The other day i was in our local co-op (jam3iya) and there was a big billboard in there thanking the area’s people and contributers. as I was reading, i noticed that there was a new area name in there… “mbarak al abdullah al jaber” (A.K.A. ‘3arb Mishref).. i stood there reading the billboard.. but i couldn’t really finish it! i stopped and asked mom about that new name and what it supposed to stand for? and why?? why would anyone name a nice man6aqa with that name?

the first thing i wanted to know was “what did this, i’m sure honorable, guy did to deserve such honor?” mom thought for a moment and then said “well, he did nothing aside from that he once lived in a nice house in the area.”

Mom and me continued discussing this subject, and she came to the conclusion that “some names are being used for the sole reason of them being from the royal family and that they’re dead now”. thats the only reason.. they’ve died and by being dead they were entitled for an area named after them…

We talked about another issue as well.. it is very difficult for the non-Kuwaitis (like expats), I’m sure they’ll find it very difficult to pronounce the areas names, let alone knowing the difference between them! its very confusing to them.. i mean think about it (jaber al ali, ahmad alfahad, abdullah almbarak, mbarak alkabeer… and so on).. can you see how its confusing? the whole thing is reaching a point where its failing to serve the only purpose it was intended to serve!

Now, don’t get me wrong, i’m all for being patriotic and rewarding the people who made a difference in this country. but I wish we’d cut back on this type of area naming.. we don’t need so many names from one family, be it the royal family or any other family! we need to to be true to ourselves more often, and we need to keep the names of those who helped shape todays kuwait alive… and not by naming the areas after people where their only contribution to kuwait is there death.

I really want to go into the road and highways’ names (shari3 ilmalik fahad, shari3 ilmalik 3abdelaziz, shari3 ilmalik faisal, they’re shari3 ilma’3rib, shari3 f7ai7eel and shari3 ireyath respectively). but i think what i wrote up to now is enough for now.. 😀

Here is a list of Kuwait’s areas with royal family members’ names. and you judge for yourself who’s worthy of such honor and who’s not: (I kinda like some of the names but DEFINITELY not all of em):

-Ali sabah alsalim
-Fahad Alahmad
-Sa3ad albdullah
-Jabir alahmad
-Sabah alahmad
-Sabah alsalim
-Abdullah asalim
-Mbarrak al abdallah al jaber
-Salwa
-Alahmedi
-Sobahiya
-Alde3eya
-Aljabriya
-Mbarak alkabeer
-Alahmedi
-AlSalmiya
-Sabah alnasir
-Jaber al ali

You can check this Thread to find the meanings behind some of the names.

The picture was taken from Cajie.

 

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 17th, 2008 at 7:38 pm