Bahrain in the (US) News

Michael Jackson is in the news. Again. He's being sued by one of the members of Bahrain's royal family.

See the CNN version, or if you like (which I do), the local perspective in the Gulf Daily News.

But why would I even care to share this with you? I am certainly not an MJ fan.

A lesson in cross-cultural relationships.

In the article, Shaikh Abdulla Khalifa (current king's son) is suing MJ over 7 million dollars. MJ claims that it was a gift and Shaikh Khalifa is claiming that it was an invenstment for MJ to begin a recording company (a project started a few years ago but never took off).

So what happened?

Most likely, Shaikh Abdulla said he was givng him a "gift". But anyone who has lived in the Arab world knows that this isn't just a free gift. Many times, if a gift is given, there is something expected in return - maybe a service or a possible future MJ, it seems, wasn't making sure that he understood not only what Shaikh Khalifa said but also what Skaikh Khalifa meant.

It's also possible that our friend MJ decided what he wanted to hear.

So anyway, that's your cultural lesson for the day.