Manama: The head of Bahrain’s top youth and sports organisation has called upon the country’s youth to channel all their energies into realising their full potential in various spheres of life rather than blame cultural invasion.
“We have so much knowledge and intellect that we can be well ahead of others and our culture is so rich that we can be immensely proud of, but we have not achieved our potential,” said Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the president of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports. “We do need a serious introspection so that we can be much more positive and better motivated. We might discover for instance that the expression ‘cultural invasion’ is merely a sort of drug that we have invented as an excuse for our laziness in serving and spreading our culture. I do hope that this view will be debated by young people at one of their sessions,” he said as he opened the Arab Youth Forum 2012 on Sunday evening.
The forum, being held under the theme ‘Arab identity, global culture’ brings together participants from several Arab countries to address challenges facing Arab youth, the role of the Arab media and the influence of foreign media on young people.
“Failure to appreciate our social roles and to elevate the way we deal with others and to communicate with them in a language and manner that are familiar to them means that we will not achieve our goals,” Shaikh Nasser said. “Dealing with other people demands that there is mutual respect. If we fail to respect others, they will not listen to us. We need to show respect so that we can get it as well. If we command respect, then people will listen to us even when they are not convinced with what we say or offer and we achieve communication.”
Communication is crucial in establishing ties and promoting mutual respect, he said. “We need to make sure we always keep abreast with the ways people communicate. We cannot confine ourselves to our familiar ways and we must see and learn how others communicate and then use their means of communication to keep in permanent contact with them.”
People should use the latest technology and social networks to communicate with others all over the world and show the high status of the Arab identity and culture. “Everyone has a social role that they should assume responsibly. We all have a message within our circles, environment and community,” he said.