Odd Peoples’ Greetings

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Different nationals of different nations and countries have different and, sometimes peculiar way of greetings. In most Western countries, people greet each other with the words close to “hello, how do you do, salute, how are you” etc. in their respective native tongues. In most Muslim, it is peace be upon you.

In the case of Somalia, there are two questions that play important roles: “War ma nabadbaa and War maxaa sheegtay” (is there peace and what is the news?).
In Malaysia, people is reportedly greet each other with the question “Did you eat today?”
In the cases of Somalia and Malaysia, perhaps there is a historical background to validate the use of these expressions.
However, in Somalia’s situation, foreigners accuse Somalis of having no culture of secrecy since their daily greetings start with debriefing each other of any news, rumours and all sorts of conspiracy theories. Some foreigners stretch this claim to the extent that Somalis cannot handle state secrets and therefore are unable to govern themselves in modern statecraft.

Other foreigners argue that the secrecy of the Somalis lies in not having secrets at all.

Whoever says what about them, Somalis will always remain true to themselves.
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Published by warsame digital media

About the blogger: This blog is associated with the former Chief of Staff in Puntland State Presidency, 1998-2004. He also worked with the UN and World Bank Joint Secretariat for Somalia’s Re-construction and Development Program (RDP), 2005-2006, as a Zonal Technical Coordinator for Puntland and later as National Aid Technical Coordinator with the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and European Union. He is now an independent political analyst and commentator on current issues and occasionally gives historical perspective on modern Somalia’s politics. He lives and works in Toronto, Canada. He can be reached at: ismailwarsame@gmail.com

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