Search: “kuwait”

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.

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

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.

[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?

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]

Another busy weekend with lots to do. My personal picks would be the GBS Winter Bazaar today (I love bazaars) and the rooftop movie “Once” if you haven’t watched it (I have and it’s great). For Friday I would do the 4 Nations T20 Festival, even if you aren’t a cricket fan the venue is great, it’s a huge event with international stars attending and there will be lots of stalls. I’d also follow up with Street Fest on Friday. For Saturday I would do the the EG Carnival and the rooftop movie Das Boot which is a must watch movie. Check out the full list of events below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Honolulu by Arwa Abouo
Exhibition: Bird’s Eye View by Ali Cherri
GBS Winter Bazaar
The 39 Steps
Rooftop Movie: Once

Friday
The 39 Steps
4 Nations T20 Festival
Street Fest
Korean Movie Night
Behance Portfolio Reviews Kuwait

Saturday
The 39 Steps
Street Fest
RunQ8
Guided Tour: Red Fort
EG Carnival
Benefit Concert: Humhain Umeed-e-Kashmir
Rooftop Movie: Das Boot
Musical Bridges

I have noticed in the past few weeks, two issues with employees that kept repeating themselves! So in order for this to be beneficial to others dealing with the similar situation I decided to post about them.

1) I submitted my resignation and it was accepted verbally, I was also told that I do not need to attend work for the rest of my notice period, therefore I didn’t. Now there is a case against me for absconding from work, what do I do?

First is first guys!
-Any communication with your company should be in writing. Even if you trust them they should understand why you would require it in writing.

– If you are emailing something to your company and you think you might need that email in the future to prove something (example your resignation letter or your acceptance to resign) and you are using a work email, email it to yourself. BCC your private email always with your personal matters, you never know when all your work emails will get deleted.

– If you attend a meeting and you end up discussing everything verbally, you can send the attendees an email after the meeting to have things documented. Name your email “Minutes of meeting” and write in it a recap of the meeting and what the attendees agreed on.

So those are the precautions but what do you when there is a case against you?
Get a lawyer! You need to at this point.

FYI: Your holiday can’t be deducted from your notice period, because they told you not to show up.

2) My company isn’t doing well, so I was laid off. They said they can’t give me my termination indemnity because they don’t have it. Do they have the right to withhold my indemnity because of bankruptcy?

No. I repeat NO. They are broke? Still the answer is no. They are going to court? Still the answer is no They are going up in flames because of a giant dragon? NO. You have the right to get your termination indemnity.

Got it? Ok? OKAY? Yeah? Good.

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 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.

The lovers of humor and comic stuff had the chance in Kuwait back in the fifties to enjoy it through the comic magazine “Al-Fukaha” which means humor in English.

“Al-Fukaha” magazine was released in October 1950, the chief editor was Farhan Rashed Alfarhan and the owner was Abdullah Al-Khaled Al-Hatem.

At first, it was printed in Kuwait. Then, they started printing it in the Syrian capital Damascus and the distribution of this comic magazine was in Kuwait.

“Al-Fukaha” that was released in 1950 continued until 7th February 1951 and then stopped. It was released again on July 20th 1954 but stopped one more time on 24th November 1958.

First time I’m hearing of this. [Link]

Thanks Farran

If you missed the first Jam session this past Friday at CAP you can now watch most of the performances online since TJC Films just uploaded 43 minutes of non stop music. I missed the event but from the feedback I heard it’s definitely one not to miss the next time it takes place. [YouTube]

There are a bunch of cool things to do this weekend but my personal picks are The Comedy Night and rooftop movie for Thursday, The Jam show on Friday and the Korean Thanksgiving on Saturday. I went to the Korean thanksgiving last year and I fell in love with the embassy building, its by far the most beautiful embassy I’ve visited anywhere. Check out the full list of events taking place this weekend below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Honolulu by Arwa Abouo
Exhibition: Birds eye view by Ali Cherri
The November Comedy Night
Rooftop Movie: The Wrestler

Friday
Timelapse Photography Workshop
Book Club Meeting
Toastmasters Debate Championship Finals
Jam Kuwait Show #1
The Annual Concert of Hope

Saturday
KTAA Bazaar at Sadu House
Chuseok Event (Korean Thanksgiving Day)
The Secret Garden Project
Graffiti in the Garden
Meetup: Chat and Map
Book Signing: This is an imprint
Rooftop Movie: Burn After Reading

If there is an event you’d like to share [Email Me]

One of my favorite things to do while growing up in Kuwait was going to the Kuwait International Book Fair. I loved walking through the aisles and aisles of mostly Arabic and some English books while having ice-cream. Since this year’s book fair is opening its doors today (Wednesday the 19th), I thought it would be fit to write about books in Kuwait.

Kuwait was the first Gulf country to hold a book fair with the first being held back in 1975. It was a platform for readers, writers, bookstore owners and publishers to connect with each other directly. Whats sad is that although other Gulf countries only recently started holding book fairs, they have already surpassed Kuwait’s book fairs with their activities and list of international writers and affiliates.

Yes people do read here even though the attention span of an average human being is probably 3 minutes thanks to social media but I am still a strong believer that anyone can get into a book if they chose a book based on their interest. With all of that said, censorship is an issue, its my issue, its your issue, its our issue! Working at q8bookstore with publishers, schools and writers has brought up the subject quite a bit, and although there may be some grounds on why censoring certain books is necessary when it comes to children, the books censored in Kuwait have often if not always not made sense in my humble opinion (I am trying to be diplomatic). Historical atlases of Kuwait and books with hocus pocus and three little pigs for example make it to the list of banned books in schools! Some of Orhan Pamuk, Haruki Murakami and motion picture books (which btw get played in the theaters) also are examples that make it to the list of banned books in bookstores!

Don’t we as citizens have freedom of speech? Shouldn’t we be able read and write what we want? The Kuwaiti constitution mentions in article 36 and 37 the freedom of research, right to publish, conduct research and so on (wont bore you here with tough legal words, that lawyers invented). But seriously who decides whats to be censored and how is it done legally? Well a lot of the information is not available to the general public but with dedicated work, Sout Al Kuwait; a non-profit organization that aims to protect personal freedoms and other constitutional rights have published a booklet on censorship in Kuwait. Here are some interesting points:

– For a local book to be sold in Kuwait it has to go through the Ministry of Information, if there is some doubt on the content of the book, it is transferred to a committee. The committee is supposed to meet once a week but according to Sout Alkuwait when they visited them in April of 2010, they had not met for 3 months and had 120 books pending (surprise, surprise)

– In the 2009 International Book Fair, 25% of the banned books were fiction (get ready for the sad part), 11% poetry and 10% scientific journals

– 24 social organization have signed a petition to review censorship in Kuwait, hopefully this time with avail

Although Mark and I will give you the freedom of speech to post as you wish under here (maybe we can have a religious debate, or lets talk about how mark isn’t Kuwaiti?), either way, I would love to hear about your thoughts and stories on censorship in Kuwait.

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.

A friend spotted the LaFerrari near the Avenues this morning. Only 499 off them were built and each costs around KD500,000 but, since it’s limited, you need to own at least five Ferraris to be even considered by Ferrari to let you buy one.

Lots of things taking place this weekend. My personal picks would be the Nuqat Creative Conference which starts today and continues on through the weekend, the Al Hamra Urban Lounge which is back again this year, there is a Winter Bazaar taking place tomorrow and on Saturday you have the brunch at The Secret Garden which shouldn’t be missed. Check out the full list of events for this weekend below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Honolulu by Arwa Abouo
Ahmadi Music Group Concert
Nuqat Creative Conference
Al Hamra Tower Urban Lounge
Rooftop Movie: Rosetta

Friday
Ahmadi Music Group Concert
Nuqat Creative Conference
Yellow Parade
The English School Winter Bazaar

Saturday
Nuqat Creative Conference
Kuwait Open Quiz 2014
642 Marathon
Saturday Brunch at The Secret Garden
Freestyle Football Event
Rooftop Movie: Carnage

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

The past few months a number of interesting dating blogs have popped up, the first I posted about was Single in the Shires and the second was I Date Kuwait. Since then, Single in the Shires shutdown because people found out who she was while I Date Kuwait stopped getting updated. But, there’s now another blog thats gathering interest and it’s Kuwait Babe. Not sure how much of the blog is real or fiction but it’s still an interesting (and dirty) late night read. [Link]

Insecam.com recently made the news as a website that displays footage from thousands of unsecured webcams from around the world. According to the website there are 112 unsecured webcams in Kuwait some of which are located inside peoples homes. Right now I’m watching a couple sleeping in bed. Creepy. [Link]

If you have a webcam at home make sure you change the password since all the webcams listed on insecam are there because the owners kept the default password.

via crazyinkuwait