author - oman observer

“Astaghfir Allah,” I muttered after one or two curse words did cross my mind while chasing the cat who was once again trying to ruin my late parents’ furniture by using it as a scratching post....

Go or stay, stay or go. Apprehensive, maybe even afraid. That was the Muscat state of mind I anticipated of first-time visitors to Oman who normally live on the bustling yet close-knit Dutch street...

At first, I was dismayed as I was clearly vilified. Patience, Patience, Patience, I told myself, as a glimpse at another unpleasant personal email brought a feeling of distress. My hands hovered over...

I still look around in some embarrassment and even turn away my laptop screen when someone approaches while prompting “Betty” (my nickname for ChatGPT, since I keep mixing up the ‘T’ with the...

My first (and last) real encounter with Marco van Basten, known to football fans worldwide, was when he walked into the gym where I worked part-time as a receptionist while still a student. He looked...

“Mister, why is the moon sometimes visible during the day, if you say she only appears after sunset?” my now husband, who was then seven years old, and his friends once dared to ask their strict...

“We offer the best espresso and hot chocolate in Oman, and you would be our fifth customers since we established this business,” two friendly, young and very PR-savvy Omani students from Sultan...

Last weekend, we took my sister, who is like a sister, visiting us in Oman all the way from Amsterdam, to Bidiyah to explore the desert, and perhaps find ourselves out there after a year during which...

“I am a woman, phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, that is me. I am the legacy of all the women who dared to be themselves before me,” once wrote Maya Angelou. Her words remind me that the courage,...

"She seems to lead this project with a soft hand," a former Omani colleague once told a team member who was helping us build the 'Your Decision, Your Future' platform, designed to support...

“I just wanted to get away from the competitive rat race, that hectic daily grind, the rush,” said a woman, born and raised in London, whom I once met at a funeral at a friend’s home in Muscat....

“Mark my words; she is going to stay and settle down there,” my mother told her best friend after I simply texted her that I had just arrived safely in Muscat. It was my first visit to Oman,...

Understanding Arabs was one of the hundreds of books my late father left behind when he passed earlier this year. To my surprise, I recently found it in a box among my parents’ belongings, which had...

Weekly extended family lunches in Oman are practically sacred, especially for the head of the family, which, in my case, is my mother‑in‑law. Almost every Friday or Saturday, it is in with the...

“Your husband probably told you to wear an abaya to the office, right?” a former colleague once suggested as we waited by the elevator. I glanced down at the shiny black robe I wore at the time,...

I have always found it deeply moving and inspiring that, in many – if not most – Omani households, family members in need of care are usually looked after at their own home, often with several...

I usually write about education and its importance. But let us not forget that education goes beyond the formal institutions as well. I am referring to the learning that takes place in other contexts,...

“We always advise our students to make the most of this opportunity by making informed choices prior to and during their higher studies that rely on facts and research, rather than hearsay and...

“Before you apply to a university, consider why and what you want to study there. Many students get pulled into the admissions mania without looking beyond the years that will follow,” an...

We all know and understand that education plays a key role in the continuing growth and diversification of the Sultanate of Oman’s economy and this process requires a focus on targeted human...