WOW Kuwait TV

I don’t want to make fun (haha), but it’s been a long time since Kuwait TV 1 has made quality content other than the news. I’m at my brother’s apartment and his wife was cruising the channels looking for a series that she doesn’t remember where it reruns. She stopped at one where a guy had a big 20 KD bill stuff on the front of his dishdasha. It was Abdulaziz Al Msalam on his KTV 1 Ramadhan show, Misk O Ambar.

The idea for the episode was genius. It was a commentary on how the Kuwaiti people treat money. The part we stopped at was how women spend large amounts of money on clothes and designer products that look like normal low priced, not cheap, things that are just as good. A female TK bought two jeans that were over a hundred dinars each.

Then there was Elham Fathala, also as a 20 KD bill, with a woman browsing a supermarket. The 20 KD bill was begging her to use her to buy expensive things and made fun of the woman’s clothing. The woman defended herself by saying that her bag was real leather and that she doesn’t care what random people think about her.

The next part was a man that donated a 20 KD bill, Al Msalam, to an old woman that was begging. Later the woman got up and left, with the 20 KD bill telling about the good things that she can do to use the money efficiently. It turns out that the it was a man in womens clothing who even had a nice car with a little boy in it. The 20 KD bill then started yelling at him and telling him that the 20 KD could have been given to a real old woman and other people that truly needed it.

Back at the home of the supermarket lady, the 20 KD was still grilling her to spend but the woman said that she’ll put it her son’s savings box for his future needs like going to college and getting married. The 20 KD went to the savings box where her kids (5 KD, 1 KD, and 1/2 KD) were.

Anyway, my point is that the idea was great and it came at the right time when lots of people are glued to the TV. I don’t know if the program has a smart message to the Kuwaiti people in every episode. I’ll start watching it. It’ll be great if someone records the episodes and puts them online.

Sick and Tired

Most people in this world are individuals that belong to a distinct group. Be it by gender, family name, nationality, occupation, health, religion, etc. And because they belong to this group, they are expected to represent it completely and know absolutely all there is to know about being part of that group. You are expected to spread awareness and knowledge when it is needed. Personally, I always had to defend my groups. I was always defending Islam, Arabs and Journalism. Living in a foreign country where people are ignorant (can’t blame the people for that) yet curious, defending myself was a constant routine. I was sick and tired of it.

Islam. This is the hardest one. Even the basics of Islam are hard to defend thanks to the contradicting events happening in the Middle East and surrounding regions. I would tell them that Muslims believe in and are supposed to respect all the prophets and books sent to us from God. What could I respond with when even the Arkan Al Iman (Articles of Belief) are set aside?

Is it still justified to say that Islam is a religion that promotes peace? To my knowledge in the times of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) people of different faiths lived peacefully in their towns. It was only when the Muslims were wronged that jihad was declared and the peace was disturbed. Let’s not also forget the Islamic movement that was for the purpose of spreading the religion. It was effective, but also violent. That is a fact.

I consider myself to be a religious person, in my own way. I love my religion and it is always on my mind. Almost every night before I fall asleep, my head rests on the pillow as I ponder and think about the things I was told to memorize at school. I try to make sense of it all. I do. And if I need to, I ask my mom to help me figure things out. She gives me the facts and lets me understand them on my own. The only thing that throws me off is that Muslims all over the world believe different things. We claim that that all Muslims are unified in their beliefs, but it is painfully obvious that we are not.

So the only things I said in my defense is that the people that are behind non-peaceful events and actions are extremists. Even though the truth is that some of those people that agree with extremists are just ignorant and don’t know any better. I’m not a history buff, but has there been a time when there hasn’t been a war in the name of Islam? (That’s a legitimate question that I hope someone answers in the comments.)