Mishary Bin Abdullah Al-Na'eem Al Riyadh Newspaper
I wanted to buy some chewing gum while I was in Singapore so I stopped at a grocery store, but I was unable to find what I was looking for. I did not ask myself why a grocery does not sell chewing gum and proceeded to go to several other stores where I was told the same thing. An employee at one of these stores told me that there was a ban on selling chewing gum in Singapore and that I would not find anyone selling it. When, out of sheer curiosity, I asked him why, he said that the municipality bans the sale of chewing gum because people spit it out on the street and it is difficult to remove. The municipality fines anyone caught breaking the law in Singapore $10,000 (SR30,000). It's hard to come to grips with the fact that something sold all over the world can end up costing someone SR30,000 simply because it is hard to clean off of sidewalks. Meanwhile, in the Kingdom, the fine that a restaurant has to pay for selling rotten food that may land people in hospital or that might even kill them does not exceed SR3,000. Not only that, but after one week, you will find that the restaurant has reopened and is serving the same rotten meat to its customers. In Singapore, if you throw tissue paper on the street and get caught, you will be fined Singapore $500 or nearly SR1,500. But in our country, motorists can throw a bag full of garbage on the main streets of the capital and no one will dare stop them. In my opinion, anyone who knows he will not be punished not only becomes ill-mannered but loses any sense of responsibility. This is the big problem we are suffering from. When Saudi citizens, including government officials, realize that there is no firm penalty in place, their sense of responsibility takes the back seat. If the supervisors of Jeddah Municipality or any other municipality knew that they would be taken to task, none of them would go to sleep before confirming that all the manholes in the city had been covered and that all the city's residents were safe from “municipal” risks. Simply absolving oneself from responsibility is part of the culture of government bureaucracy in the Kingdom. Regrettably, it is a widespread culture that makes punishing the employee who has committed a mistake almost impossible. Fifteen years ago, I had a follow-up visit for my daughter at a local ophthalmology clinic in Newcastle, England where I was studying. At the time, she was barely four years old and was hyperactive. The doctor checked her eyes and said everything looked good and there was no cause for concern. I was fully convinced by what the doctor said and left for home. In the evening, however, I received a telephone call from an unknown number. I answered the call and it was the same doctor who had checked my daughter that morning. He told me: “I'm not happy with today's checkup. Your daughter was moving around a lot. You must come once again tomorrow. I have given you an early appointment so that you will not be delayed.” This aroused my curiosity and I tried to understand it. I asked some of my colleagues, who were Arab doctors working in Newcastle, and they told me that it is a doctor's job to be as thorough as possible. The sense of responsibility here in the Kingdom is moved by “stiff punishment” and not by good intentions. There is no way that they can rely on “intentions” in instilling responsibility. It should emanate from implementation of the regulations, which should not favor anyone. When the law is lacking and is not implemented fully, there is a lack of responsibility and problems occur at several levels. Despite all the efforts being exerted to develop the administrative system in our country and in spite of all the studies and planning for the future, our problems as a society seem to get worse with the passing of each day. The secret of administrative development is man and the morals he believes in. These morals, in my opinion, are not only part of family upbringing or religious deterrents, but they emanate from the culture of law and authority according to which members of society have been brought up since childhood. Values and morals are not a product of good intentions despite my total belief that there are good and bad people. But when there is full authority of the law, the good and bad are equal in their fear of punishment.
The good carry out their work while believing in the law and its importance. Meanwhile, the bad implement the law due to their fear of it. Ultimately, it is society that gains.
When this criterion is absent, a network of small and large mistakes appears and society gradually loses its values. Even the most sincere members of society reach a level of despair about reform and with time, they become passive.
