The Coward And Shameless

The title of the article is an Egyptian proverb applicable to many peoples and societies, especially the oppressed ones.

In an article by novelist Alaa Al-Asswani, to show an example of those who are coward but shameless, is that he brought a technician to repair a machine in his clinic. After an hour he did not succeed in repairing it for his lack of necessary skill. Al-Asswani said he offered the technician a sum of money and asked him to leave.

He was surprised when the technician objected rudely and started to shout asking for twice the amount he offered.  All the attempts to calm him down failed, and increased his shouting and began a chapter of insulting. Accidentally, there was an officer among his patients.

He entered and took the technician’s ID and asked to take him to the police station. Here, strangely, the worker’s position abruptly turned to the opposite. He apologized to Al-Asswani and pleaded with the officer until the latter returned the ID card and allowed him to leave.

There are hundreds of other examples which show that we all witness in our volatile countries after we have stopped developing and progress.

In 2017, Kuwait ranked first among 19 countries at the Cairo International Festival of Arts. The Kuwaiti business won 45 gold, silver and bronze awards, making Kuwait the most award-winning Arab media event.

For some reason, this news did not receive large press coverage at the time, despite its importance, and it was not known why it was ignored.

In the festival of Art works in 2018 Kuwait participated as a guest of honor. Kuwait participated, as usual, by a large collection of works of art and eventually won many awards of different sizes, colors, lengths and weights.

However, after the announcement of Kuwait’s first place, the president of the festival, Mr. Wajih Abu Zekri, held a press conference three days before the date of inauguration announcing the cancellation of the inauguration of the festival.

I repeat the cancellation of the inauguration of the conference three days before the date. The Kuwaiti delegation rejected the rumors of postponement, stressing that 55 Kuwaiti radio and television works have been evaluated and that Kuwait won the first place (as usual) among 60 participant countries.

This is the first time that the world has heard that works of art are won on the basis of “evaluation”, and three days before the inauguration. Strangely, despite  the cancellation and although the festival  never occurred for even one minute, the awards were handed over in the lobby of the hotel.

What is more interesting is that several pictures spread on the WhatsApp showing that the members of the official Kuwaiti delegation were given their prizes for winning a festival that was not even held in the first place, and for actors that may not have participated  in the winning works. Amazingly, the person who announced the postponement of the competition was the very one who handed over the awards to the Kuwaiti delegation.

 

SOURCE : ARABTIMES

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