YeinJee's Asian blog

Asian Culture, Lifestyle and Entertainment

Saudi Arabia

Saudi King helps world’s heaviest man

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King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has intervened to help a man who has become one of the heaviest people in the world. The king ordered Khalid bin Mohsen Shaari, who weighs 1,345 pounds (610kg) and is unable to move by himself, be transferred (using forklifts, air force jets etc.) to the country’s capital Riyadh to undergo treatment.

According to Guinness World Records, the record weight for a living person is held by Manuel Uribe from Mexico, who weighed 1,235 pounds (560kg) in 2006. After making a television appeal for help, his weight in March 2012 had fallen to 980 pounds.

Kingdom Tower will be world’s tallest

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The construction of the new world’s tallest skyscraper – the Kingdom Tower – is officially underway in Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia.

Kingdom Tower, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom Tower is designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture – the same designer of Burj Khalifa, the current world’s tallest structure. The Kingdom Tower will be over 1000 metres, at least 173m taller than Burj Khalifa (828m).

[Read more…] about Kingdom Tower will be world’s tallest

Saudi arrest woman for driving

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Saudi authorities have detained a woman for “violating public order”… and guess what she had done to get into trouble? Driving that is! Apparently Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women from driving…

The woman who was arrested on Sunday (and still being held AFAIK) is Manal Al Sharif, who launched a campaign against the long time ban last week by posting a video clip online of herself behind the wheel. The video above pretty much explains everything.

Btw, Saudi women are also barred from public voting besides a few isolate occasions.

A Saudi’s princess Paris diary

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The diary of a Saudi princess…

Staying at George V Hotel in Paris – £2,500 a night

Shopping at O Caprices De Lili for expensive lingeries – £60,000

Shopping at Key Largo for casual wear – £130,000

Shopping at other 30 fashion boutiques – NA… too many zeros to count

Dry cleaning my wardrobe collection – £30,000 a week

Total unpaid bills – £15 million

Solution… claims diplomatic immunity; no need to pay a single cent

Life is good for a Saudi princess.

Singapore tops Asia in competitiveness report

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Singapore tops the Asian ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009 conducted by the World Economic Forum (and partners) using both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey.

The annual report assesses the ability of countries to provide high levels of prosperity to their citizens, which in turn depends on how productively a country uses available resources. Thus, the index measures the set of institutions, policies, and factors that set the sustainable current and medium-term levels of economic prosperity.

The top 10 overall ranking are USA, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Singapore, Finland, Germany, Japan and Canada.

The top 10 Asian economic entities are Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China and UAE.