It was 5 AM when I was answering questions.. I'll definitely regret ruining my sleeping schedule.
Ok, so before I answer the questions I want to share this post to clarify a few things. Saudi Arabia was heading in a good direction in the past century until the Mecca Siege incident happened, after that for 30 years we had Islamic Clerics holding us back from catching up with the rest of the world. It did so much damage and in 2015 we were finally able to break free from their extreme ideology. In the beginning of past decade Saudi faced countless terrorist attacks (Al Qaeda), many innocent souls were lost, we were hearing of explosions every now and then, I was young by that time.. Then ISIS showed up, and they started blowing up mosques. The government and the public realised that these people were being fueled by the some Islamic Clerics who were motivating people to forget about the joys of life and worry about the after life. These Clerics for 30 years kept dominating the scene and spreading all their agenda but in 2015 they were stopped, they can no longer hold the progress of people who want to live normal lives.
Some points I want to get out of the way:
- Women can now drive.
- Since last year, any Woman 18 and older can now travel freely and get her passport by herself. This was impossible before, no one would've imagined it, the brave women of Saudi fought for both things above until they finally got it. So yes, any woman can now travel without her family approval.
-There's a huge movement to empower Women more than before, equal pay is one of them. Women are starting to hold higher positions in private and government sectors.
-We finally have movie theaters after the ban in the 70's.
Things we have since before.:
-We have free healthcare since forever.
-Education is free. Students get paid to study in Universities.
Views about Israel, China and India:
- Israel: People started to realise in the past few years that Israel isn't as we've been told for 30 years. They see that Saudi & Israel share a lot in common and in social media you can see some interaction between the citizens of both countries. I personally wish for an official diplomatic relation between the 2 countries. Israel and Saudi together can push for more peaceful solutions in a destabilized region.
-China: I don't have much to share here but the relationship between the 2 countries is good. I mentioned earlier that Education ministry started to teach Chinese language in selected schools.
-India: Friendly country. Mostly same situation with China.
I'll answer the questions in a later post.
