RKH MILITARY HOSPITAL,RIYADH,SAUDI ARABIA(March 89-Jan 91).
We had lived in CARINYA House,15 Fisher Avenue, Sandy Bay, Hobart. for 13 wholesome years 1976-1989 and were all fit and well. Anita and I were 52 years old, Dan was 24, (recently qualified as a doctor), Zoe 22 (recent grad from Tas Uni),Tara 19 (at Tas Uni),Tabitha 16 (at Collegiate School) and Alicia 13 (at Collegiate School) .
They were all involved in various School representative or Club sports, all worked hard, had tons of friends and house visitors, travelled a lot (sports, choir etc etc etc) and clearly were setting themselves up for, hopefully, illustrious careers .
My previous writings are up to date as far as the three years as Senior Lecturer at the Medical school and other associated work activities were concerned .
In 1988 a major obstacle presented itself in the form of our Commonwealth Bank Statements.
The late 1980’s and early 1990’s were seriously painful times economically for House and Business mortgage borrowers in every country. Australia was no exception .
We were paying 17.5% for our house mortgage and 23% for the Mortgage on the Medical Centre at Beach Road ,Sandy Bay.
Anita and I had worked for the last 3 years without making any profit at all and our mortgages were stagnant though not increasing or decreasing. All bills were otherwise paid but we were open 24/7 to see Emergency Clients in addition to the normal Surgery hours.
We had philosophically elected to Medicare Bulk bill all patients because we could never get used to taking money from sick people…a relic, no doubt, from the years of working in the British National Health Service.
Clearly, unless a fairy God -person arrived on the scene, pretty promptly, we were all up S….Creek!
It is very strange ,yet fortuitous, some months previously, I attended an Alpha Dynamics 3 day Weekend Course in Hobart presented by a well known Sydney guy who took us on a journey of self belief, personal energy and finding out within yourself how to plan and get what you want out of life.
It sounds pathetic, I know, because there are a million and one of these Clowns rorting themselves around the country and making a fist of dollars out of weaknesses of the attenders.
A female medical Colleague, whom I had known for 10 years, had attended the self same course in the previous year and I could tell that important aspects of the course had very significantly altered her short and long term achievements. She, in fact ,became one of New South Wales, Chief Medical Administrators.
So what was this “brain changing” Course all about?
In it’s simplest form the course enabled you to relax and allow your brain to enjoy an Alpha state of 7 to 14 cycles per second in which you were to drift into your areas of wants and needs rather than become preoccupied with logical discussions in which state your brain waves would register 14 to 21 cycles per second.
If you could regularly master and drift into this Alpha Band , then your brain would work to achieve this.
So what did my Alpha Brain come up with???
I wanted to pay off my Mortgages within 2 Years,
Travel a lot,
Keep our lovely House,
Own a new Red 2 Litre Celica car,
Have enough money to let the kids travel overseas to exotic places.
I was so impressed ,with my new found brain tricks, that I went to Sydney for a week and obtained a Completion of Certificate in Medical Hypnosis at the College of Medical Hypnosis with Psychiatrist Dr Alan Faye.
Within 2 months of Completion of my Courses I received a phone call from the CEO of Universal Health Care in Sydney. He was coming to Hobart next week and would like to talk with me because he had a significant job in Saudi Arabia for which I was ideally qualified. Was I interested ?
Frankly it sounded like a load of old b…..ks.
Hang on …wait a minute ….nothing wrong with a little chat…It could be a game changer!!
We spent 4 hours together and got on really well.
As the moments passed so the deal improved.
You mean that the Tax Dept in Australia has a special deal in Saudi Arabia and I never have to pay any tax here or there ??…..YES.
You say that I travel FIRST Class Qantas to Saudi return every few months??…YES.
And my wife goes there and back every few months First Class??…YES
And the kids all get Economy Class fares every 6 months via Bangkok..YES.
And all the kids that are at school get $10000 a year tax free for their Education??…YES.
And I have a Rent Free 4 bedroom modern unit near the Hospital in Riyadh?? YES.
A requirement was, to complete all necessary documentation ,references etc and be prepared to go within 3 months.
All things having been completed at both ends with relatively little delay I was soon to set off as Consultant in Preventive Medicine and Consultant in Family and Community Medicine at the RKH Military Hospital ,Riyadh Saudi Arabia.
WHAT WERE MY RESPONSIBILITIES IN MY NEW RKH MILITARY POST?
In this Post I had a major responsibility for initiating and developing new programs of Preventive Medicine and reviewing existing ones for Saudi Arabia’s largest Armed Forces Hospital.The Central Dept and Peripheral Health Centres provided Medical Services for 300,000( Military Personnel and their Families).
The main thrust of my work involved…
Child Health Services ,
Communicable Disease Control,
Occupational Health.
Immunisation Program Development
Health Centre Planning.
Employee Health (3000 domestically and Internationally recruited staff)
I was responsible for examining all new employees with their previously supplied medical documentation from their country of recruitment.
I was the Clinic Doctor for the program’s V.I.P.Clinic clients.
To be a VIP in this Program you had to be a really Important VIP!!
The RKH Military Hospital, 400 km from Kuwait, was a major receiver of casualties following Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait during the August 1990 Gulf war and the subsequent blowing up and burning of a large number of their major oil fields.
I returned to Hobart in January 1991 after spending a few months in Riyadh during the first Gulf War.
ARRIVING IN RIYADH IN MARCH 1989 .
Riyadh is the hot dry Capital and main financial hub of Saudi Arabia and is situated inland on a desert plateau in the north eastern region.It has a population of 7.7 million persons and was taken control of by the Al Sauds family in 1902.It is the largest city on the Arabian Peninsular and lies 400 km east of Kuwait.
Travelling to a country in which you will be working for extended periods at a time requires considerable pre-arrival homework.
Saudi Arabia is an important Islamic country of approx 13 million people.
Mecca in the west is where the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was born in c 570 and he died in Medina City.Two million pilgrims travel to perform and celebrate their Hajj (pilgrimage), annually and prostrate themselves at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
Together with the Noble Sanctuary Mosque in Jerusalem, Mecca and Medina form the three most important sites celebrating the Islamic faith in the world, the Jerusalem site being situated, adjacent to, and in continuity with, Judaism’s most Holy Place,The Temple Mount.
It was here that Solomon and Herod built their Temples and from here,it is believed, that Muhammad ascended on a night journey to heaven.
The historical importance of Abraham , as the father of both Isaac and Ishmael, and of him being a forefather of Christianity, has, over thousands of years, caused a pretty “how- dee- do-dee” throughout the world and is unlikely to ever be satisfactorily resolved, I contend.
Hence one’s pre-arrival homework needs to be thorough, factual and understood for exactly what it is!
As with all cultural and religious differences ‘RESPECT’ is the fully operative ‘drink’ taken with a large dose of empathy and followed by a full zipping of the lips hereafter, especially if you are a curmudgeonly ,argumentative old, or young, fart.
The fact is that culture is what it is, wherever it is and however it came about. You may not like it or agree with aspects of it…. but don’t lose your head about it when you’re standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.
3 AM ARRIVALS IN RIYADH
Night arrivals are the thing in Saudi ‘cos it’s cooler then. The Airport is spacious, beautiful and luxurious. The trick is to get to Customs asap and if your arrive First Class then it’s a doddle. It can make the difference between a one hour and an eight hour clearance. Don’t bring your bike because you become a possible drug carrying suspect and Customs are likely to undo every screw on the bike to expose holes where drugs may be hidden. If nothing is found then you are left with a pile of scrap metal which you must reassemble, as a bike, in another room full of scrap metal bikes and angry owners.
Please don’t expect helpful service if you are wearing shorts (of any kind).It just doesn’t click culturally locally, makes you look a right twit and shows that you haven’t done your homework. Anyway, everyone else is wearing their local gear and thongs.
Someone meets you, hopefully, and is an RKH Military Employee .He meets greets and whisks you away far from the madding crowd, into some sort of
Toyota. Within an hour you and your worldly goods are in a six storey block of Units, headed for the fifth floor and within 10 minutes your sweaty body plonks itself onto a comfy King Size bed and, mate, you are a goner for the next 8 hours.
At 1pm I am invited to overcome my journey and hangover, travel to the RKH photographers and officially register as an Employee. Why the new photos and personal payment of $150 ? Well it seems as though Prince XX has got a nice little deal on the side whereby his personal company rakes off $150 from every new kid on the block. The photos are passport quality only but have the Prince’s monogram cut into it.
The remainder of the first day consists of massive trudges ,up and down dale, meeting important and unimportant persons in important and unimportant places.
Tomorrow I’m free to familiarise myself with Riyadh frigging around in the RKH free, and ever present buses, and then WORK,WORK ,WORK.
SHIT! SHIT!THE FIRST OF MANY MAJOR HEALTH DISASTERS IN SAUDI.
I had started my fourth day of work at the RKH Military Hospital.
Everything seemed to be confusing and confused especially inside of my, already, confused cranium.
Ramadan, a month of diligent and compulsory fasting ,during the daylight hours, had a number of days left to run (according to Islamic tradition).
Nobody could eat ,drink, be phlebotomised or receive injections or other bodily intrusions between dawn and dusk. After dark, imbibing, guzzling of little or large, gastronomic delights, was permissible and necessary.
Among the many Military bases, which we serviced, was The Old Air Base.
This Air Base was on it’s last legs, and, since a New Air Base was being built there had been no effective repairs made to the Old one for a few years .
The 500 ,or so, military recruits working there, lived in grubby, dirty facilities with broken non- functioning toilets, wash basins, showers and spewing sewage pipes.
You could see, and smell, raw faeces outside of the dirty kitchens ,trying desperately to avoid being dried to a cinder in the hot, dry and relentless sun. It was a sight for sore itchy eyes and a offence to the human olfactory system.
This was surely a Health disaster waiting to happen, and, with no likelihood of any change in the “status quo”, it sure happened!
CALL THE NEW PREVENTIVE MEDICINE CONSULTANT IMMEDIATELY!
The Head of the whole RKH Program, was a Military General (a Top favoured bureaucrat well experienced in Urology)
Information had been given to him that 109 Air Base Military staff had sustained fevers of 39-40C and associated severe abdominal pain ,vomiting and diarrhoea.
Whispers were that King Fahd, suspected that a foreign hostile power may have poisoned part of his Air-force and had ordered the General to look after the Medical side of the issues.
“Yes it’s Dr Tucker, Sir, how can I help you?”
Amid all of the bluster I was summoned immediately to his expensively furnished office and told that all ambulances and other available vehicles had been sent to the Air Base to bring the 109 back to the main Hospital.
He was at pains to confirm that every available hospital bed must be prepared to accommodate the sick staff , including the whole of the Emergency Department and the newly built Immunotherapy and Bone marrow Transplant Unit.
Our conversation took more than a little while, during which Ambulances started screaming their bells and flashing their lights as they arrived, seemingly from everywhere and all at once.
I had secured firm support from a Microbiologist, a Pathologist and a General Physician (all of whom I met for the first time in the General’s office) and, together with Arabic Translators, we sold them the deal that this disease was almost certainly Acute Salmonellosis, as a result of eating Halal sheep in cooking conditions which were not conducive to good healthy practices.
Our collective wisdom, and advice, was to turn all the screaming ambulances round , return the sick to Air Base hangers, set up clean beds, send a squad of male nurses to provide Nursing , appropriate fluid therapy symptomatic and other treatments. We would swab and do other necessary tests to confirm the initial causes of the outbreak and report frequently to the appropriate stakeholders. Antibiotics, at this stage. were considered unnecessary after consulting The Cochrane Collaboration for best practice.
In the meantime we would expect the afflicted to improve over the next 48-72 hours and return to normal duties within a further few more days, in-shah-Allah.
All practical PPE,s were followed and, as a team of three Clinicians, a Microbiologist, Arabic Interpreters, Security men and a bus full of well qualified strong male nurses, we set out in haste to the Air Base. We arrived at 9 PM well versed, equipped and ready for a night fray.
The Commander of the Base was initially obstructive and scared but responded immediately at the mention of King Fahd’s personal concern.
Assessing, triaging and treating 109 seriously unwell staff ,who do not speak English, is acceptable, testing but manageable .
TAKING RECTAL SWABS FROM ISLAMIC MEN DURING RAMADAN, AT NIGHT, IS TIRESOME AND IRRITATING FOR BOTH THE DONOR AND RECIPIENT…..IT REQUIRES SPECIAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS!!!
If, during the 2020-2021 Covid-19 Pandemic, you were unfortunate enough to need a special nose swab test, you will not have forgotten the temporary bond that you were forced to endure with your nurse as she poked and prodded the furthermost regions of your nasal orifice. Yuck! Yes you do remember!
Before you submitted yourself to the Air Base Ramadan Rectal swab there were certain strict algorithmic processes that had to take place, in order to claim religious permission to accept the act, communicate it to the client in an ethical way, and perform the physical, anatomical act successfully. The final act is of retrieving a loaded swab and the whole of the attached wooden bit that you have to stick inside of the rectum. Anything less is a doomed failure.
Nearly 400 Base staff needed this to be done to test for Salmonella Bacterial infection, in otherwise asymptomatic clients, because obtaining actual faeces from deliberate donations was, to say the least, an inconvenience.
THE NECESSARY STEPS ??
1.With an Interpreter …explain to the Mutawa( Religious Police, who are needed to accept that ” the act “can pass the Islamic need as a necessity, given the circumstances ).The Mutawas enforce Sharia Law in Public places and have existed since 1940.
This exercise takes some time, effort, energy, sensitivity and convincing plausibility, but is the pivotal part.
2.The clients are put into formal lines outside of the closed Clinic door.
They are all wearing traditional Saudi Arabic white cotton( thobe) dresses, cotton(ghutra) headdress and an iqal (headdress cord).
3.The Mutawas explain the procedure to the clients so as to avoid shame, confusion and conflicts of purpose.
4.The clients are instructed that they will be let into the clinic ,singly and as soon as they are in the room they must stand, bend over, the nurses to lift their body dress and pull down their undergarments to expose the anus.
5. They are then advised that the rectal swab(shown to them outside) will be gently pushed into the rectum to collect a small amount of faeces. When instructed, and thanked, the client may then pull up their under and over garments and walk out of the back entrance!
Of course the first dozen or so struggle intellectually, to get used to the process but gradually “the penny drops” with every new client.
6.A second Mutawa at the back door reassures each one that they will be fine and the process continues ad infinitum ad nauseandum .
NOTE THAT THESE TESTS WERE DISCONTINUED DURING PRAYER TIME.
It had been an interesting but incredibly long night at the Old Air Base and the results of the intervention were very encouraging. As hoped for, the clients all got better, the General was pleased, and the Team were fired up for any future problem.
There had been no previous Major Incident Disaster management plan to refer to for these circumstances, in the past, at RKH, so my next planning exercise was to write a totally workable step- by- step document for future infectious disease issues which was then translated into English and Arabic .
Following the success of this Plan all other Major disaster Management Plans were reviewed and updated (including bus, train and plane disasters in the region).We initiated a Management Plan following the discovery of AIDS in the Kingdom.
The Committee tentatively worked on it but it became entangled with other complex ”spaghetti” issues and had still not moved forward when I left Riyadh some 20 months later.
I agreed to Mentor [ towards his RACGP Fellowship] , Samee, a Saudi Doctor and Employee of the Program. We became good friends. Samee was the son of King Fahd’s Personal Financial Adviser, spoke excellent English, trained as a doctor in Riyadh and saved me many times from falling into cultural chasms.
My first mistake happened at a very busy early Employee Health Clinic when I collected an armful of awaiting clients notes from a huge pile. I always look and call the first name on the front of the notes and wait for the patient to respond .On this occasion there was no response as I addressed seven names, although same vague interest was shown. Suddenly I realised I was calling ”Mohammad” every time because this was the name at the front of all of their Employee records.
A very learned Saudi stood up, and in perfect English, addressed me and said,…..”Doctor we are all called Mohammad. Which Mohammad would you like to see first?”
Saudi’s 1, Doctor Tucker 0.
SHEIKH SHOOTS AND KILLS INTERNATIONAL EAR,NOSE AND THROAT SURGEON AT A CLINIC NEAR RIYADH,SAUDI ARABIA.
I conducted a Medical Clinic at a Hospital, some 90 kms from RKH.
Some weeks previously an ENT Surgeon was working at the same clinic. He was approached by a very angry Sheikh carrying a gun.The Sheikh pointed the gun at the Surgeon’s head,made some cursory remarks,pulled the trigger and instantly killed the Surgeon.
THE REASON?
Some months previously the surgeon had removed the Tonsils, surgically, from the Sheikh’s teenage son because of a long history of recurrent bouts of Acute Streptococcal Tonsillitis not responding to current antibiotic best practice(??compliance may have been a major factor)
At the follow-up ENT clinic the boy was examined by the surgeon’s Locum Registrar because the surgeon was on a short holiday.
The Registrar explained to the Interpreter that the operation had been a complete success and was able to reassure the Sheikh that the surgeon had an unblemished reputation, had performed these operations several hundreds of times, and he expected the boy to be completely cured.
The Surgeon returned to the same clinic several weeks later to conduct his regular two-monthly clinic.
In his absence the teenager had had a couple of sore throats, although not to the same extent as his former ones. The Sheikh and his representatives accused the Surgeon of an Arabic equivalent of gross mismanagement, misleading lies and serious honour offences to his son,his family and his tribal group
The Sheikh claimed the killing was legal for him in Tribal law, in his country, but the final outcomes of the case were guarded through Diplomatic International Channels and never reached available publications.
MY FRIEND DR JOHN HUNTER HAD A SERIOUS CAR ACCIDENT IN RIYADH.
Motor vehicle crashes were very common in Saudi with a death rate some ten times that experienced in Australia.The ease with which cars can be purchased by unskilled drivers and driven away unregistered (except by women who until the late 2019’s have not been allowed to drive anywhere) is inescapably mind boggling!
Dr John Hunter, a popular and excellent GP, and a good personal and family friend, practised in Sandy Bay, Hobart for many years during the 1970’s and 80’s. He then spent a few years in Riyadh RKH Military Hospital as a Medical Officer,and ,much like me, enjoyed the experience enormously.
That is, until he was involved in a serious motor vehicle crash in which he received a number of injuries including limb fractures in which NO blame could be attributed to him whatsoever.
One would normally expect rehabilitation costs would be provided for him by his Insurance arrangements. They were not.
The laws governing any compensation for Dr J argued against him in this way…… ”You are a foreigner, and you were not born here.You are an Infidel and should not really be here anyway. Because you are here in that capacity and were injured , this accident would not have happened to you if you had not been here.Therefore you cannot claim compensation for damages.” He returned to Hobart and lived a much loved and happy life among family and friends for some years.
Vale dear John.
MUTAWAS (RELIGIOUS POLICE) ENFORCE SHARIA LAW IN PUBLIC PLACES. SO,BE WARNED, BEHAVE YOURSELVES OR BE ARRESTED.
It is hardly surprising that an Islamic country, like Saudi Arabia needs nimble Religious police to keep an eye on people in Public places , whether you are a local Saudi or a misbehaving Infidel or imported worker.
There are numerous situations which you may find yourself in, when working in The Kingdom, for which you may have accidentally, or deliberately found yourself compromising both yourself and Sharia law.Drinking alcohol, being in possession of, or making alcohol, for yourself or another person’s consumption is a common but serious offence.
You wouldn’t expect to lose your head as a result , but could be arrested, lose your Saudi job and working passport and find yourself on the next flight back to your own country without being able to contact your family and friends.
Travelling to the Airport in chains does occur ,depending on your offence and how valuable you were in the pecking order to your Saudi Employer. A direct transfer to prison and a long ,unpleasant pre-trial time is a not uncommon occurrence.
How about taking photos of Saudi persons, Government, Military or Mosque buildings?? Not a good idea at all.. ..camera snatched away and Employer informed!
There are 2000 Mosques in Riyadh and 2000 in Jeddah. These buildings are architecturally superb, and fill a powerful ,essential and fundamental religious and cultural position in Islam. Why would you risk offence, embarrassment and physical and mental punishment for such a fundamental cultural insult.
I met an American Health Service employee at RKH .She was in her 50’s, tall, very obese and had tucked a hidden camera inside her dress wherever she wandered.
The camera lens was not visible from the outside but she had operated it in such a way that she was able to take excellent photos of anything she wished either near or far from her umbilicus!
She literally had thousands of these elicit photos tucked away in her Unit cupboard.
She attended an innocent celebratory party one weekend and was befriended by another American lady. Together they shared the information about her massive collection and her modus operandi.
The following evening she was visited by her new found USA colleague and two other persons ..the three were Military Security police, her secret was no longer a secret, and three days later she was returned to Los Angeles by Economy flight.
One of the things, in 1990,in Riyadh, that you could be certain of, was that there was very little petty pilfering, stealing, car break- ins or theft from vehicles. It was unusual for anyone to lock their car doors when parking.
Theft on a large scale can result in one losing the hand of the offender following an appointment with the public executioner in the appropriately named “Chop-Chop” Square on a Friday morning after prayers.
The Executioner also had other more serious matters to deal with during his post -prayer sessions. Murderers were summarily dispensed with after very little chit -chat with a swish from his massive polished, sharpened sword.
Attendees at these staged happenings were a mixture of locals, and nosy expatriates, (the latter were usually skilfully pushed to the front of the baying crowd as a punishment for their non-Religious blood- thirsty reasons for attendance).
In passing, I indicate my disgust at these punishments. In Jeddah, in 1993, I did happen to meet the Executioner at the King Fahd Military Hospital when he brought his seriously ill Brucellosis infected granddaughter to see me for treatment at the Emergency Department. He had recently retired from his 23 years of duty. I was certain therefore that he was seeing me on my terms, by appointment, on my patch ,rather than me visiting him by appointment on his patch.
[P.S. MORE DETAILS OF OUR ”MEETING” IN THE” SAUDI, JEDDAH” SECTION OF MY BLOG].
YOU HAD A BIT OF TROUBLE YOURSELF WITH THE RELIGIOUS MUTAWAS, DIDN’T YOU DOC? WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED ?
I became the victim of my own stupid denial of my responsibilities by causing a misdemeanour against The Kingdom’s Laws !
Not alcohol surely?
Not stealing or pilfering?
Not assault?
Not driving without a license?
Surely not manslaughter or worse?
What ACTUALLY happened?
Well, one evening I was waiting for a booked taxi, at the RKH Taxi rank, to take me to the British Aerospace Villa Compound (a US$40 trip of about 30 minutes) . I had an official invitation to attend the Annual Xmas Theatre performance by the expatriates there, with about 500 other visitors.
British Aerospace Company had a billions of dollars contract with the Brits and allowing an Xmas Concert was part of the deal .
Mutawa activity was not allowed on the Compound but was carried on outside the Main Gates of BAS.
Whilst waiting for my taxi, I noticed Sister J J, one of our regular Nurses, also at the Rank. She had been waiting, unsuccessfully for a taxi for a long time and was concerned that she’d miss the Concert if one didn’t arrive soon.
Within 2 minutes we were both in my taxi ,she in the rear seat and me in the front seat,and were on our way.
Arriving at British Aerospace we joined a long queue of cars and taxis all of which were in a one way street and all of which were being searched to identify all passengers and all the goods that they were carrying (including presents).
Suddenly the penny dropped, Sister J J and I were Infidels who were neither married nor related in any way. We were creating a legal offence by being in the same vehicle without an accompanying relative. The Mutawas arrested both of us ,took our Working Passports, split us up and carted us to two different Mutawa Retention Centres locally.
I was escorted to a 12×12 ft empty room with two small prayer carpets and nothing else except nine other male expatriates,all arrested for similar offences. We were left there for about 5 hours but were able to chat to each other. Some of my younger colleagues were upset and very frightened because of rumours ,or facts, that they had heard about people whom they knew who has been expelled from The Kingdom and the ignominy it carried with the process.
All in all the experience was unpleasant. I was released when the RKH Military Security arrived, overruled the Mutawas request to detain me, and we sped away ,”shaken but not stirred”.
I have no idea what happened to the other arrested males.There was no way of finding out. Sister J J was driven back to her Hospital accommodation fairly promptly, and later on that day we both fronted one of the Program Directors to apologise and explain the details of our unfortunate misdemeanour.
Bad news travels like a bush-fire in Institutions and I was the recipient of many speculative fantasies, by my work colleagues, to show them any signs of the infliction of ”cat- and- nine tail whippings” to my person!
Sometimes Saudi Officials, though not expelling you for a grosser misdemeanour from The Kingdom, mark your Work permit so that, when you next apply for work there in the future, they note whether there are any objections to you returning.
I did not receive any OBJECTION CERTIFICATES and was therefore able to return a number of times to work in various Military Hospitals.
APART FROM WORK WHAT OTHER THINGS WERE THERE TO DO IN THE RIYADH REGION OF SAUDI ARABIA?
RKH Military Hospital had many “after hours ” things to get into…eg..
1.Hash House Harriers’ weekly meeting in an unknown destination within 50km of Riyadh. Basically a walk or run, of a few kms in gorgeous destinations. Membership was important. Applicants were taken through a demanding, secretive initiation, full of fun and ”colourful,”(to say the least).
2.A top Quality Gym with personal programs.
3. 25-50 metre Swimming pools in every ”compound.”
4.Excellent,well kept bookable Tennis Courts.
5.I was fortunate enough to represent the RKH Men’s Riyadh ‘A’ League Tennis Team .
Our team played at many different venues around Riyadh and were provided with special visitors ”pass “access to all of the Clubs without any hassle. I also entered a number of Sponsored Tournaments( Sheraton and other major Hotels) but had very limited success!
6. Restaurants were given 0 to 5 star ratings, were alcohol free, and generally satisfied the gastronomic requirements of seriously hungry Saudi families, although The Bangkok Seafood was an Expat’s 4 star equivalent.
The timing of your attendance at a restaurant was really important. Compulsory evening prayers often coincided with your hot meal, being plonked at your table, but it could not be touched until Prayer time had finished. The restaurant lights were turned out, the waiters disappeared and 10-15 minutes later everyone reappeared as if nothing had happened!!
No problem ..it’s culture ..respect it !
7.Buying gold in the souks is competitive, relatively cheap by International prices and is addictive.
The shop owners are very kind ,understanding ,trustworthy, and persistent. When they know that you are an RKH employee they will often insist that you take your fancied purchase home and come back in a couple of days to say whether you want to buy it or not…no pressure, only trust.
I have not met anyone who “forgot” to go back to the shop to review their proposed purchase. They may ,or may not, still exist.
8.Music in the Desert, under the Stars.
About 60km from Central Riyadh, in a fairly barren region, there is an area approx 150 metres x 100 metres and 50 ft deep ,with minimal vegetation. It equates to a small amphitheatre in size shape and functionality.
The German ex-pat Community, every 2 months, held Recorded Music Concerts here, under the stars, from 6pm to 10pm.
The Germans set up and provided all of the materials (A generator, beautifully recorded music with quality 360 degree loudspeakers etc.)
Some 250-400 expats, many with families, from across Riyadh, arrived just before dusk, lit their candles and had a pre-concert picnic. The concert lasted 3 hours and always contained well known popular Classical Composer pieces.
This was a happy, healthy evening, no grog and the Saudi Government assigned its’ approval to the project over many years.
The last Concert performed there was just prior to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1991. On that evening 5000 people travelled to the Concert by vehicle. The Saudi Military followed the attendees by satellite tracker so as to make sure that everything was “Fair Dink um” and went without any major difficulties. We thanked them for their sensitivities and understanding.
I really enjoyed Riyadh and was lucky enough to have Family members visiting from time to time, compliments of the Program, though we met more frequently in Bangkok, London or Singapore.
HOW DID THE RIYADH EXPERIENCE END AND WHY?
The invasion of Kuwait by Iraq led to Saudi Arabia becoming a base for American Military. Riyadh was an important Operations Centre for the war and thousands of troops were stationed there. For the first time ever, American Military women walked the streets and Hotels in uniform and heavily armed. One third of the RKH overseas -recruited workforce returned to their own countries, asap, such was the fear of the unknown outcome and consequences of the war. Many left without selling homes or possessions. Others, especially those from the Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka , Sudan and Ethiopia had little choice, and stayed in Riyadh.
My own fate in Riyadh was sealed prematurely.
My working colleagues and I were confined to work and live within the RKH boundaries and that was ok given the protection provided .
We played Tennis every day after work.
On a particular day I played doubles a number of times against Barry and his partner. I was losing.I decided to launch some massive first serves .
Instead of big serves I experienced severe neck pain and the resultant serves were weak. I lost control of my right arm, couldn’t serve at all and ,on Medical advice, had an MRI of my neck the following day.
The bad news was that I had trapped a nerve in my neck which required urgent major surgical release. We had no neurosurgeon in Riyadh.
Upon the advice of the Program Director I was immediately released from my duties and arrangements made for me to return to Hobart via Sydney.
In Sydney Mr Kevin Bleasel saw me and arranged Neurosurgery one week later at a Sydney Private Hospital.
Fortunately this was successful and I left Hospital after eight days, and returned to Hobart.
I wondered if I would ever return to Saudi Arabia again or whether Beach Rd Medical Centre would be my working foreverness future which Anita was masterfully managing.
As it happened I did return to Saudi from April 1992 -March 1993 to work at the King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital in the Red Sea City of Jeddah and again in Jeddah at the King Khalid National Guard Hospital from March 1994 -June 1994 for 4 months.
WHY DID THE BRITISH COUNCIL FOR SAUDI ARABIA APPOINT ME TO THEIR COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE GETTING RID OF NESTING PIGEONS?
I met the British Council Representative in Riyadh,at the Diplomatic Quarters, one evening.He had been told that,with four other Hobart partners in Hobart we owned Dockside Fitness and Club Salamanca Health and Wellness Centres and had done so for some years.He realised that I had a passionate interest in some sports ,though mainly as a viewer these days.
He invited me along to the billion dollar King Fahd International Sports Stadium, near the City,with some of his business Colleagues.The Stadium,was only 4 years old, and had been built to, eventually, hold Soccer International Competitions for Middle Eastern and other nations.It was used for the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship attracting a crowd of 65000 for the Portugal and Nigeria final.
His Committee had been asked to review two problems with the Stadium.
Firstly, how to encourage other Countries to use it, from time to time.
Secondly, because no one had been using it, and there were 127 Staff employed there for maintenance, hundreds and hundreds of local pigeons had built their nests, high up in the Superstructure, and their numbers were increasing exponentially.
The stench from the pigeons’ excrement was causing murmurings among the Staff, especially those who were in charge of the Stadium’s protected area where King Fahd and other members of the Royal Family would sit, albeit under Armour Plated Glass and in quality air- conditioning.
Getting other large events to use the Stadium was a big problem.There was talk about holding The Asian Games there but not all Countries, in recent times, were the flavour of the month/year with Saudi Arabia.(I leave the reader to speculate and fathom out those reasons for themselves.)
Women, regrettably, would not even be allowed to use the Stadium as supporters until 2018 .Women athletes are still banned from training or competing there.Separation of the sexes featured prominently in all public social decision making matters.
Acceptable sporting opportunities at the Stadium gradually emerged, much later, but at highly significant financial cost,bearing in mind the impending intervening Gulf War period and the budget constraints incurred by Saudi Arabia in the post- war era.
In 1995, and 2000, the Asian Soccer Club Championship were held there as were the 16 matches of the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup and in 2014 the second leg of the AFC Champions League Final won by Western Sydney Wanderers.In 2018 the Stadium was used for Saudi Arabia’s FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign.
Currently in 2021 it is used by some Domestic Soccer sides and the Saudi National team.Other major spectator drawing sports such as Rugby League and Rugby Union,Hockey, Athletics Cricket and AFL, are almost entirely non-existent within the Kingdom, though a number of other more Westernised States are more accommodating to International sports.
I was able to discuss, openly, with the Committee, the pigeon problem, partly because I was a Fellowship holding Public Health Physician working as an RKH Preventive Medicine Consultant.
Poisonings, shootings or pigeon pie parties were ruled verboten as were regular robbing of the nests’ eggs.
Tearing down the nests didn’t have much support and would have required an army of brave and utterly gymnastic Staff. Gassing would have been practical but needed to be a regular task, was Occupationally undesirable and potentially hazardous for Staff as well as the pigeons.
A thought crossed my mind in a moment of mindfulness and I passed it discretely onto my new chum from the British Council.
”Falconry falconry,” I whispered ”House some Hawks here, with their trainers,and the pigeons will disappear out of fright and be scared of coming back again.”
Yes,we were onto something.
I received a phone call a couple of days later,followed by a letter of thanks from The British Council accompanied by a photo of our Committee group at the Stadium…I still have that 1990 photo, here in Hobart,in 2021.
No mention was made of the methodology involved in ridding the Stadium of its’ nests,though the pigeons surrendered their battle ground to the ”force formidable” of a few Falcon Hawks,in great haste.
Falconry, incidentally, is a popular sport for the Middle East elite and has been for thousands of years.
There is a BA e Hawk equipped Royal Saudi Air Force Aerobatic Team called the Saudi Falcons.
In 2017 a Saudi Prince bought 80 Falcon birds and purchased individual seats for each of them on a United Arab Emirates flight.He and a small number of friends accompanied their newly acquired feathered friends on their flight! Qatar Airways allows six falcons on board per customer, and Etihad allows falcons in the main cabin or as checked luggage.
The Falcon is the national bird of UAE. All Falcons who fly must be issued with a passport(valid for 3 years) and be fitted with a leg- ring with an ID number corresponding to it’s passport number.
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