I REMEMBERED the English saying which I studied during my school days, ‘Curiosity killed the cat’. The saying is attributed to a cat that saw a chestnut for the first time and wanted to play with it. The chestnut was on a hearth to be roasted; the cat jumped on it and got killed. This saying is applicable to people who are curious because curiosity can kill them. In fact I don’t know why I remembered this saying when I heard that the US Curiosity rover had landed on Mars and conquered this planet — conquered by people whom we call nonbelievers.

The rover landed on planet Mars last week after a 36-week journey and sent back pictures to Earth. These pictures were received by NASA sent by the one-ton rover that landed at a designated spot that ended the 127-million mile journey into space. With ‘Curiosity’ the Americans conquered the Mars just like what they had with the Moon in 1969. The Americans have conquered themselves through their inventions — electricity, cars, television, cellular phones, etc. This is the progress the nation has made in all fields. But unfortunately the lack of curiosity has pushed the Arabs backwards. This is because we hate curiosity for the fear of being killed. Moreover, our culture and our upbringing do not allow us to think on such lines.

Some scholars have died believing those who called the earth round were atheists and the same goes for the people who have conquered Mars. This is the difference between the two mentalities. For me curiosity leads to knowledge and increases the sense of belief in postulates. The manager of Curiosity program which conquered Mars is an American of Lebanese origin, Charles, congratulated the program’s staff members when pictures showed rover landing on planet Mars. Charles holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Grenoble University in France. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the California Institute of Technology and was appointed manager of a technological center in Pasadena.

He is also a member of Consultants Council of King Abdullah University for Science and Technology in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This is Charles who led the team that succeeded in putting the rover on Mars.
I regret our position particularly when I hear stories about corruption which are linked to our failures and disappointments. One close friend told me the most momentous reason for daily breakdowns which hit Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) fleet is one of the senior technicians, who was appointed based on our discriminatory political policy and who holds only a secondary school certificate.

Yet, what qualified him to take this position that has harmed the name of this national carrier was his belonging to one of the opportunistic political parties. This is our condition due to our non curiosity and our failure to hire the right man in the right position. In other words, we allow half-illiterate people to manage our affairs. ‘Curiosity’ has taken the Americans to Mars, while we are clever at eating Mars chocolate bars.

E-mail: alialbaghli@hotmail.com