While the debate over whether Saudi women should be allowed to drive rages on, Captain Hanadi Hindi will soon become the first woman to fly a plane with the private fleet of a prince.
Hindi, 27, is preparing to take to the skies at a time when supporters and opponents of lifting the ban on women's driving in the conservative kingdom are still fighting it out in the local press.
"I never meant to be a pioneer. When I started learning to become a pilot, I did so for my father, who himself had aspired to be a pilot. I then got attached to flying," Hindi said by telephone from her home in the Muslim holy city of Mecca.
Prince Al-Walid bin Talal's decision to make Hindi part of his private crew has drawn criticism from some conservative Muslim scholars, who object to any easing of constraints that bar Saudi women from mixing with men other than relatives or traveling without the authorization of a male guardian.
But Hindi said the billionaire entrepreneur's Kingdom Holding Company had also hired her father, Zakariya Hindi, as a legal consultant.
He will accompany her on all her trips "so that no one will say that I am traveling without a male relative."
Hindi said she is heading to London in about three weeks for a three-month training course before she takes up her job as a pilot for Prince Al-Walid.
Kingdom Holding hired Hindi even before she clinched her Commercial Pilot's Licence and an Instrument Rating (CPL and IR) from the Mideast Aviation Academy in Jordan last month.
The company, which runs a worldwide business empire, had offered Hindi a scholarship to carry her through her last year at the Jordanian academy, and Prince Al-Walid took out doublespread advertisements in the press to congratulate her on taking her CPL.
"I thank God that Prince Al-Walid has given me the opportunity to serve my country and serve his highness, bearing in mind that he is a member of the royal family," Hindi said.
Hindi said that before the prince offered her a 10-year contract, she feared she might not find a job in Saudi Arabia.
Her apprehensions were well-grounded, given that women in the Muslim country are still excluded from many professions that would appear less controversial than piloting a plane, and are the only women in the world banned from driving cars.
In may, the appointed Shura (consultative) Council shelved Mohammad Al Zalfa's suggestion to end the ban. Al Zalfa had cited a host of economic reasons, such as the fact that the
prohibition has led to the presence of around a million foreign drivers who cost the country 12 billion riyals (US$3.2 billion) a year.
Advocates of an end to the ban also cite the prohibitive cost of hiring drivers for families of limited means.
They also defend their case on social grounds to counter the religious-based arguments of opponents, pointing out that by having to rely on drivers, Saudi women end up spending much time alone with male strangers.
It would be good if women could get behind the wheel "with certain restrictions," such as granting that right only to women of middle age or more, Hindi said.
The Lee (李) family migrated to Taiwan in trickles many decades ago. Born in Myanmar, they are ethnically Chinese and their first language is Yunnanese, from China’s Yunnan Province. Today, they run a cozy little restaurant in Taipei’s student stomping ground, near National Taiwan University (NTU), serving up a daily pre-selected menu that pays homage to their blended Yunnan-Burmese heritage, where lemongrass and curry leaves sit beside century egg and pickled woodear mushrooms. Wu Yun (巫雲) is more akin to a family home that has set up tables and chairs and welcomed strangers to cozy up and share a meal
The second floor of an unassuming office building in central Bangkok is a strange place to encounter the world’s largest rodent. Yet here, inside a small enclosure with a shallow pool, three capybaras are at the disposal of dozens of paying customers, all clamoring for a selfie. As people eagerly thrust leafy snacks toward the nonchalant-looking animals, few seem to consider the underlying peculiarity: how did this South American rodent end up over 10,000 miles from home, in a bustling Asian metropolis? Capybara cafes have been cropping up across the continent in recent years, driven by the animal’s growing internet fame.
President William Lai (賴清德) has proposed a NT$1.25 trillion (US$40 billion) special eight-year budget that intends to bolster Taiwan’s national defense, with a “T-Dome” plan to create “an unassailable Taiwan, safeguarded by innovation and technology” as its centerpiece. This is an interesting test for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and how they handle it will likely provide some answers as to where the party currently stands. Naturally, the Lai administration and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) are for it, as are the Americans. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not. The interests and agendas of those three are clear, but
Dec. 8 to Dec. 14 Chang-Lee Te-ho (張李德和) had her father’s words etched into stone as her personal motto: “Even as a woman, you should master at least one art.” She went on to excel in seven — classical poetry, lyrical poetry, calligraphy, painting, music, chess and embroidery — and was also a respected educator, charity organizer and provincial assemblywoman. Among her many monikers was “Poetry Mother” (詩媽). While her father Lee Chao-yuan’s (李昭元) phrasing reflected the social norms of the 1890s, it was relatively progressive for the time. He personally taught Chang-Lee the Chinese classics until she entered public
RSS