Abdullah Omar Khayat

Okaz

We see many women today selling soft drinks, snacks and sandwiches in malls and even on streets. They are rarely bothered or harassed. There are thousands of other women who work in banks, educational institutions, companies and hospitals. They work to stand on their own feet and provide for themselves and their families. They are usually comfortable and work without being harassed by their coworkers.

Therefore, I concur with Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah who agreed with what Okaz recently published that women should be allowed to drive and that they should be given a larger role in our society as well as outside the Kingdom. He also mentioned on Rotana Khalijia in a conversation with the poet Saleh Al-Shadi on the Hatha Ana show that “some people fear change, but it is happening.”

He said: “Women are going to drive and there is no way back.” Prince Faisal believes that women are a very important element in society. “Leave the issue of women driving because it will happen anyway,” he added.

Huda Al-Hulaisi, a member of the Shoura Council believes, according to CNN reports, that women will finally be allowed to drive at the end of the year or the beginning of the next year. “Maybe not all of society will accept this, but it is a matter of choice,” she said.

I think most of us are aware of the way some teenagers vandalize public property. For example, when the government built red marble seats in the Corniche area, teenagers uprooted the marble to use in their own homes. All I am trying to point out here is that it just takes time for us to get used to new realities.