Abigmessage is now on Facebook

Be a Friend of Abigmessage

Recent Comments

Saudi Arabia – Royal Approval for Blood Money Inflation

Inflation for Blood Money

Limits for blood money in Saudi Arabia are set to rise after the Kingdom’s royals have approved a proposal.  The “inflation” of blood money is in tandem in light of the recent price hikes of camels in the Kingdom, which according to Sharia laws, the family of the murdered victim has to be [...]

Saudi Women Driving – First Blink?

Did Saudi Government Just Blinked?

After staring eyeball to eyeball for so long over the issue of women driving in Saudi Arabia, Saudi women decided to go ahead and drive on Friday, June 17 in a bid to reassert their right to drive which was usurped by a religious edict or fatwa.  And the police which came [...]

Saudi Arabia – New Twists In Nathalie Morin Case

Twists And Turns

Remember Nathalie Morin, the 27-year old Canadian woman who fell in love with Saudi national Saeed Al Bishi in Quebec, Canada?  After fathering a child with Nathalie Morin, Saeed Al Bishi was exposed as an illegal immigrant, and was promptly expelled from Canada.  When Nathalie Morin eventually uprooted herself and her child from Canada [...]

Saudi Arabia’s Draft Marriage Law Eases Marriage To Nationals From Gulf States

Proposal In Draft Marriage Law

Saudi Arabians wanting to marry non-Saudis have to go through the rigmarole of applying for permission to marry a foreigner. If accepted, one of the suggestions of the Shoura Council (Parliament) special committee set up to revise the existing marriage law will make it easier for Saudis to marry certain non-Saudis—namely, those [...]

Saudi Arabia – Finally A Woman Driver On The Road

“Restrained And Helpless”

What happens when your son needs to go to school and your driver quits abruptly?  This is the dilemma that confronted a Saudi housewife.  And this desperate situation warrants a desperate solution – she simply got behind the wheel and started to drive, despite the fact that women are not allowed to do so [...]

Should Saudi Arabia Change Its Weekend?

Why Changing Official Weekend Makes Business Sense

Saudi Arabia’s official weekend is now Thursday and Friday.  When Saudis return to work on Saturday, the rest of the world will mostly be having their weekend, which runs from Saturday to Sunday.  For Saudi businessmen therefore, they are out of business for 4 days.  Now there is a move to change [...]

Are Women In Saudi Arabia Considered “Incomplete Citizens”?

Women Need Male Guardian Approval to Buy Cars

Saudi newspapers recently reported that women in Saudi Arabia will require their male guardian’s explicit permission if they want to buy a car.  The report sparked massive reactions, leading to the Kingdom’s Traffic Authority to issue a denial of ever making such a policy requirement on women.  One would [...]

Saudi Arabia’s Aim To Reduce Dependence On Indonesia For Maids

Action By Chambers Of Commerce

The Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Jeddah, Riyadh, and Makkah have decided to meet to discuss how they can reduce their dependence on Indonesia for domestic maids. A possibility is to increase the recruitment of maids from African and other Asian countries. The decision to reduce the dependence on Indonesia is [...]

Indonesian Maids Abused, Tortured And Killed In Saudi Arabia

Saudi Maid Abuse

Cases of maid abuse in Saudi Arabia probably would not raise much of an eyebrow anywhere or be thought newsworthy. Migrant Care, an Indonesian advocacy group, has recorded 5,563 cases of alleged abuse of Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia this year to date. However, a couple of particularly horrific cases that came to light [...]

Asian Games – No Female Athletes From Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia Skips Fielding Woman Athletes

The Asian Games in China began with much fanfare albeit the lack of something – that is women from a particular country. It is conspicuous that new board member of the UN Women agency Saudi Arabia has not fielded a single woman athlete because Saudi sex segregation laws forbid unrelated women [...]