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KD1,500 is proposed minimum wage

Members of Parliament have proposed increasing the minimum wage for Kuwaitis to KD1,500. According to Arabian Business that would be by far the highest in the world beating Luxembourg (which currently has the highest) by three times! That’s just mind-blowing. [Link]

155 replies on “KD1,500 is proposed minimum wage”

Well, if they increased our wages, then all life expenses will increase immediately. so what’s the point of increasing? is it to benefit retailers, real estate owners etc.?

explain to me the economics of it then. you and all the other +1s.

you cant because you dont even understand economics.

im not the one trying to divulge into economics when i dont understand it. i could attempt to explain it to you, but it would be a waste of both of our times because i dont know how to dumb things down to your level.

Sell oil > get dollar > give more dollar to citizens > Citizen then goes shopping > Demand Increases > Prices Go Up > Hermes, Gucci and Porsche get the dollar.

Or government sells oil > government gives all citizens 1000 KD each that is $3,000,000,000

The cycle goes on, purchasing power decreases, the consumer society becomes more obese and less productive.

Alternatively the government could have spent that money on :

-Build a metro line

-Instigate a Kuwait based space program.

– Build a Kuwaiti Silicon Valley

– Instigate a high-tech driven economy, that could maybe one day think about competing with high-tech giant nations like USA, Singapore or Israel ( a country with 0 natural resources but produces most high tech in the world per capita)

-Improve university

– improving infrastructure, i’ve seen better roads in poorer countries like Syria.

– Start an environmental campaign, teach locals not to litter.

or would you rather just buy Gucci, Cartier, Hermes and fund international fast food chains?

Barter with the retailers. Take down their name as traitors to the future of Kuwait. This is a desert with limited resources. We are parasites on this land until we consume it all. Then there will be nothing to sustain our appetite but the leeches we can rally against.

Well, they could go socialist and set price ceilings. Or better yet pit taxes and still raise the salaries but the taxes are returned with other benefits indirectly.

Also I think they understand the economics but are too lazy to thinkbit anything else. Take down their names as well. They could be traitors.

Actually the life expenses are increasing based on these announcements on their own! So without realizing any real incrementation, everything is going up based on these news. its f’ed up.

Can they increase the salaries of expatriates as well? ๐Ÿ™‚

The article goes on to say that they will be stopping the employment of foreigners in the public sector. How many times have we heard this before!

Please, let them do it. Let them fire all the expats from the Health & IT department atleast. Then watch Kuwait turning into the world’s poorest/lowest economy.

I see you have been spoon fed anti Kuwaiti propaganda.

Maybe it’s a bit of humility and not advertising their accomplishements that outs them on your radar to possibly envy instead of appreciate.

I am not going to bother trying to understand a persons negativity. It’s simply irrational when they generalize.

And it seems you’ve been spoon fed some bs as well if you believe for one second that kuwaitis can run the country by the themselves. And this is coming from a kuwaiti before you tell me to gtfo.

Adam, you have my permission to get out… negativity is a burden. Nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it, no matter how cheesy that sounds its true ๐Ÿ™‚

As for the proposal, its kind of useless since with the rise of minimum wage the price tag on everything else will go up. Keep it as it is. Al7amdallah all of us Kuwaitis have what we need.

Kuwait is meant to have strict policy on nationalities. So someone who lacks any nationalism, and does not appear as a national will also create more negativity towards yourself.

You day you ate Kuwaiti. So are the drivers of important people. However, that driver doesn’t know important or successful people to know the capabilities of others. He lacks a network of friends, knowledge and his expertise is driving. So I am going to assume you have all 3 areas covered to take your absolute word for it as if you were the word of god. However, since you are negative and only soeaking of doubt it would be the opposite. Again, it’s because you did not make a constructive criticism and only generalized. And the royal family is Kuwaiti, and you indirectly could be talking about them. So again generalizing is not good. It distracts from having a useful discussion.

I would love to see the nationals of this country clean the streets on a hot sunny day in the months of June, July and August.

They wouldn’t need to. Put fines for those that litter.

And then the only cleaning would be for dust, which they can use machines for.

I would like to steps towards this. I am not ignoring the point you are making, but there are many thankful for the manual labors other do. Others show it by being kind, generous, and even hard working. These people exist.

I am sorry but i disagree. Fining those who will litter?? are you serious. When there will be no expatriates so whom are you going to fine. The Kuwaitis!! Who get everything waived off in this country. Even the fines will get waived off through wasta. And what machines are you talking about. Will you ride one of those machines in the hot summer.

Some only have a highschool degree! that’s crazy!

I remember when they put profiles of all the members on the paper, it included education levels.

Certain areas constantly vote in PhDs and doctors and others constantly vote in people who didn’t finish highschool. You can’t bring this up because it’s “Racism”

by increasing the wages they are just bringing the value of Kuwaiti Dinars down.its ridiculous,it has already fallen so much since the new ruler.

our currency is linked to a basket of foreign currencies mainly, EUR, GBP, JPY and USD. the stronger they are the strong KWD will get. Since our amir has ruled these currencies have weakened, which equates to KWD weakening, our currency nearly no link to inflation.

as long as the country is pumping oil and is selling more dollars than it buys, KWD will not fall.

here we go, paying 6 secretaries each the salary of a fresh graduate Doctor in the UK. Plus, you know that one of those secretaries can do the job of all 6.

I do not know about Kuwait, but in my country Member of Parliaments earn more than 1500 through various sources ๐Ÿ˜‰ !

I was watching a documentary on Karachi and one of the party heads leads his political party from his house in London. Hmmm

we are a nation that continuously travels, and our currency is the strongest in the world, i say increase our minimum wage and lets enjoy more travels ๐Ÿ™‚

Maybe also have medical check ups upon arrival. Lots of STDs out there. I have a very anti- STD approach to people when they foolishly contract diseases ‘in the moment’. They should know what they are doing as adults.

In fact any Kuwaiti that gets an STD abroad loses their citizenship.

Well lets hope you never get elected for anything. You are as stupid as they come. What right do you have to tell someone they should lose a job or citizenship through contracting an std?

Crawl back in your hole please

As dumb as you defending peoples right to get STDs. You are still a foolish child. Maybe you don’t want to be outcasted for having an STD. Women stay from Adam, he has an STD, and he thinks it’s alright.

Im dumb and yet you think STD’s are limited to sex? Do you not know that you can get them even from a restaurant not cleaning their glasses properly?

Also, I am not defending the right to get STD’s, I am defending people’s right to live freely and without fear of judgement and discrimination.

This I believe is a concept that is foreign to you. So again, please crawl back into your hole.

Are the current salaries less than that?

I haven’t come across a Kuwaiti permanent employee who earns less than 1500

Yes. I have relatives without uni degrees that earn very little. However, if I could I would be their parent and smack them until they got a degree. Some people need to be raised by the slipper. They are stubborn.

Private or public? Because private starting salary for Kuwaitis (no experience) is often less than 600 depending on the job.

Don’t forget the fake employees on companies’ books because of Kuwaitization. Those guys who are getting like 250 a month just to be on the book would now be getting a huge increase to NOT work.

A couple of guys did this because they want to get re-elected and they don’t understand how money works. This won’t pass.

Have you not read ANY of the other posts?

They care because prices rise and they have to pay increased prices without a payrise.

If you really got nothing to post to post about parliament promises which is btw kinda OLD NEWS to post something we already know, try to post about Razer Edge Pro, most epic powerful tablet that can play powerful games such as crysis.

These fools clearly don’t know anything about economics. That will cause major inflation and everyone will suffer in the end.

That’s not how it works. A restaurant owner will have to pay higher salaries, as well as higher prices on goods such as staples like rice and tomatoes. For retailers, again higher salaries and higher shipping, rent, etc. They will be losing out too.

The only thing that I have seen as Kuwaiti wages have increased over the many years that I have been here, is that prices for staple items goes up…which greatly affects the expat workers whose salaries have NOT raised in the same way.

To put it in perspective, when I was teaching here, my salary was exactly half the proposed amount. And I worked between a full regularly scheduled 40 hour work week, not including correcting papers and planning lessons at home, weekend dates for parent/teacher conferences and other events, plus frequent out-of-hours meetings, as well as answering parent emails/msgs/phone calls on my own time. It wouldn’t bother me at all if the Kuwaitis made that much, if, at the very least, they were actually WORKING a full-time job, not just clocking in/out a full-time job.

Yes, i know it is ‘their country’ but my son is Kuwaiti, and I do not want him to have such a poor idea of hard work, commitment, and the self-satisfaction of a job well done. I want my son to WORK for what he earns (grades, money, scholarships, whatever), to feel that he makes a difference in the world because of his contributions to society through his work (someday, he is only 2 now!), and to be independent enough that he can take care of himself without NEEDING servants (we have no servants and he helps with laundry, dishes, vacuuming/sweeping, and cooking already – age appropriate levels of course).

I am wondering about her name. If it is trolling. Mohamed is a Muslim name. Islam is a tribal religion. Maybe there should an Al- there to make it seem like it is less of a troll name, and still accurately represent the name properly. It’s like there are no naming standards and people are insulting religion in any means necessary. Im guessing she is a feminist against Islam.

Um, I am an American muslim lady married to a man named Mohammad – hence the name, Mrs. Mohammad. Why would I be trolling about how I want to raise my son??

Well, Mohamed is a name of a man. Also a religious figure. So by putting the mrs infront an important Muslim name of a man but with a female title is not representative of the name. The name represents a male religious figure.

Also the other reason why I was wondering if the name was a troll name us because on this discussion you could have chosen any name but chose to use the name for here, so it also looks suspicious.

So will you ALSO take umbrage to the fact when a woman in Kuwait is addressed as Umm Mohammad? Dude, mature up, already.

I have been using this nickname for the nearly 3 years I have been following and posting comments to Mark’s blog, so it wasn’t just new. Good grief, do you call-out everyone about their choice of nickname, Arrgh?

Yea, but there is a reason even in western nations why the mother takes time of work. Babies are sensitive and completely unaware of dangers… so without maids, then someone related to your child should be around them. Which i hope is the case, and that still means you are fortunate enough to have a relative to look after your child while you are at work because otherwise like it is done in the west, parenting is full time. Or even in the west they might put kids in a day care, or have a baby sitter/nanny. Except it’s paid by the hour in the west and they are nationals of the country. Its roughly the same situation, and in different ways better. Since the minimum wage in west is not enough 8 hours a day 5 days a week to support anyone with. However, the minimum wage for a maid that is not a national has a lot more buying power and could use the chanceto put the money to better use at home.

Just to put some perspective. Maybe we need more social programs for good/planned parenting which might make people less reliant on maids unless they just send the maid there…

I WANT THIS LAW TO GET IMPLEMENTED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE !!!

REASON:

If they really implement the law and ignore the inflation.

The firms and industries will start replacing Kuwaities with Expat for lower salary… Business does not depend on Kuwait mood, but a common sense of responsibility…

No firm wants to have a low profit margin…

Kuwaitization will take to reverse the action…

I am not sure of the details, but this would not cut into the profit margin of companies. It could be added by the government. And the more a company hires kuwaities financially save and lose waged so the gov. Picks up the tab the more conscious they have to be about the quality of work for the company to do well. So by having expats to work and offer their different skill sets will still make the company have to have a reasonable salary to hire them. Unless it us fraud by the company and underpay expats then pay them by other means so the government can pat more for the kuwaitis would be illegal.

Franchais like Subway pays 80 kd to their employee ! The who makes subway for us. They reduce their salary and propotionate it with higher authority…

And in other case, even with 1500 kd salary, Kuwaitis might not reduce their loan amount, which is always forgiven by government. Kuwait reseve is at stake !

what does inflation have to do with what you just said. lol @ all these fools spewing the same nonsense.

lets ride the inflation train.

the private sector in kuwait sucks because of expats who enjoy working in a tax haven and send their money back home where the cost of living is lower than it is here.

private companies enjoy doing this because these expats take lower wages.

are kuwaitis greedy? no, because the cost of living here is ridiculous. and these retarded private sector employers would rather invest into cheap labor then improve the country in which they are based and operate.

To be frank, People are just dramatic over inflation ! Population of Kuwaiti is very low compared to expats, So we will not have such high inflation ! And Kuwaitis spend most of their money in foreign travels rather than local market.

Inflation depends on business cycle economic boom! Here no such criterion is depended since population of is low.

But I see Kuwait becoming second Greek nation…

Other Gccs will benifit as skilled expat labour will vapourise and move elsewhere.

More cars on road and more traffic fines as everyone will be able to afford 200kd fines

More cats as food will be wasted more and bins will be filled with fresh food.

Whatever work force

Yes you are right less cars. and the ones that will be left will be stuck on the road as no workers to fix them or to tow them. Kuwaitis will just buy new cars. So the roads of Kuwait will look like my office table. All messy

Wow, what a horrible idea.

The only thing this will do is cause the cost of living to go up, lower employment of Kuwaiti citizins, and would allow lazy Kuwaiti workers to gain similar wages to Kuwaiti workers that have worked hard to get the job they have.

worked hard? in the public sector? lol. you mean the uneducated fools who are managers with high school diploma or nothing at all who use was6a? lol

I understand the usage of “Da3am Al-3mala” in order to encourage locals to work in the private sector, but do locals gravely need that extra 600+ KD on top of their basic salaries just to work NORMAL 40 hour work weeks?

Its appalling that the majority of citizens who work in the public sector are content with being mediocre. Does personal development not mean anything? Sure you work 3 hours a day, and make bank – but where do you see yourself in 10 years?

where do you see yourself? working for a company who hires management from outside of kuwait because they are run by people from outside of Kuwait.

have fun working for tom bob and john your entire life sucker.

you understand? what is it you understand? that the government has to offer a stipend for working in the private sector because its crap?

why should the government have to pay kuwaitis to work in the private sector? companies should be made to. theyre the ones ruing the job market by hiring uneducated, unqualified, cheap labor.

It’s to make the salaries competitive with Government jobs. I would be pissed if I got paid a fraction of government job money for way, way more work.

your understanding of “da3am al-3mala” is wrong.

Though the initial idea was to encourage Kuwaitis to work in the private sector, the programme became a tool to support the private sector rather than the Kuwaiti workers. When the parliament enforced legislation that require private sector to hire Kuwaitis, the private sector did not and does not want to invest in Kuwaitis. It is always better to get cheap foreign labor that dont speak much or demand much and whenever they argue or open their mouthes they are shipped back home.

so basically what is happening now, the private sector would hire a Kuwaiti, they’d pay him or her a 100 or 150 kd salary, and the rest is covered by da3m el 3amala! That way the private sector manages to cover the law that requires them to have percentage of Kuwaiti employees. btw im pretty sure they pay less than 100 kd, because when i applied for some international oil company claiming to be british but its actually indian operating in Kuwait, i was offered salary of 680 dinars. so if da3m el 3amala pay 600, then those people were offering me only 80 dinars.

and while all their highly ranked staff were getting full health coverage, accomodation, fees for their kids schooling and so on… my contract stated that since the government of Kuwait provide free health, free education, housing support etc etc I will not be granted any of those benefits that foreigners get! additionally, i will have to use my personal car every day to drive from home near Kuwait city to the middle of the desert near wafra! government owned oil companies offer transport.

Again, da3m el 3amala is just another way for stealing money from Kuwaitis and benefiting the wealthy.

As a person who has always worked in the private sector I think you may have gotten it wrong. Da3m il3amala is never quoted in the salary offered to you by the company, meaning if the company offered you kd 680 then you needed to add the kd 690 of da3m il3amal to that so you would have received kd 1,370 per month !! I hope you didn’t blow that offer !!

Thaaaat’s not how it works. Da3m 3mala is on top of your salary. So a salary of 680 is before it, and then depending on your major, marital status, etc. you can get 680+700 or whatever it comes out to. If you’re gonna complain about the amount at least know that :S

This is stupid and as people have stated this will negatively impact Kuwait’s economy.

One thing that is not touched up on is the fact this is obviously a minimum salary for a kuwaiti. This will make living in kuwait unbearable for non-kuwaitis.

A more logicial approach is setting a minimum wage that is applicable to ALL residents in kuwait, irrespective of their background, skin color or nationality.

Lets actively support the people who do the hardest work for peanuts whilst some idiot that hardly clocks in to work gets 1500.

Lets move forewards and not backwards. Please get in touch with you local MP and tell them that you are not supporting such a stupid motion. This is for your own benefit, do please realise this.

you mad bro? go back to your home country,. work there, then come complain to me about peanuts buddy. you come here, work in a country with a high cost of living, a tax haven. enjoy the benefits. invest nothing back (i could do your job and that of 4 like you).

you are not employed because youre a genius or because kuwaitis dont want to work. youre employed because youre cheap and you dont mind because of the benefits you get.

then you sit here and complain while the rest of us cant find jobs because of cheap uneducated people like you accepting lower wages because the company gives you housing and other benefits. while the rest of us have to deal with an inflated rent prices due to not enough housing. we get less benefits then you do.

then you complain.

seriously gtfo.

the only way for kuwait to improve is to ship the expats back home.

@bob
We all know we work in Kuwait since we get salary more apart from that nothing else. but YOU ALL KNOW, if we are sent back how will Kuwait be.

Just 3 weeks of Baladiya problem and Kuwait started stinking. Imagine those low waged 90 kd workers are send back !

What kind of response is that?
Go back to your country? It’s so rude and arrogant.

You do know why there are a lot of Expats in Kuwait right, or should I point out the obvious?

Kuwaitis basically don’t do (or even want to do) the work Expats do. I don’t know why or for what reason. Maybe they think it’s a menial job perhaps? Who knows. And you’re inferring that the jobs that a lot of the expats do are so easy, if it really were then why don’t Kuwaitis do it? A lot of Kuwaitis don’t respect expats as it is, making their lives even more difficult than it should be. For what reason? Cause they’re expats and they’re supposed to be treated like garbage since they only clean our streets, serve us at restaurants, teach our kids, nurse us to health?

And just because an expat doesn’t agree with your opinion doesn’t give you the right to disrespect a person. So if a Kuwaiti disagreed with you, what would you respond to that? Uh go the fuck home?

Hope you realise that people aren’t just “stuff” you can toss out whenever you want.

P.S. I’m not saying every Kuwaiti is rude/arrogant/uneducated/or whatever adjective suits your fancy.

Im kuwaiti, bro.

But i’ve been taught to think for myself and distinguish reason and logic from greed and stupidity.

Its also one of the most spoilt lot of citizens across the globe! Even welfare states like Sweden who have a very strong welfare system do not cross limits unlike Kuwait. All those people saying Oil Money, Oil Money; Honda and Toyota have already entered their models running on electric power. A few more years the evolution to greener fuel-less cars are going to be LAW. Then we’ll see what happens to the old adage of harping on oil money.

People have been saying GREEN CARS GREEN CARS GREEN CARS ELECTRIC CARS, BIO FUEL, SOLAR ENERGY since the ninties, you think that a jetplane will fly by using bio fuel?

How will you “charge” your electric car? by slow charging and very expensive, non-efficient solar panels?

How will you make “Plastic”? By cookie dough’s?

“Oil” Has many other uses other than fuel.

Dream on Dreamer Omar! Solar panels are expensive only in the countries where its still in its nascent stages. Heard of Masdar Abu Dhabi? So called Third World nations have adopted Solar Energy extensively. Heard of the Prius? Heard about the McLaren designer who has developed a green car which goes in to production next year.
Plastic? Consumption has reduced by over 9% in 2012 alone and is further expected to go down by another 11 – 13% per annum!

The geeks at MIT, NASA and others are about to bust your bubble in a few years when they come out with a solid research for Green Jets!
Its about global energy conservation and climate awareness unfortunately in your case its about being delusional.

Trust me, i’m nothing but delusional.

I know greener fuel is bound to happen, but for the time being and for the foreseeable future, oil is staying with us for a while.

Like I said, there is other uses for oil other than fuel.

Im with you on this. The use of greener energy is extremely feasible.

This however is an investment with the initial cost being considered as a down-payment.

With sun shining down more days a year than not, i expect a return to be seen relatively quickly.

Oh yes… the ‘foreseeable future’ is just 5 to 10 years hence. After that you can use your oil to mass produce VASELINE!!!!! ;p

So many comments, so many people wasting their time.

Since last year, the parliament and the government have claimed a home for every Kuwaiti citizen, an increase in child support, increase social allowance, increase in housing allowance, increase in housing loan, an increase in students support, the establishment of three new cities, the establishment of an interest free students fund, the payment of all debts, aaaaand sooo many other things.

The truth remains that the government and the parliament and all the people in power DO NOT and WILL NOT do anything that is good for the Kuwaiti citizens. They will do all what is necessary for their bank accounts to inflate. But for Kuwaiti citizens to live a decent life in a decent home with a decent hospital near by and decent schools for their children and decent Universities is something not going to happen.

Shameful… really.

HAHA…you don’t get it….Google the show Shameless (US) and watch one episode, that is where you are heading if you initiate this law. Tell you government to quit throwing money at the streets because they are too incompetent to do their proper job for society. Your ministries need overhauling, the high crime rate needs to be addressed, and the MOST importantly the DEVELOPMENT PLAN needs to be initiated that means to name a few….a new airport needs to IMMEDIATELY begin construction, the metro project needs to begin, and your national carrier, Kuwait Airways needs to be overhaulled and brought up to aviation standards to meet the expectations of the public.

lol @ all these financially and economically uneducated morons who spew the same “it will increase inflation.” Inflation will always exist retards. The central bank attempts to regulate it within acceptable amounts.

real estate prices are not high because of inflation, they are high because the entire population is spread in a condensed area with little development happening elsewhere.

either provide an economic study on the effect of a 1500KD minimum wage in kuwait or stfu and gtfo.

Uh that link you posted proves what it is now. Raising the minimum wage to $5000 USD would definitely make it much, much higher.

Mashalla, Hamdallah! I am from Bahrain, and I am proud they increased their salaries, they deserve it and kuwaitis deserve it, inshalla more business will flourish for the kuwaiti people, and inshalla Good things will happen, by more development, and inshalla more capability of marriage, but please buy wisely and dont spend much, and never let money control you.

its ok for kuwaitis to get what minimum wage wanted or proposed anyway it is kuwaiti’s money but also please consider increasing minimum wage for all including street sweepers say 250kd minimum to be able to feed their families abroad decently? ๐Ÿ™‚

@Bob… Relax Mr. Economical Analyst. Increasing minimum wages to a ridiculous 1500 KD per month is complete madness. Do you really think this money would be well spent? Wouldn’t it be a better idea to take that money and invest it in your own country? (ie: build roads that don’t crumble after a few drops of rain come down from the heavens, improve an ageing and deteriorated airport, upgrade your public health institutes, upgrade your public transport, invest in your military etc..) why must the answer to all our problems be an increase in finances, when in return, not a single fil of this increase will be spent locally?

considering kuwaitis are the only people actually investing in kuwait, yes I do think it will be well spent. The amount of businesses that could start up because of this increase would drive down unemployment, and counter act some of the inflation it would cause.

I dont think that 1500 is a good amount. I would like however for government salaries to increase in line with inflation because that would help stabilize real purchasing power and ease the finances of people who complain about the price of goods and inflation, who dont know what theyre talking about.

Youre trying to tell me that increasing publci wages, would fix our roads? get serious buddy. The lack of morals and ethics, and non greedy business men are the issue, and that has nothing to do with the working class of people.

The only reason only Kuwaitis are investing in Kuwait is because of Kuwait’s own laws that prevent full foreign ownership.

1500 is not enough to start a business, unless you want to start another cupcake home business.

But I agree with the other part – increasing wages only incentivizes the status quo.

As others have stated, this is political drum beating and nothing else.

In other news, minimum wages for expats still remains the same it was 10 years ago. If only the Kuwaiti govt thought a bit more about the people who actually run the country with their blood and sweat. They should realise that expats contribute the most in Kuwaits economy by coming each day to work and do their hardest to help run a company with whatever position assigned. Prices are increasing day by day and people are earning the same they did years ago. I mean cmon, they pay the workers around 60 kd or even less. When they protest for higher wages, they increase the price for the “visa”. Ive lived here for more than 18 years and my father still has to pay 1000s of kd for my visa. I wont even lie, he has alot of debt just because of this. Don’t give us the nationality, but if someone has spent more than 10-15 years in Kuwait and is working, he should atleast get a permenant residency card or something.
And true, though many Kuwaitis are hand fed, there are some who are hardworking aswell.

.. and the discrimination between ‘resident’ and ‘citizen’ continues and the wide grows wider. How sustainable is this divide? An apartheid state par excellence.

Apartheid is COMPLETELY different. Every country in the world treats foreigners and citizens differently, the issue is when even citizens are treated horribly in their own country. Not to say the treatment in Kuwait is perfect but at least it was voluntary, can’t say the same for the people born under Apartheid rule.

C’mon aaa(kk). Are you really that delusional? There is an big undertone of discrimination amongst locals who claim to be A9eelen, forget the bedu and h3dri topic for sometime! The blinders are tight, they are just so tight on your eyes. Dont even make me start on the proposal of Morning Medicare for locals and Evening Medicare for expats! And then some, the lady who came on a tv show saying she called for a plumber at her house and was shocked to see that the guy came in HIS car! She demanded that ‘such people’ arent issued licenses and shouldnt be allowed to drive! Thats like saying ‘My plumber aint good enough to be using my roads’!

I’m not a9eel or jinsiya oula and I can vote, get the same benefits as everyone else, take the land loan, get a house, have the same jobs.

Expats are treated like shit, I won’t argue on that point, but in general, at least LEGALLY, most Kuwaitis have the same rights as other Kuwaitis. It’s not like because I’m not oula I have to sit at the back of the bus.

i believe salary increases should be indexed to inflation and a minimum wage must be set for kuwaitis and non kuwaitis a like.

I also believe that private companies should bear the stipend given in the private sector by being forced to pay minimum wage. Why should the government be forced to bear the cost of the appalling business practices of private companies.

This would significantly decrease the stress on the government.

Furthermore, it annoys me that these expats claim kuwaitis dont want to work or are stupid. Ive worked in a private company and I came 30 mins early everyday and left 30mins later. (before most of the work force). I did my work, and work of others. I had to deal with unqualified expats because of cheap labor. These same expats would sit and complain how kuwaitis are lazy and dont work, when i would walk around the company and see people literally on the same excel/word/web page all day accomplishing nothing. they just “look busy” when someone comes around.

They also earn a tax free income, have more benefits then kuwaitis who works such as proper healh insurance, are given housing, then complain about the country that they work in and gives them these benefits.

Seriously, if you dont like it, leave. please leave. go pay your taxes, and work at a lower paying job where you have to pay for housing. you are not hired because you are smarter or harder working then kuwaitis. you are hired because you are cheaper. which the kuwaitis have to deal with our poor private sector working conditions. We are not given housing, medical insurance at times, and other benefits such as cars, parking, etc.. whilst you are. you dont pay rent, or have to deal with the inflated real estate market.
You are not more qualified. You are just cheaper.

go back to your country and save us having to hear you constantly whine.

We know kuwait needs improvement, every country does.

I’m curious as to where you work.

I know a few very talented Kuwaitis that are working in the private sector, but the _vast majority_ of local workers are not that way.

The other problem is that the education system here doesn’t produce many strong knowledge workers (the kind business need). If a Kuwaiti is well educated, he/she generally _has_ to work in govt (as a condition of having their education paid). I know a few Kuwaitis that have to teach at the university because their college education abroad was subsidized by the government.

Generally when these people leave, they start their own business because they can – and that is absolutely fine. However it leaves a gap that businesses have to fill.

I think if the govt stopped handing out cheques like candy and invested in education (both higher and secondary), it would have longer benefits for the country as a whole and for every area of civil society.

They really need to invest in creating a knowledge economy that sparks innovation. This is why I really respect Qatar because its government has decided that the future of its citizen is best served by having a strong education system; so they focused their entire development plan along those lines.

You only have to teach in KU for a couple of years if they pay for your PhD. The govt. does invest in education, the investment is for students to go outside ๐Ÿ™‚ they send a lot of students on fully paid scholarships to the US, Canada, UK which I guess is cheaper than just building up the education system locally.

Also our higher education (KU) is usually of a much higher standard than the govt. highschools which makes no sense to me. The KU profs I know complain that basically idiots are being sent in and they have to fail many of them.

Bob – Are you going to work in Starbucks or Burger King? Are you going to sweep the streets or clear up the Rubbish?

No you will not so you STFU!

If all the expats left Kuwait you would just disappear into the dessert.

No-one to watch your children, no-one to clean your house, no-one to educate your children.

Your small minded, over inflated opinion of Kuwait is what holds you back, if you cant see that then I worry for your children.

This minimum wage raise will benefit no one and cause higher inflation…people will have more money to spend, vendors raise their prices and standard of living will be higher. All the MPs that are in favor of this just want to get reelected and abuse their powers. They will make it seem as if any elected official that opposes this bill does not care about the Kuwaiti people. Typical kuwaiti political BS.

I wonder how people get the idea that expats live a grand life here since its a tax free country. Last time I checked I still pay the same rent as my Kuwaiti friends or spend the same amount of money on groceries and provisions as the locals.

This has got to be the greatest incentive ever for under performance. The hike in the minimum wages for LOCALS is going to upset the Gini quotient in Kuwait some more. For some it will make reading the IHT costing KD1 at work more conducive. For others it is going to be their ticket to spending every weekend out of this country.

The talk now is all about how Qatar and the UAE can do one better than the Kuwaiti deal. The heat is on.

Why dont they take the money they are talking about and put it into infrastructure, tourism and other things that will help turn Kuwait’s economy and people being so dependent on oil? Not only that some of the work hours of my Kuwaiti friends are just absolutely ridiculous and they say the same. I know people working 60 hour work weeks who wont even get minimum 1500 kd. It is like the fireworks show. Okay good job it got Kuwait into the record books yet again. But what does that do for the future of the country? How about some forethought and planning. Look at all these other Mid East countries expanding and growing new industries. They are not placing all their chips on oil alone. AlasI am wasting my time typing this because no one that is in power reads this stuff. Or if they do they ignore it and push on with baffling decisions.

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