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7atetan
Joined: 01 Jan 2010
Posts: 93
Location: Not in the Mediterranean Sea
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 Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:43 pm Post subject: Re: Ramadan observance(fasting) |
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| bulgogiboy wrote: |
Dear all,
I get the impression from what I read on this forum that Ramadan fasting is compulsory for everyone, including expats, in KSA? If so, I would assume that this wouldnt be enforced inside Western compounds? [...] |
I'm sure I will be labeled a troll again and worse for stating the following, but so be it.
The Saudi law is that eating and drinking in public during Ramadan is prohibited, excepting for certain medical cases and children. Fine. While in Saudi I observed that unless I was out walking in the middle of the day in 110+ degrees in which case I bought a bottle of water and gulped it further down along the road. I also once couldn't resist and polished off a pack of raspberries I had just bought.
However, I am not a Muslim and I do not fast during Ramadan, and I make no pretence to the contrary. I really do not care who smells the food I eat in my office, any more than "they" care about the mutawa arresting and abusing people for having private Christian gatherings. Let us not even start about the kinds of things regularly seen in the media and taught in schools about Hindus (polytheists) and especially Jews.
So, during Ramadan I do eat and drink but not openly in public, I do chew gum (even if I don't masticate like a cow, so one can hardly tell) and I do wear perfume. None of that got me - or, I believe, anyone else - deported nor did I make any enemies by it... - well, apart from among those who believe one should bend over backward to propitiate certain people's religious beliefs (of course, usually only so long as those beliefs are Islamic). |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:08 pm Post subject: |
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| We are expected to take someone who CHEWS GUM seriously ? I mean at any time, not just in Ramadan. |
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bulgogiboy
Joined: 23 Feb 2005
Posts: 803
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| Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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| trapezius wrote: |
Well, they are [frowned], even though they are widely practiced! But, if you do your monkey business inside toilets, public or otherwise, there will be no one around to frown upon your antics (as long as you are not too loud!).
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Yeah, best to keep the noise down when committing acts of public indecency in any country I suppose. I dread to think what the police/Mutaween would do to anyone they found following big George's advice ("Let's go outside"). 
That leads me to another question: Do expat teachers watch porn online in Saudi or are all internet sites strictly blocked/monitored? I wouldnt consider doing it in any case, as I'm not keen on the idea of being publicly whipped, but im just curious. |
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doner
Joined: 21 Jan 2010
Posts: 179
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| Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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| It is still blocked but if you go into internet cafes you can see that people have at least tried to access porn sites. I assume that they have had no success but you cannot help admiring their optimism. |
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bulgogiboy
Joined: 23 Feb 2005
Posts: 803
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| Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:49 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, the audacity of pervy hope It must totally suck being the average unmarried Saudi bloke in terms of enjoying female companionship. Unless you can afford to jet off to other lands to meet women it must be incredibly frustrating. I dont blame them for wanting to look at porn, seeing a nude female must be a particularly heart-pounding experience for them.
My ex, who was Turkish and therefore used to fairly sleazy men(I was a gentleman in her eyes, that gives you an idea  ), said that when she was studying at Cambridge the men she always gave a very wide birth in the pubs/clubs were the Arabs, as they couldnt keep their hands to themselves. They would strenously lech over anything female. When will societies learn that forced 'piety' often has the opposite effect on peoples' minds... |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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My, how it's all changed since 2003. Back then, accessing XXX-rated sites was quite easy (Ahem, or so I'm told - of course I would never have done such a thing.) I had Saudi colleagues (in very high administrative posts) who had dozens of such sites bookmarked, and some ex-pat teachers used to surf the Net AT WORK to download hundreds of explicit photos.
Guess it was too good (for those who like that sort of thing, of course) to last.
Regards,
John
Last edited by johnslat on Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:21 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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trapezius
Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 1670
Location: Land of Culture of Death & Destruction
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| Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:14 pm Post subject: |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:21 pm Post subject: |
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Dear trap,
Why the surprise? This happened only recently (2008)
"Social networking sites are the hottest attraction on the Internet, dethroning pornography and highlighting a major change in how people communicate, according to a web guru."
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSP31943720080916
The King is dead; long live the King
Regards,
John |
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bulgogiboy
Joined: 23 Feb 2005
Posts: 803
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| Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:45 pm Post subject: |
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I think there must be certain sites where you can still access porn though. One that springs to mind is 'dailymotion.com', which as well as having an excellent range of music videos, also has a very extensive selection of porn, often homemade (so ive been told ).
How about sites where you can watch mainstream movies online? Are they blocked too? |
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Arabian Hawk
Joined: 12 Jul 2009
Posts: 79
Location: Mystical Kingdom
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| Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 4:21 am Post subject: |
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| Anybody know when Ramadan officially begins this year. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 4:37 am Post subject: |
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Actually it doesn't officially begin until the moon is sighted... which is why it starts on different days in different countries.
But, I think Saudi sets the first day ahead of time now and you can likely Google it up.
VS |
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scrog_420
Joined: 21 Dec 2009
Posts: 47
Location: State of Jefferson
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| Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 2:19 am Post subject: Re: Ramadan observance(fasting) |
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| 7atetan wrote: |
| bulgogiboy wrote: |
Dear all,
I get the impression from what I read on this forum that Ramadan fasting is compulsory for everyone, including expats, in KSA? If so, I would assume that this wouldnt be enforced inside Western compounds? [...] |
I'm sure I will be labeled a troll again and worse for stating the following, but so be it.
The Saudi law is that eating and drinking in public during Ramadan is prohibited, excepting for certain medical cases and children. Fine. While in Saudi I observed that unless I was out walking in the middle of the day in 110+ degrees in which case I bought a bottle of water and gulped it further down along the road. I also once couldn't resist and polished off a pack of raspberries I had just bought.
However, I am not a Muslim and I do not fast during Ramadan, and I make no pretence to the contrary. I really do not care who smells the food I eat in my office, any more than "they" care about the mutawa arresting and abusing people for having private Christian gatherings. Let us not even start about the kinds of things regularly seen in the media and taught in schools about Hindus (polytheists) and especially Jews.
So, during Ramadan I do eat and drink but not openly in public, I do chew gum (even if I don't masticate like a cow, so one can hardly tell) and I do wear perfume. None of that got me - or, I believe, anyone else - deported nor did I make any enemies by it... - well, apart from among those who believe one should bend over backward to propitiate certain people's religious beliefs (of course, usually only so long as those beliefs are Islamic). |
I couldn't agree more, 7atetan. It's their silly religion, not mine. (OMG  , you're thinking, he's being--egad--CULTURALLY INSENSITIVE!!! Yes I am and proudly so. And I'll go even further--all religions are silly, and that includes yours.) When I was in KSA and the UAE I went along with not eating or drinking in public just enough to stay out of trouble, but that's it.
Wherever I worked there were always one or two expat teachers who would fast during Ramadan to feel solidarity with their students. They were considered utter weenies and collaborators beneath contempt by their colleagues. |
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7atetan
Joined: 01 Jan 2010
Posts: 93
Location: Not in the Mediterranean Sea
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| Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:37 am Post subject: Re: Ramadan observance(fasting) |
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| scrog_420 wrote: |
| I couldn't agree more, 7atetan. It's their silly religion, not mine. (OMG , you're thinking, he's being--egad--CULTURALLY INSENSITIVE!!! Yes I am and proudly so. And I'll go even further--all religions are silly, and that includes yours.) |
That's O.K., since I have none.
| Quote: |
When I was in KSA and the UAE I went along with not eating or drinking in public just enough to stay out of trouble, but that's it.
Wherever I worked there were always one or two expat teachers who would fast during Ramadan to feel solidarity with their students. They were considered utter weenies and collaborators beneath contempt by their colleagues. |
Amen to that, brother! 
People who resort to ludicrous methods to show how supposedly "progressive" and "enlightened" they are can get really annoying after a while. It was amusing, during my time in Saudi, how all cultural sensitivity "fatwas" (don't wear cologne during Ramadan, never say "Mohammed" without prefixing it with this and suffixing it with that, don't throw away any paper with Arabic writing lest it contains the name of god on it... - you get the picture) came almost always from Westerners (supposed humanists or latent Christians) and only rarely from Muslim converts, but NEVER from Saudis and born Muslims.
You will find a lot of nonsense here on the boards, too. To each their own, I guess. I've just been stating my experience and stance. Of course, I'm an ethnocentric troll, according to some. Well, alay salmak |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 3:33 pm Post subject: |
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"You will find a lot of nonsense here on the boards, too."
I agree completely - although the amount of non-sense has increased considerably since you (and now scrog_420) began posting here.
Regards,
John |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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Some of us have no personal religion, but the maturity and ability to respect the beliefs of others. (especially when we have chosen to enter their country under an employment contract which usually beats what we can earn at home or elsewhere...  )
VS |
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