author - oman observer

We see it everywhere we turn. Hearts, love and romance. Books, movies, television and our everyday interactions with others, in some way are shaped by the interactions we share with others. So, is it...

Like the raised hackles of the spine of an angry dragon, the Southern Alps of New Zealand’s South Island evoke fantasy and mysticism, not by what they do, but what they are, a magnificent geological...

Has progress come at too great a price? As the scourge of the two-headed monster that is plastic production assaults us daily, have we been so keen to embrace modernity that we could not in the past,...

Yes, in a way it’s a shame isn’t it, but things don’t just happen because we want them to, and work doesn’t get done if we don’t actually work at it. I say in a way, because there is an old...

For almost six years now I have exhorted others, particularly the youthful job-seekers of Oman, to be enthusiastic, reliable and dedicated to their jobs, and their employers, and to treasure their...

I remain convinced, almost ten years since my arrival in the Sultanate, that the commercial and economic model for Oman requires a rethink, and that it must have a reshaping of a key element of the...

Many, and I’m one of those, yearn for the days when ‘things’ were simpler, less complicated, as they were in the days before technology took us by the scruff of the neck and dragged us into its...

The worst thing anyone can take from any other is their dignity. Dignity is defined, across the board, as “being worthy of respect,” and when you think about it, offering another human being your...

petersen_ray@hotmail.com - The subtleties of conversation are never-ending, offering us pause for thought, opportunities for laughter and even greater opportunities for confusion. They can...

In 1979, John Adair became the world’s first University Professor of Leadership Studies, and he has subsequently been recognised by, among others, the United Nations, quote, “for his outstanding...

There’s no doubt in my mind that the first thing we should do, or I should do this week, is reflect upon the positive outcome of the Chiang Rai cave rescue in Thailand during this past week. Just...

Sometimes, as family heads, we must step back a bit from things like the price of oil, cars, phones and check what’s genuinely important to us. We all have the ethereal responsibilities such as...

Culture is defined as “the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a people”. This very expression of the word tends to drive the separation of people though doesn’t it? It offers that...

Waddesdon Manor is an imposing Grade One listed house, meaning it has historical and architectural merit, built in the Loire Valley French chateau style in the county of Buckinghamshire, in the United...

petersen_ray@hotmail.com What do we want for our kids? Most of us raise our kids instinctively, based on our own childhoods, so do we plan their futures based on our own experiences? It’s hard...

When Dutch born Canadian, oil and gas service industry executive, Rene VandenBrand arrived in the capital last month, as part of a global fact-finding mission, the current oil revenue situation...

By the time you read this, Lena, my wife and I, will be ensconced in County Durham in the North East of the UK, where our daughter Sasha has purchased a beautiful old stone-built house. Like tens of...

Marhoon bin Mahfood al Nabhani, General Manager of the Ministry of Social Development, expressed his gratitude on behalf of a grateful community this week when the Golden Tulip Nizwa Hotel,...

I like to laugh, chuckle, be animated and engage with people, and if I have one significant disappointment in this very diverse environment, it’s inability to laugh readily, of many. Why this...

I’ve been doing some research recently in the Literature genre and was able to get the research paper published in a prestigious journal. It’s actually a part of our obligation towards academia to...