Jeddah Exhibition

My Lebanese colleague drove me to the Jeddah International Exhibition Centre and dropped me off and left. Before we left our hotel, he explained that I should bring my passport along wherever I go because a foreigner without an iqama can be sent to jail immediately without trial. I needed my passport to show him I have a business visa. Cool. I didn’t know that up to today since I arrived, I have been constantly at risk without my passport beside me.

I wanted to come here to witness what an arab building materials expo looks like. It felt strange that they hold their exhibitions at night. In Saudi Arabia , this is norm. I was told that the scorching heat during the day prevents people from venturing out the streets. Hmm.. today I learned something new.

I moved from booth to booth. Again wasn’t surprised that I seem to be the only asian in the building, with exception to 1 or 2 Filipinos I got to meet. A brick made of volcanic ash/ stones caught my eye and this time, was surprised to find out from the arab that there are volcanos in Saudi Arabia ..oh man, I’m not sure if he was bluffing me or if my non-existent Arabic and his poor English were a source of miscommunication…volcanos in the desert?....There were rows and rows of booths displaying boring steel industries, homogeneous tiles, laminated mdf board….Another item that caught my eye was the PPR(polypropylene) pipes without need for adhesive joining compound but instead are joined by heating- I thought this was quite interesting for an arab invention, later I was told it to be adopting German technology. Or maybe I’m just not updated with technology anymore. Meanwhile, I moved to another booth displaying beautiful stones. The Pakistani assured me that I am inside a museum. His booth showcased decorative stone walls made of rare precious stones such as emerald, agate, and a few others I cant remember the name. These stones are polished and glued together by an industrial transparent epoxy. At the center of each showpiece is a hundred million years-old ammonite fossil. My attention was drawn to the floor I was standing on. Fossilized timber probably hundreds or even thousands of years old. I was told they were made in Mauritius . Hmmm….one of these days, maybe I should visit the place. With my propensity for natural materials in interior deco, I think with a little dash of carpet to soften the ambience, it will make for a real nice and cozy living room.

As i continued to move from one booth to the other, from a distance there looked like a man whose features was much more familiar. Chinky eyes, fair yellow skin. He must be either from china, Taiwan or japan, I thought. I made sure our paths crossed and greeted him. “Hello there sir, Are you Singaporean?” though I knew it a remote possibility for a singaporean to be in this place. “No, I’m Korean.” He replied with a smile. “Oh, I am glad to see an asian here.” He knew what I meant and was glad, too. He was accompanied by an Indian whose features and even body shape looked like a clone of Fr. Anthony of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Singapore . Cool! Later I found out he was a Yemeni born in Kenya . I almost greeted him ‘father’. he has 2 wives. I got none. The Korean said, no problem he’ll find me a girl here. Haha. Just the other day, our Bangladeshi waiter in the office from Dhaka said, “ In Jeddah, it is impossible to find a girlfriend”. I couldn’t agree with him more. In a place where man and women are not to be seen even glancing at each other, and marriages are arranged by their Arabian parents. There is just no way. Now this Korean chap is resourceful! Kim, told me that in his country, majority of people are either sirnamed “Kim”, “Park’ and one other I cant recall. He said the rest have Chinese sirnames like mine. His brother in law is ‘Lim’….hmm..i didn’t know that…He said, he and Ali, the Yemeni are like brothers to each other. There is a great contrast of cultures between the two and yet, they see each other as brothers. Wow.

We moved together hopping from booth to booth and finally Kim was greeted by an Arab wearing a red turban. Immediately, they started talking business…Later on our way home, with Kim on the driver’s seat and Ali at the back, Kim said he flew with this arab businessman to Seoul last year and impressed the chap with his connections with the big boys in Korea . I would imagine he knows one of those cheobols from Samsung or Hyundai…the arab was also talking big, he said his relative owns a petrochemical plant and that he would bring Kim to meet him. Kim explained he has ready buyers of 500mil. Tons (whatever) of gasoline and LPG gas in China . It was amusing to listen to their conversations as both seem to be intent on impressing the other. I think I can believe the arab bec. When I mentioned our project, immediately he said he knew the bosses of Savola and Kinan. The financiers of our $800m. mixed use development, currently still on the drawing boards stage.

As we reached home, Kim assured me that should I need anything, just holler and give him a ring. He said we should have dinner or lunch one of these days.

I’m still adjusting to life here and he knew how difficult it is….Meanwhile, I thanked him for the ride and said bye for now to the 2 brothers.