Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa is perhaps one of the most active Arab ministers. If there is any minister who is more active than her, I do not know him. I saw King Hamad bin Isa inaugurate the National Theatre, which is adjacent to the National Museum at the seafront in Manama. This took place two days go, so the energetic minister must have no doubt moved to another project on the next day. The king seemed pleased during his tour of the theater and its external yard. He expressed his hope that this beautiful achievement would boost the culture and theatre scenes in the country. For her part, Shaikha Mai said that the theater is a cultural landmark that will provide a good opportunity for creative playwrights, intellectuals and others to present their works. The design of the National Theater was inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, and comprises 1001 seats. The site occupies an area of around 12,000 square meters. Work in the theater began in the summer of 2010, in close coordination between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Public Works in Bahrain, with the help of foreign expertise. The king visited the theater accompanied by Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Meanwhile, colleague Jamal Khashoggi, who was present there, told me that the new television station, which Prince Alwaleed chose Bahrain to be its headquarters, will launch within the next few months. At the opening ceremony, I was pleased to see among the Bahraini officials the Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak and Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed, and also my friends Mohammed Al Mutawa and Nabil al-Ahmar, who are both former ministers. Guests also included the Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Abdul Aziz Khoja, and the Qatari Minister of Culture brother Hamad Al Kuwari. Bahrain is the Arab Cultural Capital for 2012. On the following day, Arab culture ministers held a meeting which must have ended without any disputes or vetoes by a country against another. Indeed, culture seems to bring the Arabs together where politics divide them. Our problem is that we have much more politics than we have culture. Bahrain has begun to emerge out of the political crisis that has gripped the country since the winter of last year. Perhaps those with the other allegiance know that they have lost but refuse to admit defeat, so all that it is left for them to do are desperate attempts at sabotage for which innocent or misled people pay the price, because the instigators are at their homes. I will return to this topic tomorrow, but I prefer today to write about the beautiful face of Bahrain, or that hospitable country that I knew as an adolescent, as a young man and now. Bahrain has no significant natural resources. Its oil revenues are the lowest among all GCC countries. But the country's leadership “invented" a banking hub for the Arabs and foreign countries. My last visit to Bahrain, which lasted only 48 hours, coincided with the release of the results of the Bahrain-based banks. This data, which was published in local papers over the past two days, spoke about profits. I was also pleased to find a news story about a rise in the profits of the al-Baraka Banking Group, which included a picture of friend Saleh Kamel smiling, and appearing in good health. There is a great amount of public works taking place in the capital Manama, all the way to Muharraq and other parts of the country, including construction of roads and bridges, and the expansion and upgrading of public facilities. Work is also underway on new high-rise towers. Furthermore, the flow of foreign visitors, officials or otherwise, is almost incessant. In the two days I spent there, two official delegations from France and Japan were visiting. I hope that the benefits of this economic growth will reach all citizens, all the way to the poorer segments. I have always said that the opposition has legitimate demands, something that I reiterate today and will reiterate again tomorrow in my political commentary. But what I desire is for the leadership of Al-Wefaq [Arabic for Harmony] acts in the spirit of its name, instead of having this name become like the word democracy in the names of the Soviet republics which were anything but democratic. When I visited Bahrain for the first time as I was bidding farewell to my adolescence, sea waves could reach the Gate of Bahrain building. But the land reclamation works recovered kilometers of land from the sea, an area that appears today like a second hospitable capital. So I hope that all citizens will benefit from it. I will continue tomorrow. [email protected]
