.: The Red Brick – Dubai College's Student Newspaper :.

1918: the year women in Germany, Canada and Austria got their vote.

1928: the year women in England got their vote.

2015: the year women in Saudi Arabia are finally given the right to vote and stand for election.

In 2015, women in Saudi Arabia will get the vote for the first time in the nation's history

Almost a century after the first women in Europe were given the vote, King Abdullah - the 87 year old monarch of Saudi Arabia – has granted women the ability ‘to run as candidates in the municipal election’ and the ‘right to vote’. This is seen as a big step for many, as the fundamentalist state of Saudi Arabia has been depriving women of basic civic freedoms that others are able to enjoy all over the world. In Saudi Arabia, women’s rights are governed by the Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam and Islamic law (Sharia). However, in recent years this has been criticized due to its radical interpretation of laws over issues such as the right to drive and the demand that a male is to accompany a woman on any trip outside of the confinements of their household.

Due to this law and the administrative vacuum, women are also not allowed to drive cars or even obtain a drivers license. There was even a campaign to issue these driving licenses which involved women taking control of the driving wheel; however with the protection of a male guardian at hand. This had little effect with authorities, which complained that the women were provoking them, which led to the arrest of many campaigners.

However, surprisingly, King Abdullah is proving to be sympathetic to the pledge of the Saudi women; for example he backed the establishment of a non-segregated university and has discussed plans to appoint women to senior positions. Sadly, even though 60% university students are women, only 10% of those in the workforce are- which clearly underlines the fact that they are unable to lead the life of a educated women in the modern world.

Some pivotal changes have started in the last few months, the most important and influential being the launch of the Arab Spring; a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world. This has paved the way for others who are unhappy with their social situation and seek political change. This, along with domestic pressure for women’s rights is seen to have prompted this change in the political system. The King now claims that ‘Because we refuse to marginalize women in society in all roles that comply with the Sharia, we have decided, after deliberation with our senior ulama (clerics) and others… to involve women in the Shura council as members, starting from next term”.

Many may argue that this as only small step for womankind, however, this could inspire hope in the minds of many more Saudi Arabian Women who will continue their fight towards equality. Any change, however small, can only be viewed as a good sign.

An ‘enduring classic’…’The great American novel’…’number 7 on The Telegraph’s ’’Books To Read Before You Die’’ list’… These are just some of the phrases used to describe F Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 renowned novel The Great Gatsby. It has been well established over the decades as one of the greats of the 20^th century and by no means forgotten as it has been studied and analyzed by countless critics and students alike all across the globe. In the past few years, however, the 86-year old tale has been dragged back into the spotlight and become more than one of those books that everyone means to read as various modern writers, filmmakers and even video game artists put their spin on the 20s classic.

Perhaps the best publicised is the up and coming film adaptation and remake of the Academy Award winning 1974 version of The Great Gatsby, which began filming on the 5^th of September in Australia. The film, in typical Hollywood Blockbuster fashion, has a budget of $126 million and boasts a cast of big stars such as Carrie Mulligan, Toby Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby himself.

American fashion designer Ralph Lauren was also rumoured to be linked to the project as his spring/summer ‘Roaring Twenties’-inspired line, featuring flapper dresses much like the ones worn at Gatsby’s legendary parties in the novel, was released earlier this month. With household names like these attached to the Baz Luhrmann-directed film, and such a bug budget, this latest adaptation has already began to generate a buzz in the film industry and promises big bucks at the box office, but will the sheer amount of money being spent and the blatantly Hollywood-esque nature of the film enable Luhrmann to accurately portray the lavish and decadent lifestyle that Fitzgerald observed in his novel or will the end result be a ridiculous contradiction to his overriding criticism of the irresponsibility of the wealthy?

As always, hardcore fans of the original prose have their reservations about the ability of certain actors to play some of their most beloved characters of all time and have no doubt found many flaws in the adaptation already, but Baz Lurhmann’s suggestion that the film will very likely be shown in 3D has even the most indifferent of readers raising their eyebrows in disbelief. The Great Gatsby is a novel that explores the social climate of America in a decade that was chaotically confusing and alienating for many and when a large section of society abandoned their morals and began to live life materialistically and carelessly for the first time in their lives. In other words, it is by no means the epic and adventure-filled tale one would expect to view through tinted plastic cinema glasses. The idea that a story which poignantly examines the power of illusion and what it is to be human is on par with 3D blockbusters like Thor or Avatar is bewildering and completely absurd.

Equally unlikely and bemusing was the release of The Great Gatsby Video Game last year. Produced by Big Fish Games, and available to download online, the PC-operated game invites the player to ‘Join Nick Carraway’ and ‘explore the mansions of Long Island’, ‘Attend extravagant parties’, ‘dance the Charleston with a happy couple harboring scintillating secrets’ and ‘Sip bootleg gin with a mysterious millionaire desperate to bring the passions of the past into the present’. The genre of The Great Gatsby Video Game is simply and accurately described as ‘Hidden Object’. The main characters are introduced at the beginning and the player moves through the narrative, uncovering new information as each ‘Hidden Object’ challenge is completed. Extra points can also be won by finding various hidden letters in each scene that sum up the themes present in the novel- for example, ‘gossip’.  While the few reviews on the game from technology experts dismiss it as boring and out of date, by completing the game, the player gets a good sense of the overall plot and characters in the novel in a way that could prove very useful for teachers attempting to keep students of the book interested.

The most risky of recent extensions to Fitzgerald’s classic novel, however, was the release of a sequel, June of this year, detailing the life of Tom and Daisy Buchanan’s daughter Pamela as she moves through the 20^th century, experiencing up close many of the major events of the different eras. The novel, entitled Daisy Buchanan’s Daughter, is described as ‘an acute, hilarious and moving vision of the 20th century’ but just how appropriate is it that a novel spanning the majority of a century and several continents is the follow-up to a novel spanning one summer and confined to a small section of America? And surely author Tom Carson’s decision to have Pamela’s parents Tom and Daisy meet their ends by way of Polo accidents and suicide, respectively, answers questions that fans of the original novel did not ask? While in its own right, Daisy Buchanan’s Daughter may be an excellent and epic tale, the link to The Great Gatsby is unnecessary to the plot and comes off as an attempt to lure people into reading the book out of curiosity.

It is unclear whether these various adaptations and extensions of The Great Gatsby will be ultimately successful with the modern world. What is apparent is the newfound significance Fitzgerald’s magnus opus, which criticizes the decadent lives of the wealthy and irresponsible just preceding the Great Depression, has now, since the economic downturn of the past few years.  Today, readers of The Great Gatsby today have a better understanding of the underlying wisdom of the novel than they have had for decades, proving that it is a timeless tale and one which will always be relevant to society.

“In a very short time we can be on a par with other developed countries. What we have achieved is a great thing and we will keep up this sustainable development. I have said earlier that the women are the spirit of the place. But today, I’m saying that women are the spirit of the nation”.
- Sheikh Mohammad, sourced from Gulf News.

For our very first issue of the Red Brick Online (and ‘Green’!) Edition, I’ve compiled a set of inspiring articles focusing on the achievements and progress of several eco-friendly movements – big or small, but equally as important – that have made the local news this month.
Last week, as part of a Dubai Company’s ‘Green Week’ initiative to bring about a firm awareness of the importance of an environmentally friendly work ethic, over 3000Dhs worth of fines were collected from employees who left their computers on overnight. The money collected will be put towards a cause supporting the benefit of the environment. The path to saving our planet isn’t all fines and taxes though! 340 members of staff from the Institute for International Research Middle East (IIRME) took part in a fancy-dress day at work on Thursday, displaying that Green Week is not just about the company’s corporate social responsibility strategy but also about the simple things we as individuals can do to make a difference. Louise Whaites, training assistant at the IIRME said herself that “Each office is invited to create their own projects to raise money, reduce carbon emissions, reduce waste, recycling, conducting clean ups etc. It’s also about raising awareness on environmental issues and trying to find ways to support our local environments and reduce our footprint”.

DID YOU KNOW? That if everyone in the IIRME Dubai office turned off the tap whilst brushing their teeth, we would save over 20,000 liters of water PER WEEK! That’s more than 1.04 million liters every year from just one office branch in one city!

Another inspiring story, that ought to make us all reconsider our non-environmentally-conscious ways, is that of a ten year old boy, Abdul Muqeet, who is to attend the Tunza International Children and Youth Conference on the Environment, organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) in collaboration with the Government of Indonesia from September 27 to October 1. In his neighbourhood, he is known as ‘newspaper boy’ and Gulf News has previously reported Abdul’s initiative to reduce the use of plastic bags by making newspaper bags from Gulf News pages last year. Since then he has stood in front of several audiences in both the capital and in Dubai, demonstrating eco-friendly activities like making paper bags from used newspaper. His initiative has inspired many other children to start doing the same and has now even caught the attention of the United Nations Environment Program (after Abdul sent his Facebook link to the UN) who after being so impressed by his efforts, selected him to attend the conference where he will be making a presentation on his eco-movement and will speak about the cultural heritage of the UAE.

Though we may not all have UN recognised initiatives, we all possess the ability to change the smaller ways in which we live every day. Maybe make October 2011 the month you start recycling at your local community centre? Or using a broom to clean your drive instead of the garden hose? Don’t doubt the significance of your efforts; change only comes about one small step at a time!

Keep a look out for the November issue of Red Brick!
Work Hard, Play Hard, and switch the tap off when you’re cleaning your teeth!