Mahmoud Ahmad

Saudi Gazette

There’s been a fresh change at the immigration points at airports, with the passport department officials at a number of international airports in Saudi Arabia wearing the Saudi national dress instead of their uniform in order to present a friendly face to citizens, residents and tourists.



The passport department took this step also in order to increase the level of performance of officials and to improve procedures through friendly interactions between people — for people in uniform are construed to be more stricter.



According to the passport department, the national dress would consist of the traditional thobe, ghutra (headscarf) and iqal (black head ribbon). In their directive, the department said: “Staff will also have to wear black shoes and black socks and put on their badges.”



I quote passport department officials as saying, “It is of utmost importance that the first contact of foreigners arriving into the Kingdom or their last contact with Saudi officials be with people who represent the genuine Saudi national identity.”



A truly laudable decision and this is a good step forward. But it is just a small step in the many other gigantic steps that need to be taken to reach near perfection.



One of the most important step I believe is to present a smiling face to the passengers and pilgrims who arrive at a particular port of entry. I do not believe that this is a hard thing to do. All what an official at the airport, whether passport, police or customs or even an airport staff can do, is to exercise their facial muscles and smile.



I cannot fault the passport department on the number of staff available at a particular time and at a particular airport. But they can be faulted for not smiling or greeting an arriving pilgrim or passenger with civility.



Western and Asian countries with good tourism record are doing their best to present the best picture of their countries to an arriving or departing passenger by providing the best of service and that too with a smile — reliving the adage that they’re offering service with a smile.



We may not be a country with extended tourism facilities and depended on touristic numbers, but we are definitely the gateway to the two holy mosques and what better way to receive a pilgrim or an expat working in the country with a smile on the face at the airport and to assist them to finish off their procedures quickly and efficiently.



I have to admit that every time when I arrive from outside to the Kingdom, I was never greeted with a smile from the passport official or any official at the airport, except once when I deplaned in Madinah.



A passport official smiled at me in welcome and actually asked me how was the journey and how I enjoyed my vacation. That incident, unique though, got imprinted in me, and I will remember that experience forever.



While, I am all for the encouragement in this exercise in amiability, I frown upon the fact that some of the officials go out of the way to help friends and families while others wait patiently in line to complete their procedures.



I encountered, during one of my returns from my travels, something that angers many. We were all waiting in line for clearance to enter the country, when a passport official greeted one of the passengers standing last in the line. After the initial greeting, he took the person out of the line to a side office and stamped his passport.



This favored treatment needs to stop for it not only irks other passengers following the rules but it gives rise to sentiments in others that ‘wasta’ or ‘friendship’ and ‘kinship’ works while thinking that all officials act like this. This is unkind for it is tarring all officials with a same brush for the actions of a few.



Every country has special lines and counters, and if people need to be obliged and special status is accorded to certain persons, then they should be taken straight to that special counter in order to avoid such heartaches.



Most of my expat friends and people, visiting from abroad, complain about the long hours at the passport counter and above that the unfriendly greeting they get. They complain of time hours lost at the Saudi airports, especially at Jeddah and Madinah, because of poor time management.



Either there is a paucity of staff during that particular period or a bunching of flights that leads to an inordinate rush of passengers that cannot be handled quickly by the existing staff. It is here that the passport department should see that there is adequate staff representation, in either case.



This delay is known to happen especially during Haj when three to four flights land in quick succession triggering a huge overcrowding problem. It is on these occasions that a pilgrim, a visitor or a returning expat worker find themselves spending an average of three to four hours waiting at the passport counter.



What passport officials and every official working at the airport need is a serious training on interacting with people. They must know fully well that a friendly smile, and a friendly greeting can work wonders. So why not practice it.



The training should also include ‘people management’ in order to make them knowledgeable in dealing with all types of people — from the very educated to the innocent villagers. Most of all, they should be trained on how not to lose control and keep calm even under pressures of work or during long hours.



We need to treat passengers waiting in line with humanity and dignity. Desks should not be empty and officers should not waste time going back and forth. What is more important in my opinion is to train officials to speak multiple languages in order to deal with passengers efficiently.



Changing the outer look is important but the most important element is to change the core within us, thereby becoming more interactive and efficient.



When it comes to smile, we should remember Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), when he said, “When you smile to your brother’s face, it is charity.”



— Mahmoud Ahmad can be reached at mahmad@saudigazette.com.sa