DR. KHALED M. BATARFI IT was Fathers' Night at Prince Sultan College for Tourism and Administration in Jeddah. Dinner was prepared and served by the students under the supervision of a famed South African chef. A misty-eyed father told me his story. He owned a hotel chain and was trying to persuade his son to run the food department, including room service and kitchen. The boy would not hear of it. He felt it was beneath him. The kitchen is for women, he protested, and service is for the poor. As a Saudi graduate from a good and rich family, he believed it was his birthright and destiny to be a general manger — right out of the box. When the father saw his son serving the tables and proud of the dishes he had prepared that night, he felt his best wishes had come true. Now he was asking me to please convince his son to join the Hospitality Department of the college on a full-time basis. I admired the father for his plans. As happy as I was for him and his son, he reminded me of a sad story. The son of an educated family wished to be a chef and joined a prestigious European school. The grandfather was furious. He was angry with both the son and father for accepting such a lowly position. As an heir to a great tribal family, the boy should not end up as a cook, he raved. With a broken heart, the son abandoned his dream and passion and went on to study a field he never cared for. When Prince Amr Al-Faisal, Chairman of the “Charitable Society for Supporting Productive Families”, met with a number of unemployed Saudis, he offered one of them free training in computer and networks, but the young man disdainfully refused. “I am Saudi, from a great tribe. Who would look at me respectfully or accept my proposal to his daughter if I were to end up a lowly electrician? Besides, my country is rich in oil, so why should I settle for a poor and humiliating job?” the young man asked. I tried to persuade him, but to no avail that he would be a respectable computer engineer and could start his own business, establish a maintenance shop, hire others and be a proud businessman. All the other young Saudis we met that sad day took similar stands and we ended up with no one accepting our offers. Fortunately, not all have the same mentality or rigid attitude. Prince Sultan College for Tourism and Administration has just celebrated the graduation of 67 chefs. Some 600 personnel have successfully completed training in hospitality. More are joining the program from government agencies and the private sector, plus individuals who feel it is honorable to serve others. Prestigious hotel chains, like Hilton, Intercontinental, Rosewood and Crown Plaza, are hiring these students even before graduation day. Their success in the field is inspiring. Salaries can reach as much as SR 40,000 — that is seven times what graduates could get in a regular administrative position. We have taken the project to a higher level and have come up with a unique initiative. The idea is to join public and private hands to provide training and business opportunities for those willing to serve. Focusing on the less privileged youth, we proposed a free six-month training course. Prince Amr Al-Faisal has promised to cover all expenses. Then we went to Jeddah Mayor, Dr. Hani Abu Ras, to provide locations for good kiosks at the Corniche, on highways and at petrol stations at a reduced rent. The state's Saudi Credit and Saving Bank will then provide interest-free loans. King Abdulaziz University will design a universal kiosk, a participating factory will build them, companies will provide equipment and food at reduced prices, Prince Sultan College will design a healthy local diet menu, the sponsoring media organizations will market them, and each graduate will get one kiosk on the condition that he operates it himself. The project, blessed by Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah region, is still a work in progress, but the enthusiasm we have found from prospective trainees shows how much a creative approach to the problem might change hearts and minds. As success stories abound, more will rethink their attitude toward manual work and service fields. In time, we may witness a whole social change. This may not happen in a year or two, but hopefully in our lifetime, and I hope I live long enough to witness that change. — Dr. Khaled Batarfi is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah. He can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Kbatarfi
