Page 397 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

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The Bahama of Manama however have progressed equally with the Arabs, they are represented on all
public bodies and many of them hold senior posts in the Government service. The few Bahama who
live in Muharraq are tending to identify themselves with the Arabs although as in Manama they in­
habit their own quarter of the town.

The villagers arc less narrow minded than they used to be, they no longer have the feeling
that Shia children must be taught in schools only by Shia teachers. Most of them have learned to
understand the value of some of the work that is being done by the Government such as education
or anti-malaria measures. To a certain extent they are developing economically; small bus companies
have been organised in some of the villages to take passengers and produce to the towns, instead of
being dependent on bus owners in Manama ; during the war the people of a group of villages who are
engaged in weaving, with encouragement from the Government, reorganised their industry and
produced a substantial quantity of new types of home-woven material which they sold very profitably.
Unfortunately this industry depends upon imported cotton yam which is very difficult to obtain from
India. No Arabs in Bahrain work on the land, it is considered highly derogatory, and the Bahama
are the cultivators of the gardens though in recent years a number of Shia Hasawis, who are of the
same stock as the Bahama, have come into Bahrain and are employed by those landlords who do not
let their gardens on lease. Twenty years ago it was rare to find anyone who could read and write
in a small village, today the degree of literacy in the villages is considerably higher than it was and
quite a number of men have acquired a slight knowledge of English from working with the oil company.

The Townsfolk.—It is in the towns that the most radical changes have taken place during
the last two decades. The leisurely old fashioned Arab way of living is beginning to disappear or is
being relegated to the older generation. Young men of the upper classes no longer sit at the feet
of their elders in the * mejlis' but they spend their evenings at the cinema or in the innumerable
clubs. The development of these clubs is a definite feature of the last ten years, they have become
an important focus in the life of the educated young Arabs of today. Though they are supposed to
be non-political because they are the meeting places of the Intelligentsia they have a strongly political
flavour. They are supported by subscriptions from the members and from the proceeds of the sales
of tickets for the plays which are staged by most of the clubs once or twice a year and which attract
surprisingly large audiences. Newspapers, radios, closer association with western people of all types
and classes and more foreign travel have affected the outlook of the younger generation of Arabs
though their fathers who have slight education and no knowledge of English have changed very little
in their outlook. Few of the younger generation take a prominent part in local politics as the belief
is still firmly maintained in Bahrain that age and experience take precedence over education and
knowledge of modern affairs. Twenty years ago only a few people, apart from foreigners took in
newspapers, anyone who subscribed to more than one was considered unusual, today the newspapers
of most of the Middle East countries are read in Bahrain and broadcasts are listened to attentively.
Since the war a number of young men have visited the United Kingdom, mainly on business, and others
are contemplating travelling to America. When the present generation, whose fathers now occupy
the seats on councils and committees, take a hand in public affairs there are likely to be changes in
the state of things in Bahrain. In some ways a greater knowledge of what is happening in the outer
world is beneficial to the people who more easily appreciate the value of various public measures
that are adopted in Bahrain if they know that similar things are being done elsewhere, but increased
knowledge of outside affairs tends to stimulate political consciousness and very often causes discontent
with local conditions.

Standard of Living.—Owing to the general prosperity of the working classes, who in spite
of the higher cost of living arc earning sufficiently high wages to make them better off than they
used to be, the affluence of the shopkeepers who thrived during the war, and the wealth of the impor­
tant merchants who have flourished exceedingly during the last six or seven years, the standard of
living in the towns is higher than it ever was before. The people are better fed, better dressed and
better housed, consequently in most ways more healthy than they were ten or twenty years ago and
they expect and enjoy many amenities which used to be the prerogatives of the rich.