Secrecy, Versace and others obsessions

"Well", I said, "would you like the media to reflect only a rosy picture?" After all, this is life and it has both good and bad. His point of view, however, made me wonder. Why is it that so many people in the Arab world are afraid to face reality? Shutting it off, not thinking about it, wishing it would just go away are some of the reasons for our often finding ourselves in a predicament. Whether we like it or not, the world is already a global village. An incident happening 10,000 miles away can affect us directly or indirectly. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster and mad-cow disease are two examples of how our fates are linked.

It is thus of the utmost importance in our global village that we evaluate our position in it. It is no use pointing the finger at others. We lament "cultural invasions." We speak of problems that we believe are alien to us - yet they exist in Arab societies because we too are humans with human virtues and faults. It is my belief that a society which is able to admit that certain fundamental problems exist and then allows a debate on those problems is a strong society. The admission and debate indicate a willingness to solve the problems and, in the process, the society becomes a much stronger one, on a par with any other in the world. 

Our Arab preoccupation with secrecy sometimes borders on the ridiculous. When my uncle died recently, I received many condolences by phone, visits and letters; however, my office sent an envelope to my house, marked: "Private & Confidential - To be opened only by the Addressee." I thought it had something to do with work. On opening it, I discovered it was just another condolence message!

A visitor from the Far East once remarked that he had tried to obtain some statistics from one of the Gulf countries. He was told that his request could only be cleared at the highest level. "What was the information required?" I asked. He answered: "I only wanted the demographical set up of a couple of cities and the number of factories in each." I recommended that next time he try the Internet.

I have been asking myself why we are obsessed with secrecy in the Arab world. In today's world with its open doors, free discussions and focus on facts and figures, such needless secrecy is archaic. Is there a reason for this type of behavior? Maybe someone has the answer.

It was at a dinner where I overheard two ladies talking about Versace. Normally I am not the type to interfere in other peoples' conversations but this time curiosity got the better of me.

"What about Versace?" I asked. "He was shot dead a couple of hours ago", said one. There was sadness all over her face. The other lady said the death of Versace was the second blow. Moschino died last year. Moschino, by the way, was also a well known fashion designer who died of AIDS.

I had never realized that Gianni Versace, the world-famous designer, had such loyal fans here and in the Gulf. I remember a lady remarking to me a couple of years ago that her son dressed only in Versace clothes. He refused to wear anything else. "How old is he?" I asked. "Seventeen", she replied. "Does he know Bill Gates or has he ever surfed the Internet?" I asked her. "Don't always talk serious stuff. Our children need to know the latest so we won't be left behind", she responded carelessly.

Poor lady, I mumbled to myself. She's one of a handful who think like that. Versace's death, however, proved me wrong. It is we who are a handful and "they" are the majority. In one of the Gulf papers, the headline read: "Versace Fans in Muscat Shocked." In another, there was a condolence message to various members of his family.

While I don't mind adulation myself, I think, this was carrying things too far. Out of all this comes a very serious realization: How weak our media is. While we are well aware of everything in the West, it is sad that they have so little idea about us. Has anyone in the West or the Far East heard of Yahya Al-Bishri, Adnan Akbar, Mohamed Abdo or Talal Maddah?