Kuwait and Ramadan · Global Voices
Abdullatif AlOmar

It has been a busy Ramadan in Kuwait, with the collapse of the Stock Exchange, social activities and artistic creativity.
We kick off this week's round up of Kuwaiti blogs with charts and numbers, who writes a three part series on the collapse of the Kuwait Stock Exchange:
The recent collapse in the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) index this past week has not been given its proper placement in the headlines. I have found it difficult to find resources covering the details of the collapse or reasons justifying the decline. Some might hail the events as a market correction but I believe the reasons are far more complex and intertwined with recent economical events in the country.
Dahem AlQahtani, a journalist and blogger, writes [Ar] about the Minister of Information Shaikh Sabah Al Khalid, who has met with the editors-in-chief of local newspapers.
He wonders why the journalist union was not invited to the meeting:
وزير الاعلام الشيخ صباح الخالد حينما يعمل لوحده فإنه يبدع
ولكن وحينما يترك الأمور لغيره من طاقم وزارة الاعلام فأنهم
لا يهدونه إلى سبيل الصواب وإلا ما الذي يمنع الوزير من توسعة
المجال قليلا ليشمل القوى الحقيقة المؤثرة في الاعلام الكويتي ,
ولماذا لا يعمل بأبسط التقاليد المهنية ويقوم بدعوة رئيس نقابة الصحافيين
لحضور اللقاء وهي النقابة المعترف بها
The Minister of Information Shaikh Sabah Al Khalid is creative when he works on his own. However, when he depends on his team at the ministry, they don't lead him to do what is correct. Otherwise, why has prevented the minister from expanding the circle of invitees and including the real movers and shakers of the Kuwaiti media and why hasn't he respected the minimum professionalism expected and invited the president of the journalists union to attend the meeting and it is the union which is recognised.
The blogger also discusses the impact of online media and television, and wonders why they have been excluded from the gathering:
وزير الاعلام الشيخ صباح الخالد حينما يصحو من النوم يكون
أكثر تركيزا ونشاطا فيكون لحظتها وزير إعلام عصري يتابع
العصر بلغة العصر , ولكنه وحينما يمضي في يوم عمله
يصطدم بالعقليات المهنية التي عفا عليها الزمن فيتحول
إلى وزير إعلام تقليدي يختصر الاعلام الكويتي
في 14 رئيس تحرير صحيفة لا يملك معظمهم القرار في صحيفته .
When the Minister of Information Shaikh Sabah Al Khalid wakes up from his sleep, he is more focused and active. At that time he is a contemporary Minister of Information who speaks the language of the age. But as the day progresses, he collides with the professional mentalities which are old and changes into a typical traditional minister who sums up Kuwaiti media in 14 editors-in-chief, the majority of whom don't make the decisions in their papers.
Meanwhile, Bader from Moodart
creates a traditional artwork from recycled material. He describes his creation as:
ايضا من اطارات السيارات
طولها متر ونصف وعرضها نصف المتر
الوان اكريلك
Also from car tires,
One and half metres long by half a metre wide,
Acrylics
With his blog in mind, Yousef over at somecontrast, writes about ghabga he shared with 60 plus friends. A Ghabga is a late night meal in Ramadan, where friends, relatives and acquaintances are invited to socialise over traditional cuisine.
We had a Ghabga* at the Diwaniya yesterday. We took pictures of the whole thing. My brother got carried away with the camera and now i have over 350 pictures of every person of the 60+ who were there. When it was time to arrange the buffet I thought I should take as many pictures as possible, you know, good blogging material
Check out Yousef‘s blog for the array of food on the table.
And finally, Hellraiser writes about the purpose of Ramadan:
Contrary to popular beliefs, Ramadan, is not about eating, sleeping, Ghabkas and Sohoor [the last meal of the night before people start their fast]. Its about patience, self control to help oppress passions and temper, helping the less fortunate and Taqwa by reading the Quraan [the Muslim's Holy Book] and to strengthen one's faith