Among the Yemeni female TV presenters, the Name Maysa Radman comes on top. In a very short period she has been able to become the Cenderila of the Yemeni Settlite Channel ( YSC) as the public would like to hail her. The Yemeni press unanimously nominated her to be the best TV host for the year.

A graduate from the French Department, her way to the world of lights and fame was a mere coincidence. Her sister once applied to Aden TV channel and at the day of testing she fell sick. Maysa came on the way and took her place for the test. She did fine and in a record time she became a brilliant host in Aden TV. Her accomplishment in Aden gave her a boost to be nominated for the YSC, the only front of the country to the outside world. In less than a year, Maysa became the favorite TV host for many TV spectators. She topped all this success when she became the MBC correspondent in Sanaa. However, Maysa's road to success was not all cream and honey but her confidence in herself enabled her to get over obstacles that encountered her throughout.

Q: You started on the second channel, were promoted to work on the satellite channel, and now you have been chosen as a reporter on the socio-cultural MBC program "Masaa Al-Khair Ya Arab." What have these changes added to your career?
A: Undoubtedly my first home was the second channel, a high quality institution that has graduated many reporters and TV workers. I have learned a lot of things from great teachers I respect. During my service here I joined a training courses held in Aden regarding news techniques, arranged by the BBC channel, that was the real turning point in my career. It opened up for me the wide horizons of information tasks that I was unacquainted with. I began to develop such methods of news making as film materials and scripts, news report productions, and many other things. Then I was nominated to work with MBC satellite channel, which coincided with my presence in London participating in the second international conference on Child TV, another transfer where I was able to comprehend children's TV programs from all over the world. I returned to Yemen full of hope of introducing this unknown art to my country.

Q: Do you think that beauty by itself is enough to make a successful announcer, or there are other qualifications?
A: A few decades ago beauty was the main requirement for entering the TV world as an announcer, but these measurements have changed totally and beauty has become unimportant. I think that now calming looks are more important than a charming beauty and exaggerated appearances. Other things are important as well, especially for live announcers, things such as strong character, work ethic, ability to work, generalized knowledge and a strong sense of humor to avoid any feelings of boredom.

Q: Experience has shown that the Yemeni satellite channel can not compete other Arab satellite channels, what is your opinion and what could be done to enable this channel to compete with other channels?
A: Despite this widespread belief, some of the Yemeni satellite channel's programs have proved to be successful, and the channel is eager to gain a place among other satellite channels. Its success has been extremely limited, but with sustained efforts to develop the program and news works, it has a chance. The TV sector is working hard to gain the latest technology that could assist the information cadre. This is mainly for announcers of both genders who reflect the technical and background work to the outside world.

Q: You have a BA in foreign languages, but up to now you haven't presented any foreign programs, why?
A: It is not necessary to make use of English or French language in representing foreign programs. The knowledge of languages facilitates my work, especially when I deal with foreigners, since I know the correct usage of language.

Q: How do you see the artistic, cultural and social presence in Yemeni media?
A: Despite the current cultural stagnancy and some signs of weakening that we see here and there, it is improving. Events arranged by various cultural centers are attempting to restore the cultural spirit, and non governmental centers maintain activities which reflect the great concern of the people for their social reality. The culture has passed through many changes in the framework of our multi-faced society, and social awareness is developing and bringing new meanings to our old concepts. The light of culture is growing slowly, but it remains a lone candle trying to spread the light. A difficult task, but as the proverb says " The light of one candle is a thousand times better than darkness." Current indicators show that there are some changes in various aspects of TV programming, especially for women. Many programs try to focus on certain groups.

Q: What have you contributed to Yemeni TV programs, and what are the dreams of Yemeni satellites' Cinderella?
A: An exaggerated question, as I am only one announcer among hundreds who try to give their best to develop the programs they are working on. Like everybody else, I dream. I dream of my message reaching those who can read it. Programs should contain moral concepts, and try to improve lives. I dream of having a successful career with my companions so we can reach a better condition and a higher level. Different points of view should seek the development of performance, not its limitation.

Q: Have you been enrolled in training courses abroad to catch up with the latest studies in your specialization?
A: My first course was in 1997 in Aden. It was taught by a brilliant journalist from the BBC channel, and I obtained the second degree. My second course was in 1998 in Al Khalifa institute where I obtained the first degree. Both courses helped me a lot in gaining new information that has improved my career life. Regarding courses abroad, unfortunately my only participation was in London in the Second Conference of Children's TV and that only for five days. It wasn't even really a course, merely observation.

Q: What are the main obstacles to your career that you face?
A: Everybody faces difficulties in career life, but the qualified management of our station does its best to remove all obstacles, for which I feel grateful.

Q: What do you wish for the Yemeni satellite channel?
A: Deep in my heart I wish that the Yemeni satellite channel will be the No. 1 Channel for both Yemeni and Arab audiences. That is a difficult task that requires combined efforts, as well as modern technology and developed capacities. I wish my colleagues success and all the best.

By: Marwan Al-Haideri

 

For the past four decades the art of lyrical monologue has been a fresh breeze in the artistic movement in Yemen. Since its beginning, this kind of art has met with considerable appreciation, both from the public and the lyrical monologists. The art form was received favorably, and has pleased audiences and succeeded in drawing smiles of satisfaction and amusement on their faces.
This artistic and cultural combination which was an effective means of expression during the 1919 revolution in Egypt spread over to Yemen and found its way to the hearts of the Yemeni creative singers and composers. They took on their shoulders the task of improving and enlarging it into a variety of lyrical forms.

The basic characteristic of the lyrical monologue is its folk element. In fact, it is a folk tradition practiced in many different countries. The hidden beauty of this art lies in the fact that it combines both simplicity of diction and the depth in meaning. So without a simple word that finds its way smoothly to the ears of the masses it would be impossible for this art to fulfil its desired role in the life of the society.
Another characteristic of this art is its satirical aspect. It is often composed to criticize existing social conditions and out-dated practices that have an ill effect to the common interest of the people.

Beside the lyrical tone of this art, there is also a great deal of comical sense to it. It effectively intensifies its criticism by making fun of things in a way that magnifies their social defects. This technique is to music what caricaturism is to art.
It is important that we refer here to the leading pioneer, the great singer and composer Ahmed Fathel Qumendan, who introduced the lyrical monologue to Yemen. Al-Qumendan, a legendary genius and creator of the distinguished songs of Lahaj, not only initiated this art of monologue but also developed it in such a way as to absorb the unique spirit of his community. In his famous poem "The Cars Issue" Al-Qumendan criticizes the headless rush of some people to buy Ford cars which made their first appearance in Aden city at that time. These cars were purchased from a foreign agent who was called by the locals Al-Kahwajy, or the coffee maker. To encourage his trade Alkahwajy made it easy for the buyer by selling his cars on an installment basis. The poem begins:
How often did we talk?
How often were we patient?
Yet this man from foreign folk
appears to hear not.
This poem reflects Al-Qumendan early awareness of the problem of foreign domination through debts and credits, the problem arising from the arrival of new technology at a time when the local community is not yet, at least culturally, prepared to take it in.
What is the use of purchasing a car when there are no highways or asphalt roads? he seems to suggest. The difficult, crooked roads will lead to a breakdown of the car while the local purchaser is still carrying the burden of paying the installments back to the foreign Kahwaji.
We can imagine that had this poem been musically composed and sung, it would have been enjoyed by many more people in our society.

After the Qumendan there came a number of poets form Lahj who followed in his tradition. Notable among them was the poet Saleh Fakih who wrote a monologue poem under the name "Shurrah." This poem, which was turned into a song by the singer Fathel Lahji, attacked the feudal systems for the oppression they practiced against peasants and farmers toiling on the land. Also, the famous poet, singer and composer Abdullah Hadi Subait actively contributed to this art, which was now firmly associated with attacking harmful social conditions of the time. This poem coincided with the introduction of cotton farming in Lahj was sung by the great singer of Yemen Mohammed Murshid Naji under the name "Wa-ba-khetah" or "We the Unfortunate". Though comparatively old, this song has stood the test of time, and still retains a lasting appeal.

The Singing Modernization Movement, which was actively forming in Aden during the 50s, extended the topics of the lyrical monologue to include satirical themes on the violations and encroachments of the British administration in Aden. One of the Movements leading figures is the singer-monologist Fuad Sharif who released at that time his song-monologue "The Penniless." The first two lines of this song run:
I was left broke,
In the middle of a hot nowhere,
scorched by the flaming sands,
of a place called "Al-Khaysah."

This song dramatized the tragic situation that engulfed the population of smaller Aden or Al-Borikah when they were evacuated and moved by the British Administration to an open-air area called "Al-Khaysah," a fishing area at the time. The evacuation took place to allow for the construction of the Aden oil refineries and housing units for the British engineers and technicians. However, Sharif's song was warmly received by the public, and he became even more popular in Yemen and began to be known outside of Yemen.

A great deal of the success of this artistic activity depends on the monologist's sense of humor as well as his theatrical body signs and movements. A lot of monologists were able to occupy a dear corner in the minds of the audience through their sense of humor.
The question now: What is the lyrical monologue situation like today? How can one find a distinguished monologist among the huge number of the so called singers and composers of today? Is there an end to the ongoing decline in the musical world of Yemen, or is the spirit of stagnation is that dominating? Let us hope not.

By: Saleh Abdulbaqi,
Cultural Editor

 

Dr. Ramakanta Sahu,
Associate Professor. Department of English
College of Education at Mahweet

Language permeates human society and is, by far, the most precious possession of human beings. This is why humans are variously called 'homo-sapiens' or 'articulate mammals'. It is now an established fact that language also significantly influences one's pattern of thought, and the traits of one's personality.
If we observe the profile of languages used across speech communities, we would realize that most of them are, more often than not, conversant in two or even more languages present in their linguistic environment. Of course, all the members of a given community may or may not have acquired an equal degree of competence in all these languages.

As such, in most societies people are either bilingual or multilingual. One of these languages which the speakers have acquired through primary exposure right from their birth is, obviously, their mother tongue (MT) or L1 and the other language(s) is / are referred to as the other tongue(s). A native speaker, as a result of constant and extensive use of his/her mother tongue, forms an intuition into the underlying rules of his/her mother tongue in the lexical (word level), syntactic (sentence level) and pragmatic (socio-cultural context level) domains of use and usually acquires the ability to use it with ease and felicity. However, one feels the urgency of learning a second language (L2) or other languages if one feels that the resources of the L1 are inadequate to fulfill all one's communicative demands in different fields or, alternatively, the resources of L2 gives him specific instrumental benefits such as getting a good job, visiting a foreign country and so on.

Learning of and access to two or more language systems or instruments of communication clearly places at the disposal of the user two or more outlets for self-expression, and bestows on him/her a certain amount of socio-cultural prominence, prestige or authority, as language is considered synonymous with power. A bilingual enjoys the singular advantage of being able to marshal his/her ideas, thoughts, emotions and feelings in either of the codes in accordance with the perceived contextual appropriacy, communicative convenience, or his/her personal choice. He/She can even manipulate the languages for 'code-switching' or 'code-mixing' at will as the situation demands.

In a multilingual context, as in India (with as many as 1625 mother tongues, some16 languages being recognized as state languages), or the USA, where there is a heavy influx of immigrants belonging to different language groups with the accompanying cultural matrices, the situation is at once complex and fascinating. Although diverse languages often co-exist peacefully with their mutually defined domain-specific roles, sometimes they are caught in fierce language rivalries generating a considerable amount of socio-political tension.

Language planning, therefore, becomes a compulsive need in a multilingual context. However, it is an admitted fact that, like every dark cloud having a silver lining, plurilingual contexts offer the members of their speech communities the enviable advantage of a spectrum of choices relating to different language codes. At the same time, the complexities and compulsions of the multilingual contexts oblige them to agree upon a 'lingua franca' or common language which provides a most needed linguistic bridge among diverse languages, bringing about a unity in diversity. In many multilingual and pluricultural contexts, including those in India, English has so far been performing this strategic function efficiently so that the whole range of inter-regional, inter-lingual and international communication has been carried on without any major impediments. As a matter of fact, in view of its dynamic roles and versatile functions in the Indian subcontinent, English is fondly referred to as 'the Auntie's tongue,' next in closeness to the mother tongue.

Against this backdrop, it is pertinent to analyze the language use scenario in Yemen, which constitutes an interesting socio-linguistic study of persistent monolingualism in a patently multilingual context. The use of language is enriched by the presence of members of several language communities, such as the Indians, Pakistanis, SriLankans, Germans, Russians, the Dutch, members of the English speaking world, as well as several others.

Yemen offers a predominantly monolingual context where Arabic is the only language used in almost all day to day practical contexts of communication. Children acquire Arabic from the home environments and are exposed to the formal or literary varieties of the language consequent upon their schooling and entry to higher education. They have the opportunity of learning English in the formal setting of schools and, thereby, of becoming Arabic-based bilinguals. But unfortunately, due to the problems of attitude towards English and several other socio-academic factors, most of them end up acquiring a smattering of some form of a pidgin English which is inadequate to stand them in good stead in a range of communicative situations involving the use of English. As a result, they virtually remain Arabic speaking monolinguals for the rest of their lives. This situation has at least the following implications:

a) Lack of proficiency in English denies them the opportunity to access a bulk of information in a number of disciplines, especially in areas related to science and technology. These are available only through English, and not through translation in Arabic. Eventually, they deny themselves the privilege of coming in contact with the world's greatest minds and achieving academic excellence.

b) They are bound to be cut off from the global mainstream of community life where English provides the sensitive linkage among the communities.

c) So far as bilingualism facilitates cognitive development, being monolinguals they are unable to fully harness their innate intellectual potential. This leads to an avoidable under-utilization of the available human resource in Yemen, which are so crucial to lead the country to the threshold of the approaching millennium. In the face of the acknowledged need for bilingualism, the intriguing phenomenon of mono-lingualism seems to be the result of a lack of perception and awareness of the plethora of possibilities that an adequate level of proficiency in Arabic and English can open up for the enterprising Yemenis in the age of globalization.

In conclusion, one may say that at a time when a strong and powerful wind of change is currently sweeping the world, Yemen can not be a passive and mute observer, but, in the fitness of things, be a legitimate partaker of intellectual strides around, and an active sharer of the global trend. Along with many progressive and timely measures currently underway in Yemen, such as efforts at salvaging tourism, liberalization of economy and so forth, let there be a concerted move on the social and academic planes to equip our young generation in at least two languages - Arabic and English. Then we can show the mutually complementary and enriching role of each. This can help remove what seems to be a major communicational handicap in Yemen before it is too late to resolve.