Saudis do not respect the privacy of others and are generally embarrassed to mention their women’s names in public, according to well-known Saudi columnist.
Fadel Al Omani listed what he described as the most common 10 bad habits in the Saudi society in an article he wrote in Sabq and other Saudi newspapers.
The first bad habit he mentioned is that Saudis like to classify each other on cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds such as “liberal” or “rejectionist” or “tribal.”
The second one is that Saudis do not respect the privacy of others, he says.
“There are many examples for this. One example is that when you go to the cash machine to withdraw money, you will notice scores of eyes staring at you and many of them come so close that their eyes could even stick to the machine’s screen.
“They are so curious that they want to know how much you have withdrawn or how much you have in the bank,” Al Omani said.
A third bad habit listed by the writer is that Saudi men generally feel embarrassed to mention the name of their wives, sisters or daughters in public.
“I still keep that invitation card I received from a university professor for the wedding of his daughter.
“It carried the words ‘the doctor’s daughter’ but it did not mention her name. It seems that most Saudi girls have the name ‘daughter’.”
Al Omani said a fourth bad practice is “selfishness”, adding that in Japan, employees who come to work early park their cars in a distant place at the company’s parking. “Here in Saudi Arabia, it is exactly the opposite. We are a selfish society.”
The remaining bad habits according to the writer include no respect for time, lack of self-confidence, going to bed late, rushing in daily life including driving and eating fast, and failure to respect intelligent people.
“The 10th most common bad habit in the Saudi is the worst, but truly, I felt embarrassed to mention it,” he said.
