Search: “mis”

Booking is now open for Kuwait Little Theatre’s upcoming show Grease. The show takes place end of May but tickets usually run out really quickly so if you’re interested you need to book now.

KLT regulars including Gregory Dunlop (Danny), Jemma Standen (Marty), Karen Siemers (Rizzo) and KLT returnee Tamara Quaddoumi (Sandy) are involved in this fantastically fun production.

Choreographed by Emma Gray (of Hairspray fame), musically directed by Mike Ricketts (of Hairpray and ALW fame) and directed by Kirsty AlBahlooli (director of 2010′s Mamma Mia and 2011′s Hairspray) Grease is a show not to be missed!

Dates: May 21 to 24 & 28 to 31
Price: KD5

To book tickets click [Here]

Yesterday I posted the picture above on my Instagram account of a new tshirt I had ordered online. It took me a month to get the tshirt because it was on backorder and so when a friend of mine pointed out that a local fashion store was selling a locally printed version (i.e. imitation) I got upset for two reasons:

1) If its a good creative idea you support the designer who came up with the idea and you don’t get a local printshop to reprint the design for you

2) The store that was selling the fake tshirts (I won’t mention the brand and any mention of the brand in the comments will be deleted) is actually a very well respected brand and one that I actually liked

So I visited their Instagram account and found the tshirt listed for sale there and in the comments I read the following:

The tshirt was by a local designer and not the official one in NYC so I left the following comment:

To my surprise instead of them apologizing for selling imitation goods they responded with the following comment:

I stayed diplomatic and responded highlighting the fact that they themselves said it was by a local designer and not that they had permission from the official brand to reprint it in Kuwait. I also tagged my friend Fajer the lawyer in the comments so that she was aware of the situation as well. A few moments later they deleted all my comments and blocked me from their account.

I decided to contact the original designer just to make sure I hadn’t made a mistake and turns out I hadn’t. According to the designer who created the orignal tshirt she never gave anybody permission to sell or reprint her tshirts. In fact the local store was sent the following email to cease sale of the tshirts:

VIOLATION OF TRADEMARK – Remove Immediately
We have been notified that you are in violation of our trademark ‘Ain’t Laurent Without Yves’. Please immediately cease sale of all materials with our trademark logo on it; Should you continue to sell these items we will pursue severe legal damages for profits lost.

We never gave you, or any other vendor permission to sell our product with our slogan on it. Your claims on twitter are false and are damaging our brand.

The reason I am pointing this situation out is to discuss how criticism is handled in the region. Even when I was right I got attacked and a lot of other people do too. We should be able to have freedom of speech and criticism actually helps companies (and people) to know how they can improve. People in the region need to calm down and start accepting criticism.

If you’re interested in the tshirt above you can purchase it directly from the original designer at whataboutyves.com

THE QUESTION
Hey Fajer, I work for a private company in Kuwait and the company has my passport (and other employees) and refuses to keep it with us because they’re afraid we might leave the country. Do they have a right to keep our passports? I was told they don’t but I’m afraid if I make a big issue out of this then I might get fired.

THE RESPONSE
So this question/answer is only for private company employees

Do employers have the right to keep an employees passport?

No, No and NOOOOO!

This is a very common question, at work and now from my readers on the blog.

Why is it illegal?

The Ministry resolution number 143/A/2010 says in (Article 1) “It is prohibited for private sector employers and oil sector employers to hold traveling documents of their employees”

Then (Article 2) mentions a punishment from the labor law for employers in the private sector who do not follow (Article 1). The punishment mentioned in (Article 141) from the labor law is as follows:

“In the event where the violator does not remedy the violation within the specified period, he shall be subject to a fine of not less than KD100 and not more than KD200 for each of the workers who are involved in the violation. In the event of recurrence within three years from the date of the final judgment, the punishment shall be doubled.” This means that your employer will get fined KD100-200 for keeping your passport.

Can you get fired?

No, No and NOOOOO!

You can not get fired except for reasons stated in the law which I won’t get into now but basically non of them is for telling your boss to be legal.

I want everyone to know the following for any labor law violations by your employers in the future:

– There is a hotline you can call (no one picked up when I called) 128

– There is a site where you can file a complaint (no one replied to me yet) https://www.mosal.gov.kw/

– There is also an NGO organized by Bibi Nasser called Social Work Society of Kuwait located in mishref www.q8sws.com Tel: 25375031 they might be able to help you with issues, even though most of their work is for domestic and construction workers

– According to the labor law, if you have a complaint against your employer, the Minstry of Labor and Social affairs will look into it before it gets to court and will try to resolve it

– If it does go to court, the court has exempted laborers from any court fees

– I sat with officials 2 weeks ago from the Minstry of Labor and Social Affairs for a research paper by John Hopkins about domestic workers in Kuwait and their rights. The officials I met with told me that an employee who’s passport is held by their employer can come in if he or she really needs to travel and get a paper from them that will allow the employee to travel

Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
Have a Kuwait law related question? Email me at [email protected]

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.

I missed it the first time when they held it back in February.

Location: Marina Crescent
Date: April 25 to April 28 2013
Time: 9AM to 1PM and 4PM to 9PM
Cost: KD20

You need to book from now if you’re interested by calling 94004335
For more information visit their Facebook page [Here]

via wainmaaro7

AGi architects – General Department of Information System, Kuwait from AGi architects on Vimeo.

I honestly have no idea what the General Department of Information System are in charge of but this is the design that got approved for their new offices and I think it looks really beautiful.

The project is based on three principles: representativeness, security and functionality, turning the complex with a total gross area of 135,482 sqm into a strong civil icon representing Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior Affairs.

Building design aims for the clear transmission of a conceptual duality it derives from: technology, innovation and transparency on the one hand versus strength, stability and security, which are inherent to the Ministry of Interior Affairs that will occupying the building, on the other.

This concept is driven in the building by two contrasting layers that are superimposed onto one another. From afar the building is perceived as a light volume elevated from the ground floor, becoming a landmark in the urban landscape for the citizens, while a closer approach will show the massiveness of the stone plinth, a lower part of the building that is opened to the public the main gates and lifts from ground to hold the upper levels lighter glass structures that house the offices of the various departments.

You can also check out some 3D renderings of the building on the AGi Architects website [Here]

Below is a kinda long but interesting write up by a friend of mine currently working in the medical field. It’s related to the “Kuwait to segregate medical care” post from last week:

—————————

Its not a sprint, its a marathon

We need help. Everyone can agree that healthcare in Kuwait should be paramount. We need to have a healthcare system we can be proud of and confident in. I need to feel proud of where I work and the job I do. The recent lobby towards segregated healthcare for none emergent cases is just one more example of a quick fix for many failed and saddening endeavours that we as a profession are at least partly responsible for.

From the outset I doubt that anyone working currently in Kuwaiti healthcare is evil or bad or totally and completely corrupt. In fact, I think many of us started our careers inspired and full of promise but were met by challenges that we cannot possibly overcome. At a healthcare system level, we need to refine our goals and find our way towards something more efficient and dare I say it welcoming to people.

How many people reading this have a family doctor?

I doubt many of you do. This may be because you are perfectly healthy but it’s probably because you show up at the emergency room if you need anything because you have no confidence in your local poly clinic or mustawsif. The fact of the matter is that I wouldn’t either.

We need to re-create the family doctors as the go to guy or girl for all things non emergency and as the primary referring physician (small bruises, vaccines, high blood pressure, diabetes control, breast and colon cancer screening). This will mean two big changes. The first is that one doctor or centre will have all your medical history and that from now on you won’t show up to the emergency room unless it is an actual emergency, otherwise the emergency department will refuse to see you (this is the norm in the US, Canada and the UK NHS, it is becoming the norm in many south east asian countries gradually as well). More importantly we need to equip our poly clinics and family doctors with information and facilities such as x-ray facilities, ultrasound and turn a rundown office into an actual treatment facility. We also need to mandate a minimum amount of courses to be taken by these doctors so that they remain up to date in their fields (this should be true for all doctors in general come to think of it)

Provided you’ve got a referral or are trying to see a specialist, how many of you see them on time?

The way things are now, if you live in Mishref, you go to specialists in Mubarak, if you live near Adan then you are sent there. This means that the areas with the highest population end up with the longest waiting times. We need a structured dynamic referral system. I’m sure that there is some sort of solution I’m just not sure what it is. Perhaps if there was a regular update of which areas had the shortest waiting time were made available to family practitioners on a daily basis (via email). It may mean that patients will get their appointments earlier.

The problem is that I doubt that a person living in Jahra would be happy coming to Amiri for his echocardiogram even if it meant he or she would get it quicker. Having referrals to different hospital for different things would mean that you need to have all the patients data accessible across different hospitals in a sort of a cloud. Lets face it people, I’m more likely to see a giant flying saucer deliver free red velvet cupcakes at 360 than I am to see the ministry of health manage a cloud based patient filing system.

Having exhausted all efforts to get an early appointment you decided to go private, how many of you see a physician in his private practice after trying to get an early appointment in his government funded one?

Many of us have a conflict of interest when we are employed in private and public healthcare. I know colleagues who completely neglect their public healthcare patients and I know others who have no interest in private healthcare. Regardless, clear guidelines have to be set so that a physician working in the private healthcare field does not neglect his or her public healthcare practice. A bill requiring all doctors working in private healthcare to have 50% of their practice as public or pro bono might be the best solution but it’ll also mean that you would be the most hated minister of health in the history of Kuwait. (Maybe if we start with 30%, doctors are less likely to revolt)

There are two really great films I want to see this month at Cinemagic, the first is Samsara and the second is Gomorrah. I’ve been wanting to watch these two movies for sometime now but never got the time. Grave of Fireflies was supposed to show last month but the BluRay got delayed in customs and the movie Once was shown instead which I watched and thought was pretty good considering it was a musical (I hate musicals). Grave of Fireflies is now going to be shown this month instead. Check out the full film schedule below…

Thursday April 4th, 2013 at 7:30PM
SAMSARA
From the award winning director of Baraka, Samsara takes you on an incredible journey, filmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimetre film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.

Saturday April 6th, 2013 at 7:30PM
GRAVE OF FIREFLIES
Called “one of the greatest and most powerful war films ever made” by acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert, and universally considered one of the best animated films ever made, Grave of Fireflies is a tragic film covering a young boy and his little sister’s struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.

Thursday April 11th, 2013 at 7:30PM
GOMORRAH
Winner of the Grand Prix Jury Prize at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, Gomorrah intertwines 5 separate stories of people whose lives are touched by organised crime. A harrowing look into Italy’s modern-day crime families.

Saturday April 13th, 2013 at 7:30PM
HAROLD AND MAUDE
Chosen by the AFI as one of the top ten classic American comedies of all time, and considered a huge influence on the work of Wes Anderson and Jared Hess. Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.

Thursday April 18th, 2013 at 7:30PM
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
Holding 96% on rottentomatoes.com, the multi-award winning story of how an eccentric French shop keeper and amateur film maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner. The film contains footage of Banksy, Shephard Fairey, Invader and many of the world’s most infamous graffiti artists at work.

Saturday April 20th, 2013 at 7:30PM
FOLLOWING
Before dominating the world with The Dark Knight and Inception, and before his groundbreaking independent mind-bender Memento, Christopher Nolan made a small film about a young writer who follows strangers for material until he meets a thief who takes him under his wing. A rare debut from a fascinating filmmaker.

Thursday April 25th to Saturday April 28th, 2013
THE KUWAIT INTERNATIONAL FILM RETREAT
Join us for a film festival of Kuwaiti, Regional, and International short and feature length films that we will be screening on these dates, alongside workshops, red carpet photo ops, and other film related activities. Don’t miss this one of a kind film event, and keep checking back on the official website for more details: www.kuwaitfilmretreat.com

Cinemagic Kuwait, is organizing these events as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by Increasing the public’s interest in – and appreciation for – the art of film-making. Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG and there is no entrance fee. Here is a link to their Facebook group [Link]

Not a lot of people might know this but back in 2003 I ran a warblog with a few a friends of mine called qHate. The blog started just as the Iraq invasion was going to take place and so we started covering life in Kuwait during that period. Since it was the anniversary of the Iraq invasion a couple of days back, here are some of my favorite posts from that blog:

Life of a Soldier in Kuwait
Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Pictures of Soldiers on streets of Kuwait
The First Siren
The Gas Masks
Just a bit of fun
People shouldn’t live like this
Strange Days
My Latest Adventure
Pictures of Souq Sharq after missile attack
Wolf Blitzer

For more posts you can visit qHate [Here]

The Shams Power Company opened their Shams 1 concentrated solar power station this week in Abu Dhabi. The station generates 100 MW and can power 20,000 homes while reducing CO2 emissions by 175,000 tons per year. [Source]

Kuwait is currently in the process of building a solar power station as well and is expected to be completed by the end of this year (2013).

The project took about two years and $600 million to build. [Source]

Now this is what I find interesting. Their solar power station is costing $600 million to build while ours is costing just $16 million. So our power station is either going to be super tiny or they got ripped off pretty badly.

On a similar subject, here is a link to vintage photos of the Shuwaikh Power Station taken back in the 1950s. [Link]

Calling all photographers, if you’re interested in taking part in a group activity then this is a good one. Star trails photography involves long exposure shots of either the sky or landscapes where the movement of the stars in the sky form light trails in your shots (similar to the shot above). Not only will you end up with some interesting shots but its also a great way to meet new people.

Here is a list of gear you need to bring:
1. A DSLR
2. A tripod
3. Bring extra batteries or at least fully charge yours
4. A high capacity memory card
5. Shutter release
6. Food
7. Flashlights
8. Mat or chair to sit on

The meetup point will be the Mishref CO-OP parking lot on March 15th at 6PM. For more details check this [Link]

Photo above taken by Saleh AlRashaid

Thanks Kim

In February of this year, K’S PATH received a call about a Hamadryas baboon on the loose in the Friday market. Baboons of this kind tend to compete fiercely for resources, and can be particularly dangerous around food. They are also potential vectors for an astounding number of diseases that affect humans, including rabies, herpes, hepatitis b, HIV, and tuberculosis, to name but a few. A baboon on the loose in a public place, struggling to survive in stressful, unnatural conditions, therefore represents a serious risk to human health. Two of the K’S PATH animal control units therefore quickly responded to the call.

On arriving at the market, we were directed to the Shrimpy’s restaurant, where she had last been sighted. A thorough search of the building, including the roof, led nowhere. Several hours of searching the area around the market and talking to people revealed little except word of an occasional sighting. Eventually we were obliged to go back to our other duties and see what developed.

Later, we received a frantic call from one of the people we had spoken to earlier that day: the baboon was inside Lu & Lu Hypermarket, and people were panicking. This time K’S PATH mobilized all of our units and several volunteers, under the assumption we would have to use a dart gun to catch a baboon inside a crowded supermarket; a very dangerous prospect. By the time we arrive at the scene however, workers had chased the baboon back outside. Now we were faced with the prospect of finding and catching a primate in the dark, in a huge open area. Fortunately, we are experts in animal capture, so we went with our training. With such a recent sighting, we were able to more or less track the animals’ movements through eyewitness accounts. This led to a small cluster of buildings near the main entrance to the manufactured-goods area of the market. Here the trail went cold.

We split up with flashlights and headlamps to see what we could find. The first search revealed nothing. We were just about ready to give up. I was on top of the middle building creeping around looking for what I hoped wasn’t an angry primate, when the beam of my flashlight caught the slightest smudge in the dust inside of an air conditioning unit. A closer look revealed the slight impression of three little baboon prints.

Sleepz is bringing something new to the Hip Hop scene in Kuwait with his crew KD Makers. He and this group of talented artists are set to do big things. Their main goal is to show the world what living in Kuwait can be like. “Started off broke” is Sleepz love note to Kuwait. It is followed by a little taste of “What Their Missin” a song we will be filming the video for in Dubai. Sleepz and the whole KD Makers crew are out to have fun and help put Kuwait on the Hip Hop map and it shows.

[YouTube]

The P2BK event for 2013 will start tomorrow and last for the next two weeks. This year the set up is a lot more interesting with an outdoor old souk that was built specifically to host this event. There will be a ton of Kuwaiti businesses participating including already established ones as well as new ones and since the weather is fantastic right now it should be pretty enjoyable checking all the various stalls out.

The event is taking place at the Mishref Fair Ground and will be open from 10AM to 10PM. You can visit the P2BK website for some more information but most of their sections don’t seem to be working right now. [Website]

The Green Caravan Film Festival is back for the 4th time and will be taking place in Kuwait from March 9th to March 12th. The film lineup for this festival are the following:

CHASING ICE
Follow National Geographic photographer James Balog across the Arctic as he deploys time-lapse cameras designed for one purpose: to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers.

IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT
A rare behind-the-curtain look at the Earth Liberation Front, the radical environmental group that the FBI calls America’s ‘number one domestic terrorist threat.’

THE TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM
Survivors in the areas hardest hit by Japan’s recent tsunami find the courage to revive and rebuild as cherry blossom season begins.

THE CITY DARK
THE CITY DARK is a feature documentary about the loss of night. After moving to NYC from rural Maine, filmmaker Ian Cheney asks a simple question – do we need the stars? – taking him from Brooklyn to Mauna Kea, Paris, and beyond. Exploring the threat of killer asteroids in Hawaii, tracking hatching turtles along the Florida coast, and rescuing injured birds on Chicago streets, Cheney unravels the myriad implications of a globe glittering with lights – including increased breast cancer rates from exposure to light at night, and a generation of kids without a glimpse of the universe above. Featuring stunning astrophotography and a cast of eclectic scientists, THE CITY DARK is the definitive story of light pollution and the disappearing stars.

THE ISLAND PRESIDENT
After bringing democracy to his country, President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, the lowest-lying country in the world, takes up the fight to keep his homeland from disappearing under the sea.

The film festival is taking place at Bayt Lothan and admission is free. For more information including the schedule visit the festival website [Here]

[YouTube]

For those of you like me who were out of Kuwait during the holidays, we ended up missing the air show that was held on the Gulf Road. They painted the sky with the Kuwaiti flag colors and going by the pictures and videos it looked like an event that shouldn’t have been missed.

[YouTube]

Photos by Rampurple