Empowering the Voice of the People

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos’s annual Royal Speech at the Oman Council is an eagerly awaited event by Omanis and Residents alike. It is a guide to highlight the way forward. It is a pause to share the joy of achievements with the citizens, a moment to highlight the challenges to the people transparently, a call to gear up the efforts and roll up the sleeves to make them a tangible reality.

It is through the solid values and principles that Oman illustrated the epic of its modernity under the far sighted and wise leadership of his Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said who acceded the thrown on 23^rd of July 1970. Ever since, Oman has progressed from good to great.

This year’s Royal speech was phenomenal. It has left no doubt that our development experience is an Omani breakthrough.  It a seed that has emanated from the womb of the Omani soil. This seed was carefully nourished by a visionary leader with unmatched sacrifices. Hence, as the days pass by it was destined to bloom and flourish. It was able to bear the test of time and accommodate the accelerated changes that are taking place within the local, regional and global environment and capture the scientific and technological advancement on a sound and solid ground.

The Royal Speech has attracted a lot of attention and admiration for a leader who won the hearts and souls of his people and the respect of the regional and international community. His Majesty has illustrated beyond any doubt his everlasting affinity to Oman and its people. In fact his human touch has sprouted out to reflect his concern for humanity at large.

His Majesty’s loud cry from Husin Alshomook in the Wilayat of Manah on 31^st of October 2011 signified the triumph of sincerity and honesty. It has celebrated the consistent efforts in our quest for further development and modernity and set the floor for the various options for further participation and engagement of people from all parts of Oman and motivated them to join hands and share the responsibility of building their country.

His majesty's words are still engraved in the hearts of each Omani when he promised to build modern Oman. His Majesty said " I will proceed as quickly as possible to transform your life into a prosperous one with a bright future. Every one of you must play his part towards this goal. Our country in the past was famous and strong. If we work in unity and cooperation, we will regenerate that glorious past and we will take a respectable place in the world."
 As we celebrate our Forty One National Day what do we have to say? Was the promise fulfilled? Are we proud to be Omanis?  Is Oman known to the external World? Can we actually shrug our shoulders with pride when we are asked where we from are and respond with an assuring smile that we are From Oman?

The new objectives highlighted within HM’s Royal Speech on the 31^st of October, 2011 leave no doubt that the leader has so big ambitions and dreams. He has the interest of Oman and the prosperity of its citizens as an ongoing concern.

Inaugurating the fifth term of the Council of Oman His Majesty’s Royal speech touched upon the following realms of concerns:

·         Oman’s Shura experiment and the incremental approach with which the Sultanate has nourished it to empower its citizens to elect their representatives and support the Shura Council members to be the voice of the people. The gradual manner gave a firm foundation and stable pillars that has ensured its natural growth. The Road from the idea of a consultative Council to the current state of the Shura Council has witnessed many improvements that last of which is giving the members to choose the President of the Shura Council and his two deputies without any interference from the government. The Council was also bolstered with legislative and auditing powers. All these initiatives will undoubtedly fulfil its aspirations of contributing more effectively to the decision-making process for the higher interest of the country and citizens.

·         The Royal Speech reiterated and affirmed his Majesty’s continued attention to the development of human resources as a cornerstone of every development and a pivotal component around which all types of development revolve as their ultimate goal is the happiness of the individual, providing him with a means of decent living and guaranteeing his security and safety. This objective takes into consideration the need to undergo a comprehensive review for the education system so that it can accommodate the needs of the hour and result on equipping the students with the needed knowledge, skills and attitude that will enable them to live up to the expectation and able to adapt to the ongoing trends. The quest for developing the human resources will also focus on the youth since they are the present and future of the nation. The government endeavoured to provide them with education, training, qualifications and employment opportunities. Highlighting that the upcoming era will take that attention to greater heights by way of providing more opportunities to the youth in order to consolidate their gain in knowledge strengthen their talents in creation and production and increase their participation in the comprehensive development march.

·         Stressing that the right of the citizens to express their opinion is guaranteed by the State’s laws and regulations in order for them to come forward with their constructive ideas. His Majesty warned that such freedom should refrain from monopolization and radicalism. He reiterated that inflexibility, extremism and immoderation are opposite to all this and societies which adopt such ideas only carry within themselves the seeds of their eventual destruction. He encouraged the people to resort of the principles and values of their society by saying “We were born in this country with the natural disposition of tolerance, good conduct, rejection of bitterness, warding off sedition and abiding by customs and values based on fraternity, cooperation and love among all”. He recommended that these good traits and high values to be  inculcated in the younger generation from the inception at home, in schools, mosques, clubs and other educational and nurturing venues to furnish a fence, protecting them from falling into the abyss of intruding ideas that call for violence, extremism, hatred, fanaticism, being opinionated and non-acceptance of others, as well as other extreme ideas and opinions that lead to the tearing up of society, draining its vital powers and leaving it in ruins and utter destruction, God forbid.

·         Stressing on the fact that government work is a responsibility before it is considered a prestige and recognition HM stressed that it should be carried out with total disregard for personal interests and with complete honesty for the service of the community, and it should never countenance corruption. He affirmed that corruption will not be allowed in any shape or form; we instruct our government to take all necessary measures to prevent it and we direct all the audit authorities to fulfil their duties resolutely in this regard with the full force of the law, away from doubt and uncertainties, since justice must take its course and become our goal and objective.

·         He reiterated his support for the judiciary and its independence is a duty to which we have committed ourselves, and we recognise that it is imperative to respect its decisions without favouritism, as all are equal before the law.

·         Adopting a clear policy based on cooperation with all in accordance with the firm principles of mutual respect, encouragement of dialogue and rejection of violence in tackling issues, in order to come up with communities where fraternisation and stability prevail, which will enable nations to continue their development march and achieve their objectives of progress and prosperity in an atmosphere of security, free of disturbances, and encourage the implementation of economic and social plans and programmes in accordance with priorities dictated by public interests.

·         Adopting balanced economic policies to preserve our gains and boost our economic plans and be able to adapt to prevailing circumstances of the global market.

All these guiding torches eliminate any misconception and put it clear that Oman is moving from good to great. It is empowering all its fabric of it society to participate in the quest of development. It is empowering the voice of the people through wider scope of participation in the decision making process and ensuring the right to express their opinions to mirror their creative ideas to enrich the process of developing Oman to greater heights. His Majesty’s noble gesture of thanking all those who has contributed in building modern Omanis and residents is a real motivating touch that will lead them to exert more efforts. Recognizing of the role that the private Sector has exhibited in the development process and that which is expected from it in the future was another motivational touch as well.

Highlighting the need to cooperate and collaborate between all the elements of the society to ensure efficient and effective use of the resources was a call to use the power of the team as a vehicle to maximize the profit.

Anger One Letter Shy to Danger

Of late his irritation became noticeable. My friend Hilal is not the same person we all know. His smile faded away. It seems that he formed a habit of getting irritated for the slightest thing. The minute you construct a dialogue with him, he erupts with anger like a volcano. All you could see is his frowning face as if you are confronted by a hungry tiger. On the other hand, all you could hear is shouting, screaming, threatening and intimidation as if you are listening to a thunderstorm roaring in the sky, shaking you from within.

Such an angry attitude is not limited to him. Anger as a phenomena seems to be plaguing our society yet we all fail to realize that anger is one letter shy to danger.

As an emotion, anger could be a mild irritation or an intense fury and rage. Once it gets out of hand it can cost you your job, personal relationships, and your life as well.

We can actually extract vivid examples of anger from our personal notes.  If we walk down our memories we can recall images of angry people.  Images of Friends or relatives who were cursing and back answering each other rudely will be crystal clear before us.  In some cases the scene got dramatized and ended up with fist fighting and physical abuse.

Let us take a moment and imagine ourselves driving. The road is so congested. Tension is swarming all over the place. Drivers are honking loudly with anger. In between, so many gestures are exhibited. The hand movements indicate hostile intentions. The eye contact is so focused with irritation. Facial expression speaks louder than words. In a blink of an eye the road witnesses a battle after another. Some battles are packaged with stubbornness. Some drivers challenge each other recklessly. Each one doesn’t want the other to bypass him as if they own the road. The situation gets so boiled to a point of no return. Such an angry attitude does not lead to anywhere. As a kiss of death it leads to a tragic accident rendering them paralyzed or wrapped in their coffin. Such a sorry ending leaves behind a deep scar in the hearts of their relatives and love ones who will be bitterly grieving their early departure for ever.

 The work place is another venue for angry situations. You could see a boss yelling at his subordinate for a simple reason. Other staff could be staring at him with dismay or even listening to his vulgar and intimidating language. What message is he sending to them as a leader? Does his behavior reflect that his organization committed to its people? Was his feedback to motivate or de-motivate his subordinate? What would he loose if he or she was sensitive toward their staff and gave them a constructive feedback? What trust exist among such a team?

In order to reinforce the despicable impact of anger you can stretch your imagination to angry situations at home or even our reaction while dealing with our kids. You can visualize how horrible anger could get when you ask yourselves how many families were shattered due to a hasty swing of anger?

So what are some contributing factors for anger. Well actually anger could be caused by a specific person, memories of traumatic or enraging events as well as  worrying about your personal problems.   

Charles Spielberger a psychologist specialized in the study of anger reveals that when you get angry, your heart rate, blood pressure, levels of your energy hormones, adrenaline, and nor-adrenaline go up. As a matter of fact, anger many ailments that could affect our health negatively. It could lead to hypertension, high blood pressure, depression. It can even be the root cause of heart attack.

Have we asked ourselves what is the end result of anger. Whenever I remember the story of Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) stressing the need to refrain from anger to the person who came seeking his advice, the thought provoking story illustrates the magnitude of the calamity that anger brings about. Although the man was advised to refrain from anger in the first request, to his dismay when he repeated his request for an advice again and again avoiding anger was an automatic and spontaneous feedback. The same recommendation was repeated for the second and third times.

The negative impact of anger leaves no doubt that we should not respond to those who irritate us with anger. Laws, social norms, and common sense restrict us from such reaction. Therefore, it is better that to control our anger before it turns to danger. To effectively manage our anger we can resort to the following tips:

·      Do some physical exercise as a release i.e walking, get on a bike or other sport. This will help alleviate our stress level.

·      Listen to music to relax our mind and calm you down.

·      Try the soothing power of water (take a shower, swim or simply splash your hands in a basin with cool water.

·      Resort to Prayer to bring about solace and tranquility.

·      Take a few minutes to meditate.

·      Count to ten and then take a deep breath as if you are cleansing your system.

·      Keep an anger journal or diary so that you can note down your angry moments and construct an inner conversation with yourself to explore other options.

·      Talk to someone you trust after all two brains are better than one.

·      Use humor for laughter can immediately change the way you feel.

Let us keep in mind that life is a gift that ought to be celebrated. Sharing a quality time with the family or enjoying a laughter is far better than getting ourselves worked out for silly things.

Let us pay attention to honing our emotional and social intelligence so that we can be in a better position to manager our angry situations effectively. Anger as a behavior cannot be eliminated hundred percent but being able to address it in a positive manner will always be signified as an act of wisdom. At the end of the day holding on to anger is like grabbing a hot coal. With the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. So why do you want to get burned when you know that you have other options.

The Persevering Coffee Vendor

Salim the coffee vendor sets a lucid example of perseverance. He roams like a butterfly all over Mattruah Souq in search of his clients. Serving Omani Qahwa has been his profession for more than five decades.

Salim’s affinity to  Muttrah Souq (market) made him a noticeable figure. A symbol, that adds value to the mystic touch of the place. His memory stores different aspects of the history of the place. It is at this Souq that he came across so many faces that have passed by here at different intervals from all walks of life.

His day starts at dawn. He prepares his Qahwa after performing his fajir prayer. Once it is ready he pours it in a kettle and hits the road towards Mattruah Souq.

Watching him walking with his kettle in one hand and a bucket in the other makes you feel you are in a presence of a persevering man. A man, who embraces patience as a vehicle to success. One who believes action speaks louder than words. His pride made him insists on earning his bread by the sweat of his eye brow.

The rhythmic tone of his Qahwa cups attracts the attention of the people who come across his way. They cannot help but shift their direction towards him. They become curious to discover the mystery of the old man.

Once, I was in Mattrah Souq along with my wife. I saw many people approach him from different directions.  I went close to him and said Al salam ualikum. Waalikum alsalam came the answer. Can you give me two cups of Qahwa? He swiftly handed me the cups with a big smile. I passed one to my wife and sat beside him to sip mine. I asked what is your name ? My name is Salim bin Shunoon  Alakhzami  came the answer. I starred at his smiling face and asked  him where are you from? I am from a village called Saia close to Qurriat came the reply. The conversation went on question after another. I asked how long has he been serving Qahwa? He took a deep breath as if he was rewinding his memory and said for more five decades now.

While I was chatting with him many of his Omani, Indian and Pakistani customers greeted him and asked for a cup Qahwa. You see them surrounding him as  a beehives. Chatting and joking without any barriers.  A Dutchman came close to him and greeted us with a smiling face. He said hello. Salim said hello you good and asked him if he cared for a cup of Qahwa. The Dutch smiled and gave him an assuring okay. Salim poured Qahwa and handed him a cup.

The Dutch was surprised the cup was not filled. He did not know that this has a cultural norm behind it. He kept sipping Qahwa and Salim was handing him one cup after another.

He did not know the trick of the trade. Suddenly he saw another client shakes the coffee cup in a clock wise manner a sign which made the old man quit serving him.

The Dutch became overjoyed with such discovery as if he had found water in the middle of a desert. He shook his cup in a similar manner. The old man gave him a shrewd smile and asked tamam (is it good)? the Dutch said tamam and left the place after bidding  him good bye.

I carried out my conversation with Salim. I asked how much was a cup of coffee when you started first? He said Ten Baizes but it is fifty Baizes now.  I said what does serving Omani Qahwa means to you?  So many things he said. It means independence as a result, I do not need to beg anyone to take care of my expenses. It means avoiding being lonely. I spend all day mingling with people. Serving them, Joking with them and feel human.  Humanity does not have boundaries after all. It is we who create and magnify them in our heads. I left the Souq full of admiration and respect for such a personality. This man exhibits a living example of positive thinking. His emotional intelligence made him bear the blows of his time.

His perseverance, commitment and devotion for serving Omani Qahwa made him endure the heavy burden of life. His extended years of serving Qahwa made him believes that success is largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go. 

On the way back home I asked myself what if everyone follow suit and embrace his persevering spirit to realize his dreams. I am sure each one will live in harmony, peace and congruence with himself.