author - oman observer

Vincent Van Gogh said, “If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” The Sharqiyah Governorate, the city of Sur, and particularly the Al Ayjah township always provide a visual feast...

While I can understand the cultural reservations Omanis may have had, in the past, in terms of the hospitality industry as a legitimate employment option, I think wherever that reluctance has its...

The Royal Oman Police, in the person of Brigadier Eng Mohammed bin Awadh al Rowas, Director-General of Traffic, made a significant contribution towards safer roads in the Sultanate, with their...

It’s a couple of years since I had a go at the standard of driving in Oman, so I guess I’m due for a rant. First, and I only found out about this last week, back in September, a well-known,...

The wood of the olive tree, known by its botanical name of Olea Europaea, has become the latest ‘must have’ men’s fashion accessory according to Nizwa silver craftsman, and businessman, Daoud Al...

I fear for the youth of our current generations in many respects, but most of all because there is a phrase that has become significantly overused by the young people of today, which tends to grate...

Dr Nigel Winser is an Oxfordshire, United Kingdom-based, conservation advocate, who has devoted much of his career to the conservation and environmental issues that face Oman, since his first venture...

I have a sense that all of us have opinions. We always have had them, however, our natural, innate reticence has generally required us, through the rules of our many different societies around the...

The outpouring of national pride and emotion must have been evident around the Sultanate as the fifth Omani penalty taker, Mohsin al Khaldi, slotted home the winning goal, the winning penalty, at the...

Here we stand, on the cusp of another year, as 2018 beckons to us with its questions, and challenges yet to be seen, heard or met. Indeed, life is itself, according to Tennesee Williams, just one big,...

Their old familiar carols play, and mild and sweet their songs repeat, of peace on earth good will to men.” Thus, paraphrasing Luke 2:14, currently, as many expatriates celebrate Christmas in Oman...

Christmas carols are traditional in the West, and have been since their advent, 1500 years ago. Each civilisation since has added its own touch to the practice of carolling, and in the Dakhiliyah, for...

We expats are a strange mob. From about a month before Christmas everything is related to Christmas. Even though we are thousands of miles from home, we still take the habitual timetable of Christmas...

There is so much I don’t understand about the new technologies. I’m sure I’m not alone. But I’m almost managing with the help of my colleagues at work, my family, and yes, my...

Sometimes I get tired. I’m at work most days around 6 am and toil away until 4 pm, and then toddle off home in my little Kermit Green Kia Picanto. I down a quick cuppa and have a chat with my wife...

Dealing with faceless individuals via call centres is frustrating, but the advent of online company, organisational and institutional online contact centres is proving even more of a frustration. For...

  Ray petersen - The burgeoning literary talent of Oman has again been recognised outside the Sultanate, as youthful University of Nizwa student Rua Salim al Mashaari captivated a lively Parisian...

Margaret Mead wrote that “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” Even as I write that, I’m moved to ponder that maybe even the thinking element is too narrow a definition of...

Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory is relegated back to fantasia when you visit the Training and Production Center for Pottery and Ceramics, in Bahla. Meet Nasser bin Humaid bin Nasser Yahyai,...

The old maxim goes, “To err is human, to forgive, divine.” We all make mistakes, me as many as anyone, but if I feel there is one lesson I’ve learned in life it’s that mistakes, errors of...