I am on a flight going to Syria. I think a lot of Arab people enjoy being miserable. Some of them wear countenances red with hot tempers and scuffle-ready testosterone boiling under their eyebrows.

It must be the stress of our times in the Middle East; I have it really easy in Brunei and in America. I bet I don’t understand the grievances of my people here. I am not sure if it is an Arab thing or if we wear on our shoulders a model brain designed to overheat and explode with minimal provocation. Something about us keeps us downtrodden and distrustful of progressive thinking and new common values. I am referring to ideals such as smart work not hard work and integration versus self-sustenance and pluralism versus secularism.

The world is embracing diversity seamlessly and the divide is widening because we are getting more distraught with our love of self versus and progressing ourselves versus standing in line and doing things the right way. Will we ever catch up? There are no shortcuts to success; we must accept honesty, fairness, and common civility. I am starting a revolution with myself.