"Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize.” So said Tom Lehrer, the Harvard-educated singer-songwriter who is synonymous with the satire movement in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s.
Satire – the use of humour to expose folly or vice – certainly became a thing of the past for Lehrer in the 1970s when he gave up a successful showbiz career and returned to what was always his main interest: teaching mathematics, at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
He has since said that his decision to quit the nightclub circuit and stop recording his popular comedy albums was not directly affected by the Vietnam War and America’s role in it, but he acknowledged that the world had certainly moved on since he wrote his first funny song in 1945.
But satire is alive and kicking – or should that be biting? – in many parts of the world in the 21st century – as The Onion website and its imitators can attest.
The problem, as Lehrer recognised, is that the lines between fact and fiction have become blurred. Something that may seem absurd to some people can appear to be perfectly reasonable to others.
So it was in 2012, when the Chinese newspaper People's Daily carried a story from The Onion naming North Korean leader Kim Jong-un the "sexiest man alive" as a real news item.
Hopefully nobody took it seriously back in 1729 when Jonathan Swift – the author of Gulliver's Travels – published A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People From Being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick. Its grisly argument is that the poor in Ireland should sell their babies to rich people – as food.
Swift's intention was to highlight a pressing social problem in an attention-grabbing manner. It worked. A Modest Proposal is still read as an exemplar of English-language satire.
By the 1960s, satire was being used as a tool to pillory those in high places, and especially those with political power. In Britain, it was championed by David Frost, who later became known for his controversial interviews with Richard Nixon, with the groundbreaking television programme, That Was the Week That Was.
Around the same time, the comedian Peter Cook and others launched Private Eye magazine, which continues to publish a mix of parody and investigative journalism to this day.
In the US, Lehrer's baton was taken up by the recently-retired Jon Stewart on The Daily Show and it is still being carried by his proteges Trevor Noah, Stephen Colbert and John Oliver.
But what about this part of the world? My Arab friends certainly love to laugh, and there are a few well-known observational stand-up comics from the Middle East, but there seems to be no strong tradition of political satire.
Bassem Youssef, nicknamed "the Egyptian Jon Stewart", hosted a satirical television show Al Bernameg for just three seasons, until it ran into a series of legal difficulties and ended last year. For a number of reasons, it just didn't work.
One of those reasons, I believe, is that people in important positions, much like senior family members, are afforded greater respect in Arabian culture than they are in the West.
In the 1980s British TV series Spitting Image, famous figures of the day were presented as puppets with grotesquely large facial features. One satirical show I saw in Australia parodied a female politician by putting a man in a wig and a dress covering a fat suit. The only "humour" they could find, it seems, was by exaggerating her size.
If it’s considered funny to criticise somebody purely based on their physical appearance, then perhaps this part of the world is better off without that particular form of cruelty.
Here, people take a gentler approach. There are, after all, plenty of things to laugh about in life without getting personal.
bdebritz@thenational.ae
On Twitter: @debritz
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Glossary of a stock market revolution
Reddit
A discussion website
Redditor
The users of Reddit
Robinhood
A smartphone app for buying and selling shares
Short seller
Selling a stock today in the belief its price will fall in the future
Short squeeze
Traders forced to buy a stock they are shorting
Naked short
An illegal practice
TICKETS
For tickets for the two-day Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) event, entitled Dubai Invasion 2019, on September 27 and 28 go to www.meraticket.com.
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
Profile
Company name: Marefa Digital
Based: Dubai Multi Commodities Centre
Number of employees: seven
Sector: e-learning
Funding stage: Pre-seed funding of Dh1.5m in 2017 and an initial seed round of Dh2m in 2019
Investors: Friends and family
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQureos%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E33%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESoftware%20and%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%243%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: SimpliFi
Started: August 2021
Founder: Ali Sattar
Based: UAE
Industry: Finance, technology
Investors: 4DX, Rally Cap, Raed, Global Founders, Sukna and individuals
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Thursday (All UAE kick-off times)
Sevilla v Real Betis (midnight)
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
Tips for newlyweds to better manage finances
All couples are unique and have to create a financial blueprint that is most suitable for their relationship, says Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial. He offers his top five tips for couples to better manage their finances.
Discuss your assets and debts: When married, it’s important to understand each other’s personal financial situation. It’s necessary to know upfront what each party brings to the table, as debts and assets affect spending habits and joint loan qualifications. Discussing all aspects of their finances as a couple prevents anyone from being blindsided later.
Decide on the financial/saving goals: Spouses should independently list their top goals and share their lists with one another to shape a joint plan. Writing down clear goals will help them determine how much to save each month, how much to put aside for short-term goals, and how they will reach their long-term financial goals.
Set a budget: A budget can keep the couple be mindful of their income and expenses. With a monthly budget, couples will know exactly how much they can spend in a category each month, how much they have to work with and what spending areas need to be evaluated.
Decide who manages what: When it comes to handling finances, it’s a good idea to decide who manages what. For example, one person might take on the day-to-day bills, while the other tackles long-term investments and retirement plans.
Money date nights: Talking about money should be a healthy, ongoing conversation and couples should not wait for something to go wrong. They should set time aside every month to talk about future financial decisions and see the progress they’ve made together towards accomplishing their goals.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
