A letter from Oman
by
Viv Quarry (www.vivquarry.com)
The Sultanate of Oman is situated to the east of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and is approximately 1000 miles from Kuwait City. And although war is very much in everyone's thoughts, it is still business as usual in Oman. I work for the oil company, and although the prevailing feeling among Omanis is that things have changed for the worse - it's not that much worse!*
Oman was, and still remains a beautiful country. Until 1970 it was virtually sealed off from any western influence by the present Sultan's father. With a population of 750,000 there was a mere 15km of tarmac road and only 50 hospital beds for the whole country. With no tourist trade, strangers were welcomed in a warm, open and friendly way, without any of the profit-making undertones that are a feature of many westernised Arab nations.
In 1970, with British help, the old Sultan was replaced by his Sandhurst educated son, and in the succeeding years Oman changed virtually beyond recognition. Now all the trappings of a developing nation are in place. Roads, luxury hotels, modern supermarkets, hospitals and a state health system which makes our NHS seem Dickensian! Tourism has really only just begun.
After 20 years the Omani people are still generally uncorrupted by the get-rich-quick principle which was prevalent among the Kuwaiti people when I was there a couple of years ago. Most are still proud but welcoming to strangers - even to the Kuwaiti exiles who flocked in. *2
Oman is a country with its natural beauty still largely intact. In spite of a worrying lack of care in terms of litter and pollution, the country, because it developed well after Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Emirates, has been able to learn some important lessons from their mistakes. The Gulf War appears to be considered as a western-manufactured crisis with the oil supply as its focus, and life continues more or less as it did before, modernisation and building going on at a frantic pace. Meanwhile the people try to reconcile themselves to the potential conflict between western values and the traditional Arab life-style based on hospitality, honour and subjugation of women*3 and the exploitation of workers from the third world.
Editors footnote: This article was prepared before Christmas, but a phone call from Viv on 18th January confirmed that nothing had changed a great deal. Plans had, however, been prepared for evacuation of British personnel if necessary.
This article appeared in the January 1991 edition of the 'Farmborough and Priston Link', a village magazine only circulating locally in the county of Avon in the west of England.
Author's footnotes:
* This article was written in the middle of the Gulf War, when Iraq had invaded Kuwait and threatened to overrun Saudi Arabia. Desert Storm hadn't begun yet.
*2 Oman extended a friendly hand of welcome to Kuwaitis forced to flee the Iraqi invasion, but unfortunately this hospitality was sometimes met with arrogance. Viv heard of one Kuwaiti family refused entrance to the country because they criticised the facitities at Muscat airport on arrival. He also heard of luxury hotel rooms, offered to refugees without charge, being destroyed because the Kuwaiti 'guests' built cooking fires in the rooms.
*3 During the time Viv spent in this wonderful country, positive moves were started in this direction, with a few Omani girls being allowed to study at the Petroleum Development Oman Training Centre where Viv worked. By the time Viv left, there were also two Omani women working as teachers.