The Book title: "Around the World in 22 Days"
by Mohammed Al-Murr

Introduction

The first thing that comes to the reader's mind when hearing about a journey around the world is undoubtedly the book by the great French writer Jules Verne, "Around the World in Eighty Days." Although that novel was a product of the fertile imagination of the author, even in those days, an American traveler managed to circumnavigate the globe using ships and trains, completing his journey in less than eighty days. In today's world, one can travel around the world as a guest of global airline routes in a matter of hours. Recently, the well-known British actor Michael Palin, along with the BBC television crew, recreated Jules Verne's journey around the world in eighty days, using trains and ships, passing through the United Arab Emirates and sailing to the Indian city of Mumbai.

My last journey around the world, and this was the first time I circled the globe, was not driven by a spirit of adventure or exploration. Instead, the motivation behind it and the circumstances that led to it were entirely different from those things.

Several months ago, I began to experience pain in my back and shoulder. I applied some ointments and local remedies, and the pain would subside only to return. When the discomfort started creeping into my left arm, paranoid thoughts began to invade my mind – back and shoulder pain, tingling in the left arm, it must be a heart condition! Open-heart surgery! I belong to a global tribe known as the "Afflicted by Medical Worries," and we are a large tribe. In the UK, there are over two million of us, and in the United States, our numbers reach ten million, and this extends to the rest of the world.

After the release of my recent collection of short stories, "Summer Cloud," a dear reader wrote me a kind letter. However, he ridiculed the protagonist of the story "Delirium of the Disc," who belongs to our global tribe, and expressed contempt for him without knowing that the author himself is one of the members of that tribe!

What convinced me of the doctors' diagnosis here, and we, the "Afflicted by Medical Worries," have a love-hate relationship with doctors. We frequently visit them, and when they reassure us, we doubt their diagnostic abilities. When they succeed in diagnosing the ailment that has affected us, we question their treatment capabilities. Moreover, we hear about contradictory opinions among them. There are patients who were informed in our local hospitals that they have various ailments, and when they visited medical centers in Europe and America, the doctors there laughed at that diagnosis. Some other patients received a diagnosis in the UAE that matched the diagnosis from abroad but the treatment did not. There is also a final category where both diagnosis and treatment align.

I contemplated traveling abroad, and in recent years, I was not inclined to travel. I hesitated to make a decision, but I made up my mind when a dear brother told me about his desire to travel to the medical center in Houston, Texas, USA, to undergo some medical examinations while also completing some of his business in Singapore, Tokyo, and Paris. We obtained the visas and made all the necessary preparations for our journey around our beloved globe.

On the morning before our departure, I went to the branch of the bank I deal with, full of vitality, activity, and optimism. The branch manager welcomed me and offered me tea and cold water. I informed him of my desire to purchase traveler's checks.

He separated his lips into a polite smile and asked me:

- Where are you traveling to?

- To the United States of America.

- For work or tourism?

- For a medical examination.

- Good, God willing!

- Just a minor thing. I've been experiencing back pain lately.

I remarked to the doctors here, and they said there was no need to worry. However, you know, one should seek reassurance.

- Well, I did. Medical tests here don't provide reassurance. One of our employees had a medical examination here, and they told him he was fine. But when he went to America and got examined, they told him he had leukemia, with only a short time left to live. There's also an acquaintance who was told here that everything was fine, but when he got checked abroad, they discovered a multitude of troubles and woes.

I didn't hear the rest of his words. The optimism and vitality evaporated. I mechanically signed the traveler's checks, and my obsessions were renewed, my worries amplified.

In the evening, I passed by the Cultural and Scientific Seminar, and although we rarely engage with the present company regarding the branch manager's conversation, those lighthearted moments only succeeded in slightly alleviating the obsessions stirred by his pessimistic talk!

Sunday
April 24, 1994

We departed from Dubai Airport at 4:00 AM aboard Emirates Airlines. I'm not a fan of nighttime flights, but what can you do? Especially since the tickets we got were discounted, and we can only use Emirates Airlines and American Airlines! Seated in the chair next to me on the right side was a man with European features. He was reading a science fiction novel. After the plane took off, we struck up a conversation, and he told me that he was an American businessman. He had a trading company in Singapore and a commercial representation office in Dubai, and he was living in Dubai with his wife because she was Arab. He enjoyed the simple and peaceful life in the United Arab Emirates.

We browsed through the daily newspapers, and I asked him about his opinion on the commotion stirred in the American press regarding the case of an American boy who committed several offenses in Singapore and was sentenced by the Singaporean judge to receive six strokes of the cane on his buttocks, with American commentators saying that those strokes are excessively harsh and would leave a permanent mark, deeming it a barbaric act. He laughed and said, "I wish they would apply those penalties in our American cities! Many of our American cities have become zones of influence for gangs of unruly youth who know that the punishment won't be enough to reach them, so they indulge in their criminal behavior. We should adhere to the laws of the countries we visit and live in, just as we ask foreigners to adhere to American laws when they come to our country."

Our conversation branched into discussing crime, punishment, and the conditions in U.S. cities, where I had studied in one of them, but I hadn't been there for a long time. The food arrived, and each of us became engrossed in the dishes in front of us.

After finishing our meal, he returned to his novel, and I started reading a book about the city of Singapore. The author mentioned something about the city's history. He said that according to a Malaysian legend, a prince from Sumatra once encountered a lion near Temasek, which prompted him to establish "Singapura," meaning "City of Lions." However, in reality, lions never inhabited Singapore, and there is no archaeological evidence of an ancient city. Most likely, it was a small trading center for the Javanese empire in the mid-9th century AD. In the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, the region was contested by the Thais, Portuguese, and Dutch. In the 18th century, Britain began to take an interest in the area, with the East India Company's well-known commercial and colonial policies. In the early 19th century, specifically on January 29, 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles arrived in Singapore and made a treaty with the local rulers to govern the island. He left his deputy there and returned in 1822 after the death of three of his children. He started organizing free trade among the residents and contributed to planning the residential areas, including the Chinatown district. In 1824, Britain purchased the island of Singapore and the surrounding areas from Sultan Hussein, who needed the money due to his extravagant spending!

Initially, the island was plagued by diseases and piracy, but the diverse trading communities formed by the Chinese, Javanese, Indians, and Arabs contributed to the creation of a dynamic trade movement. They started simple cultivation and eliminated the tigers that were abundant on the island, with the last one being killed in 1904.

In the 19th century, Chinese immigration transformed the demographics of the island, making the Chinese population the majority among its residents. Singapore served as a center for Muslim pilgrims from Southeast Asia on their way to and from the holy lands, and Arab Street was their focal point, which still exists with its traditional shops.

During World War II, the Japanese cunningly took control of Singapore, and its fall was a result of serious British errors. The Japanese committed some atrocities, but the English returned after the Japanese were driven out.

One of the most prominent modern figures in Singapore and the founder of its economic resurgence is the politician Lee Kuan Yew. His ancestors came from China, but he was born in Singapore, studied at the University of Cambridge, and founded the People's Action Party with progressive tendencies in 1954.

In 1963, Singapore merged with Malaysia, but due to various conflicting ethnic and regional policies, Singapore was expelled from the Malaysian federation and declared its independence as a republic in August 1965. Lee Kuan Yew was concerned about Singapore's unity and its geographical and demographic separation from Malaysia, but his policies that balanced economic freedom, social justice, and a focus on education and government cleanliness helped make the small republic a role model for the entire region.

The island's population numbers two million seven hundred thousand people and is divided as follows: 76% are of Chinese descent, 15% are of Malay descent, 7% are of Indian descent, and 2% belong to other ethnicities.

My American neighbor was engrossed in watching a movie on the small television screen that Emirates had recently added to its services. I was intrigued, so I turned on the device and watched a film by the American actor and director Woody Allen titled "A Murder Mystery in Manhattan." I didn't find it very appealing, and I felt that it didn't live up to the artistic standards of his previous films, such as "Crimes and Misdemeanors," "Play It Again, Sam," "Manhattan," and others.

We spent about an hour at Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, a beautiful city with its lush greenery and unique location. Sri Lanka is one of the Asian models that could have been tremendously successful due to its small population compared to the Indian subcontinent, high literacy rates, abundant natural and tourist resources, but wrong development policies and civil war turned it into one of the poor countries.

The flight attendant brought some sweets, tea, and warm small towels that reminded me of Japanese and Chinese restaurants.

Singapore airport is luxurious and beautiful, and the entry procedures were very quick. The time had passed 4:00 PM. On the way from the airport to the hotel, I saw a city that resembled a lady who had just left a salon after having her hair styled, getting a manicure and pedicure, all at once.

My friend was exhausted from the trip, but I wasn't tired, so I went to a small restaurant near the hotel and had a light dinner of vegetables. Then, I watched an entertaining American fantasy film called "Hearts and Souls." The story revolves around a black woman and her children, a man who loves to sing but lacks the courage to perform in front of an audience, a girl who quarrels with her fiancé, a young man who steals a valuable stamp collection from a child to sell it to a thief, and a bus they all ride in that crashes into a car driven by a man taking his pregnant wife to the hospital. The bus is somehow controlled, and the man, his wife, and the rest of the passengers survive the accident.

When the wife gives birth, the four heroes for the child's life appear. Their families doubt their mental abilities, but in the end, the bus driver returns with his vehicle to take them to the afterlife. However, they ask for a little delay to fulfill their desires, and the child assists them when he grows up. The black mother sees her grown-up son performing his talent in front of a large audience, the young thief returns the stamp collection to its owner, and the girl learns that her lover has passed away, but he still thinks about her. These romantic fantasy films are part of the lightweight films produced by Hollywood studios recently, aimed at counteracting accusations that they only produce sex and crime films.

Before going to sleep, I looked out of my room on the thirty-sixth floor at the dazzling city of Singapore, which sparkled with captivating beauty. I witnessed how this city evolved from a small island inhabited by tigers, plagued by diseases, and overgrown with tropical plants into a city that rivaled the finest European cities in excellence. I wondered when our ancient Arab cities would emulate the remarkable story of human success that lay before me.