Fatin Mohammed Hussain

Makkah newspaper THE royal decrees issued on Saturday Jan. 6 played a big role in spreading joy among citizens throughout the country as the decrees carried a number of financial glad tidings. They included the payment of an annual allowance to government employees and a cost of living allowance to civilian and military officers, retired civil servants and beneficiaries of social security schemes, and an increase student allowances for a year. The decrees also exempted health and education services and the first house of an individual from the value-added tax (VAT). This royal bonanza comes a few days after the application of VAT and hike in the prices of electricity, gas, fuel and some foodstuffs. It highlights the Saudi leadership's concern toward citizens and its desire to alleviate their economic difficulties. The move was in tune with the ongoing economic reforms being introduced by the government under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense. It should be noted that these benefits are offered by the government for a year. Perhaps it is a year of transition to austerity, which demands control of individual behavior and rationalization of the consumption patterns. Above all we need to have flexibility to change ourselves and adopt a new economic order. We lived through economic booms that pushed us to extravagance and wastage in almost everything, starting from family matters, in terms of changing furniture and other luxuries every now and then, to food and drinks. The Prophet (peace be upon him) has said: The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for him to eat a few morsels to keep him alive. If he must fill it, then he should allot one-third of his stomach for food, one-third for water, and one-third for air. We should know that as a result of ignoring this advice of the Prophet, we suffer from overweight, obesity, diabetes, stress, heart diseases and other ailments. The number of new diabetes cases reached more than 150,000 annually and about 30 percent of the Saudi population including children have been hit by this condition. Excessive consumption of sweets, soft drinks and canned juices has played a big role in increasing the number of diabetics in the country. People spend huge amounts of money on treatment of obesity through surgical operations. Moreover, the government spends billions of riyals each year for treating life