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Syria's youth flaunt new wealth
By an IWPR-trained reporter
Under the arcade of the fancy Four Seasons hotel in Damascus, Anas Mashafej
gazes at the windows of Aishti, an up-market clothing shop that sells designer
brands such as Armani and Roberto Cavalli.
A bright - and expensive - shirt attracts the attention of the 22-year-old
college student. After some hesitation, he decides to buy it and postpone
buying other items he needs.
"The general atmosphere at college encourages wearing well-known brands," he
said. "Most students brag about their designer acquisitions."
Close to Aishti, in the exclusive Damascus neighborhood of Chaalan, the streets
throng with Western-style cafes and
restaurants, like Segafredo and Costa, stylish shops and private banks.
The development of such areas, which are frequented by a small emerging class
of well-off Syrians, epitomizes the economic transformation of Syria in recent
years.
In 2005, Syrian officials proclaimed that the country was moving towards a more
market-oriented economy by encouraging competition and that the Syrian market
was opening to foreign goods and services.
This change gave rise to a class of Syrian youth, mainly the children of rich
businessmen and officials, who increasingly adopt Western lifestyles.
Azzam Jamil, 26, helps his father at his printing company. He is part of the
new wave of Syrian youth who drink filtered coffee at trendy cafes while
checking their e-mail on laptops or making travel plans with their friends.
Jamil, who wears torn jeans and a T-shirt with an image of a skull on it and
has dyed blond hair, said, "I don’t feel awkward dressing this way. All my
friends dress the same ... This is how I express myself."
Kids like Jamil attend private universities and spend their free time in the
new malls of Damascus, using restaurants like KFC and Hardee's as well as an
array of amusement centers, modern cinema theatres, and parking lots where they
can show off their expensive cars.
Most of the posh spots are in Kafarsousa, where real estate agents say that
homes can cost up to US$2 million. Other hot spots reflecting the craze for
modern lifestyles include spas, tennis courts, gymnasiums and nightclubs.
Recently, a group of young rich Syrians started a club to play American
football, considered an exclusive sport in Syria.
Damascus has also witnessed in the past few years the opening of large
supermarkets that sell expensive foreign goods and exotic fruits.
Observers note that in parallel to the new islands of wealth, the
liberalization of the economy has brought with it a starker contrast between
the standards of living of the rich and the poor, in a country that once prided
itself on having social equality and a solid welfare system.
In contrast to the new luxurious suburbs, there are more slums around the city,
said Ahmad Nokrosh, a Damascus-based economic expert.
"Liberalization of the economy has impinged on the social reality in the
country," he said, adding that basic services provided by the state, such as
education, transport and health, are getting worse at the expense of a
flourishing private sector that caters to the moneyed classes.
He said that even hospitals now have advanced sections reserved for wealthier
patients.
Zaher Mansour, a 24-year-old law student who makes his living working as a
waiter in the trendy Lina's cafe, said that the preoccupations of rich young
Syrians were very different from those of the rest of Syrian youth.
"This place feels like Europe, as if you are somewhere in London or Rome," said
Mansour, who comes from a modest background, adding that the price of a cup of
coffee is almost equivalent to what he earns in a day.
Wealthy youngsters speak about the latest fashion in clothes or new
mobile-phone models while the likes of him worry about inflation, the
increasing price of diesel, or building an additional room onto the house to
accommodate a brother who is getting married, he says.
(This article originally appeared in Institute for
War and Peace Reporting. Used with permission.)
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