Win Exclusive Tickets to Oman Economic Review’s 4th Annual Oman Debate (Tomorrrow Morning!)

This is kind of last minute, but quite important to post ASAP.  The 4th Annual Oman Debate is tomorrow morning at the Al Bustan Ritz Carlton Hotel and is by invitation only.  3 lucky readers of this blog (who don’t have commitments tomorrow) may win tickets.

As you can read in the ad above, the panelists will explore/debate the question: “Is the Omani economy future-ready?” 

For anyone who is free tomorrow morning from 9am to 1 pm, the 3 best answers to the following questions (post in comments) will win tickets to this event:  Question: “Creating jobs for Omani’s remains an overriding concern both for the government and the private sector. In your opinion, what are the measures that can/should be taken to encourage job creation for Omanis?”

“This year, the Oman Economic Review would like to reach out to the Omani public by not only streaming LIVE coverage of the event online while the discussion takes place, but to also moderate the Oman Debate 2012 twitter and facebook pages for engagement purposes, to allow the public to voice their opinions and raise further questions and concerns during the debate.”

I was very honored and excited to be personally invited to the Oman Debate to be a part of this important community event as I was asked to “share my experience with the audience”. Wow!  Would have been nice but I have a full time job and my 1st priority is obviously to my job! 🙂 A big thanks to Mr. Mahreen, the social media specialist, who offered me the personal invite and 3 free potential invitations to readers of this blog.

For those of you unable to attend, I encourage you try following the LIVE coverage on sowlef.com/live .  Users are able to engage and participate in the debate using social media platforms   twitter.com/omandebate2012  and facebook.

Would be exciting to be present at such an exciting forum.  I have followed several of Tim Sebastien’s debates when he lead the famous “Doha Debates” and I used to follow him on the controversial and always exciting “Hardtalk” interviews.

Update:   The deadline of 10pm has come and gone and no one has entered the “contest”. I didn’t post this till 8pm and Monday is a working day so it’s understandable. (Sorry but I was also informed last minute!)  Those who are interested and free to attend tomorrow, please let me know as soon as you can and the tickets will be given to whoever wants them.  My website it set up to my blackberry so I get instant notifications.  You just need to leave your email address with an indication of how many (of the 3 available) invitations you’d like so I can send you an electronic invitation which I have on hand ready to send off to the winners.

“The Dolls of Japan” Visit the Sultanate of Oman

What on earth do dolls from Japan have to do with Oman? Great question.  Well, there is a special exhibition at Qurum City Centre “to celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Oman“.

“Kintaro is a boy of Herculean strength who appears in a Japanese folktale.  It is believed that the Kintaro doll represents boys’ health.“

Wooden dolls dressed in kimonos are a style of doll-making known as Kimekomi.

“Kurodabushi: Samurai of Kuroda” – “This doll is based on a legend of a man who gulped down sake in a large cup and obtained a spear as a prize.”

She’s quite “a doll”, isn’t she? 😉

“Warabe Jishi: Young Lion” – “The boy plays with the mask of a lion’s head”.

“Kotoro: Playing Tag“

“The gallant young samurai in brilliant armor is about to go into battle as a general of the army.” (by Ippo Ohashi, an active artist in Kyoto)

“This adorable sleeping baby is Monotaro, the Peach Boy, a popular Japanese fairy-tale hero.”

“Nagashi Bina: Floating Doll” – “The girl is going to the river with her paper doll in a straw basket.  It is still a custom throughout Japan to float dolls on the river while praying for happiness.”

Well, those are just some of the interesting dolls at the exhibition at Qurum City Centre.  I certainly didn’t expect to experience Japanese culture when I went shopping here in Oman. After filling in a short feedback form about the exhibition, we were given a booklet about the exhibition entitled, “The Dolls of Japan: Shades of Prayer, Embodiments of Love” published by Japan Foundation.  I never know what I’m going to see next out and about in Oman. That’s why I try never to leave home without a camera! 🙂