'Tis the Season: X-mas Carols @ British Embassy (UK Passport Holders)

Please see poster:

 

Sri Lankan Embassy files complaint with Oman against National Day "Gropers'

Apparently, the teenage girl who was groped on National Day is a Sri Lankan citizen. She has been in the hospital for trauma. The Sri Lankan Embassy has filed an official complaint with Oman on her behalf. The Omani guys involved in the incident have been picked up by ROP and are being dealt with. It is said the girl and her companion were not there to celebrate but trying to get home through the traffic the revelers caused.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hHsSqyTics  : Video  

Sorry for the blurriness. Omani guy reaches out and gropes girl in pink t-shirt and red helmet.

Omani Civil Defense rescues four from overflowing wadi : Video

Omani Civil Defense rescued these four Pakistani from Big Wadi in Ibri, Governorate of Dahirrah. The pilot of the helicopter is an Omani woman.

انقاذ اربعة باكستانيين كانوا عالقين بسبب جريان وادي الكبير بولاية عبري

 

Omani rescue pilot from Ibri

 

 

Oman National Day 'Groping' : Video

 الفيديو الذي احدث ضجة وغضب عارم نتيجة تصرفات صبيانية لا تعكس اخلاقيات الشعب العماني الخلوق  / في العيد الوطني ال 43

This video shows a young girl being what looks likes being groped by a group of Omani National Day revelers. You can hear her screaming in fear/disgust. This is one of several incidents from this year's celebration. I do not remember another National Day where such happened. I'm not sure what got into people this year; maybe, the full moon during National Day caused people to go partially nuts.

Although many Omanis have indicated outrage by this video and such actions on various forums, unfortunately sexual harassment does happen in Oman especially toward expat women. I have an acquaintance whose husband worked at Vale, she was followed out of LuLu's by an Omani gentleman. He then pursued her in a car as she drove home. She was so frightened her husband had to leave work to rescue her.

This is not an isolated story. In Oman, they call it 'eve chasing.' Certain Omani men may see expat women as an easy target as they are outside of the 'tribal system'. So, the 'shame' factor in chasing an expat is mitigated as the expat most likely does not know anyone who matters as far as the reputation for the Omani goes nor does the Omani pursuer fear the possible physical retribution from the many male relatives of an Omani girl, or the Omani thinks rightly or wrongly the expat may be more amenable to dating.

 For example, in Omani culture it is even considered inappropriate for male friends to inquire about the wives, mothers, daughters, etc. of the other; instead they make a general inquiry about the welfare of the other's family. So, 'groping' a wife, mother, sister of a compatriot would be in extreme contradiction of traditional values.

I hope ROP cracks down on such behaviors in the future, puts stiff penalties, and/or educates the public against following / harassing expat and Omani women to stop its occurrence so woman don't have to experience such while in Oman. In addition,  it does tarnish Omanis reputation when most of the Omani people have so much to offer and are so hospitable and helpful as the expats share their experiences about Oman with their colleagues, friends and families in their respective home countries.

Muttrah Souq Floods : Video مياه الأمطار تدخل إلى سوق مطرح

 

 

Met.gov.om : Severe weather forecasted in Oman from tomorrow night

ROP & the Oman Met Office have been issuing warnings about severe rain and hail predicted from Thursday night throughout the weekend. Honestly, I never know about the reliability of their predictions based upon experience of following the reports through the years; however, it seems they are going the extra step about warning people for the coming storm.

When it does flood, it can be quite serious in the Sultanate as the water rises quickly without warning on roads and in wadis. Every year, sadly, I read about someone or some child being washed away by a wadi or about people being stranded in their cars in high waters. So, use common sense and don't let your child play in the wadi during a rain storm and don't drive through high water with a current. The maximum water level a car can probably take is the engine air intake location; even a modified Land Cruiser can't go more than mid-door deep.

Source: Merge Radio

 

Omani National Day Qurm 'Booty' Dance Video Controversy

Outlandish night dancers in Qurm celebrating Omani National Day. While an acceptable display of activity in some cultures, these cross-dressed Omani dancers are now rumored to be sought after by ROP. It appears the lead dancer is dressed as a pregnant Arab woman and twerking while lifting his gown from the rear which is at the least an unsuitable style of public dance and in contradiction with public morality in Oman.

The video was going viral in the Sultanate today through various social media and apps

 Prankish fun or vulgar public display

This windshield says ' Don't chase me. I am engaged.' written in jest by the driver an Omani male. Now, he could be in trouble for indecent slogan on car.

 

getting home



Omani National Day Songs - أغاني العيد الوطني العماني

Congratulations to the Sultanate of Oman on the occasion of the 43rd National Day. 

Eid Watani Saeed, Happy National Day, عيد وطني سعيد
Events: Fireworks 8pm: Seeb, Amerat, Salalah
Buraimi: Car decoration contest and vehicle parade: 4pm from Buraimi Public Park

Omani National Day Songs:



 أغنية تزهوا بك الاعوام (قابوس

This is a very popular National Day song.



 

Sawt linhdah tunada صوت للنهضة تنادى

"A Voice Calls for Renaissance"

Classic Omani National Day Song



 

Song from Omani Folklore.

 HM Sultan Qaboos in Ibri some years back.

 

1990: Share a smile.

 

 

 

Al Myiasi - Houbk Oman

Omani Singer for National Day

 

 

Tornado today in Quriyat, Oman : Video , اعصار في قريات عمان

From Facebook: Oman Akbar. Strange tornado looking cloud spinning in Quriyat.
اعصار في قريات عمان

 

Omani Arabic for Expats: Is the wadi flowing?

Rains hit the Sultanate yesterday; here are a few Arabic words/expressions having to do with rain.

Is the wadi flowing?
hal alwadi habit   هل الوادي هابط؟

It's raining
Local dialect: indana sail al heen  عندنا سيل الحين
GCC standard: Tomtar al heen, amtar hina  تمطر الحين  او امطارهنا

Thunder & lightning  raa'd wa barq  رعد وبرق

Rain is coming   almatar gaay المطر جاي

The clouds are dark alsohob mudlimahلسحب مظلمه

Drizzle        rathath            رذاذ

Storm               Aseefah       عاصفة

Downpour         enhimar almatr    انهمار المطر
 
Flood                    faydan or garfahفيضان او جرفه

Umbrella    madalaمظلة

Examples

Sohar flooded after the rainstorm.   garqat sohar meen alamtarغرقت صحار من الامطار

The wadi is overflowing.  الوادي هابط Alwadi habit

I love when it rains.     ouhoub lama tomtarأحب لما تمطر

Move the cars to higher ground.    enqil al sayarah ela mantiqah aala    انقل السيارة الى منطقة اعلى

Don't drive in wadis with high water.  لا تقود في الوادي عند ارتفاع منسوب المياة la taqood fi alwadi enda ertafaa' ansoob almiyah

Sohar: ROP to the rescue
Budget underwater near Duwar Sohar



 

 

Mirbat, Salalah: Recent Massive Shark Haul Reported

Due to environmental factors such as wind and current,  schools of sharks have been brought closer to the coast of Mirbat. Fishermen have been taking advantage and pulling in large catches of shark daily. The fins of sharks are highly prized. Each shark sells for about 50 OMR or more making it relatively a lucrative business for the fishermen.

Mainly expats take the boats (called 'carab' قارب in Arabic) out and split the profit with the Omani owner.  Although a windfall for locals; there is an environmental cost for over fishing. Unfortunately, the over hunting of shark has caused their populations to dwindle over time and some countries have legal protections in place regarding the fishing of sharks.

 

ROP allowing car decoration for National Day

According to ROP command, it is allowed to put stickers on cars from November 18 until the end of November in recognition of the 43rd National Day of Oman. Stickers should be fixed tightly and not block windshield vision, plate numbers or lights. Use of immoral slogans or Royal Office logo are not allowed.

Two Omanis Shoot 19 People Around Muscat Oman ....

Two Omani shabab were very recently apprehended by ROP investigations. The two Omanis admitted to shooting at least 19 people with a traditional type gun (in Arabic a 'kasar كسر') over the last month in the Muscat area. The first shooting took place in Ansab, and then continued in Seeb, Al Khoud, Al Amerat, Wadi Kabir, Al Kuwair and Gubra. The motive is unknown.

The victims were of Indian, Pakistani and Omani origin. Some of those who were shot are still undergoing treatment. However, thanks to god no one was mortally wounded. Apparently,  the two on the shooting spree used a four-wheel to shoot and flee. The two shooters were identified as Saud Al Abri and Abi Al Harthy.

This may be a first of its kind as far as random shooting sprees go in Oman. In order to have guns in Oman you must be licensed; however, old hunting guns are still around especially in villages. 

 

Suspect 1

Suspect 2

 

Victim photos from Times of Oman

'Kasar' style gun

'Kasar' style gun

 

Air powered weapons are not fired without some risk of major bodily harm to the victim.

See UK government study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC500806/

regarding air weapon fatalities.

 



 

Video: No Woman No Drive: Little Sister Don't Touch That Wheel

This video, No Woman No Drive, cover spoof of the popular Bob Marley song, No Woman No Cry, has now reached over 1,000,000 views in one day. The creator calls himself a Saudi social activist and that he made this video after completing his studies in the USA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZMbTFNp4wI&sns=fb

 

UK Mother in Despair as Omani Dad Kidnaps Kids to Oman

Saw this in the The News - Portsmouth, 'Please help me get my children back Mr Cameron.'

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/please-help-me-get-my-children-back-mr-cameron-1-5430526

In summary, the Omani father while visiting his kids (who are British nationals) in the UK, took them to the Omani Embassy and said their passports were lost. He got travel documents issued at the Omani Embassy and abducted the children out of the UK to Oman without the mother's knowledge.

It seems the UK Foreign Office hasn't been that helpful. It is unclear if the mother and father were married as it's been reported both ways. The father's family must have some wasta as I have heard of cases where it is difficult for the offspring of non-married parents where one is a foreigner and the other Omani to even obtain Omani citizenship and there is a difficult approval process in place in Oman for such marriages to foreigners. These types of cases have strong sentiments all around.

--------The Article------

• by Mark Acheson
• mark.acheson@thenews.co.uk

Heartbroken mum Lacey Plato today made a desperate plea to David Cameron: ‘Help me get my abducted children back.’

She wants the Prime Minister to intervene personally after her son and daughter were illegally taken from their Portsmouth home by their father.

Lacey has endured a year of anguish since Usama Al-Barwani managed to get Aisha, eight, and her five-year-old brother Faris out of the country and take them to Oman.

Now, having suffered a crushing blow in a court fight to have them returned, Lacey believes that only pressure from the UK government will see her children being able to return home to her.

She said: ‘I would just plead for help from Mr Cameron, both as Prime Minister with the influence that he could possible have, and as a parent. These are my children. They are very young and they want to be with their mum.’

Lacey has been to Oman four times since their father took the children there just over a year ago.

He had been Lacey’s partner for six years and they lived together in Dubai.

But when the relationship broke up she returned to England with the children.

‘He agreed this was best for them,’ she said. ‘He came to visit them twice, but the second time he took them to the Omani embassy in London and said their British passports had been lost.

‘He was given emergency travel documents and took them straight to Oman.

Helped by her father Steve Grant, of Emsworth, Lacey obtained a judgement from the High Court in London that the children had been taken out of the country illegally and that Mr Al-Barwani should return them.

But, safe from the court’s jurisdiction in Oman, he has failed to do so.

The family thought they had at last secured justice when last May they discovered Mr Al-Barwani’s mother was making one of a number of regular visits to Portsmouth, where she had lived for many years.

Lacey tipped off officials of the High Court, who found her at a property in Copnor and seized her passport.

‘The judge said that the children would have to be returned before she was free to go, because by caring for them in Oman, she was aiding and abetting their father,’ said Lacey.

‘But she argued that she was not looking after them and that her human rights were being breached.

‘When a new judge took over the case this month, he allowed her to have her passport back and she went straight back to Oman.’

Now Lacey is pinning her hopes on a new effort by the government to secure the return to children, who are British citizens, from a country with which it has huge trade links. Britain’s ambassador in Oman has already been told by the country’s foreign minister that he will not intervene.

Lacey is pinning her hopes on persuading Mr Cameron to act personally despite coolness from No 10.

It says the issue is a matter for the Foreign Office, which in turn says it can only provide ‘appropriate consular assistance’.

 

 

 

'Quran Feet' French Women Gets 3 Years Jail

Last July during Ramadan, a French woman was arrested for rubbing and making 'socks' from the Quran to cover her feet. Her feet were in pain and two mischievous locals had said using the Quran would help with the pain. It was definitely a strange occurrence. Her mental state was questioned and she was arrested. Desecrating the Quran is a crime in Oman. Last week, the Sohar Primary Court issued a verdict of three years jail time and 100 OMR fine for the crime. This is the maximum penalty for jail time. She still has the option to appeal and pay 300 OMR bail.

Omani kids on strike @ school

Teacher's at Omani schools have been on strike the last few days demanding various concessions.
These kids are 'standing with the strike' according to the sign.

These kids going over the school wall.

For more, Muscat Daily put out an article about the teachers' strike:
http://www.muscatdaily.com/Archive/Oman/Public-school-teachers-on-strike-Ministry-of-Education-promises-to-provide-teachers-with-suitable-conditions-job-opportunities-2lli

Nice Ride HM !

Bugatti Veryon 16 cylinder - Stunning !

Video: 'Dream of All HCT Students' Gone Quasi-viral & Other Telling Videos @ Higher Technology College Oman...

'Dream of all HCT Students' This student video has nearly 40,000 views in several days.


'HaHA...'

The next video is more telling. The students put together a clip on the problems they are facing at HCT.

Circular for Band 'Act of Congress' performing tonight

Oman participating in the 2013 Islamic Solidarity Games starting today; Omani Football team is a no-show.

The 3rd Islamic Solidarity Games starts today in Indonesia. Around 43 nations are participating including Oman. The Omani football team pulled out at the last minute with a statement the gist being they were too tired and were saving up for another football tournament (kind of disappointing). It has also been reported there was some type of dissension between the Omani Olympic Committee and the OFA (Oman Football Association). Lest we not forget FIFA put out a press release threatening to suspend the OFA last year due to their operational practices.  However, Oman has other athletes set to compete in other sports such as athletics and volleyball. Best of luck to the Omani athletes.

This is really only the 2nd competitive Islamic Solidarity Games not the 3rd as the 2nd 'Games' scheduled for 2009 in Iran was cancelled. Despite the 'Games' motto being 'harmony in unity' and the word 'solidarity' used in the official name of the games, the Iranian games never took place because of a spat between Arabs and Iranians on what to call the 'Persian Gulf' or 'Arabian Gulf' (depending on your perspective) in official 'Games' literature and logo design. Many of the countries' participants scheduled to compete in the Iranian games were from Asia or Africa not even from the Middle East.  Besides all of this lack of coming together, I hope Oman can do something and win a few in this year's Solidarity Games.

Official Website:  http://www.inaisgoc2013southsumatera.com/

 

Omani Elected Officials Still Locked Up Over Liwa Protest

Today, Gulf News put out an article reporting on how Talib Mamari, an Omani Shura Council member and another elected local Municipality member have been in jail with out bail since late August over their alleged 'participation' in the anti-pollution demonstration in Liwa.

See article: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/oman/shura-member-case-in-muscat-adjourned-to-september-29-1.1232954

Mr. Mamari claims he was there only to calm people down. He even has immunity as a Shura member but as far as we know has been lock-up due to some type of exception of being 'at the crime scene'. This protest was attended by members of the Liwa community and local tribes including ladies (not just a few hooligans) as cry for help to the fact that they are being sickened by the surrounding pollution. There are Royal directives in place to help the citizens regarding the issue but the directives seem not to have been fully implemented yet for whatever reasons.

These actions of locking-up elected officials over a 'pollution demonstration' attended by ladies and children create an appearance to the outside world that does not seem to fit a country with a reputation of being signaled out for the most improved country status in the Human Development Report by the UN in 2010 given improved life expectancy and health was one of the areas in which Oman excelled in the report.  The opening of this report reiterates, “People are the real wealth of a nation.”

http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2010_EN_Complete_reprint.pdf  - Oman most improved nation 2010 - UN report.

Ladies of Liwa 'pollution' demonstration - Aug. 2013



Famous Emirati Singer Ahlam in Salalah Performing at Wedding

Ahlam a famous Emirati singer and who is also a judge on Arab Idol travelled to Oman to perform at a high profile wedding of a member of the Al Mashani tribe from Salalah.  It's rumored she was paid around 70,000 OMR. One of Ahlam's most popular songs is 'Ohhbuk Mot' (I love you very much). In 2003, she married Mubarak Al Hajri a car racer from Qatar. Apparently, she twitted she was heading to the wedding in Salalah.

Ahlam in Oman

Tweets about the wedding. She says she is on the way to the wedding # busaidi #salalah#oman# 1000 congratulations.// got to the party#..the wedding is 'completely majestic'#name of bride#Salalah#Oman

 

Omani Stabbed in Pattaya

Pattaya One reported that a 32 year-old Omani man was stabbed in the belly by a employee of a bar on September 11, 2013. It was reported the larger-framed Omani dominated the petit Thai man, but the Thai man retreated, then, pulled a knife.  The Omani is alive and recuperating in the hospital. We hope to see him back in Oman soon.

Last August, an American was stabbed and killed with metal poles by a Thai music group in Krabi, Thailand when he refused to stop singing while drunk on the band's stage. As one may know and feel reassured by, the risk of being stabbed by a music group in Oman is rather unlikely due to the new tourism regulations of no more than three 'talented artists' in no less than four star plus establishments.

Source: http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/102565/oman-stabbed-walking-street-south-pattaya-bar-worker/

 

Oman Fighter Jets Collide Near Yemeni Border

 



Today two Omani fighter jets collided in Rakyoot near the Yemeni border during exercises. One of the RAFO pilot from Nizwa died, and the other from Al Hamra was injured. Allah yarhamhoom wa yugamid roohahom phi al janah. Ameen (May God rest his soul).



Source: Al Zaman

 

Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO)