنُ وحدي الآنَ أضواءَ (النيون) .
Tavern: Ali Mehdi, Oman
This is the tavern, and the night, and the kinds of concerns;
A journey that opens for me a door…
So that I fall asleep on the cheek of the stars,
Flying between the land and sky.
Let be under my shoe
All that was!...
Nothing lasts with time…
Waiter, a glass!
How many pieces of ice? Doesn’t matter…
A piece it’s enough or make it two!
Now give me the Pleiades,
And leave the Earth to those who have been dwelling on it for centuries…
I now am the one who inhabits alone the light of the stars…
حانة
هذه الحانة ُ والليلُ وأصنافُ الهموم
رحلة ٌ تفتحُ لي بابا ً..
لكي أغفو على خدّ النجوم
طائرا ً ما بين أرض ٍ و سماءِ
وليكن تحت حذائي
كلّ ما كانَ ..
فلا شىء مع الوقت يدوم
أيّها النادلُ كأسا ً ..
وليكن للثلج فيها ما يكون
قطعة ٌ تكفي .. أو اجعلها اثنتين ِ
الآنَ ناولني الثريّا
واتركِ الأرضَ لمن يسكنها منذ قرون ..
إنّني أسكنُ وحدي الآنَ أضواءَ (النيون) .
Tavern: Ali Mehdi, Oman
This is the tavern, and the night, and the kinds of concerns;
A journey that opens for me a door…
So that I fall asleep on the cheek of the stars,
Flying between the land and sky.
Let be under my shoe
All that was!...
Nothing lasts with time…
Waiter, a glass!
How many pieces of ice? Doesn’t matter…
A piece it’s enough or make it two!
Now give me the Pleiades,
And leave the Earth to those who have been dwelling on it for centuries…
I now am the one who inhabits alone the light of the stars…
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Oman: overview
Generally speaking the small Gulf nation-state of Oman (عمان) has received very little scholarly or related attention. In fact, a quick search on this nation-state using Google, Bing or other search engine will guide the researcher to small amounts of information, some of which is useful. However, in relation to its neighbours such the UAE or Qatar, Oman receives little to not attention especially by the press. This seems an unfortunate circumstance for, what I have read to date (which is not significant) Oman strikes me as a fascinating nation-state. It would not suffice to review the diverse culture living within its borders, however a brief mention would permit an interesting comparison to the perception most of have of Oman: the Gulf nation consists of Baluchis (predominantly from Pakistan, although some are of Iranian heritage), Persians, Zadjalis (predominantly from Pakistan, around the Sind area), Hindus (predominantly from India, the Sind and Gujarat), Lawatiyya or Khojas (from India and of Shiite practice) and Zanzibaris (from Zanzibar in modern day Tanzania), to name but a few. The diversity, it seems, although having some ramifications in terms of communal integration and acceptance, co-exists in a manner perhaps comparable to Syria or even Morrocco. While a civil war did take place in the 1970s that from many account was gruesome at times, the current climate of Oman is one of a blossoming civil society. Oman is predominantly (roughly 75-80%)Ibadhi (الاباضية) Muslim which is a sect of Sunni Islam. Some scholars believe it to have developed from Kharajites (خوارج), a strict sect of Islam adherent to the belief that an able leader should guide the Muslim community (ummah) as opposed, generally speaking to the Shi'ite doctrine that the Ummah should be guided by a member of the Prophet Muhammad's family. However, I still need to do further research into this practice of Islam before I can elaborate further. Suffice to say the rest of Omani culture practice other forms of Islam such Shi'ism (Twelver Shi'ism, which is the dominant religion of Iran; and Jafari Shi'ism) while a very small minority of Hindu worshipers, Christians, Zoroastrians and even Bahai's also dwell in Oman.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
