2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

I decided to be a lawyer because I strongly believe that if more people have their rights and get justice, kuwait would be a better place. Even though I am not really helping much, I am still humble and grateful that I get a chance to post here and create some sort of awareness (thank you kindly Mark). I know my topics might be negative lately, but remember I get inspired to write by the cases I have and the emails I receive.

Some of the companies out there are MONSTERS (not the cute ones like monster inc but more like I don’t know I am not really into sci-fi) but seriously some companies are evil.

I have noticed in the past few years an increase in cases dealing with contractors. Contractors are brought to Kuwait from their home country and put to work doing various jobs for companies or entities that are from their home country. These contractors are told that because they work for their countries Army or Navy or whatever, then Kuwaiti Labor Law doesn’t apply to them but their countries law does. NOT TRUE YOU EVIL ******!

If you are working as a contractor for I don’t care who in Kuwait, it doesn’t matter if it’s for the King of Utopia or Queen Elizabeth. If you have a working permit and you are registered under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour then Kuwait Labour Law applies to you. So what does that mean?
You get paid overtime! I have noticed that some contractors have signed a contract that says they are willing to work 12 hours a day. Fortunately though, the law clearly states that the employee can not agree on something different than what the law states unless it’s beneficial for the employee (contractor). The law states maximum 8 hours, so unless you think working 12 hours a day without overtime is beneficial for you, you can ask for compensation for all your hard work. Also:

– The law also requires the sponsors to open a Kuwaiti bank account for contractors and transfer the contractors salary to the bank account. These sneaky companies pay the contractors in their bank accounts back home and deposit small amounts of money in a Kuwaiti bank account, making the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor believe that the contractor’s salary is a lot less than what they really make. Since compensation is based on salary, these contractors won’t be getting compensated fairly.

– Termination indemnity, yes you heard it right, contractors deserve termination indemnity in accordance to Kuwaiti Labor Law.

– Days off in accordance to Kuwaiti Labor Law.

– All other rights in accordance to Kuwaiti Labor Law (please read my labor law post for more information).

If you are a contractor and you are being mistreated and you want your rights, please let me know ask@fajerthelawyer (or any other legal questions). I do not have the capacity to answer everyone for free (but I try), and I am happy to announce that I am currently working with a great team and therefore we are able to reply back to all emails with a reasonable time frame.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

Graffiti artists Monstariam and Bufifty spray painted a gigantic spaceman mural over the weekend outside Al Khaled Complex in Salmiya. It’s the same complex where Gia and Lorenzo are located and this has to be my favorite Monstariam graffiti work yet. I love it.

Doodles by @browneyesstudio

I was talking to a friend about EDO and how it sucks that it’s closing down and we got into talking about restaurants in villas and it reminded me of a place that used to be open called GUSTO. It was located in Kuwait City right at the beginning of the 1st Ring Road (towards the Gulf Road) and it was also located in an old villa.

The restaurant closed down over a decade ago and I have no idea if anything opened up in its spot. I found four pictures of the restaurant in my archive which I’ve attached to this post.

Does anyone remember this place?

Update: The owner of GUSTO left the following comment:

GUSTO! opened in 2001 and closed in 2004, in an old house traditional Kuwait house behind Al-Hamra tower.

The villa was refurbished, taking inspiration from its environment. The architect was Rola Moharrem from Lebanon. There were many interesting architectural features and the interior work was always a talking point. The chef was Larry Lewis, who was recruited to work in GUSTO! from Cordon Bleu London. Larry was known around Kuwait for his Harley bikes. We employed 15 people, and seated at capacity 60.

The menu was an entirely original menu, mainly of fusion food. Some of the best seller items were the beef wellington, thai beef salad, green curry, the duck and the chocolate tart. Larry frequently changed the menu.
These photos were taken for a promotional campaign for GUSTO!. Appearing in the photos are Latif Amara and myself, Rana Sadik, owner of GUSTO!

We opened because I had a passion for restaurants, we closed because passion alone does not pay the bills.

Even though Abercrombie & Fitch still haven’t opened up their first store at The Avenues yet, they’re already getting ready to open their second location at 360 Mall. I wonder if the fake A&F store in Olympia Tower is still open?

Thanks Hamza

Over the weekend I found out that the EDO location in Shaab is closing down for good. It seems the owner of the villa wants it back and so they will be moving out at the end of the month. They recently opened their Sahara Country Club location which although has a great view sadly doesn’t have the cozy and warm atmosphere of their 1950’s villa in Shaab. It’s very sad that they’re closing it since there really isn’t any other restaurant like it. Their last operating day is December 31st so if you’ve never been to EDO before you should before its gone for good, it’s one of my favorite sushi places in Kuwait. Here is a link to their [Website]

Lots of things to do this weekend but my personal picks are the following. The Cinderella Pantomime definitely but the tickets are all already sold out so if you hadn’t already booked you’re out of luck. In case you don’t have tickets to Cinderella then I’d do the rooftop movie tonight. For Friday I’d start off with the Red Bull Bar Bahr race for a bit, then I’d stop by the kite event at Al Kout on the way back before heading to the end of year gifts bazaar. On Saturday I’d start off with the secret garden in the morning, followed by Qout Market and finally I’d pass by and check out the Motocross Race. Here is the full list of events for this weekend:

Thursday
Exhibition: Honolulu by Arwa Abouo
Exhibition: Bird’s Eye View by Ali Cherri
Study in the UK
Panto 2014 – Cinderella
Rooftop Movie: Prisoners

Friday
Panto 2014 – Cinderella
Red Bull Bar Bahr Race
End of Year Gifts Bazaar
Kite Event at Al Kout
14th Annual Christmas Concert

Saturday
Panto 2014 – Cinderella
The Secret Garden Project
Qout Market
Motocross Race
Camel Races
Book Signing: Liltera R Williams
Rooftop Movie: The Brothers Bloom
K’S PATH Shelter Open Day

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]

Update: Added the K’S PATH Shelter Open Day

As I mentioned in my previous post, over the weekend Red Bull sent me to Dubai to watch their Car Park Drift finale. Since the event was being held at the Meydan Racetrack, Red Bull ended up putting me up at The Meydan Hotel.

I had their standard room which over looked the racetrack and it was pretty large in size compared to most standard rooms I’ve stayed in. The whole hotel is pretty ginormous so makes sense that the rooms would be as well. When you first walk into the room you have a long winding corridor which contains the closets followed by the bathroom and then the rest of the room.

The room had some nice features like touch controls for the lighting and the AC, an iPhone dock connected to a sound system and my favorite feature, a closet that opens from two sides. I don’t know why I’ve never come across this before but it’s super practical, basically you can access the closet from the main room corridor or from the bathroom since there are doors on both sides of the closet. This means if you come out of the shower you can just open the closet and pick your outfit without having to walk out into the main room. The bathroom also had a large bathtub with a tv and a large window overlooking the room. It was a beautiful and tasteful room.

But, there are some downsides with the main one being the fact the hotel is located in the middle of nowhere. It’s somewhere between Dubai Mall and Mall of Emirates but located inwards and surrounded by nothing. It makes it really unpractical say to go shopping and then come back and drop stuff at the hotel. Another issue I faced was the lack of taxis again because the hotel was located in the middle of nowhere. You can have the hotel order a cab but it would take around 20 minutes to get one so the only option if you’re in a rush is to take the hotel limo which costs a considerable amount more. To be fair the hotel does offer shuttle services to and from Dubai Mall and Mall of Emirates but only at certain times.

The hotel is pretty cool, very modern and if you’re a party person then you’ll probably like the fact the club White is located on the rooftop of the hotel. But as I said, it’s not close to anything and thats the compromise you’ll have to make since the rooms are pretty affordable starting at around KD50 a night. Here is a link to their [Website]

Red Bull sent me to Dubai this past weekend to watch the Red Bull Car Park Drift finale that was taking place there. The Red Bull event was actually part of a full day of activities all automotive related that was being held at the Meydan Race Track as part of the UAE National Day celebrations. There were a ton of activities taking place with the whole thing kinda feeling like a super large car meet since there were lots of personal cars being displayed all over the place ranging from pimped out Camaros all the way to Bugattis. The Red Bull Car Park Drift was the last event taking place that day so there was a huge crowd that had gathered all around the track to watch the finals.

Drifting for those of you who don’t know is a driving technique where the driver intentionally allows the car to lose traction and slide sideways while still maintaining control of the car. Since I was invited to the event by Red Bull I had access to the media area which is where I took all my shots from. There were 16 competitors taking place in the final including ones from Kuwait who didn’t end up performing too well. I personally loved the driving style of Ali Al Bloushi from Oman whom I thought for sure would end up winning but sadly ended up coming second.

The setup and the whole event including the location was just fantastic and Red Bull is now planning to bring the finals to Kuwait next year. If it ends up with a setup thats even remotely close to the Dubai event then we’re going to be in for a treat.

The Early Bird was one of the first breakfast places to open up in Kuwait back in 2007 and is still a pretty popular place. But, according to a recent blog post by the original owner and creator Bianca (pictured above), it seems her Kuwaiti partner took over the business and kicked her out without giving her a single penny. She just put up her side of the story online and you can check it out [Here]

Update: I sat with the Early Bird people and they will be sending me their side of the story soon as well.

Update 2: They never sent me their side of the story.

The fact I have to write this post is a disgrace! It’s embarrassing that as a lawyer I have to be preaching about essential human behavior instead of doing plain old legal work. People need to be more tolerant towards each other in Kuwait. I have hope that this attitude will change.

I always knew that being a lawyer wouldn’t be easy, the job requires you most of the time to deal with negative explosives. You know what they say, when the tough gets going, the tough gets a lawyer. I wasn’t expecting people to come to me with celebrations but everyday emails and emails flow into my inbox (and sometimes into my junk folder, I apologize) filled with words describing emotions, most of which is anger. Why? One word; inequality.

The Kuwaiti Constitution clearly states in Article 29 that we are all EQUAL
Article 29 [Equality, Human Dignity, Personal Liberty]
(1) All people are equal63 in human dignity and in public rights and duties before the law, without distinction to race, origin, language, or religion.
(2) Personal liberty is guaranteed.

None of us, none of you, no matter how rich or poor, fat or thin, tall or short, smart or dumb, want to be treated unfairly. Yet, in the emails, the employer isn’t respecting his employee, the parent isn’t tolerant of his gay child, house help are being tortured and turned into slaves, religious debates are nothing but aggressive personal attacks and expats are being told to f*** off.

Recently though I got an email from a homosexual young man. The way he is being treated by his environment is not acceptable so I decided to write about it in this post, not just for intolerant people in general in the hopes they will be more tolerant, but for all the homosexuals in Kuwait to understand that it is their choice.

Being homosexual is not illegal. Your thoughts are yours, no one can punish you for your identity. Who you prefer to be with is up to you. Now some acts, might be illegal, please check my two previous posts:

Kuwait Law: Sexual Crimes
Kuwait Law: Indecent Acts

And please before you go on to “accuse” me of being gay myself, if I was I would let you know, but I am into straight non-blonde tall men, from western (in it’s broad meaning) or/and south East Asian descent, preferably with a good sense of humor and an Irish accent! And yes I am a female (so please, I beg you please, stop emailing me with Dear Mr. Fajer)

Just remember, if it wasn’t for your employees your company wouldn’t function, if it wasn’t for your house help you wouldn’t have a clean home and a hot meal. Just remember, your son did not chose to be gay. Your religion doesn’t make you a good or bad person, your actions do and all religions are lovely in one way or another.

So be tolerant and be patient with each other, for your sake and for your communities’ sake. You never know when you will be sick and you will need that Jewish doctor, you will get into legal trouble and need that homosexual lawyer, or your child will need that atheist teacher.

Feel free to email me [email protected] with any legal questions. I do not have the capacity to answer everyone for free (but I try), and I am happy to annanounce that I am currently working with a great team and therefore we are able to reply back to all emails with a reasonable time frame.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

The Nomad Kitchen is a new concept by Basil Alsalem, the creator of Slider Station, Cocoa Room, Burger Boutique and Open Flame Kitchen. It’s a food truck that just launched last night at the Gulf Run 10 year anniversary event and will be active and moving around Kuwait pretty soon.

The menu last night consisted of a variety of sandwiches from burgers to lobster rolls along with a bunch of sides and dessert. I ended up trying the Nomad Chicken Burger, the Sriracha Glazed Lobster Rolls and the Blackberry Lemonade all of which were delicious.

The food truck is a huge and gorgeous Airstream trailer that’s been converted into a large kitchen and last night there was an all-star cast running the show with many of whom you’d recognize if you’ve been a regular to any of Basil’s restaurants. If you’re interested in following them they’re on instagram @nomadkitchen

If you were passing by the British Embassy yesterday you may have noticed that we were flying a different flag. 30 November is St Andrew’s Day – the national day of Scotland. We were proud to raise the Saltire – the flag of Scotland – and delighted to see it flying in the beautiful Kuwaiti sunshine. As well as being a part of the United Kingdom, Scotland is part of our identity, part of my identity. Here at the British Embassy in Kuwait we have a number of staff who enjoy Scottish heritage, family connections or both. I am one of them. I am proud to be British. I am also proud to represent Scotland, alongside England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
So how much do you know about Scotland?

St Andrew’s Day is a good moment to remind ourselves of the impact Scots and Scotland have had on the world. Did you know that James Bond is a Scot? Or that penicillin was discovered by a Scot, and that television and the steam engine were invented in Scotland too?

Scotland today has a huge amount to offer whether you are a tourist, a student or looking to do business. Take a look at www.VisitBritain.org for an idea of what Scotland has to offer for visitors. This year looks like being a record year for tourism, but in a usual year, 20 million people can be expected to visit Scotland, four times more than the entire Scottish population!

Visitors come for Scotland’s mix of vibrant, cosmopolitan cities; the biggest arts festival in the world; the beautiful, clean and unspoilt scenery, with thousands of historic castles, houses, battlegrounds, ruins and museums, and don’t forget Scotland’s contribution to global fashion. You can also enjoy Scotland’s food and drink, famed around the world, and the great outdoors. So, if you want a change from Kuwaiti heat, sunshine and sand, Scotland can offer something different!

And 40,000 overseas students (including quite a few Kuwaitis!) travel to Scotland every year to seek an education fit for a King. It was, after all, at one of Scotland’s world-class universities, St. Andrews, that HRH Prince William studied and where he and the Duchess of Cambridge met.

2014 has been Scotland’s year. The Commonwealth Games brought 6,500 athletes to Glasgow. They came from 71 nations and territories, representing a third of the world’s population, to compete in 17 sports over 11 glorious days. Over a million people filled Glasgow’s sporting arenas, and over a billion more were willing on the athletes from their homes. A short while later, the eyes of more than half a billion viewers in 183 countries turned to Gleneagles as Europe’s and America’s best golfers battled it out for the glory of winning the Ryder Cup.

2014 was also the year that the United Kingdom demonstrated that values aren’t just something we talk about abroad – we live by them at home. In a defining moment in British history, and by a decisive majority, the people of Scots voted to remain part of the United Kingdom, one of the most durable and successful political unions ever seen.

In a world where separatism all too often leads to conflict, the Scottish referendum demonstrated Britain’s confidence in her own democratic institutions and processes.
A free and open debate electrified the nation; a peaceful, lawful and democratic vote drew admiration from around the world; and, with a record turnout, the settled will of the Scottish people was determined.

So when you think of Scotland, I hope you think of all the above and more. Scotland has an enormous amount to be proud of, and we have an enormous amount to celebrate with Scotland as part of the United Kingdom.

Post by Matthew Lodge
British Ambassador to Kuwait
Instagram: @HMAMatthewLodge Twitter: @HMAMatthewLodge

[YouTube]

Kuwait reached the finals in the Beach Flag Football tournament at the 4th Asian Beach Games before losing out to the hosts Thailand. The Beach Games were held last month and Kuwait ended up winning a whole bunch of medals including a gold for the Men’s Shot Put. You can check out the full results [Here]

Am I the only one who’s surprised that Kuwait has a Beach Flag Football team and that they’re really good as well? The Kuwaiti crowd at the event were pretty energized as well. Did anyone in Kuwait even know this was taking place?

Last week there were rumors going around online and on whatsapp about Talabat’s customer database being hacked. The hacker supposedly was able to get access to Talabat’s customers addresses and published a file online containing a sample of addresses with a promise that more would be released soon. So I contacted Talabat right away to find out if this security breach was true before posting about it and I received the following response from them:

Dear Mark,

We have our internal security monitoring tools that notify us automatically in case of any hack attempts and have not received any threats about data leak. All our customer information is secured and not leaked to anyone. However, we take notice of such things very seriously and assure you that we are going to investigate this issue thoroughly and will get back to you upon completing our investigation.

Earlier today Talabat called me up to let me know that after thorough investigation they’ve concluded it to be not true and that their customers information were not leaked. I was also invited to pass by their offices and get a behind the scenes look on how they operate which I will be doing sometime this week.

From the looks of it this incident could be a competitor trying to smear them or even possibly a disgruntled ex-employee. In any case if anything new develops I’ll update this post.

Over the weekend a friend of mine told me about this story but I didn’t want to post it until I got some more facts. Based on a number of sources, a teacher by the name of Paul Meekins left India because he was being investigated over child abuse claims and moved to Kuwait where he was teaching Social Studies at one of the American schools until he quit. According to my source the school never reported the teacher and so he is still at large in Kuwait.

[YouTube]

What kind of school doesn’t make background checks before hiring teachers or do schools in Kuwait not perform background checks anyway? [Link 1] [Link 2]