Sheikh Sabah absorbs father’s policy - arabtimesonline.com · But then we all of us know (the...
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ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017 23 High note Cezary’s Picks By Cezary Owerkowicz Special to the Arab Times A lmost everyone likes fairytales, do you? I too like them, but not ‘endless’ fairytales just before the elections. But then we all of us know (the most common) fairytale of Cin- derella. In spite of the cruelty of her step-mother and her equally cruel, ugly and stupid daughters, Cinderella attends the ball, charms the Prince and as she rushes home when the clock strikes twelve to keep the promise of fairy godmoth- er, she loses the shoe. This shoe joins two hearts and they have a happy future, we hope. The motto is good wins over the evil. These days everything has to be adjusted, if not totally changed. (I neither suggest nor generalize any- thing but...) We have to study new version, an adaptation and some- times change everything, even the very sense. The main pur- pose is not to be bored (and boring) until the moment when too much attraction be- comes awfully boring. Fortu- nately, not this time. It is not just ‘attractive’, it is a miracle. The history of child prodigies in music is long and rich. The Master of belcanto and Chopin idol, Italian opera mas- ter, Vinzenzo Bellini (1801-1835) could sing an aria perfectly in tune at the age of 18 months and played the piano when he was two. At the age of six he composed real pieces. French Camille Saint- Saens (1835-1921) played in pub- lic two piano concertos with own cadenzas when he was 10 (being brilliant also in mathm, Latin and Greek). The composer of The Good Fa- ther, Nino Rota (1911-1979) com- posed music when he was eight but when he was twelve he created the Oratorio. The British Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) composed dozens of pieces before he was ten and by eighteen he composed more than 800 pieces. Out of competition was Aus- trian Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). He began to write music at five. His countless works from simple song up to few scores of voices he wrote as a faultless computer - very fast but without any correction, connected straight with some mysterious source of ...? What? Somebody said that he is an evidence of Creative Power existence.... Because of this she was called the Little Miss Mozart. She pro- tested: ‘I’m very different to him. Mozart at my age travelled around Europe playing for Kings and Em- perors but I don’t do that.’ Alma Elisabeth Deutscher, was born in Oxford in February 2005 to Janie Steen and Guy Deutscher, amateur musicians. She lives with parents and younger sister Helen in Surrey, next to a large garden (important) and the Steinway piano overlooked by a portrait of Mo- zart’s sister Nannerl. Toy Alma could pick up a tune on a keyboard when she was two. “I wanted to get the hang of it and remember playing ‘Twinkle, Twin- kle, Little Star’ with one finger. I was then given a violin for my third birthday. My father thought it would be a toy that I would throw away after half a day, but I really tried to play it.’ Her father added: ‘She was so excited by it and tried playing on it for days on end, so we decided to find her a teacher. In less than a year she was playing Handel Sona- tas.’ Her mother remembers: ‘At three she heard a Lullaby by Richard Strauss and she came to us, hums refrain and said: ‘... how music can be so beautiful?’ She was struck by the beauty of it. At four she was composing, dictating music to her father and improvising on the piano, and by five had begun writing down her compositions. ‘When I started I didn’t know it was called composing. I just had these melodies in my head. Every- one thought they were music from other people that I wasn’t quite re- membering correctly, but it turned out that they were all mine.’ At six there was a piano sonata, at seven a short opera The Sweeper of Dreams based on Neil Gaiman story, submitted to a contest held by the English National Opera, where the composition narrowly failed to make it to the final. Two years ago she wrote a Vio- lin Concerto (record available on YouTube) and her first symphonic piece. A year ago (when she was ten) Alma completed her second, this time full-length opera based on a fairy-tale of Cinderella. The same year opera had a premiere. In the interview with a German newspaper Die Zeit she said that she started the work in 2013 (when she was eight). She finished writ- ing the overture to the opera ‘just a few days before the performance’. Alma explained her version of the story, considerably different from the traditional. It revolves around music. The Evil Stepmother runs an opera pro- duction company. Her two daugh- ters are talentless divas. Cinderella is a natural talented composer with ‘beautiful melodies springing into her head’ but she is not allowed to perform. The Prince is a poet. Cinderella is inspired by his capti- vating love poem and sets it to her own music. Improvising Her melody is stolen by her ugly step-sisters and they sing it at a singing competition during the ball. However, when finally Cinderella sings the melody to The Prince un- aware that he wrote the words to it, The Prince is also unaware that she wrote that enchanting melody. inderella flees from the ball The Prince looks for her melody instead of a shoe. ‘In the end they find each other like lyrics find melody’, ex- plained Alma, ‘I didn’t want Cin- derella just to be pretty. I wanted her to have her own mind and her own spirit, and to be like me. So I decided that she would be a com- poser.’ Isn’t it characteristic for a con- temporary woman, who is so young? ‘I want my music to be taken seriously and sometimes it’s a little bit difficult for the people to take me seriously because I’m just a little girl.’ After the local premiere in 2015, in 2016 the full version of the op- era had a real world premiere in Vi- enna with famous conductor Zubin Mehta as a Patron. He called her ‘a genius’. Alma has also other great musi- cal patrons: great pianist Murray Perahia, conductor Sir Simon Rat- tle (‘absolutely bowled over’!) or wonderful violinist, Anne-Sophie Mutter, who wrote: ‘it is absolutely extraordinary what this young girl has managed to achieve on the violin, the piano and her composi- tions. Her musical sensitivity and her powers of expression already at this age underline her exceptional talent.’ Music comes to her ‘...unbid- den and fully formed’. Alma told the Daily Mail ‘The music comes to me when I am relaxing. I go and sit down on a seat or lie down. I like to think about fairies a lot, and princesses and beautiful dresses. ‘When I try to get a melody it never comes to me. It usually comes to me either when I’m resting or when I’m just sitting at the piano impro- vising, or when I’m skipping with my skipping rope. Or even when I’m trying to do something else, when somebody is talking to me or I’m trying to do something, then I hear this beautiful melody’. ‘When I am in an improvising mood melo- dies burst from my fingertips.’ Alma describes her purple rope as ‘magical’. I wave it around, and melodies pour into my head. (During an interview to the BBC in 2015 Alma waved the rope in the garden of her family home singing an improvised melody. The melodies come also in her dreams. She sleeps with a tape recorder. ‘I woke up and I didn’t want to lose the melodies so I took my notebook and wrote it all down, which took me almost three hours.’ ‘I made up my own land with its own language and there are beautiful composers there...’ Is Alma an exceptional genius, then that means she is a hope for music and gift for music lovers? For the New Year 2017 (or even the century - geniuses appear rarely!) PS. The same time other new composer appeared on the horizon, the scientists from Toronto have created a program called ‘neuron karaoke’, based on ‘deep neuron net’ organized similar to the brain. It is AI (artificial intelligence). The first project of this item was to compose Christmas carol. It was done. It is like a miracle regard- less of the sense and beauty, with full respect but I prefer the mys- tery miracle of Alma. I prefer the human scale ‘Alma and Omega...’ Happy (and natural) New Year 2017. ❑ ❑ ❑ Editor’s Note: Cezary Owerkowicz is the chairman of the Kuwait Chamber of Philhar- monia and talented pianist. He regularly organises concerts by well-known musicians for the benefit of music lovers and to widen the knowledge of music in Kuwait. His e-mail address is: cowerkowicz @yahoo.com and [email protected] Magical Alma a hope & gift to music lovers ‘Little Miss Mozart?’ Owerkowicz Pioneers of Kuwait One of the file photos of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah from his early political career. Foreign tours were mind-opening experience Sheikh Sabah absorbs father’s policy This is the third in a series of arti- cles on His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah — Editor ❑ ❑ ❑ By Lidia Qattan Special to the Arab Times T he thirtieth was a decade bristling with innovations; but what flared Sheikh Sabah’s imagination amidst all the excitement of those days was an unprecedented event in the history of his country, in which he admired the politi- cal shrewdness of his noble father. Soon after the discovery of the rich oil field of Burgan (in February 1938), the Iraqi propaganda began stirring trouble in Kuwait. That was not new; Iraq’s covetous- ness on its tiny neighbor began soon after Iraq became a fully independent state in 1932, and began accusing Ku- wait of smuggling arms into its territory; an allegation that was proved false by thorough British investigations. Iraq then tried to allure the coopera- tion of the Amir with an offer of pip- ing the water from Shat Al Arab into Kuwait; but Sheikh Ahmad Al Jaber foreseeing the danger of putting his country at the mercy of Iraqi whims, diplomatically avoided the issue while seeking to maintain friendly relations for the sake of the commerce and trade with Iraq and safeguard Kuwaiti real-estate at Basra. However what the Sheikh could not prevent was the insidious Iraqi propa- ganda affecting his people, especially the young intellectuals who saw in the unity with Iraq the beginning of a new era in the Arab world. Sheikh Sabah was following with growing interest the talk of the men in the diwaniya of his father and what people were saying in town; those who were aware of the government in- stability in Iraq were warning against any involvement with that country, others allured by the glamour of Iraqi achievements were all in favor of a unity with Iraq. Reaction The controversy reached a critical stage when some members in the Leg- islative Council, formed in July 1938 by the Crown Prince Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem to spur innovations, became affected by the Iraqi propaganda and sought to interfere with the preroga- tives of the Amir. This could not be tolerated, consequently the Council was dissolved and this sparked a public reaction. Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad was in school when the commotion took to the streets threatening national security. The prompt action of his father in re- establishing law and order in the country averted anarchy at a critical moment when united action was needed to meet the new threat. King Gazi of Iraq had planned to attack Kuwait, but soon after he sent his order to his general, his scheme failed with his sudden death in a fatal road accident. At that time Sheikh Sabah was emotionally mature to realize the gravity of the situation and appreciate the political stand of his father. The whole incident that came down in Kuwaiti history as the “Year of the Mejless” remained indelible in his mind; for he realized the wisdom of his father’s political shrewdness in keeping his country free from Iraqi intrigues. The death of King Gazi intensified the instability of the Iraqi government; especially when in August 1939, the Second World War broke out and Iraq promptly sided with Germany. The disastrous consequence of the war in Iraq and the chain of coup d’état following in rapid succession further weakened the country, while Kuwait, unmarred by Iraqi intrigues was carrying out internal reforms leading to a brighter new era. The great World War II was an opportunity for Sheikh Sabah Al Ah- mad to gain his first insight in world politics, for he was interested in ev- erything that was going on the in the world at large, keenly observing the development of the war, especially the interplay of diplomacy and war-tactics of the Allies against Hitler’s army in the West and the Japanese army in the East. Kuwait’s neutrality not only spared it of all the negative side of the war, being an oasis of peace and tranquility it gave to the young Sheikh the oppor- tunity of observing the situation from an advantage point of view. What he saw and learned enhanced his awareness of the political game ruling the lives and destiny of people around the world. His father’s diplomatic prowess was itself a good example of political shrewdness, by which he was able to take advantage of situations that served the interest of his country. The Amir abhorred bloodshed, to him war was a colossal waste of lives and capital with nothing to gain but pain. Throughout his ruling he strictly avoided his country from getting involved in any fighting; his whole endeavor was to promote and maintain peaceful relations with his neighbors. The only time he had a setback was an issue of frontier interfering with his country’s sovereignty, which he felt compelled to defend. The resulting economy war with Saudi Arabia that began in 1923, fi- nally ended in 1936, when he was able to reestablish friendly relations with HH King Abdul Aziz Al Saud, his old friend from childhood. Sheikh Sabah absorbed his father’s diplomatic shrewdness and careful ways; which he enhanced through observation during his growing up and through his direct involvement in diplomacy when he became involved in state affairs. Developments All during the Second World War she loved watching the newsreel shown every Friday night at the Safat Square squatted on the floor with his brother, Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad and his cousin, Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Al Salem, friends and most of the Kuwaiti population all eager to see the latest developments in the war. At first he was attracted by the novelty of the newsreel in town and then he became deeply interested in the development of the war itself. He saw people around the world suffering and dying, whole cities be- ing destroyed, he was wondering how the bloodshed could be stopped. Following the comments of people in town, especially at his father’s diwanya, he had some ideas of the political game going on among na- tions. What he understood shaped his philosophy of life; for he saw in peace and stability the key to prosperity and development, and in shrewd diplo- macy one of the means that could help promote peace through negotiations and compromises. Incidentally, when he grew older and he became more erudite on politi- cal issues, he realized that some time even the shrewdest of politicians stand no chance of winning in a confronta- tion with power-hungry dictators, whose only objective is to gain more power no matter what. Dealing with such individuals when they threaten peace and stability in the region, to stop them war becomes inevitable. During the Second World War, Kuwait’s shrewd politics in keeping strict neutrality not only made it an oasis of peace and security in the midst of trouble it also gave it the advantage of reviving its shipping industry when the number of steam-powered boats in the Gulf dwindled, causing a great demand on sailing ships for transporting goods and passengers to and from the Gulf. By the time the war ended in 1945, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad had complet- ed his formal education, then encour- aged by his father he began traveling abroad with his elder brother, Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad, visiting European and Asian countries. Their tours were an opening mind experience that brought them into contact with other cultures and their technological achievements; they also gave them useful insights into the various political systems. The whole experience while broad- ening their mental horizon, training their mental faculties in observing and scrutinizing situations more deeply, in Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad it triggered an interest in photography that devel- oped into one of his favorite hobbies. Traveling also sharpened his inter- est in daily newspapers, besides books of which he became an avid reader from an early age. To be continued Lidia Qattan Sheikh Sabah General Continued from Page 22 participate in the chapter activities. In- dian engineers residing in Kuwait are welcome to join the pool of more than 700,000 engineers by becoming cor- porate or non-corporate members of The Institution of Engineers (India). IEI, Kuwait Chapter conducts many technical events for the benefits of its members. We have upcoming techni- cal seminar in August and a mega workshop in September. Please watch for further details in your registered e- mail or announcement in media. The chapter has science club activities for member’s children, and ladies wing activities for the member’s family. IEI, Kuwait Chapter has facility to register student members for AMIE examination for those interested in pursuing career enrichment. For more information and on chap- ter membership, kindly contact IEI, Kuwait Chapter office on 22445588 extn 314 between 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm (Sunday through Thursday) or through email to ieikwt@hotmail. com. You may also contact engr Kuwait India Fraternity Forum is conducting campaign by distributing handouts, conducting counseling, seminars etc. to educate the Indians living in Kuwait informed Presi- dent Saifudheen Nalakath in a press release. For more details contact: 55062071 or email at kiffkuwait@ gmail.com. ❑ ❑ ❑ NYF offers free yoga classes: NYF Kuwait offers free yoga, breath- ing, meditation and reiki classes by a well-experienced female yoga teacher for all age groups. Classes are given on the basis of different health problems, stress and other problems by different techniques. Contact: 99315825. ❑ ❑ ❑ Leadership Excellence Course: The Leadership Excellence Course (LEC) is a course modeled on the Seerah of Rasoolullah who is the best model of leadership for all mankind. The LEC focuses on the lessons that we can learn from the Seerah of Rasoolullah and see how we can apply them in our lives to become winners in this world and the next. The objectives of the course are 1. Understand what leadership is from the Seerah of Rasoolullah and how to apply it in our lives today 2. Under- stand the purpose of our lives and click A well-known Kuwaiti actor Mohammad Al-Mansour expressed his delight over the huge success of his drama ‘Arab Tweet’, reports Al-Anba daily. The drama was recently presented in Doha, Qatar as part of the celebrations of the National Day of Qatar. The shows continued until the New Year’s Eve. Al- Mansour explained that the drama is scripted by Taleb Al-Dous and directed by Faleh Fayez. Actors such as Mona Shaddad, Abdulnasser Darwish, Ali Al- Gharir, Jassem Al-Ansari and Abu Hilal are part of the drama. He expressed his interest in participating in TV series that deal with the issue of terrorism in a professional manner. Ashok Kumar (97275974) or engr Karthikeyan (99840191) for any further clarification. ❑ ❑ ❑ KIFF anti-drugs campaign: As part of the Fraternity fest, Kuwait India Fraternity Forum (KIFF) is conducting Anti-Drugs Campaign among Indians living in Kuwait. Ac- cording to the available statistics of Indian Embassy, 60% of the convicted Indians in Kuwaiti Jails are arrested on drug-related cases. The recent cases of death and captives of Indian drug abusers is a threatening news. To defend and to campaign against such social crisis by protecting individu- als as well as the society has become obligatory. In this current situation, Continued on Page 24
Transcript of Sheikh Sabah absorbs father’s policy - arabtimesonline.com · But then we all of us know (the...
ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017
23
High note
Cezary’s Picks
By Cezary OwerkowiczSpecial to the Arab Times
Almost everyone likes fairytales, do you? I too like them, but not
‘endless’ fairytales just before the elections.
But then we all of us know (the most common) fairytale of Cin-derella. In spite of the cruelty of her step-mother and her equally cruel, ugly and stupid daughters, Cinderella attends the ball, charms the Prince and as she rushes home when the clock strikes twelve to keep the promise of fairy godmoth-er, she loses the shoe. This shoe joins two hearts and they have a happy future, we hope. The motto is good wins over the evil.
These days everything has to be adjusted, if not totally changed. (I neither suggest nor generalize any-thing but...) We have to study new version, an adaptation and some-times change everything, even the very sense. The main pur-pose is not to be bored (and boring) until the moment when too much attraction be-comes awfully boring. Fortu-nately, not this time.
It is not just ‘attractive’, it is a miracle. The history of child prodigies in music is long and rich.
The Master of belcanto and Chopin idol, Italian opera mas-ter, Vinzenzo Bellini (1801-1835) could sing an aria perfectly in tune at the age of 18 months and played the piano when he was two.
At the age of six he composed real pieces. French Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921) played in pub-lic two piano concertos with own cadenzas when he was 10 (being brilliant also in mathm, Latin and Greek).
The composer of The Good Fa-ther, Nino Rota (1911-1979) com-posed music when he was eight but when he was twelve he created the Oratorio. The British Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) composed dozens of pieces before he was ten and by eighteen he composed more than 800 pieces.
Out of competition was Aus-trian Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). He began to write music at five. His countless works from simple song up to few scores of voices he wrote as a faultless computer - very fast but without any correction, connected straight with some mysterious source of ...? What? Somebody said that he is an evidence of Creative Power existence....
Because of this she was called the Little Miss Mozart. She pro-tested: ‘I’m very different to him. Mozart at my age travelled around Europe playing for Kings and Em-perors but I don’t do that.’
Alma Elisabeth Deutscher, was born in Oxford in February 2005 to Janie Steen and Guy Deutscher, amateur musicians. She lives with parents and younger sister Helen in Surrey, next to a large garden (important) and the Steinway piano overlooked by a portrait of Mo-zart’s sister Nannerl.
ToyAlma could pick up a tune on
a keyboard when she was two. “I wanted to get the hang of it and remember playing ‘Twinkle, Twin-kle, Little Star’ with one finger. I was then given a violin for my third birthday. My father thought it would be a toy that I would throw away after half a day, but I really tried to play it.’
Her father added: ‘She was so excited by it and tried playing on it for days on end, so we decided to find her a teacher. In less than a year she was playing Handel Sona-tas.’
Her mother remembers: ‘At three she heard a Lullaby by Richard Strauss and she came to us, hums refrain and said: ‘...how music can be so beautiful?’ She was struck by the beauty of it. At four she was composing, dictating music to her father and improvising on the piano, and by five had begun writing down her compositions.
‘When I started I didn’t know it was called composing. I just had these melodies in my head. Every-one thought they were music from other people that I wasn’t quite re-membering correctly, but it turned out that they were all mine.’
At six there was a piano sonata, at seven a short opera The Sweeper of Dreams based on Neil Gaiman story, submitted to a contest held by the English National Opera, where the composition narrowly failed to make it to the final.
Two years ago she wrote a Vio-lin Concerto (record available on YouTube) and her first symphonic piece. A year ago (when she was ten) Alma completed her second,
this time full-length opera based on a fairy-tale of Cinderella. The same year opera had a premiere.
In the interview with a German newspaper Die Zeit she said that she started the work in 2013 (when she was eight). She finished writ-ing the overture to the opera ‘just a few days before the performance’. Alma explained her version of the story, considerably different from the traditional.
It revolves around music. The Evil Stepmother runs an opera pro-duction company. Her two daugh-ters are talentless divas. Cinderella is a natural talented composer with ‘beautiful melodies springing into her head’ but she is not allowed to perform. The Prince is a poet. Cinderella is inspired by his capti-vating love poem and sets it to her own music.
ImprovisingHer melody is stolen by her ugly
step-sisters and they sing it at a singing competition during the ball. However, when finally Cinderella sings the melody to The Prince un-aware that he wrote the words to it, The Prince is also unaware that she wrote that enchanting melody.
inderella flees from the ball The Prince looks for her melody instead of a shoe. ‘In the end they find each other like lyrics find melody’, ex-plained Alma, ‘I didn’t want Cin-derella just to be pretty. I wanted her to have her own mind and her own spirit, and to be like me. So I decided that she would be a com-poser.’
Isn’t it characteristic for a con-temporary woman, who is so young? ‘I want my music to be taken seriously and sometimes it’s a little bit difficult for the people to take me seriously because I’m just a little girl.’
After the local premiere in 2015, in 2016 the full version of the op-era had a real world premiere in Vi-enna with famous conductor Zubin Mehta as a Patron. He called her ‘a genius’.
Alma has also other great musi-cal patrons: great pianist Murray Perahia, conductor Sir Simon Rat-tle (‘absolutely bowled over’!) or wonderful violinist, Anne-Sophie Mutter, who wrote: ‘it is absolutely extraordinary what this young girl has managed to achieve on the violin, the piano and her composi-tions. Her musical sensitivity and her powers of expression already at this age underline her exceptional talent.’
Music comes to her ‘...unbid-den and fully formed’. Alma told the Daily Mail ‘The music comes to me when I am relaxing. I go and sit down on a seat or lie down. I like to think about fairies a lot, and princesses and beautiful dresses. ‘When I try to get a melody it never comes to me. It usually comes to me either when I’m resting or when I’m just sitting at the piano impro-vising, or when I’m skipping with my skipping rope. Or even when I’m trying to do something else, when somebody is talking to me or I’m trying to do something, then I hear this beautiful melody’. ‘When I am in an improvising mood melo-dies burst from my fingertips.’
Alma describes her purple rope as ‘magical’. I wave it around, and melodies pour into my head. (During an interview to the BBC in 2015 Alma waved the rope in the garden of her family home singing an improvised melody. The melodies come also in her dreams. She sleeps with a tape recorder. ‘I woke up and I didn’t want to lose the melodies so I took my notebook and wrote it all down, which took me almost three hours.’
‘I made up my own land with its own language and there are beautiful composers there...’
Is Alma an exceptional genius, then that means she is a hope for music and gift for music lovers? For the New Year 2017 (or even the century - geniuses appear rarely!)
PS. The same time other new composer appeared on the horizon, the scientists from Toronto have created a program called ‘neuron karaoke’, based on ‘deep neuron net’ organized similar to the brain.
It is AI (artificial intelligence). The first project of this item was to compose Christmas carol. It was done. It is like a miracle regard-less of the sense and beauty, with full respect but I prefer the mys-tery miracle of Alma. I prefer the human scale ‘Alma and Omega...’ Happy (and natural) New Year 2017.
❑ ❑ ❑
Editor’s Note: Cezary Owerkowicz is the chairman of the Kuwait Chamber of Philhar-monia and talented pianist. He regularly organises concerts by well-known musicians for the benefit of music lovers and to widen the knowledge of music in Kuwait. His e-mail address is: cowerkowicz @yahoo.com and [email protected]
Magical Alma a hope& gift to music lovers
‘Little Miss Mozart?’
Owerkowicz
Pioneers of Kuwait
One of the file photos of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah from his early political career.
Foreign tours were mind-opening experience
Sheikh Sabah absorbs father’s policyThis is the third in a series of arti-
cles on His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah
— Editor❑ ❑ ❑
By Lidia Qattan Special to the Arab Times
The thirtieth was a decade bristling with innovations; but what flared
Sheikh Sabah’s imagination amidst all the excitement of those days was an unprecedented event in the history of his country, in which he admired the politi-cal shrewdness of his noble father.
Soon after the discovery of the rich oil field of Burgan (in February 1938), the Iraqi propaganda began stirring trouble in Kuwait.
That was not new; Iraq’s covetous-ness on its tiny neighbor began soon after Iraq became a fully independent state in 1932, and began accusing Ku-wait of smuggling arms into its territory; an allegation that was proved false by thorough British investigations.
Iraq then tried to allure the coopera-tion of the Amir with an offer of pip-ing the water from Shat Al Arab into Kuwait; but Sheikh Ahmad Al Jaber foreseeing the danger of putting his country at the mercy of Iraqi whims, diplomatically avoided the issue while seeking to maintain friendly relations for the sake of the commerce and trade with Iraq and safeguard Kuwaiti real-estate at Basra.
However what the Sheikh could not prevent was the insidious Iraqi propa-ganda affecting his people, especially the young intellectuals who saw in the unity with Iraq the beginning of a new era in the Arab world.
Sheikh Sabah was following with growing interest the talk of the men in the diwaniya of his father and what people were saying in town; those who were aware of the government in-stability in Iraq were warning against any involvement with that country, others allured by the glamour of Iraqi achievements were all in favor of a unity with Iraq.
ReactionThe controversy reached a critical
stage when some members in the Leg-islative Council, formed in July 1938 by the Crown Prince Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem to spur innovations, became affected by the Iraqi propaganda and sought to interfere with the preroga-tives of the Amir. This could not be tolerated, consequently the Council
was dissolved and this sparked a public reaction.
Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad was in school when the commotion took to the streets threatening national security. The prompt action of his father in re-establishing law and order in the country averted anarchy at a critical moment when united action was needed to meet the new threat. King Gazi of Iraq had planned to attack Kuwait, but soon after he sent his order to his general, his scheme failed with his sudden death in a fatal road accident.
At that time Sheikh Sabah was emotionally mature to realize the gravity of the situation and appreciate the political stand of his father.
The whole incident that came down in Kuwaiti history as the “Year of the Mejless” remained indelible in his mind; for he realized the wisdom of his father’s political shrewdness in keeping his country free from Iraqi intrigues.
The death of King Gazi intensified the instability of the Iraqi government; especially when in August 1939, the Second World War broke out and Iraq promptly sided with Germany.
The disastrous consequence of the war in Iraq and the chain of coup d’état following in rapid succession further weakened the country, while Kuwait, unmarred by Iraqi intrigues was carrying out internal reforms leading to a brighter new era.
The great World War II was an opportunity for Sheikh Sabah Al Ah-mad to gain his first insight in world politics, for he was interested in ev-erything that was going on the in the world at large, keenly observing the development of the war, especially the interplay of diplomacy and war-tactics of the Allies against Hitler’s army in the West and the Japanese army in the East.
Kuwait’s neutrality not only spared it of all the negative side of the war, being an oasis of peace and tranquility it gave to the young Sheikh the oppor-tunity of observing the situation from an advantage point of view. What he saw and learned enhanced his awareness of the political game ruling the lives and destiny of people around the world.
His father’s diplomatic prowess was itself a good example of political shrewdness, by which he was able to take advantage of situations that served the interest of his country.
The Amir abhorred bloodshed, to him war was a colossal waste of lives and capital with nothing to gain but pain. Throughout his ruling he strictly avoided his country from getting involved in any fighting; his whole endeavor was to promote and maintain peaceful relations with his neighbors.
The only time he had a setback was an issue of frontier interfering with his country’s sovereignty, which he felt compelled to defend.
The resulting economy war with Saudi Arabia that began in 1923, fi-nally ended in 1936, when he was able to reestablish friendly relations with HH King Abdul Aziz Al Saud, his old friend from childhood.
Sheikh Sabah absorbed his father’s diplomatic shrewdness and careful ways; which he enhanced through observation during his growing up and through his direct involvement in diplomacy when he became involved in state affairs.
DevelopmentsAll during the Second World War
she loved watching the newsreel shown every Friday night at the Safat Square squatted on the floor with his brother, Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad and his cousin, Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Al Salem, friends and most of the Kuwaiti population all eager to see the latest developments in the war.
At first he was attracted by the novelty of the newsreel in town and
then he became deeply interested in the development of the war itself.
He saw people around the world suffering and dying, whole cities be-ing destroyed, he was wondering how the bloodshed could be stopped.
Following the comments of people in town, especially at his father’s diwanya, he had some ideas of the political game going on among na-tions. What he understood shaped his philosophy of life; for he saw in peace and stability the key to prosperity and development, and in shrewd diplo-macy one of the means that could help promote peace through negotiations and compromises.
Incidentally, when he grew older and he became more erudite on politi-cal issues, he realized that some time even the shrewdest of politicians stand no chance of winning in a confronta-tion with power-hungry dictators, whose only objective is to gain more power no matter what.
Dealing with such individuals when they threaten peace and stability in the region, to stop them war becomes inevitable.
During the Second World War, Kuwait’s shrewd politics in keeping strict neutrality not only made it an oasis of peace and security in the midst of trouble it also gave it the advantage of reviving its shipping industry when the number of steam-powered boats in the Gulf dwindled, causing a great demand on sailing ships for transporting goods and passengers to and from the Gulf.
By the time the war ended in 1945, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad had complet-ed his formal education, then encour-aged by his father he began traveling abroad with his elder brother, Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad, visiting European and Asian countries.
Their tours were an opening mind experience that brought them into contact with other cultures and their technological achievements; they also gave them useful insights into the various political systems.
The whole experience while broad-ening their mental horizon, training their mental faculties in observing and scrutinizing situations more deeply, in Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad it triggered an interest in photography that devel-oped into one of his favorite hobbies.
Traveling also sharpened his inter-est in daily newspapers, besides books of which he became an avid reader from an early age.
To be continued
Lidia Qattan
Sheikh Sabah
GeneralContinued from Page 22
participate in the chapter activities. In-dian engineers residing in Kuwait are welcome to join the pool of more than 700,000 engineers by becoming cor-porate or non-corporate members of The Institution of Engineers (India). IEI, Kuwait Chapter conducts many technical events for the benefi ts of its members. We have upcoming techni-cal seminar in August and a mega workshop in September. Please watch for further details in your registered e-mail or announcement in media. The chapter has science club activities for member’s children, and ladies wing activities for the member’s family. IEI, Kuwait Chapter has facility to register student members for AMIE examination for those interested in pursuing career enrichment.
For more information and on chap-ter membership, kindly contact IEI, Kuwait Chapter offi ce on 22445588 extn 314 between 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm (Sunday through Thursday) or through email to [email protected]. You may also contact engr
Kuwait India Fraternity Forum is conducting campaign by distributing handouts, conducting counseling, seminars etc. to educate the Indians living in Kuwait informed Presi-dent Saifudheen Nalakath in a press release. For more details contact: 55062071 or email at [email protected].
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NYF offers free yoga classes: NYF Kuwait offers free yoga, breath-ing, meditation and reiki classes by a well-experienced female yoga teacher for all age groups. Classes are given on the basis of different health problems, stress and other problems by different techniques. Contact: 99315825.
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Leadership Excellence Course: The Leadership Excellence Course (LEC) is a course modeled on the Seerah of Rasoolullah who is the best model of leadership for all mankind. The LEC focuses on the lessons that we can learn from the Seerah of Rasoolullah and see how we can apply them in our lives to become winners in this world and the next.
The objectives of the course are 1. Understand what leadership is from the Seerah of Rasoolullah and how to apply it in our lives today 2. Under-stand the purpose of our lives and
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A well-known Kuwaiti actor Mohammad Al-Mansour expressed his delight over the huge success of his drama ‘Arab Tweet’, reports Al-Anba daily. The drama was recently presented in Doha, Qatar as part of the celebrations of the National Day of Qatar. The shows continued until the New Year’s Eve. Al-Mansour explained that the drama is scripted by Taleb Al-Dous and directed by Faleh Fayez. Actors such as Mona Shaddad, Abdulnasser Darwish, Ali Al-Gharir, Jassem Al-Ansari and Abu Hilal are part of the drama. He expressed his interest in participating in TV series that deal with the issue of terrorism in
a professional manner.
Ashok Kumar (97275974) or engr Karthikeyan (99840191) for any further clarifi cation.
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KIFF anti-drugs campaign: As part of the Fraternity fest, Kuwait India Fraternity Forum (KIFF) is conducting Anti-Drugs Campaign among Indians living in Kuwait. Ac-
cording to the available statistics of Indian Embassy, 60% of the convicted Indians in Kuwaiti Jails are arrested on drug-related cases. The recent cases of death and captives of Indian drug abusers is a threatening news. To defend and to campaign against such social crisis by protecting individu-als as well as the society has become obligatory. In this current situation,
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