Manama: Saudis have applauded a husband for publicly gifting his wife with a car on her graduation from college.
The elated husband adorned the new car with a congratulations message and drove it to the Northern Borders University to pick up his wife, telling her it was his gift for her.
The public gift to the wife in a highly conservative area prompted Saudis to start a hashtag to pay tribute to the compassion between the spouses and to have an online conversation among social media users, local news site Ain Al Youm reported on Thursday.
“There is no limit to the support a wife can get from her husband,” one tweet said. “Celebrating graduation together is a health indication of the love between them.”
Khalid Al Sebai lauded the husband for the simple, but highly meaningful gesture.
“God will always bestow blessings on anyone who puts a smile on another person’s face,” he posted.
Abdul Rahman said people should not mock the value of the gift.
“God bless their marriage and no-one should think that the car is not expensive enough for the occasion,” he wrote. “These are his financial means and he should be praised all the way for publicly displaying his emotions.”
Nada Al Sadeeri praised the man’s positive attitude.
“He is full of self-confidence and he is genuinely generous,” she said. “He knows that the success of his wife is also his success. May God bless them and keep them happy with each other.”
Ajmal said that she looked forward to more husbands showing their support in public.
“We hope more men will be as daring as he was and show their affection in public,” she said.
For Bint Qahtan, the gesture is a powerful symbol of loyalty.
“I sincerely hope more husbands will be as open as he was,” she said.
Those who opposed the gesture said the husband was “coerced” into presenting the car gift to his wife or he was “merely showing off.”
“I have the deep conviction that any Saudi who tries to please and satisfy his wife is simply playing up to her because of her oppression,” Fanun said.
Reemy said she was shocked by the husband’s attitude.
“Total silliness! If he were my husband, I would ask him to offer me a great gift and tickets to travel to Europe,” she said.
Hamed said the husband was acting like an adolescent.
“The fact that you love your wife does not mean you behave like a teenager, paint writing on the new car just to draw attention to yourself,” he posted.
Al Gahdeer said she had doubts about the whole matter.
“I am sure she had planned it all and she forced him to do what he did,” she said.
