The rain in Bahrain falls mainly on Manama - as in Panama

I'VE been surfing around YouTube to find that classic "Not The Nine 'O Clock News" sketch where Pamela Stephenson takes the rip out of the newscaster Jan Leeming.

Reading the news in a shrill, plum Queen's English accent, she develops a deep, growling African intonation when pronouncing the names "Zimbabwe", "Robert Mugabe" and "Joshua Nkomo". 

Bizarrely, that comic sketch came to mind yesterday when watching on TV the violence taking place in Bahrain, the Gulf state where I worked some 20 years ago.

Even though the memories have dimmed, I've got a soft spot for the island where I spent a thoroughly enjoyable couple of years enjoying the continual sunshine, the new culture and meeting some amazingly warm and friendly people.

I lived in an apartment near the port of Mina Sulman where all the American and British Navy destroyers were docked.

I shared a swimming pool, and the top floor apartment enjoyed a fabulous view over the coastline. The one downside was that the apartment was right next to a mosque, and every morning, between 5am and 6am, I would be awoken by the call to prayer over a tinny loudspeaker which reverberated around the area.

Bahrain was a wonderful place to live. A former British protectorate, the then Emir of Bahrain, Sheikh Isa bin Sulman Al Khalifa, seemed to have a soft spot for the Brits.

The sheikh's beach, tucked away on the western edge of the island and next to the Emir's palace, was a popular haunt for the British expats, particularly Gulf Air stewardesses. It was here, on a Friday, when the Emir was known to wander along the beach and occasionally invite expats back to the palace for tea. Sadly, I never got an invite.

Life working in Bahrain for the English language Gulf Daily News was an amazing experience. From a journalism point of view, I learned all about cul-de-sac reporting - frequently you would come up against Government roadblocks stopping a story in its tracks. It could sometimes take well over a week to write up the simplest of stories because getting hold of the right people was often very tricky. The skill was to back out of these journalistic cul-de-sacs to source the information from elsewhere.

The newspaper was also subject to censors and the beady eyes of the Ministry of Information. Frequently we reported that such and such a minister had held talks with such and such a minister from some such and such a foreign land where they always discussed matters of mutual interest and bilateral relations. Substance and detail was never a strong point of Government news agency releases.

As a young guy in my 20s, Bahrain was a fantastic place to live. I would spend time off at the expat Dilmun Club or the Sheikh's beach.

Licensing laws were very relaxed in Bahrain, and every Thursday evening the Saudis would flock over the Causeway from the mainland to head for the hotels and get bladdered. The Saudis were reckless drivers and every Thursday and Friday evening there were smashes on the roads, which made great news stories.

For the first time in my life, I mixed, learned and understood other cultures. Having spent the first part of my life in this four square Anglo Saxon box based on the morals and values of my Christian upbringing, these were challenged strongly in Bahrain by mixing with people of other faiths and backgrounds; not just from the Middle East and the Gulf, but from across Asia too. Bahrain was a cultural melting pot. Those couple of years challenged my beliefs and perceptions enormously.

Pint-size Sheikh Isa died in 1999 to be succeeded by his son, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, a new constitution for the island state was approved in 2002 and later that year the first elections were held.

Following the turbulence in Tunisia and Egypt, Bahrainis are now staging their own revolution against the Government, where the disaffected Shia Muslim majority have been calling for the overthrow of the Sunni Muslim royal family.

It has been interesting watching television pictures of the protests in Bahrain. I don't know what or where Pearl Square is. The place where the protests are being staged used to be a busy roundabout when I was in Bahrain, nestling close to an expanse of land by the sea, which has since been built up to include hotels and office blocks.

But returning to the opening theme about pronunciation, and the Pamela Anderson sketch. Why has the BBC and broadcasters started to pronounce the capital Manama as you would banana, when to the locals it is pronounced Manama as in Panama?

Bahrain has changed greatly since my time there. I watch with interest events in this tiny Gulf state, small in size, big in heart and with a wonderful people.