Thursday, Oct 02, 2008

Gulf News

Manama: For once, there was reassuring consensus on the family Eid day destination. The suggestion to spend the first day of the celebrations in a shopping mall seemed normal enough for Bahraini parents and their teenage son and daughter.

The Aradis would have lunch with the large family at the home of the grandmother, and would later drive off to the Seef area, on the outskirts of Manama to spend the afternoon in one of the five large malls.

The international retail brands, themed cafes and restaurants, fast food outlets, cinemas and entertainment facilities, will offer plenty for each member, regardless of their hobbies and interests. The parents would remain together while the two teenagers would meet up with their own friends.

With an obvious increase in spending habits, malls have grown in significance for locals, residents and tourists from neighbouring countries.

A study by the Bahrain Centre for Studies and Research conducted this year revealed that 41 per cent of the people in Bahrain prefer to spend their holidays in shopping complexes and going to the cinema. Parks are the choice of 21 per cent, while game halls are attracted by 12 per cent and coffee shops by 5 per cent.

Shopping malls have inexorably impacted people's lives in Bahrain, with the cinema as the most crucial vehicle for change.

In half a generation, the movie-going experience in the country has developed into an outstanding social phenomenon and a huge business.

Changing times

"Up to the early 1990s, and following the emergence of social and religious conservatism in the late 1970s, it was virtually impossible for a Bahraini woman to go to the movies," Amal, a Bahraini teacher said.

"But now, select movie theatres have mushroomed, mainly thanks to the shopping malls in the Seef area," she said.

Thousands of people living in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, where movie houses are banned, drive across the 25 kilometre King Fahad Causeway linking the two countries to watch the latest films on the big screen.

"People do have access to new movies, but the experience of watching them in the cinema setting is quite thrilling," said Fahad Al Muhawesh, a Saudi national.

© Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.

 

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