What about the rule of law?

An update on the assault on the head of Tafileh Tech University.

So, a large delegation (jaha) of tribal leaders, headed by Abdulhadi Majali, came to the ‘Adwan settlement camp (madarib), where they asked for a truce (‘atwa) between the ‘Adwan and the Tafila tribes. As per tradition, they refused to drink the coffee offered to them until their request was met.

After exchanging niceties on how everybody loves everybody else, Sultan Abu Orabi Al ‘Adwan intervened, saying that this visit would be a reconciliation (sulha) rather than a ‘atwa.

And everybody praised the ‘Adwan for their magnanimity.

Meanwhile, MP Insaf Khawaldeh says that Abu Orabi could not be protected if he came back to Tafileh.

This is how problems are handled in Jordan in 2008. Just like they were handled in 1808, and most probably just like they will be handled in 2208.

Mixing the unmixable

Q: What happens when you mix academia, democracy and tribalism?

A: A uniquely Jordanian concoction, that is difficult to describe.

Here is the story. In Jordan, the formula for developing a local community has come to mean establishing a state university somewhere. These universities are not viewed as a source of community development because they are beacons of knowledge, learning, research or innovation. No. They are simply an excuse to hire janitors, gardeners, secretaries and drivers. And, oh yes, faculty members. So the government, under pressure from local MP’s and community leaders, has established a number of universities in areas where unemployment is high. One such university is Tafileh Technical University.

In order to keep up the pretence that such universities are supposed to be real universities, respected academicians are appointed to head them. In the case of Tafileh Tech, Sultan Abu Orabi, a prominent chemist was appointed to head the institution. Of course, this is a problem. Not because he is a bad scientist or administrator. Not because he is bad in dealing with people. The problem is that he is from Salt, not Tafileh. The people of Tafileh view the university as being “theirs”, and it is taken from them by “the other”. Tafileh notables who lobbied to establish this university make no effort at understanding or explaining that the university is a nationally funded institution; that reason and decency require that the best people should be hired there, irrespective of their origin, and that their sons and daughters studying at the university will be better served with competent staff holding responsibility. Now the problems start.

The local community, especially their notables, views the university as being a source of benefits for them and their constituents. Thus, they try to interfere with the hiring policy of the university and even interfere in the academic affairs of the institutions. The president, under the false impression that he should uphold academic standards and fiscal responsibility tries to control the tide of requests. Almost all succumb to the pressure, and all universities are overstaffed with administrative employees who have nothing to do.

But at some point, the president decides he has to say no, raising the fury of the deputies and local leaders.

Apparently, Abu Orabi fired a driver at the university (obviously for a good reason). So, the driver with a group of his relatives crashes the graduation ceremony at the university, assaulting the president and the deputy governor. The police intervene with tear gas, and a large number of people (including Abu Orabi) end up in the hospital.

The police take the fired driver into custody, and under pressure from local MP’s and dignitaries, he is released on bail the same night. Insaf Khawaldeh, a deputy from Tafileh demanded that Abu Orabi should be fired. Here, many people conclude that the driver and his gang didn’t act alone. He wouldn’t dare unless prominent people promised to protect him, which is what happened.

Next, members of the Adwan tribe, to which Abu Orabi belongs, stage an attack on the home of a former Tafileh deputy named Abdallah Akaileh, who they believed was an instigator of the attack on Abu Orabi. They fired about 70 rounds at Akaileh’s house, damaging windows and roof tiles. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. On the other hand, Tafilis in Amman are also rioting over the incident.

It is not clear how this story will end. If it is interesting enough, I will keep you posted.

So, there you have it. The witches brew of academia, tribalism and democracy in a stinky concoction that only Jordanians can manage to put together. Hold your nose and drink up.

A new Salt document

In 1981, the Salt development establishment issued what was considered to be a revolutionary document. It outlined a new set of rules for spending habits on social occasions, which were the document considered to have been excessive and wasteful. One must understand the Jordanian mentality to appreciate this issue.

Traditional Jordanian (and Arab) culture places a premium on generosity. Anybody that is branded as being cheap has to face social pressures and all forms of embarrassment. Occasions in which there are large gatherings of people (weddings, funerals, passing the tawjihi, etc.) are considered to be tests where one’s generosity can be on display, requesting the organization of large feasts. Proof of generosity is also shown in the value of dowry and gifts given by the groom to the bride and her family. Gifts need to be given when visiting sick people. The list goes on, and these habits have been ingrained into the society and are part of people’s expectations.

Mixed with this, most people are too embarrassed to face up to the reality that they have limited financial resources. Because of this, even poor people became involved in exaggerated spending and displays of generosity, placing them into debts that are difficult and totally avoidable, if only society changed its expectations.

So, the original Salt document was drafted to spell out what was expected and appropriate for spending at various social occasions. It called for more modest festivities and gave people a social cover to curb their spending. People were not being cheap, but were abiding by the dictates of the Salt Popular Document.

Of course, habits and traditions die hard, and soon the document was forgotten, with minimal impact on how things were done. The ‘80’s were a time of economic prosperity (until the crash of ’89), and so there was little incentive to take the document as seriously as it should have. One notably successful result of the document was the abolition of a habit whereby guests at social occasions were offered cigarettes.

This year, the city of Salt has been proclaimed the Jordanian city of culture. On this occasion, the notables of the city have taken upon themselves the task of revising the document to take into account modern development and deficiencies in the original. Given the current economic realities, this initiative could not have come at a better time. The modified document places limits on various aspects of spending and other social habits related to different occasions, and it is recommending that people sign pledges to oblige by the document. An awareness campaign is also being planned to get as many people on board, in Salt as well as throughout the country.

This is a wonderful initiative, and I hope that it helps people both deal prudently during social occasions but also helps establish a culture that respects rational consumption patterns. This is what is needed now.

Scientific research

The press has been interested in the issue of scientific research in Jordan the last couple of days. Yesterday, under the provocative title “Universities cost the treasury billions of dinars a year due to weakness of scientific research”, Al Arab Al Yawm tried to deal with this issue. Citing “specialized studies”, the article claims that “the national economy suffers great losses due to the decline in the quality of university graduates”. So, the author equates the treasury with the national economy, scientific research with quality of graduates, “great” losses with “billions” and his article with journalism.

What about the “specialized studies”? Who published them? What methodology was used to reach the conclusions? In short, how reliable are they? There is no credible substantiation for the incredible claims made in the beginning of the article or its title.

The article goes on to gives us a predictable litany of reasons why scientific research is weak in Jordan, citing the vice president of Jordan University, Nabil Shawaqfeh, and the head of the friends of scientific research society, Anwar Battikhi. Shawaqfeh blamed poor graduate studies theses on the lack of motivated full time students and the lack of incentives for excellent students, as well as high work loads for faculty members. Battikhi suggested that there are not enough researchers per capita in the country in comparison with more developed countries. He also blamed poor funding for research in university budgets and by the private sector. In a refreshing counter argument, the former head of JUST and current head of the National Center for Diabetes, Kamel Ajlouni, blamed faculty members themselves, claiming that despite their high degrees, they are poor researchers.

Today, Al Ghad took a different angle, by emphasizing the economic potential that is wasted due to poor linkages between research and society needs, citing economic analyst Hussam ‘Ayesh. ‘Ayesh also linked poor scientific capacities to the brain drain from the country. On the other hand, pharmaceutical industry association general director, Hanan Sboul is cited pointing out that research investment by Jordanian pharmaceutical companies have increased substantially in recent years, leading to notable increases in exports for these companies.

A while back, I wrote about the financial conditions of Jordanian Universities. I raised the issue of the "additional fees for Jordanian universities", which are collected for the universities, but are not used for the benefit they are raised for. Today, the higher education council was to divide government “support” for the universities, with a total amount of 50 million dinars for nine universities (notice the lack of mention of additional university fees tax).

This is not to say that university funding is really linked to the supposed poor research in the universities. As far as I can tell, the indicators used to measure quality of research seem to rely on the number of articles published and where they are published. This is an easy yardstick, but it is self contradictory. Why? Because “relevant” scientific research is almost by definition geared towards local issues. International journals tend not to publish research, no matter how high the quality, that is not of interest to an international audience. Often, high quality papers are rejected because they are of “local interest”. So, researchers publishing in local journals for working on “relevant” local projects are viewed poorly, while researchers who work on “irrelevant” (to local issues) projects and publish in international journals are viewed favorably.

But a bigger issue is that nobody in a position to make decisions actually reads research results anyway. This is a well known problem, and the sad fact is that getting officials interested enough in genuinely innovative research projects and results is almost impossible. Reading is a bother, and finding a fundable research line will mean that it should be funded, meaning less money for officials to travel around the world looking for experts. The issue is a red herring. Instead of bothering to actually read research papers to determine if they are in fact worthy of consideration and implementation, it is easier to brand all local research as being poor and irrelevant. This makes it easier to hire foreign consultants, who are more credible just because they are foreign.

As for the friends of scientific research society, they are doing a disservice to scientific research, by conceding that research is poor (indicting themselves), and blaming this on the lack of funds. A real breakthrough will require decision makers to read and fairly consider the results of local researchers, and move from there. The pharmaceutical industries' experiment should be used as a case study.

Now that didn’t hurt, did it?

At the end of Ramadan, I complained about how valuable work days are wasted due to the haphazard setting of the days of religious holidays, which are based on the lunar calendar. I also suggested that we should be able to calculate these dates, which would be a more progressive way to deal with this issue.

Since then, the feast of sacrifice (Adha) ended up lasting 9 days (it should only last four), due to sloppy dealing with setting of the holiday. At the time, it was estimated that this holiday cost the local economy 180 million dinars, and businesses were fuming.

King Abdullah later sent a letter to the prime minister asking him to reevaluate public holidays, and specifically requesting not to consider his birthday, or that of King Hussein, as public holidays. The king said that the best way to celebrate his birthday is to work hard and be productive.

Today, the prime minister announced a public holiday schedule for the next five years. In it, public holidays were reduced from 21 to 15 days per year. Also notable, the dates of Islamic holidays have been set according to the western calendar, taking away the guess work as to when they will start and end.

Finally, a win for common sense.

More on the Karamah dam discussion

Yesterday, Minister of Water and Irrigation Zafer Alem gave his point of view with regard to the Karamah dam, which the parliament is now examining. He was deeply involved in the decision, so it is understandable that he would defend the project.

The main defense Alem offered was that the project was studied by a British consulting firm, Sir Alexander Gibb and associates. He says that the Gibb report suggested that washing out the dam a few times will remove all the salt in the area. He said that “the strategy to clean out the salt could not be implemented because of drought from 1997 to 2006 prevented it”. Of course, I have not noticed this 9 year drought that he is talking about, unless of course you are comparing Jordan to Scotland. The bottom line was that water managers had more pressing needs to meet than to waste 50 million cubic meters of water on a salty useless dam. Anybody who understands the water situation in Jordan would have foreseen that.

It is interesting that invoking the name of a British firm is believed to be enough to silence critics. It is as if the minister is saying “Since a tall, blond, blue eyed consultant said it was OK, then we are not to be blamed”. I mean, who are you going to believe, a local expert or a foreigner? This logic holds even after the project is a proven failure.

It is interesting to note that Gibb and associates were involved in another multi million Dinar disaster in Jordan. They designed a dike system for the Arab Potash company which subsequently collapsed (scroll to page 7). Oops. It seems that despite the fancy name, Sir Alexander Gibb and associates sends over people like this fellow, who, at the tender age of 17, and five years before receiving his engineering degree, was a Junior Engineer for Gibb, in charge of “Site investigation interpretive reporting and analysis of embankment settlement and stability (for Arab Potash Project, Jordan)”.

Now, there are thousands of qualified people in Jordan who are capable of doing engineering and geological studies. Why not ask them for their advice? They would certainly cost less than our foreign blue eyed friends, and they understand the local environment. The answer is that our decision makers still think that “Il frinji brinji” (what is foreign is good). At least, you might intimidate your critics with a fancy consultants’ name when things go bad.

Anyway, a friend of mine suggests a new use for the dam. He says that we can take the cucumbers from the Jordan Valley, and throw them into the dam to make a giant pickle factory. Too bad Alem didn’t think of that.

The last (lost) day

The end of Ramadan, like the beginning, is determined by the sighting of the new moon. This occasion is marked by the Eid el Fitr festival, where people visit each other, perform social obligations, go out and dine and generally enjoy the fact that they don’t need to fast any more.

Because this occasion is marked by the sighting of the moon, nobody ever knows exactly what day the Eid begins. Different states in the same region, and even different sects in the same country, might celebrate the Eid on different days.

The government last week announced a holiday beginning on Monday (today) just in case the Eid happens to fall on this day. Last night, it was announced that the Eid will actually begin tomorrow, and that today will be the last day of Ramadan.

So, everybody has a day off today, because this was decreed last week, and the Eid is tomorrow. Preparations have already been made; food and sweets for guests have already been purchased. So, people are not at work, not preparing for the Eid and are fasting. What good is such a vacation?

Of course, productivity drops precipitously during Ramadan anyway. However, this is built into the system. This one day has no functional, social or recreational value at all (except for collecting good deeds for the hereafter). It would be better for people to work (such as work is in Ramadan, especially towards the end) rather than hanging out brooding. Can this be fixed?

The beginning of Ramadan and the Eid can actually be calculated. While fundamentalist interpretations reject astronomical calculations, many respected scholars have no problem using modern approaches to this problem. The use of a semi-random approach to this simple problem runs contrary to the policy of a state purporting to advocate science and technology as a solution to our problems. What is science and technology good for if it can’t be used to plan ahead?

Happy Eid to all!

Ramadan is tomorrow

You can feel it in the streets, in the markets, at the ATM’s. Preparations are afoot. If you didn’t know that tomorrow was Ramadan, you would probably guess that people are preparing for a war or a natural disaster. Why else would they be stocking up on food, as it was going out of style? This behavior leads to inevitable price gouging.

The massive rush is causing rising of prices, as people stock up on meat, chicken, rice, vegetables and Pepsi. It is sad to think about how much of this food will go to waste, as so many families prepare iftar (breakfast) feasts that they feel they can eat while they are fasting, but discover they can’t during iftar. This year seems to be different, as I have actually never seen such irrational demand on food before Ramadan, proving that societal evolution does not follow a linear trend.

Anyway, I found some health tips for Ramadan which I hope will be useful. The biggest problems stem from changing food habits, salt imbalance and dehydration. A lot of testiness seen in Ramadan is probably the result of low blood sugar at the end of the day. Poor sleeping habits are also a problem.

I look forward to the day when Ramadan regains its spiritual meaning between Allah and Man, and sheds the herd behavior imposing consumerism and forced compliance. May God bless you and guide you to the correct path this Ramadan.