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Expats

What I realized today (its probably a generalization but still) is that before the invasion the people who came to work in Kuwait liked living in Kuwait. Today most of the people who come to work in Kuwait really don’t like living here.

61 replies on “Expats”

Your right mark because back then no american army in the country to defend it from foreign invasion.since the presence of foreign troops a lot of money goes to their deployment and a lot of kuwaitis want to segregate everything from the expats. its like segregation of whites from black in america back in the 19th and 20th century.in kuwait it is the segregation of expats and kuwaitis.

I kinda agree on the social part, but let’s keep in mind that pre-invasion expats and pre-invasion Kuwaitis are different.

We (Kuwaiti’s) were a lot friendlier and more open minded. Also you’d rarely see someone with the copyright “I HATE this life” face you see now on the road or any place.

Also the expats were mostly made of family’s and not bachelors. Honestly it’s not healthy to have like 1.5 million bachelors running around the country.

If people don’t like living here, then maybe they should leave and go work in another country.

a lot of ppl come here selling off possessions etc in the hopes of making it big… they are promised a lotta shit… but when they arrive … all they get is a lousy 200kd salary which is not even given on time… oh and 200 isnt the least amount… i know some ppl who make 70kd a month… i wonder if all the expats left… will kuwaitis clean the streets and the gutters and all the other “we are kuwaitis we wont do these disgusting jobs” jobs??? oh and get paid 70kd a month…

it because kuwaitis got really disappointed that most the arabs were against us thats why most q80 hate Palestinians and other expats that were with saddam

Kuwait is becoming overcrowded and most of the so-called expats are Bangalis and Egyptian “Saidi’s” in Khaitan and Hawali, hardly a quality international population. They should deport the lot of them.

the invasion indeed affected us socially and even mentally, don’t expect us to be the same people that were before a 7 months period full of every kind of terrorism

MhM: i’d like to correct one thing in your statement “… Palestinians and other expats that ARE STILL with saddam”

I dunno, over the past 15 years in Kuwait I met very very very few people who liked it there. At least among the Europeans my family or I knew. Money was genereally quoted as the only reason for being there.

I was always looked upon as weird for liking Kuwait, and even now when I say I miss it ppl think Im odd.

what’s even more pathetic is ppl that blame the invasion for how kuwait is now. christ get over it ppl it happened ages ago.

fucking hell other REAL war torn countries have gotten over their wounds and moved on, or are actively trying to move on while the shit is still around them.

i was in kuwait during the invasion and yeah it was horrible and i saw loads of death and destruction and lost ppl i know to it but i am mature enough to be able to put it past me. grow the fuck up and grow a pair.

compared to other places the invasion was a joke walk in the park, it was only 7 months and just got really rough in the last month when the airstrikes began and the power and water went out.

holla it isnt that simple.. a lot of people lost family, children, brothers, sisters, and others during the gulf war so it isnt that easy to let go. Until you loose your own son then you wouldnt know how a mother feels, so please dont belittle somebody else’s feelings.

You werent in the resistance so you didnt see what the Iraqies did, I have family who were in the resistance and the Iraqies were cruel, inhumane, and ruthless. So if you stayed home and safe its because of those who fought..

again holla underminds everything that happened to kuwait. I’m really confused if you don’t like a place why work in it, if its soo bad leave. Must be some attraction to Kuwait hmm .. ohh yah the money they keep getting. I think Kuwait has given to a lot of people lets not loose sight of that. no matter how bad it gets in kuwait people keep rushing to get here paying 1000 kd for a work visa. they really must hate living here.

didn’t you get used to holla’s comments whenever i see holla’s comments just skip it, i dont know if he is trying to be funny or he really think that way

I have noticed this too. I was born and raised in kuwait, but then I left. Back then, the kuwaitis were friendly and the expats consisted of families. When I came to visit this summer, I saw things differently. The kuwaitis had rods up their asses, and the expats consisted of only bachelors running around. Not a good thing for the country. Kuwait seemed like a happy place earlier…now it is just weird.

Back then there was no competition around! No Dubai, No Beirut, No Bahrain in terms of entertainment and quality of life. Kuwait now has more crime, more traffic, more corruption and a downfalling society where everywhere else is on the rise.

mocman…i know chinese laborers who built that new kuwaiti housing village(dont know what they are really called) who earner 20 dinars a month. The garbage cleaners make 40 dinars, and are sometimes not paid for upto 3 months.

I don’t know, but we were Young in the 80’s and all i can remember is school..cool cartoons..toys r us..shaleeh..testy fast foods..High quality chocolate..playing !

Now we are all grown ups who work and get in touch with different kind of Ppl. Going to Govremment places FULL OF BADOs and you must say the password ” jayek men 6araf.. ” or your 15 minute work will tend to be a week of HELL !

Ppl in the 80’s were more Serious about doing thier Job right, Now the BADOs control every inch of the contry…so its ok to break every law ,and to take a bribe if you are one of them cause both the govremment and parliament PROTECT them cause its full of racist BADOs.

People can’t just forget about the invasion. How can we forget about it when society has made it taboo to even talk about our feelings? Here’s what I mean:

Kuwaitis, after the invasion, have been succumbing to retail therapy and food therapy for years. If they’re depressed, they don’t talk about it, they just shop their problems away. If they’re depressed and angry, they don’t talk about it, but they eat their problems away.

All these malls and restaurants here in Kuwait is a wonderful distraction to the real problem.

“Laaa, you can’t talk about your feelings. 3ayb, what if people start talking and think you’re crazy and start talking about our family? La, 3ayb, your father worked too hard for everybody to think that we’re crazy. 3ayb, here’s a sandwich from McDonald’s, did that help your worries?. Good.”

I think it’s high time people talked about the invasion because people are still hurting. You can tell the pain in their voices just by talking to them, looking at them, hell even observing their body language.

Before the invasion, people were happy, you know why? Because Kuwaitis didn’t have to look behind their backs to see who was coming after them.

There were over 400,000 Palestinians living in Kuwait. Most of them were living better lives than most Kuwaitis themselves. When Saddam invades, those Palestinians stab the Kuwaitis in the back by supporting Saddam. We had alot of international help, but alot of Arabs still were against us.

There has been a change of behavior. There’s a reason for this change in behavior. It’s hard for Kuwaitis to trust other people. They have one eye looking forward, and one looking backward, just in case, because no one wants history to repeat itself

Think about the things I bitch about – bad driving, bad manners, over-priced everything, no parking spaces, the flithiest beaches I’ve seen in the world. These are all such small things – they don’t make Kuwait a bad place to live. Even since I first arrived in 1997, Kuwait has improved enormously in terms of it’s environmental look & feel, particularly along the coastal areas – I mean, look at Fahaheel now, people actually CHOOSE to go there!

However, where advances haven’t been made are for those expats who – as some people mentioned – are promised the earth and sell their posessions to pay an *agent* to bring them here. Then they earn 40KD (I think that’s the KNPC forecourt attendant salary) – IF they are paid at all.

For me, cash makes the place bearable, but it’s all comparative. Yes, if I could have the same standard of living in London – I’d be in London! But I can’t, and I’m not. For most of us, whether we’re Lebanese, Indian, French or American we are – for the most part – priviliged to live in Kuwait. We know that deep down, and we only bitch about Kuwait because EVERYONE in the world bitches about where they live in some way. For the labour classes however… I guess we’d need to ask them exactly what they feel about the place.

Salam,

Well, before the war there was no rashwa and no fasad. And I remember when Kuwait was the pearl of the khaleej, back then there was no Dubai or Qatar, there was only Kuwait.
The war has left a social scar that would need healing and attending to.
I have yet to see a serious a ttempt to heal this wound.
Inshallah khir, I think Kuwait can bounce back to be #1 again.

Peace

marzouq, i HAVE lost family to the invasion, my cousins and my grandmother. i know how it fucking feels and it was bad. but guess what, i don’t wallow in my own misery. I am prob more negative than any person i know but somehow i have enough of a brain to get over pain and loss bc everybody HAS to.

someone, again you have no clue about wtf ppl go through. i have tried to GTFO of kuwait multiple times but unfortunately things didn’t work out and i am back here not bc i want to but bc i have no where to go. i am going to keep trying though but in the meanwhile i have the full right to bitch and moan about the place i am in and if you don’t like it then GTFO and don’t listen to my comments.

maybe in your happy dreamland where there are no immigration laws can u just hop between countries happily and collect coins like mario or whatever.

kuwaitis are so fuckign clueless about the world around them, they are jsut like the dumb americans they make fun of. they think everybody comes to kuwait for the money and it’s so cool here if you don’t like it GTFO baby USA…i mean KUWAIT 4 LIFE.

I think the government should sponsor the professionals and relieve the expats of the fear/anxiety of the so called Kuwaiti sponsor threatening to send you back home or being your ‘Owner’.

When there is no fear there is happiness
When you are happy that emits from you and gets to your family, friends and colleagues.
Let’s make it a happy place to live.

Many educated Kuwaitis are so well mannered, you automatically respect them.

The only thing I can complain about Kuwait is some of them are so bad, Once I was driving with my full term pregnant wife near Dasman palace I saw one BMW approaching in speed with flashing headlights, I was cautious (of my wife’s situation) and slowly gave way to him, by that time he was so near to my bumper, only inches apart.
This guy drove to front and suddenly applied brake and starts taking reverse in high speed. We got really scared. Then he stopped and got out of his costly new BMW wearing that black mesh like apparel with golden border over his ‘distasha’. He came to my window and started yelling I said ‘ana asif’ I am sorry again and again. He was trying to open the door which was closed from inside luckily. Finally he spat on the window and left. If the window was not closed he would have spat on my face.

That incident never goes from the mind even after meeting so many good pious Kuwaitis.

Overall Kuwait is good as long as you have a satisfying job.

holla Funny I thought this was an opinion and I was free to state it like you. Thanks for the insults, And thank you for you insights in the Kuwaiti culture you must be an expert in Kuwait history. keep up the good work.
mark please add a section in your forum for holla to Exercise his right “bitch and moan” about kuwait and to insult every thing about kuwait. 🙂

This is my last few days here(was here for 2 yrs).
Glad to be going back home but will miss Kuwait and have some good memories.

Like you Mark, my parents also lived here for over 32 years and have only left recently. For now, I’m continuing the legacy with my wife here as Kuwait feels more like home to me than Pakistan.

Perhaps I also enjoyed living here more pre-invasion but that might be attributed to the fact that pre-invasion my main worries were what cartoons were showing, the latest toy at Kids R Us and perhaps some homework (as someone has already pointed out).

Even then I recall my father’s frustrations at times when he had to deal with govt. officials and now I face something similar. However, I have noticed some improvements in attitude in these circles as well and have pointed these out on my blog as well.

Bottom line, I still enjoy living here and the money isn’t the only factor that makes me stay (I could probably make a lot more in the West and make something very comparative in Pakistan as well… IT and Telecom are booming there like never before). Other benefits for me are a comfortable easy going life, being closer to my home country and relatives, and access to a certain standard of living.

Yikes! Reply got too long.

Wow, guys…Just can’t tell you how impressed at all the GTFO attittude in above responses. Why, oh why is this such a strong reaction amongst Kuwaitis? Grow up, get educated and open discussions with your fellow man!!!

Rejoy: You have my sympathies over what happened to you. I can’t just imagine how scary that experience must have been. It gave me the shivers just reading about it!…That guy will surely get what he deserves, both in this life and in the Hereafter.

My heart goes out to the mistreated and abused labour workers in this country. We have labourers working for the Company who earn 40 KD here also. They always have a smile though. May Allah bless them.

Also, Allah y’sameh all the BADO responsible for the Wasta syndrome and their lack of conscience. I wish the government would send them to justice and human rights school. (I know, I know, that sounds ridiculous!)

If you don’t like Kuwait, Get out of Kuwait. I personally liked the people and weather in Kuwait but preferred life in Dubai.
Dubai has a mix of good and bad and if you learn your way around you can live a life beyond your expectations.
I lived in Kuwait for 3 years, I only miss the friends I had there.Life was tough and it is very hard for a new expat to get used to it
Since I returned to Dubai, I have spent every weekend with someone coming over from Kuwait and i spent most of my free time on Kuwait blogs. I don’t even know if there are bloggers in Dubai.

I would never move back to Dubai again.

Pre-2002 it was easily the best place in the middle east to live and work. Now it’s a dirty, over polluted rat hole filled with crooks, local mafias and hookers.

If Kuwait liberalized (controlled alcohol, tourism, freedom of choice) whilst stilll RETAINING its identity – it would easily take the crown of best place to live in the middle east.

didn’t get to read everthing. But wanna post, real quick. My parents believe that Kuwait is better for coupled life. Couples hang out with couples, and their kids hang out with their kids. Eeeeverybody”s happy. (family-wise) I loved it as a kid too. But ya, single ppl tend to find it harder….

This is some funny shit.

Holla and Marzouq getting pissy with each other!

Holla, your a misguided young man. Ranting about dumb americans whilst comparing Q8ti society to American society and longing to be in America,

Marzouq, why do you feel the need to measure dicks with holla about whose family suffered and whose did not? Like he said, get over it. He’s right, your wrong!

I never understand why some people want to compare levels of suffering. Must be the lingering guilt from changing license plates.

down deep in my heart, i know Mark knew that posting such a controversial subject would blast out with all those comments.. and right now he’s eating popcorn and drinking soda and enjoying the drama 😛

actually i wasnt expecting anyone to reply. after i posted i came back to the post a few hours later to add my actual question because i expected no one to get the post and i found like 20 comments already. i guess its something everyone has noticed and thats why i didn’t need to elaborate more with my post.

very interesting subject,, i’m with holla that we should get over it and stop blaming the invasion

hating ppl is bcoz we kuwaities know that they are taking off our money (that’s one reason),, if only the gov investing inside the country not giving it to counties that their ppl hate us and stood against us during the invasion,, kuwait then would definitely be a better place.

with the scary growing of the population and kuwait is still the same from the 70’s, we don’t want more ppl to come here,, have u seen the streets? hospitals? water and electricity consumption? all those problems and the gov’s still not moving toward correcting this situation and not thinking about the critical problems we’ll face in the near future.

and in order to make a kuwaiti respect a foreigner,, THE law should be respected and applied to ALL,, for a simple example; a small car accident between a kuwiati and non-kuwaiti, simply the police man will stand in the kuwiati’s side,, when a small fight in the street,, maids in houses,, let a non-kuwiati go to a police station and see how they’ll treat him! the problem is kuwait itself and the kuwaities (that’s a second reason that the law is not respected)

it is a controversial subject indeed,,

btw, i laugh when holla said: (collect coins like mario)
WaaaHaaaHaaaaa ““““`
lmao

lol anon actually i said that to make a point. ppl always criticize the US for their GTFO mentality, when in kuwait theses same ppl tell expats to GTFO not bc i hate america.

and me an marzouq are not in a pissing contest, he’s one of the few posters here which i actually respect their opinion. he jsut didn’t know that i had lost ppl during the invasion which i did.

i was 10 years old, my grandmother died from a lack of insulin bc there was no medical services. i lost 2 cousins who were in the resistance, they were executed. my uncle and his fam had to be smuggled out of kuwait bc he was a police chief and he would have been taken in. we were continously being harassed by the army bc our house was on a corner near the co op and it was a strategic location so they set up a station on our roof and we never heard the end of it. a house being bombed blew me off my bike when iw as riding near it and got messed up and couldn’t hear properly for a while, still have some shrapnel in my arm that fused with the flesh. but really who the fuck cares? i don’t bring it up 100x a day and blame on my problems in life on it.

yet somehow i found the time to fucking teach myself to ride a bike! and i played msx games in the basement and watched MC hammer videos and not be a fucking complete wreck. this is real life not some bullshit film where everybody is either depressed 24/7 or endlessly happy. you have to survive.

it’s called being a human fucking being with real changing feelings and emotions, something severly lacking in this shithole. yes i understand not everybody can be strong or whatever but the collective majority SHOULD be to be able to pull ppl forward.

Wow ! I just found this website by accident and didn’t expect to find such a variety of comments on Kuwait. I was one of the Asian expats born and brought up in Kuwait before the Gulf War. My parents and I haven’t been back in 16 years but, it wasn’t by choice. We still have fond memories of the country, even after living in the U.S., and elsewhere, all these years since leaving Kuwait. We’re grateful for the chance to have lived there for as long as we did. I actually feel a bit sad when I read about the bad reports/comments on Kuwait’s current situation. I agree with PALFORCE – Kuwait was the “pearl of the khaleej” and, like him/her, I hope to see the country restored to her original glory. Inshallah !

I really llike Q8. If it could be a little bit more open like Bahrain for example it would be great. If the Kuwaitis would put a bit more energy in there education instead buying mobile phones and other things this country would be number one in middle east…

Zack, Thank you.
Mark, now its a place for all, a place where all can share their stories. what matters to them.
Some time you may think that this or that subject doesnt matter to people much, but see how is the response to this one…
Keep up the good woork

Very touchy subject I guess, we’ve been a victim ourselves to the Iraqi invasion but don’t see kuwait or Kuwaitis a fault to it. The type of agony & torture we got while trying to escape via Iraq to Turkey is surely a nightmare in my life but I visited Kuwait (my birth land) in 2004 only & found Kuwaitis were much helpful and more educated (especially english) with new taxes on services that were free b4 which I think has worried expats. To my opinion expats come work & go for reasons complaining. If consistancy is maintained in residency less complains will be there. If Kuwait was not good enough than their native country why did they choose to go there. Remember there are nations which lack basic civic services and utilities are seen as only for high class. Cheer up Kuwait is for everyone.

My parents have been in Kuwait for the past 35 years.They love the place. It has given them,their families and children, a chance in life that perhaps they would not have had in their country.How ever for them life has changed post invasion. People have become mannerless and thoughtless and less appreciative. Now its all about the money, not the work or the quality of it.
My dad works in an oil brokerage firm owned by Kuwaitis. To give something back to their society,the company has an inhouse training program for Kuwaitis. Dad says there is a marked difference in attitudes now. Before invasion, Kuwaitis came to learn. They stuck around,worked hard and learnt well. They also had the basic knowledge required. Nowadays, they come in withou basic language or computer skills, quickly skim through,work for 6 months and with just enough to bulls**t somebody else, leave for bigger positions. Its an attitude change and its visible everywhere in Kuwait.
I know I used Kuwaitis as an example but thats applicable to all nationalities nowadays. Also problems lie in underappreciation. Agreed that the vast majority of expats are here for the money but they also fulfill services that the nationals cannot or will not do. The money earned does not compensate the emotional distress felt by somebody when treated badly.And that happens a lot more today.You earn a lot but you pay for evry fil through emotional stress and despair.
And for those that say GTFO, you’re saying that to a lot of people who are here out of sheer circumstances, who have a lot of obligations and responsibilities. Who have no choice.If they do complain, it is because there is a genuine problem.

People, nowhere in the world have I seen this GTFO attitude openly directed at expats except here from Gulf nationals…and amongst those, nowhere is it so marked as it is in Kuwait….(and yes, I have been around my more than fair share of countries).

To all those I’m talking about, you need to lose the arrogance! Manners and consideration doesn’t cost you a penny….

TAT: You’ve said it beautifully…Fully agree.

ZACK,

I think GTFO attitude toward FOREIGNERS does not belong only to the Gulf Nations. Do you think the Europeans are any better? And believe me, I’ve been there done that. And why not? It’s their country after all. We the foreigners are the guests here in Kuwait…if we don’t like it here, we can go.

I understand the need to “bitch and moan”, God knows I’ve had my share. In Europe, I quickly “GOT OVER” it because it was my choice to live there. Maybe it’s harder for those who have no choice but to stay in Kuwait. But tell you what…instead of blaming Kuwait and the Kuwaitis, why don’t we all look inside ourselves and search for the source of our unhappiness. If it’s because you can’t find a way out of the country, the problem is within you, not Kuwait or its people. Maybe you should try harder to live in another country. For me, if you can’t change it, live with it (or there’s another option: leave it).

Cheers!

That being said, I also agree that the majority of people here in Kuwait (not just the Kuwaitis) have bad manners. Seems like waiting in line is a foreign concept here. Blowing horns at every hour of the day, too lazy to flip the cellphone to call whoever it is they come to get or get off their butt and get in the house. Driving like mad max, in a hurry to go nowhere. (basically life here consist of work, home, friend’s house, restaurant, mall..and more malls) Have no patience to wait at all.

At first it was so annoying. But I quickly learn, if you speak up, they will listen too. Once my husband was waiting in line to get my civil ID, and this man behind man was literally breathing at his neck. He looked at me with that frustrated mixed with disgusted look. I told him to just tell the man to back off, “hello…personal space?”. And he did back off. Another example, this guy kept on blowing horn at 4 am in the morning. I opened the window and yelled “get off your butt already!” and he did.

So I think, if you speak up and let these people know that it’s not acceptable, they will stop. What still bugs me is the traffic and the way people drive here. It’s so dangerous, kids wear no seatbelt running back and forth in a car speeding at 120. Almost everyday I see accidents at the highway. Now, I do enjoy drinking alcohol whenever I’m abroad. But I don’t think it’s good for Kuwait to legalize alcohol. All this madness on the road happen without alcohol involved. I don’t want to imagine what would happen if it did.

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