Not a wolf? … Then the wolves will eat you

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I LAUGHED secretly when I read the story of a recently-married couple in Fuenlabrada, Madrid Metropolitan Area, Spain. They were blessed with a baby boy and wanted to give him a name related to power and courage.

They chose the name ‘Lobo’ meaning ‘wolf’. However, the Personal Status General Directorate rejected this under the pretext that the name ‘Lobo’ will be an insult to the child once he grows up. The parents of the child w o n d e r e d , “That name is common in Scotland, Germany, Brazil and Argentina”… I add a poetic line to that and say: The name ‘wolf’ is also common among Arabs who did not just end up giving the name in singular form, but they also gave their children the name in plural form — ‘wolves’ .

The story did not end there … The parents of the ‘future Spanish wolf’ did not lose hope and they did not give up. They took the issue to the residents of the governorate to seek support for their request; thereby, collecting 20,000 signatures up to the extent that some politicians intervened.

The president of an opposition party took to Twitter and posted on his account, “I see that ‘Lobo’ is a sweet name worthy of respect. I wonder if we, in Spain, can name our girls ‘Paloma’ meaning ‘dove’ or ‘Leon’ meaning ‘lion’, then why this couple has no right to name their child ‘Lobo’? The Personal Status director general asked the parents to submit a petition to the Justice Ministry in order to study their request.

News after that said the request was approved … It is noted that it was the fi rst time in Spain a family requested to name their child ‘Lobo’.

(Middle East newspaper, Aug 8, 2016. How I wished, after reading this sweet real-life story, to be blessed with a boy and name him ‘wolf’ or ‘wolves’!! I think the registrar officials at the Birth Department or Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) will oppose this name because life, especially in Kuwait, is getting complex. ‘Wolves Ali’ will not get good quality of education which we were privileged to have during our childhood. ‘Wolves Ali’ will face problems in seeking admission to the only government university or private universities. ‘Wolves Ali’ will sit and wait for a government job for a year.

He will have to use connections (‘wasta’) to get employment in the private sector which prefers expatriates over the son of the land; despite the fact that expatriates, in most cases, are more costly for employers, equal to Kuwaitis or better under the pretext of experience! If ‘Wolves Ali’ decides to start a small or medium project at the fund responsible for those projects, they will require him to present the purpose for establishing a new restaurant?! ‘Wolves Ali’ must be a real wild wolf in life, or else, the wolves will eat him, as the Arab adage says!! …..

By Ali Ahmed Al-Baghli Former Minister of Oil
Email: [email protected]

This news has been read 6741 times!