Murder Case in Al Khobar
There’s a latest development concerning the murder case in Al Khobar involving a Filipina woman. The victim was identified but for the sake of respecting the dead and her family’s grief, I would rather not mention her name. The Al Khobar police, according to reports were able to capture the suspected killer. Contrary to the ‘Filipino Grapevine’, the killer is a Filipina, a ‘Kumare’ of the victim for 20 years. The suspect confessed to the Police with a sworn in affidavit authenticated by the Al Khobar court for the crime that she committed. The victim and the killer were in an argument when suddenly the suspect went to the kitchen, took a kitchen knife, and stab the victim several times.
The earlier reports that circulated in the emails were exaggerated. Filipinos were fast to accuse the natives ‘Katutubo’ of committing the crime. I salute the authorities for solving the crime within days. I hope that the soul of the victim will finally rest in peace. It would also be a closure to the victim’s family. In the Kingdom of Sands, crime doesn’t pay. I am pretty certain that the suspect will receive a death penalty.
Labels: Philippines, Saudi Arabia
Al Khobar Corniche (Makeshift Vendors)
I started visiting the Corniche since I settled in Al Khobar a couple of years ago. For the information of those who are not familiar with Corniche, it refers, in general to seaside coast or waterfront promenade. It stretches from Al Khobar to Dammam with elaborate gardens, playgrounds, fountains, walkways and jogging alleys. People from all walks of life, different nationalities and gender converge at Al Khobar Corniche mostly on weekends. People go there to relax, be with their families, play football or cricket, jog or even fishing.
These past few years, I observed a new trend at the Corniche. There is a rise of the makeshift stores selling toys, snacks, water, juice and tea. These makeshift vendors are a peculiar sight at the Corniche since people are never used to seeing them. It is definitely an illegal activity but authorities turn a blind eye on them. It is because the vendors are mostly children, elderly or middle aged ladies. I don’t condemn them because they are a great help to people who are thirsty and hungry.
I actually admire those vendors because they are trying to earn a decent living. We all know that in the Kingdom of the Sands, ladies are not allowed to work. Selling at the Corniche may be the only way they can help alleviate their family income. Judging by the people to buy their stuff, I may not be the only one who has a high regard for them.
Labels: Saudi Arabia
Murder in Al Khobar
A Filipina, dependent of a migrant worker was murdered yesterday in Al Khobar. The husband is stationed out of Al Khobar and his wife was left alone. According to reports, the lady went out to purchase a load. The criminals probably know that the lady was alone and had been following her before the incident took place.
I urged all our kabayan to be extra careful. You don’t know what will happen and it’s better to be careful than end up being sorry. Of course, I don’t want you to be paranoid about it. These things happen even in the Philippines, it’s even worst there. It could only be an isolated case.
Labels: Philippines, Saudi Arabia
Death of Peter Pan
The self confess ‘King of Pop’, Michael Jackson was found dead on 25 June 2009. The paramedics confirmed that Jackson died of cardiac arrest at the age of 50. His body was brought to a morgue where an autopsy will be conducted. Blood samples were taken from him to undergo toxicology test to determine his death. California police ruled out foul play in Jackson’s death.
I was not surprised when I learned that Jackson died last Friday. His health was failing years before his death. There were early reports of his pain killer addiction. His case is similar to Ana Nicole Smith, who died because of her over dependence to prescribed drugs. Even he (Jackson) knows his imminent death.
I endured watching the BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, France Vingt Quatre for eight (8) hours last Friday. All the news networks focused on the death of Michael Jacson, the ‘King of Pop’. I had enough after that. I had enough of the agonizing and repetitive radio and TV coverage of Michael Jackson’s death. The coverage is not only constrained to TV but to the web and twitter as well.
The media feasted on the news of Jackson’s death. Michael had been at odds with the media most of his life. They covered him when he was starting a career, success, scandals, downfall and death. Jackson will forever live in our memories because of his works and the mysteries behind his persona.
Will I miss him? Definitely not! I am very partial to Jackson’s bad behavior. He might have been cleared of his wrong doings from the court of laws. But he wasn’t exactly cleared of his sexual abuse allegations. The out of court settlements were just few of the examples why there’s still questions of his innocence. This will forever hound him, even in his death.
Labels: World Affairs
Iranian vote counting faster than the automated polls
People around the world especially in Iran were surprised about the outcome of the recently concluded Iranian Presidential election. First of all, the high turn out of the voters should have favored the former Prime Minister and opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Second, the polling was conducted manually and not automated yet the results were known within 12 hours!
Results of the manual election like in the Philippines, particularly the Presidential (election) could last up to more than 30 days before the Poll body could proclaim the winner. In Iran, less than 12 hours after the election, the Ministry of Interior already released the official results. According the Iranian Ministry of Interior, the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad garnered 62% of the votes. People protested that the election was fixed by the Ayatolla. Its result unbelievable and it triggered a mass rally all over Iran. There were reports of death because the revolutionary guards were curtailing the protests.
Iran, after all is not free. It is still ruled by the Ayatolla and the guardian council. They will of course rig the election in favor of those that they support.
Labels: Middle East, World Affairs
2010 a Modern Age Election
According to the recent reports, the 2010 election will be a showcase of modernity. The Comelec just recently awarded the consortium ‘Smartmatic International and Total Management Information Corporation’ for the machines and software to be used in the 2010 Elections. It is promising to note that the results will be out in just 48 hours after the voting. Our government spent 7.2 Billion Pesos in order to modernize our election system. Comelec promised that gone are the days of manually counting the votes, vote rigging, ballot snatching and fraud.
According to the Comelec the new election process will start when a voter will be given a ballot. The voter will then select the candidates that he chooses and then drop the ballot into the machine. The data will then be processed, retaining a digital copy of the ballot. At the end of the voting day, the board of inspectors will insert a key to lock the machine. The votes will then be electronically tallied and forwarded to the local and national offices of the Comelec. Local officials can then be proclaimed minutes after voting day is over.
This is a welcome change. It’s only in the Philippines that losers claims that they are rubbed of their victory while the winners won because of fraud. This kind of culture will be extinct with the modernization of our electoral system. This will also assure us the credibility of the election process. Leaders who also won will never be accused of being in power through fraudulent means.
Labels: Asian Affairs, Philippines
Callers from Hell
The most dreadful callers who ever lived on earth are those from the ‘Call Centers’. The rudest of them are from the ‘Training Centers’ particularly in the countries of India and the Philippines. They would start calling the moment you arrived at your office. Believe it or not, you will practically receive a minimum of 20 calls from different call centers a day! They would not introduce themselves to you and talked as if they’re very familiar with the people working in your company. If you try to ask them from where they were calling, chances are they won’t respond to your questions. They wanted several details from the Names of your boss, the spelling of the name of your boss, the email address of your boss or simply asking ‘Is there a British working in your company?”. There were those who are very demanding and would ask ‘Who’s your HR Manager! I want to talk to him!.”
There was a lady who demanded to be transferred to our HR director saying that she called from the principality of Monaco and that she’s a Doctor and her call is authorize by the UAE Ministry. I told her ‘Lady, I don’t give a damn if you are the Prime Minister of UAE! Your call ends with me. You can never force me to transfer your call. Don’t threaten me that you’re authorized by the UAE. I will never be intimidated to you just as long as you are not from the Saudi authority.’
The same situation happened when an Indian male Call Center agent was selling a forum for ‘Saudization’. He says that he’s authorized by the Abu Dhabi Ministry to sell the ‘SAUDIAZATION’ program. I told him I don’t give a shit if you’re authorized by the AUH government. The fact that you can’t correctly state ‘Saudization’ simply means you’re nothing but a scam.
When I started receiving calls from these ‘Call Center Agents from Hell’, I tried to be very patient, professional and nice. But they keep on getting into my nerves. There was once a call center agent, an Indian girl from ‘Monsters Gulf’ who was trying to sell her product to me. I gave her the spelling of my boss’ name in phonetic alphabet so she won’t miss out the spelling. I said my boss is Khalid spelled as ‘Kilo, Hotel, Alpha, Lima, India, Delta’. I was appalled when she was clueless about what I was giving her.
A very rude Filipina call center agent also contacted me asking about the addresses and key people in my company. I told her that to save her time and effort, she should just visit our website. She got angry and says ‘If you don’t want to help me, just shut up! I don’t have an internet connection so I can’t visit your website’. She then hanged up on me. I was actually trying to help her because instead of wasting her money and time calling me, why not visit our website directly?
Thankfully, because of their rudeness, I learned to screen out genuine callers from the ‘Call Center Agents from Hell’. I can detect if the callers are from the Call Centers the moment they mutter the first word. It took months of suffering from the abusive ‘Call Center from Hell’ to develop this skill.
Labels: Personal, World Affairs
