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Discuss this article (9 Comments)Saudi issues guide to nationals on how to behave abroad
by This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Friday, 23 October 2009
UK CAPTIAL: Saudi officials have issued guidelines on how to behave when travelling abroad to places like London. (Getty Images)
Not smacking your children or kissing them on the lips in public are just two bits of advice issued by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to locals travelling abroad.
A guide on how to act in a foreign country has been produced by the government following a series of high profile incidents involving Saudis living abroad, according to a report in Arab Times.
The guide urges Saudis to treat servants in accordance with the laws of the country they are in, to avoid talking to children they do not know, and making gestures to the opposite sex.
In 2006, Saudi Homaidan Al-Turki was jailed for 28 years by a Colorado court for sexually assaulting his Indonesian housekeeper and keeping her a virtual slave for four years, the paper reported.
While a case in Bournemouth, UK, in July this year, saw a 23-year-old Saudi student sentenced to 24 weeks in jail, and added to the sex offenders register, for stripping naked and chasing a 36-year-old woman through the streets while he was drunk.
While these two cases are not indicative of the behaviour of the vast majority of Saudis travelling abroad, the guidelines were generally welcomed, the paper said.
Rana Hussein, a 28-year-old Saudi student in Nashville, Tennessee in the US, told the paper: “When I first went to the US, I knew things would be different. I bought my two-year-old daughter a car seat because it’s the law there.
“But sometimes we forget the laws. Last week we got a ticket from a policeman after he noticed that my daughter was on my lap. The car was full and we were going home from shopping,” she said.
READERS' COMMENTS
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Behave!
Posted by Dutch, Bahrain on Tuesday 27 October 2009 at 10:17 UAE time
Same counts for some Europeans and Americans that come to the Gulf. Can someone teach these people that some things are just not accepted?
I actually think it's a good initiative, knowing the laws and habits of other countries helps you to stay out of trouble and gain respect from the people in the country you visit.
Posted by Dutch, Bahrain on Tuesday 27 October 2009 at 10:17 UAE time
Same counts for some Europeans and Americans that come to the Gulf. Can someone teach these people that some things are just not accepted?
I actually think it's a good initiative, knowing the laws and habits of other countries helps you to stay out of trouble and gain respect from the people in the country you visit.
We love to hate
Posted by GCC, Kuwait, Kuwait on Saturday 24 October 2009 at 14:14 UAE time
Minaka, women do not drive in Saudi. So this women got her license in the US, and has no excuse because that it where she would've learnt driving rules.
Kazim, there is a wide range of "social ills" in conservative societies as well as liberal ones. Sick people are sick people.
Madnad, there are many cases of sexual molestation within families of all social classes in the Gulf. There are many cases of pregnancies as well. They are not publisized, but they are there, ask if you care, any government school teacher.
Posted by GCC, Kuwait, Kuwait on Saturday 24 October 2009 at 14:14 UAE time
Minaka, women do not drive in Saudi. So this women got her license in the US, and has no excuse because that it where she would've learnt driving rules.
Kazim, there is a wide range of "social ills" in conservative societies as well as liberal ones. Sick people are sick people.
Madnad, there are many cases of sexual molestation within families of all social classes in the Gulf. There are many cases of pregnancies as well. They are not publisized, but they are there, ask if you care, any government school teacher.
Behaviours
Posted by Merkov Kamsikov on Saturday 24 October 2009 at 13:37 UAE time
Well.. I wonder why people made a fuss about the conviction of a british couple for sexual behavior on dubai beach while they actually didn't follow the rules of the country ..
Just my 2 fils
Posted by Merkov Kamsikov on Saturday 24 October 2009 at 13:37 UAE time
Well.. I wonder why people made a fuss about the conviction of a british couple for sexual behavior on dubai beach while they actually didn't follow the rules of the country ..
Just my 2 fils
Its Not bad to look into others culture though!
Posted by madnad, Dubai, UAE on Saturday 24 October 2009 at 12:59 UAE time
In light of the topic being discussed, I do agree with Kazim partially, rather the majority of sensible people around would do the same.
I have my own experiences of Saudi Arabia, which could be an individual’s point of view and can never be generalized. The attitude of Saudi is conservative but one should not forget that more than 8 million people of global ethnicities reside in the kingdom. I know a Briton family, who are happy in Saudi Arabia, as they fear that going back would expose their growing daughters to a highly liberal society.
Therefore, individually one can find great disparity is approach and thinking.
We have witnessed cases of fathers molesting their own daughters, captivating them for decades; having children with them; is not only shameful but is severely depressing too and all such shocks are born in western communities, where freedom and humanity is often rhetoric.
What Saudi government did is appreciable and just for information; the similar memo was issued by British government to its people, who are travelling abroad.
It’s a request to the editorial team to screen the posts being made by people like Savages, which could be hurting and meaningless. Some people take it as an advantage to throw up their own disgust while they can keep their identity as confidential. Arabian business community should encourage healthy critics and not personal vendetta.
Posted by madnad, Dubai, UAE on Saturday 24 October 2009 at 12:59 UAE time
In light of the topic being discussed, I do agree with Kazim partially, rather the majority of sensible people around would do the same.
I have my own experiences of Saudi Arabia, which could be an individual’s point of view and can never be generalized. The attitude of Saudi is conservative but one should not forget that more than 8 million people of global ethnicities reside in the kingdom. I know a Briton family, who are happy in Saudi Arabia, as they fear that going back would expose their growing daughters to a highly liberal society.
Therefore, individually one can find great disparity is approach and thinking.
We have witnessed cases of fathers molesting their own daughters, captivating them for decades; having children with them; is not only shameful but is severely depressing too and all such shocks are born in western communities, where freedom and humanity is often rhetoric.
What Saudi government did is appreciable and just for information; the similar memo was issued by British government to its people, who are travelling abroad.
It’s a request to the editorial team to screen the posts being made by people like Savages, which could be hurting and meaningless. Some people take it as an advantage to throw up their own disgust while they can keep their identity as confidential. Arabian business community should encourage healthy critics and not personal vendetta.
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