The noble man Al-Masha’an
sulaiman al-fahad al-masha’an and abdul latif al-thuwaini were among the citizens whose names were most closely associated with the citizenship file. both represented the nation’s collective memory in matters of national identity and lineage.
al-masha’an (abu musa’id) worked at the ministry of interior and played a major role in establishing and developing the general directorate of nationality, passports, and residency affairs, eventually becoming its director general. later, he served as assistant undersecretary for nationality and passports affairs.
a personal story about abu musa’id came to mind when i read the decree on the appointment of his son, ambassador hamad al-masha’an, as deputy minister of foreign affairs. ambassador hamad al-masha’an played a major role in stopping the misappropriation of donation funds that were reportedly being spent abroad.
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i was barely eighteen in 1962 when my father agreed to buy me a bright red volkswagen beetle.
i was standing in front of an ice cream shop on a side street off fahad al-salem street when a red volkswagen pulled up beside me. inside were four europeans - two young men and two young women.
the driver asked me if i knew the address of a cheap hotel. i tried to tell them about a hotel i knew on the new street, but i failed.
i offered to host them at my parents’ house in kaifan, and told them they could sleep on the roof. they immediately agreed.
they had sleeping bags, and i spent a wonderful night with them. they told me about swedish history.
they said they were on their way to saudi arabia to market financial bonds for a bank.
one week later, a british man came to the house. i do not know or remember how he found the address. he told me he needed my help. he said he had met the swedish team in riyadh and arranged for them to return to kuwait in the same small volkswagen.
he explained that they had encountered a serious problem. after crossing the saudi border, they discovered at the kuwaiti border that their visas were for single entry only, meaning they were not permitted to re-enter kuwait. they had to return to riyadh to obtain visas from the kuwaiti embassy. they then went back to the saudi border, but were denied entry because their saudi visas were also single-entry.
they ended up spending the night in a dilapidated tent, along with the british man who refused to leave them, even though he was allowed to enter kuwait without a visa.
hey decided to ask him to contact me for help in getting into kuwait.
they spent a difficult night in the buffer zone between the two border posts separating kuwait and saudi arabia.
i did not know how i could help them. i called my father, who told me to go and meet the late sulaiman almasha’an and introduce myself. almasha’an welcomed us and contacted the border post, requesting that the swedes be allowed entry and transferred to the ahmadi passport office to process their visas.
despite the border officer’s objections, he insisted, and his request was granted. abu musa’id was a noble and decisive man.
