Tuesday, May 8, 2012

How racist we are Kuwait..


KUWAIT TIMES:

How racist we are! For 50 years they are working with us and shared building our state and we never told them thank you. Half a century, and most of them wasted their youth working. They go to work in the morning the benefit of which, regardless of its size, goes in the end to the circle of the country growth. They got married here and brought up their children here. Even their children thought that they are Kuwaitis and they in fact are Kuwaitis by birth. We would not have made these great jumps during the past 50 years without them having come to our country and shared with us building, founding and construction.
For 50 years, and they are in all government organizations as well as the private sector. Engineers, doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, laborers, mechanics, university professors, teachers, typists, builders, contractors, salesmen for fruits, vegetables and clothing, technicians and consultants, even singers and saleswomen at “Souq Wajef”.
For 50 years they suffered what we have suffered and maybe more.
When the Government woke up one day and wanted to amend the population structure, it did not hammer the hands of residency traders but went straight to the expatriates and put conditions on them and on their residency, and imposed medical insurance on them. Even the insurance is of no use.
In order for one of them to live with his wife and three children, he has to bear their medical insurance and the cost of their residence which exceeds his minimum wage, although there are no limited wages for Kuwaitis and they are never limited for one day.
The Government put make-up on the eyes of the population structure, and blinded the eyes of the expatriates, who carry the full responsibility for all the mistakes of the population structure since 1980 until now.
If the government instead hammered the hands of residency traders, as it has hammered expatriates with decisions that have made the country like a nation of expatriate bachelors.
For 50 years expatriates have come and gone. They build and construct and share the work and building with us, and the general public of citizens has no idea about them except that they came looking for a dinar —as if the citizen is an angel coming from heaven and doesn’t eat or drink or look for a dinar. Didn’t we make a big fuss and our last National Assembly was dissolved over KD 50?
When we look at expatriates we say they came to eat our food and take our jobs. In spite of our Constitution guaranteeing us education and health and employment, they are those who can hardly find a job to make enough money to live until the end of the month.
For 50 years most of them heard this sentence “I am Kuwaiti…you are an expatriate…this is my country.” Racial breath. We forget that the one with the red flag in the road doing repairs for our safety and warning of dangers is an expatriate standing in the middle of the day in the sun, while we enjoy our air conditioned cars.
We forget who taught us – expats, and who started our art movement – expats, and who founded our media – expats, and who treated us – expats, and who built the high rise buildings – expats.
For 50 years, and we find it too much to tell them ‘thank you’ from the heart, thanks to every expatriate who lived in this country or who came to it, even if he did nothing except put a nail in a placard at the side of a dark road.
By Thaar Al-Rashidi
Note: This article was published on 20th August 2008 in Al-Anbaa and the author repeats it for two reasons. First it is due and still valid for publishing. The second is that it has been published lately in the social media claimed to be by a Saudi writer named Saud Al-Baqmi.

8 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 08, 2012

    Oh my God this is soooooooooo true!!!!!!!!!! :( But I have to say that not all Kuwaitis are like that, I know a few who are actually very kind.. But most of them really don't give a shit or dont RESPECT expats, especially the ones from third world countries. Its so sad since they are from a rich country.. You'd expect rich people to have a better education, better morals.. *sigh.

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    1. Hi Honey, it is refreshing that a Kuwaiti acknowledges this is something that should be addressed. I, too, have many Kuwaiti friends and family whom I adore. However there are some that are not well educated or well travelled, downright ignorant and arrogant. Many times I feel more patriotic to Kuwait than they 'claim' to be. Narcissism is my personal diagnosis for them.

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  2. AnonymousMay 08, 2012

    Being an expat myself, I was really touched by this post..... Thank you...

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    1. Me too. Thank you Thaar Al Rashidi of Kuwait Times.

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  3. this is so true! they are rich in money that is why they have given a boring country, to balance it out. I just hope that the next generations of Kuwaitis are going to be good and not just spoiled brats

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    1. Money does that :O(
      Kuwait's not so boring lots stuff going on.. don't you read my blog ;O)
      I'm seeing more Kuwaiti people getting socially aware now and more concerned with the many issues that irk us all.

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  4. AnonymousMay 13, 2012

    Wow, we have all the expats that are not even thinking the jobless kuwaitis. I can hear them say " Hell with them, I will support Alrashidi and I guarantee myself employed in Kuwait and will block the kuwaities to get a job."" Its not the Kuwaities who are selfish, you the expats are the selfish. Your job security doesnt extended from your great grandfather to your father to your sons to your grandsons and on on . Kuwaities has the right to live too, or not?

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    1. Expats are invited here to work under Kuwaiti sponsorship. Your gripe should be with the Kuwaiti employers. I would be very delighted if Kuwaitis were to replace the foreign work force and be as productive as the foreigners are.

      A fine example would be Bahrain where you find hotel porters, doormen, cleaners, waiters, shop assistants, etc are Bahrainis. I just can't imagine Kuwaitis filling these jobs here in Kuwait can you?

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Always great to hear from you :O)