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People in Kuwait Getting Unhappier

The World Happiness Report was recently released by the United Nations and Kuwait once again dropped down the list from the previous year. When the list originally came out in 2012, Kuwait was ranked 31st under the list of happy nations. But, since then, Kuwait has been falling back every year and in the latest report Kuwait is now ranked 41. The scoring is based on answers submitted by people who were asked to evaluate the quality of their current lives on a scale of 0 to 10. In comparison, the UAE came in 28th place while Saudi Arabia came in 34th. Let me repeat that one more time. Saudi Arabia came in 34th place. No clue how that happened.

The happiest country in the world? It’s Denmark. Download the full report from the World Happiness website [Here]

80 replies on “People in Kuwait Getting Unhappier”

– Terrain/drives/outdoors/dunes/scenic beauty
– Food (Matabbaq :D)
– Much lower rents and cost of living
– Gentle, humble and helpful locals

And if you’re Muslim, there’s Makkah and Madinah.

There are as many uneducated uncouth characters in Kuwait as in Saudi (or even the UK) the difference is there are an larger number of educated locals in Saudi who are courteous though not rich and go out of the way to help. The difference is that they work for a living and don’t get free money. Oil is the curse and boon of Kuwait. It’s basically the lollipop effect -child gets rewarded no matter what the behavior or even without asking -result, lack of respect for anything or anyone. No bias just straight observations.

Why is Saudi Arabia ranked better than Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain?

that means Saudis are happier than Qataris, Kuwaitis and Bahrainis

There is nothing to do here. And salaries are not that high but things are getting more expensive. Aka unhappiness.

No alcohol, no parties, no clubbing, no gambling, strip clubs (for those who are into that stuff, which is a lot of people)

no nature, no good events, no rights to own property, no respect for certain expats, no places of interest, no media, no good business opportunities, no production (only oil makes income), no tourism, no freedom of expression, no freedom of speech, no fairness (wasta). I could go on but I guess you get the idea.

Don’t get me wrong, I spent all my life here and I love this place and I want to see improvement. But it’s true, Kuwait is really boring and people (expats) are not happy

You didn’t answer Mark’s question. You just basically repeated the “no alcohol/clubbing” thing and then irrelevant bs like “no media, no good business opportunities, no nature”.

1) “No media”. Really??? because Kuwait is regionally distinguished for its media. Many newspapers, television channels, radio, etc

2) “No nature”. Every country on earth has “nature”. What Kuwait lacks is diversity. It’s mostly a desert. That’s beyond our control. How is this relevant to Mark’s question

3) “No tourism”. How is that relevant to Mark’s question? Kuwait does have tourist industry.. Not every country on earth has profitable tourism

4) “No good business opportunities”. How is that relevant to Mark’s question? Business is boring and you’re wrong about that, there are many good opportunities in Kuwait.

5) “No places of interest”. Interest is subjective, places you find “boring” are interesting to other people. It’s all subjective.

6) “No good events”. Seriously??

7) “No production (only oil makes income)”. How is “no production” relevant to Mark’s question??

8) “No rights to own property”. Expats? There was a new decree so they can own property

9) “No respect for certain expats”. Indians and South Asians dont respect each other so how can you expect us to respect them?

All in all, your second paragraph isn’t relevant and the first paragraph is basically “alcohol/clubbing” so you didn’t answer Mark’s question.

9) ā€œNo respect for certain expatsā€. Indians and South Asians dont respect each other so how can you expect us to respect them?

what a bullshit statement

There are some things to do sometimes, but is it worth the traffic and parking fight you have to endure any time you want to leave the house? The people of Kuwait are getting suffocated and there is no where else to go unless you leave, unfortunately not everyone has that option so they stay home and watch movies online.

We actually did get off our couch and went to the Taste of Q8 and it took us forever to get out of the parking lot, we were being stalked for our parking as well. Finally making it to Gulf Street and into more chaos.

Marina Mall parking is horrible on weekends when there isn’t anything going on so obviously it’s gonna be worse when there is an event. That’s why you should park outside Marina and walk over.

For me it’s not the case about having nothing to do its just, as u mentioned, the traffic that really annoys me. I honestly do think that it has a profound affect on the people who drive in Kuwait.

i would believe coz of traffic and the foreigners are every where u cant see one kuwaiti guy now 3.4m foreigners i think if this number shrunk into half it would be much better there is no need for them to be in kuwait we dont need them they just taking our money and streets and using everything that we have for free

I doubt that a poster with a white rapers name, making racist comments is intelligent enough to be a troll. Quite possibly he is too young. excellent comment about the lolipop effect!

i dont know. i had never really been interested in traveling there until very recently. ive seen a fair amount of europe and i know how the general vibe and atmosphere is, so i guess you could say that i understood why some european countries were on this list. israel has always seemed a bit below the radar so i guess thats why it kinda caught me by surprise.

The Scandinavian countries, like Denmark, are always on the top of these lists every single year for the following reasons:

1. Strong socialist (that evil word) policies that ensure free quality healthcare and education. That includes college too. And mind you, contrary to what people think, Denmark ranks higher than America when it comes to quality education.

2. People from all religious/ethnic backgrounds are protected and treated as equals. The Scandinavian countries are staunchly liberal, progressive and humanitarian. You will seldom hear stories about xenophobia like a person from a minority group getting beaten up.

3. High economies that are a result of “the happy worker is a productive worker” adage. Denmark’s working hours are extremely short but the Danish are more productive than most other people in the world.

4. Pleasant weather, beautiful landscapes.

“The scoring is based on answers submitted by people who were asked to evaluate the quality of their current lives on a scale of 0 to 10.” Where can I sign up to submit my happiness level?

Point 2 is changing unfortunately, and speaking to actual Scandinavians living and working abroad the “Short working hours” is one of those myths that has just sort of gotten popular abroad. Sure there are people that work 6 hour days, but there are also people working 6 hour days in the GCC… it doesn’t mean you’ll be one of them.

meh, you are absolutely on the dot with that observation. Damn the expats for driving on the roads instead of cutting 5 lanes in a second and also for keeping to lanes. If only they could start zig zagging around the roads, reading their whatsapp messages, dance around in the drivers seat and with a newspaper to be read urgently, all while imposing their egos on cars that put their signs and jump in front of them, the traffic in Kuwait would be much better. Damn the expats indeed!

The main problem with driving in Kuwait is that many people ignore traffic laws. They drive so dangerously that you have to be hyper-vigilant at all times. I face a near-miss almost every time I hit the road. There is also the issue of poor planning, so there isn’t adequate parking. All in all, driving in Kuwait is problematic.

There is nothing to do besides shopping (beginning of the month) and window shopping (middle & end of the month).
The only thing to look forward is getting our salaries.

I’ve lived in Boston for half my life and travelled across the globe more times than I can count and the one thing I can tell you; if your in one place for longer than 2 weeks, your gona get bored.

Kuwait, like most nations has its up and downs, yes you can’t have a drink whenever you’d like and I agree salaries could definitely be more standardised, but in terms of events & activities, Kuwait’s almost outpacing Dubai on a weekly basis.

You got kite-surfing clubs, auto-tuning competitions, open-markets, music hangouts, art galleries, go-kart racing, freestyle dance battles, graffiti workshops, entreuprenuer workshops, tech collaborations and the list goes on and on.

So cheer up mate, you’ll get around to finding something to do šŸ˜‰

We are not outpacing them, but catching up to them. Kuwait realized a while back that their model was not sustainable, so they are creating more initiatives to promote entrepreneurship and build up the private sector.

Speaking of activities, that comes with more diversification. We are becoming more and more like the Kuwait we strive to be, but these actions need to made with a collaboration from the entire community, Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis alike.

If you want my opinion, I don’t take these reports too seriously. A Danish person’s idea can be polar opposite to a Saudi’s. Same can be said with other countries. What we have to start doing is stop thinking about other countries and just try to be the best people possible for a country that has blessed many people with a better quality of life.

Nobody ever got anything done by just talking.

i dont need to brag, but really there is no change in kuwait. i was born in kuwait and lived more than 25 years there and it is still the same place. all you do there is eat eat and eat more. there is no sports activities, movies there are all cut, no virgin megastore, and many more that i have to say. Just to add that every week there this is q8market where all fat people go there just to fill up there stomache and take pictures to post in instagram. even to say that there were some musical events where i have to say is some low quality musical performers trying to be cool and hip. i saw a clip for this “the watertowers” group which i have to say are trying to be something in kuwait but really im fed up with this green day group alike. On top of that, salary wise Kuwait is the lowest among the GCC which offer to their employees and it is all accounted to expats.

Just want to pick on two things.

1) What do you mean there are no sport activities? Thats probably the most readily available thing in Kuwait, there is everything here except skiing.

2) What do you want with Virgin? They’re shutting down all over the world, they’re going broke, no one buys CDs anymore so who cares if we have Virgin or not.

You seem like a person who would complain no matter where you lived.

i dont complain for no reason. yes there are no sports activities, and just to prove to u that there arent try go and play basket ball in marina mall if u can a turn. u have to wait for three hours minimum. soccer is always busy. ohh and btw there are no tennis courts to play at. on top of that there are no outside tournaments happening in kuwait. in qatar there are tennis tournaments, soccer, basket ball, horses too.

for virgin, if they are broke and shutting then why are they still opened in dubai, qatar, lebanon. these are just three places in middle east and gcc that i know are opened.

you better get your facts right and see how people are reacting to this.

You just stated how we don’t have basketball, football or tennis in Kuwait. If that’s not trolling I don’t know what is. I’m so not going to waste my time having a sensible discussion with you.

It is true that there is a lot to do in Kuwait. However, I feel that if one is to turely enjoy all these activieties one has to be, either a local or a high income expat. Otherwise I feel that there is no point in attendng such events. For eg, farmers markets, like the Qout market, the goods are so expensive (for me) that I have to think twice/thrice, before even considering a purchase.

Further, if you’re interested in working out, going out to cafes, learning martial arts, art classes, or in developing some sort of a skill, most of the options way out of reach, financially. These are aimed to fecilitate only a certian class of people. Even good healthcare. (mental and physical).

And a driver’s license is a premium luxury here. A lot of time is wasted commuting via public transport.

Don’t get me wrong, I do not deslike this place. I have met some of the most amazing people here. Locals and expats alike.

However, these other things really bother me.

Mark,

I’m afraid Abdalsamad does have a point. A lot of the events and classes here especially the art gallery openings, so-called farmer’s markets and even yoga classes are catered to well-to-do socialites.

I love Qout Market and I know you do too but we have the means to indulge in some of their products whereas others might not.

People in Kuwait (I’m not talking about Kuwaitis) need to be way more inclusive. It’s very segregationist, everyone is placed in a suffocating little box, if you’re an elderly British woman with money, go here, if you’re a working-class Filipino, go there. Even Indians from different states have their own exclusive events and organizations.

And he’s also right in that there needs to be WAY more accessible channels for mental therapy. The Arab Times reported that more than 70% of people living here are suffering from depression and they have no means whatsoever to deal with that depression in a healthy way. If someone feels suicidal in America and doesn’t have a penny to their name, they can call a toll-free hotline that will help lead them to a better place.

Here’s a fact for you: The average life expectancy of a Malayali (Indian from Kerala) living in Kuwait is 44 years old, that’s devastating! A young middle-class Malayali man dies in Kuwait every single day for the most mysterious problems.

Abdelsamad, you are no hateful troll. Hang in there and if you’re interested at all in Bollywood, I’m thinking of setting up a Bollywood club soon. You can come and have fun with us! I’ll try to have it somewhere that’s close to most people.

i am a male interested in teaching dance and fitness classes in Kuwait (i have been doing it in several countries already) and i only have one class right now in a mixed gym.

a) As a dance teacher 90% of my customers are woman therefore having same sex- gyms here makes it pretty impossible to practice my craft.

b)i work mostly with partner dancing and over here basically its illegal since the police can come and arrest and deport you and stop your activities.
therefore you cant really advertise and cant help create the community

c) gyms and classes are mostly for the upper middle class. a full pass for kickboxing in my country costs 1/20th and here it costs 1/7th of my salary. A full pass for dance is not existent.

d) the lower class can basically only go for coffee and sisha as far as i understand and dont have access to more activities due to financial constraints.

There are several mixed gyms in Kuwait and in places like Loyac (music academy) many dance classes are mixed.

Kuwait-Gyms is the ultimate fitness guide to Kuwait, have a look https://kuwait-gyms.com/mixed-gyms/

You could try contacting those gyms.

There are also (licensed/advertised) mixed salsa classes at Loyac, Palm’s Hotel gym, Holiday Inn salmiya, and the Bachata Dance Club which is part of the Salsa4Water charity initiative
https://www.weare4water.org/salsa/kuwait

To my knowledge, the bachata dance club specializes in bachata dancing (a type of dance from the Dominican Republic), that includes ballroom dancing.

In the salsa classes, having a partner is not mandatory. It’s voluntary because many Muslim women participating shy away from it.

There are free yoga classes every week at Al Shaheed Park so thats a bad example.
Majority of the events I post are also free, rooftop movie? Free, art exhibition? Free, Qout Market? Free. You don’t need to buy something at qout market to have a good time. I usually either have lunch or buy karak there and thats about it so you can’t say its for the upper class. Go with some friends, chill on the benches, listen to music and enjoy the atmosphere, it doesn’t cost anything.

Therapy on the other hand from my experience is expensive, but I only checked two places. A friend told me there was a therapist who used to help out for free, so i am assuming there were more affordable options.

Mark,

You’re making some excellent points but you also overlooked a few points that our brother, Abdel Samad made.

The country is making it increasingly hard to obtain a driver’s license and public transportation here is a catastrophe of gargantuan proportions. I’ve been on public transportation buses in some of the poorest countries in Africa (Eritrea, Mali) and they were LIGHT YEARS better than what I see here and this is one of the top ten wealthiest countries in the world so it shouldn’t be a problem.

How are people like Abdel Samad supposed to get to Qout when he lives on a fixed income and transportation is difficult? Taxis are expensive here too.

I’ve been to art exhibitions in Kuwait, they’re not at all about the art so much as they’re about rich socialites giving you the side-eye while talking about the most mundane shit.

Yoga at Shaheed Park is wonderful. My friends go there every single week and they love it!

As for therapy, again people in Kuwait are in DESPERATE need of free therapy. 70% or more of the country is suffering from depression. I’m guessing that’s a modest figure, it’s probably higher than that.

And I’m not just referring to non-Kuwaitis but Kuwaitis too! They’re also in need of counseling, therapy, the whole bit. It’s no wonder they travel as much as they can, they’re trying to escape!

It seems like every single day I hear people from all nationalities in Kuwait say “the only people who like it here are the ‘ajanib’ (white expats)”

You missed the point. I did not refute the fact that there are no free events. I merely stated a desire to indulge in the variouse services offered in Kuwait, and expressed my frustration at not being able to afford them.

Having lived here all my life, it seems unfair that I still feel like an outsider at most of the ‘happening’ places in Kuwait.

Like him and I said, how is anyone supposed to get from point A to point B when they aren’t given driver’s licenses, public transportation is in disarray and cab fare is expensive?

It might be a free event but getting to that free event can cost anything from KD 4-8.

And while salaries remain stagnant, prices for luxuries keep skyrocketing leaving average Joes like Abdelsamad in the lurch.

You make it sound like this is a Kuwait problem, it’s the same issue wherever you lived. If you lived in London and you don’t have a car, your options are bus/underground or cab. Its the same situation here so not sure why you’re making it seem there aren’t options.

If you can’t afford a cab you take the bus. Why is that difficult?

Growing up here I was piss ass broke all the time. I used to have KD5 to spend a weekend and that money would have to cover a cassette tape, food/drinks and transportation. Me and my friends would either walk to places, take the bus or try to squeeze as many people into a cab as possible. Hell I’ve even hitchhiked on a number of occasions.

But if you’re looking for an excuse you’ll always find one.

You’re equating London’s metro with Kuwait’s buses?

I didn’t have a car most of the time in the States either but I never complained because their public transportation is impeccable. I had a choice between buying a car and using public transport, I chose the latter.

Yes, that’s what we all are here, cry babies. Let’s just all shut up and not talk, be complacent to the status quo.

On behalf of AbdelSamad and everyone else, we’re sorry for inconveniencing you.

P.S. We love Kuwait and we know every country’s got problems but if everyone just shuts the fuck up, there’d be no progress.

You’re being childish now.

I’m equating public transportation with public transportation. You said what if somehow didn’t have a car and I said you can take the bus or cab. You said but cabs cost 4-8kd and i replied saying split the fare or take the bus.

I didn’t tell you to shut the fuck up. I said if you’re looking for excuses you’ll always find them. Taking the bus or a cab to a free event is reasonable. If you’re too fancy for the bus now thats a different story.

And to make matters worse, the customer service at nearly every store/joint in Kuwait is fucking terrible these days.

It sometimes feels like you’re begging these assholes to give you something when you’re the customer.

I actually had a server in Bida’a come up to my friend and I telling us very authoritatively, “sir, pay the bill now, I want to go home!” We were in the restaurant for less than 40 minutes.

It wasn’t like this. Kuwait wasn’t like this when I lived here ten years ago.

Yea everything here really is expensive! However if u do search u can some find some good places. I can list them but it really will be long and tedious :p. But still agree with you though

Happiness is an internal, subjective emotion. It sometimes needs to be sought after. It’s just easier to find in some places than others.

Bollywood Over Hollywood, you’re confusing me now. Are we talking about the ability to travel from point A to point B affordably, or are we discussing the issues with public transportation in Kuwait overall? You seem to be jumping from one to another whenever it suits your argument.

Just so we are on the same page, I am discussing ways to get from point A to B affordably.

The main issue you highlighted when I pointed to the fact that many events were free was transportation to and from the events if you can’t drive because you can’t get a license.

Bus, cabs, friends picking you up, walking and hitchhiking. If you can’t drive and don’t want to do any of those things, then its no longer about not being able to get to an event because of lack of transportation options.

Walking and hitchhiking shouldn’t be valid options in Kuwait anytime between April and September esp in the AM.

But I love walking, in fact, people sometimes see me walking around areas and they gawk at me because walking is looking down on here. But I don’t care. I always just do me.

I am discussing both, Mark. Both issues are constantly being addressed by both Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis all the time which is a wonderful thing.

OK now walking is also looked down upon in Kuwait? People are gawking at you because you’re walking??? Come on dude, no offense but I don’t think anyone cares if you’re walking or not.

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