FREE Established 1961 Friday ISSUE NO: 17679 RABI ALAWWAL 1, 1440 AH FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2018 Caution urged as Kuwait Gunman kills 12 in California Juventus fightback infuses Man Utd 9 braces for heavy rain 10 bar packed with students 47 with belief as City derby looms Kuwaiti sculptors struggle to be seen See Pages 4 & 5 2 Friday Local Friday, November 9, 2018 PHOTO OF THE DAY Are we racist? Local Spotlight By Muna Al-Fuzai [email protected] acism often comes in the form of treating some individuals differently - socially and legally - and Rmaking distinctions between people on the basis of color or ethnic affiliation. This is the definition that is universally recognized. I think racism is like a disease in some people who have a virus of mental illusions or false ideas of superiority and inferiority among human beings, which justifies differing forms of treatment. I know that there are many studies and researches published on the Internet about racism and its history, and racism in Arab and Western societies with models, but I would like to focus on racism in the Arab Gulf societies and the duplicity in dealing with the concept of racism, whether by citizens or expatriates. It is necessary to define a specific concept and why some people think racism is prevalent in Kuwait, for example, but cannot talk about racism when they go to another country or even return to their native countries. I believe in Kuwait there is less racism than many coun- People in Kuwait enjoy walking along the beautiful corniche in Salmiya now that temperatures are dropping. — Photo by Thomas Joseph tries I have visited in the West and East that brag about democracy and equality among people, but are extremely racist. I know from my experience that racism in the world is based on discrimination over two things: Wealth and color. It is common for rich people to enjoy different Six thinking hats, anyone? treatment because they have money, whether the money is earned legally or illegally. As for color, it is unfortunate that many girls today are running after the best skin bleaching and whitening creams. The media and commercial advertisements promote whitening products, alluding that being fair is IN MY VIEW all what you need to get what you want. This does not help to strengthen and empower women in society and life. It is regrettable that skin color and how fair they are is included in the qualities of women in the mar- By Jeri Al-Jeri riage market! Today, some have formulated recipes for [email protected] lightening the skin and promote the notion that a “white” girl is the best. hat are the six thinking hats? And is there a all the wishful thinking out in the open. Lastly, the most I know that all of us without exception may have thinking turban for us Arabs? Edward de Bono important hat is the blue hat. Its owner is the only one similar attitudes that reflect racial discrimination. For Wwrote a groundbreaking series of books that who is allowed to manage the use of all the other hats. example, I consider the curiosity of taxi drivers in the can enhance the effectiveness of any brainstorming ses- All of these hats seemed childish to me. In my opinion, question “which country are you from” to determine the sion or group discussion. In meetings with business asso- meetings ought to never restrict a speaker to a single role nature of the dialogue or even open a conversation ciates, caregivers of children, or even football club mem- that he or she is not allowed to think outside of. However, reflects a behavior of racial discrimination by prejudg- bers, we all need to upgrade the quality of the ways in when I did try on the six thinking hats myself, and in ing passengers. which we think. group discussions I have been a part of, I have seen how I think racism is apparent in societies because of De Bono’s six thinking hats method allows us to cate- quick the ideas formed themselves into a very clear and money and social status. Rich people do not usually gorize the attitudes of our various thought processes. satisfying conclusion. But what about that turban? mingle with poor ones, despite the beautiful talk Sometimes, we get too excited about a certain idea that Needless to say that much like most of de Bono’s about modesty and being humble. I do not see this leads us to making terrible mistakes, and sometimes we books, his Six Thinking Hats book has been translated into happening on the ground. We may agree on the are so cautious that we miss a lot of opportunities. many languages. Dr Sharef Muhsin from Egypt handled importance of living in societies that are free from Therefore, de Bono offered the black hat, figuratively, the Arabic translation of this book, and added a turban to racism, but it is not easy at a time when the media is for us to lay down on the table any worrisome idea with the six thinking hats, which is a spiritual one. One who not reflecting this attitude. regard to the topic at hand. The yellow hat lets out all the wears this gets to pray and seek guidance from a higher zestful and energetic statements that boost team spirit. entity. But I personally disagree with pairing it with the six The reality is that there is only one human race and Then comes the much-needed white hat that only handles thinking hats, because prayer is a form of worship and not we inhabit one planet, and unless the media runs new straight-up logical, mathematical and statistical points an argumentative process. anti-racism programs and new laws that reject bad that feed the discussion with pure, unfiltered facts. All in all, not to be overrated, the six thinking hats can behaviors are enforced, nothing may change. We The white hat speaker may lack passion, so de Bono be at times highly productive and a big timesaver. Also, it should have one motto that we are not racist and do throws in the red hat that is only for our intuitions, that can get burdensome when it turns off our “autopilot” not accept racism. brings out our gut feelings. Enter the green hat, for bring- system of handling simple decisions that do not need ing only the positive points of the matter at hand; that gets much debate. 4 Friday Local Friday, November 9, 2018 uwaiti sculptor Sami Mohammed finished his towering statue of the country’s first Amir over four decades ago, but now it just gathers dust unseen in a long-shuttered office block. Stymied Kby a conservative view of Islam that bans representations of the body, the 75-year-old faces any artist’s nightmare: he cannot get his work displayed to the public in his homeland. Like other sculptors in the Gulf state he bristles at claims Artist Badr Fadel Alemdar, 42, is convinced he knows that his creations constitute idol worship and urges the au- the reason sculptures are being hidden. He says “fear” thorities to push back against demands he sees as out- among officials of clashing with conservatives prevents his moded. “We have to get past these issues because the work from seeing the light of day. “The working environ- human, the individual, has reason and thought, and it’s re- ment for us is uncomfortable because some see the art of ally not possible that we would go back to worshipping sculpting as blasphemy, especially if it is statues of famous idols,” Mohammed, himself a devout Muslim, tells AFP. “We people,” he said, adding that he has been attacked in the no longer live in a time of ignorance. We live in the era of past over his creations. technology.” The passions over the issue were highlighted recently by disagreements among Kuwaiti lawmakers. In September ‘Find a cave’ legislator Mohammed Hayef Al-Mutairi called on the govern- Like Christianity and Judaism, Islam bans idol worship, ment to stop local artists from making statues, arguing that but some Muslims go further and forbid any representation they had “paved the way for the establishment of temples” of the human form. While there is no law in Kuwait that ex- in the Gulf, referring to non-Muslim places of worship. But plicitly prohibits the display of sculptures or statues in pub- fellow MP Ahmed al-Fadel dismissed this view as “back- lic places, the Gulf emirate is home to an influential circle ward”. Fadel in another instance also lashed out at those of conservatives that has pushed to lock them up. who wanted to close a shop because it was selling printed Kuwait’s Museum of Modern Art is a prime target. It 3D figurines. “I want to know how long this backward mind- opened in 2003 and boasts multiple statues of people by set can continue,” Fadel said in a video posted online. “This KUWAIT: Kuwaiti sculptor Sami Mohammed speaks in front of one Kuwaiti artists in its collection. But they all sit behind closed is a country of freedoms ruled by law... 1,400 years later of his works at the Museum of Modern Art in Kuwait City. doors, hidden from the public eye, as a debate centering (after the emergence of Islam), you are still talking about — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat on Islam and art rages. idols? What you should do is find a cave and stay there.” Friday 5 Local Friday, November 9, 2018 ‘Get used to it’ Arguments over the representation of the human form in the Muslim world are by no means limited to Kuwait.