Tag: Kuwait

Late last month I posted about how some schools are banning the book Harry Potter. Well I now have the full list of books banned which I’ve shared below. This list was created by the Ministry and the Foreign Schools Committee. The list below is for 2014-2015, if there are any spelling mistakes I’m sorry but I had to type the list below manually since I only received a print version not a digital one. In brackets I’ve also mentioned who was behind the ban and you’ll notice the schools have banned more books than the Ministry but that could be because they’re following the Ministry’s guidelines. One thing to note is that schools are recommended to follow this list and not obliged to follow it except for the books banned by the Ministry. Check out the full list below:

Daaaaaammmmmmn. [YouTube]

via Sala6a

According to a Zain press release, Zain and Uber have partnered up to offer Zain customers discounted and preferential services when using the Uber platform. The service is already active in Bahrain, Jordan and Saudi Arabia but according the press release, Kuwait is next. If this isn’t definitive proof that Uber is coming to Kuwait I’m not sure what is. [Link]

Thanks Musaed

When I first viewed the video above I didn’t think much of it since I’ve seen better shot videos of Kuwait. BUT, then I found out that if you click and hold down the mouse button on the video while it’s playing you could move around in 360. You could look up, down or turn around completely while the video is playing. That’s pretty cool. [YouTube]

Last week a reader called Abdulai Shani left the following comment under the post “The rescue of a domestic worker in Kuwait”:

I’m happy I came across this page. To be frank I’m fascinated as to how most Kuwaitis respond positively.

This is my own story and how I got to Kuwait. It all started somewhere in February this year, I met a guy back in my country in Africa, that is Ghana to be specific who told me he have some “connection” as normally termed in Ghana here in Kuwait and that a reputable company needs security guards to employ. I showed interest because he said I will be paid $1000 per month. I was happy and more than willing, so he demanded I pay $1500 for the processing my my visa and tickets which I paid. When I arrived at the airport of Kuwait on the 1st of April it was a different scenario. I was taken to an agency in Jahra and was told I’m going to take care of sheep on the desert. That was a blow I haven’t recovered till now, because I’m trapped in the sense that I quitted my job which is 100 times better than what I’m doing right here in Kuwait. And the wages i was promised never manifested instead I receive 70kd a month. I can’t even call my mom to tell her what I’m going through because I fear I might break her heart. I Fasted 30 Days during the fasting and can tell you it was hell. I Iive in a tent and the weather is extremely hot. I Have been on the desert for five months now. It’s I’m not the only one over here, we are trapped. We work 24hours a day and no day off and this will continue for 2years. We don’t go any where ,we just work even at night because we have to stay awake and look after the sheep. I’m a muslim and what I have been taught is that a man should not be ashamed of his work if it brings you good deeds and avoid you from stealing, so I’m not ashamed of being a shepherd although I’m well educated but the thing is my freedom have shackled. And the funny thing is our employers call themselves Muslims but will not allow us to go to the mosque on Fridays. All they do is they want us to always work,t hey don’t care even if we don’t pray. Hmmm on the day of Judgement Allah will fight for what they are denying us. Maybe someone reading this will say why we don’t run away or protect, but I tell you if we try to run away they will file a false case against us. And another problem is abuse, they beat my co workers although non have tried that on me yet. We just hope one day our two years contracts will be over. So that we can go back peacefully to our various countries.

After reading that I had no idea what to think. It didn’t make sense, the person who left that comment speaks English fairly well, was able to find my blog and was also able to leave a comment. How is this guy a shepherd? At first I thought it might be a prank but I emailed the guy anyway asking for his number so I could contact him and confirm his story. He sent me his number and I proceeded to chat with him via Whatsapp. Again I was very suspicious, how does a shepherd know what Whatsapp is? In the end he sent me his location and I decided I would drive out to meet him. Friday, after brunch with some friends, I drove an hour and a half alone into the middle of the desert so I could meet a stranger called Abdulai. I honestly had no idea what to expect which is why I had passed the location to my friends… just in case.

It was around 1PM when I pulled up outside Abdulai’s tent. I had called him up minutes earlier trying to figure out where his tent was exactly and the first thing he asked me was if I had driven through the valley of dead sheep. I surprisingly knew what he was talking about since just before I called him I had driven on a strip of road with dead sheep on both sides. A horrific scene mind you. As I was getting out of my car Abdulai had a big smile on his face, I walked up to him and we shook hands before we headed inside his tent. Abdulai lives on a farm, no, I can’t call it a farm since it’s really not but not sure what else to call it. It’s just a 4×4 tent (his home) with a small sheep pen outside it and that’s about it. It was very hot and although I was sitting inside his tent in the shade I was sweating profusely. He doesn’t have electricity so there is no air conditioning. Before we started I asked him if I could post his full name and his photo and he said yes. I told him I didn’t want to get him in trouble and if he wanted to stay anonymous or not be in a photo that would be ok. He told me he didn’t care since this was his reality.

Abdulai Shani is a high school graduate but dropped out of university. He’s just 25 years old and before coming to Kuwait was teaching 7 year olds English and Mathematics at a school in Ghana. Like he stated in his comment on the blog, he was offered the opportunity to work in Kuwait as a security guard with a starting salary of $1,000 which was more than what he was making teaching in Ghana. So he took the chance, paid the agent $1,500 in fees and flew out of Ghana on March 31st of this year to come work in Kuwait. He didn’t have a copy of the contract before he left since his agent told him he would get one on arrival to Kuwait. When he arrived in Kuwait he was greeted by a man who he assumed was his boss. That man took his passport then drove him to a house in Jahra where he was locked up with three other people. He was told his sponsor would be coming to get him in a couple of days and was then asked if he was informed on what he would be doing. He replied saying he did, he would be a security guard. The person told him no, he was going to be a shepherd. Abdulai responded saying he was told he would be a security guard by the agent. The man then asked him if he knew how much he would be getting paid. Abdulai told him $1,000, the man told him he would be getting only KD70. Abdulai didn’t understand and at that time he had just arrived to Kuwait and so he was scared and didn’t know what to do. Three days later his sponsor came in the evening. His sponsor paid the people holding Abdulai and he was released into his custody. He felt like he was a slave being traded.

Since April Abdulai has been working at this sheep pen out in the middle of nowhere. His meals are bread for breakfast, rice for lunch and rice for dinner. He doesn’t have electricity except for a small solar panel that charges his phone and his flashlight. The sponsor gave him a smartphone with a phone line that has internet which is how he is able to get online. He found my blog while researching slavery in Kuwait trying to understand what rights he had and why things are the way they are. According to Abdulai he is getting paid although he ran into an issue recently. His first two salaries he had the sponsor send to Ghana since it wasn’t safe to keep his money in his tent. Then the other 3 salaries he told the sponsor to keep with him. But when he asked for them at the end of last month the sponsor wouldn’t give it to him. After an argument he was told to give back the mobile phone. Abdulai gave him the phone but told him part of the contract says I get a phone so if you’re taking it back then I want to go back to Ghana. So they took him to the agency who gave him two choices.

1) He leaves to Ghana but doesn’t get paid.
2) He stays and he would get paid. He chose to stay.

At this point I wanted to know what he wanted out of all of this so I asked him. He replied telling me he just wanted to get the word out that slavery still exists. He told me back in Ghana he didn’t live in a tent, he lived in a home, a decent one. He told me two months back when the weather was really hot he started to bleed from his nose. So he told his sponsor he wanted to go to the hospital to check and see why he was bleeding. His sponsor told him he wasn’t going to take him to the hospital but instead should just wrap his head with a shemagh. I asked Abdulai if he wanted to go back to Ghana or if he wanted to stay and get a better job. He told me he wanted to stay but get a better job since that’s why he originally came to Kuwait.

On my way back to the car he gave me a tour of the property. Right outside his tent door was a bench, that’s where he sleeps at night since it’s too hot to sleep inside the tent. He then showed me the sheep pen which he attends to all day long, seven days a week. He doesn’t understand what the sheep are for, in the five months he’s been there none were sold or taken or anything. We walked together back to my car and said our goodbyes.

In some ways Abdulai is lucky. He’s educated and speaks English which is how he was able to reach out to me and now I can shed light on him and hopefully with the help of the blog find him a better job. But this also got me thinking, what about all the other people who don’t speak any English and don’t know how to reach out for help? And what if this was the tipping point for change? With local telecoms phasing out regular phones and pushing out smartphones with internet access to all their customers, are more and more people like Abdulai going to come forward and share their story with the world?

There’s a weird looking building on the Gulf Road right before Marina Mall which I was trying to figure out what it was. When they were constructing it I thought it was someones home but after completion they put up a sign that said Dar Hamad. I thought it was possibly a museum but then over the weekend I found out it was going to be a restaurant. It’s actually going to be a high end Kuwaiti cuisine restaurant serving traditional dishes created by Kuwaiti chef Janan Al Assfour. The opening date? Supposedly September.

Kuwait occupies the 64th and last place of the overall ranking, particularly due to its low score in the Ease of Settling In Index. In fact, 53% of respondents are unhappy with the general friendliness of local residents. The opportunities to find new friends also leave a lot to be desired for one-third of respondents.

Unfortunately, the situation is similarly grim when it comes to the overall quality of life. Many expats are not satisfied with the available leisure options, while others see their personal happiness suffering. Only for the Job Security and Language subcategories does the country receive some decent results, making it to 26th and 25th place, respectively.

InterNations, the networking group for expats yesterday released the results of its latest annual survey. The organization asked expats in a bunch of countries a wide range of questions about their life and impressions of their adopted country and the results were charted. Kuwait came last which we could sit here and debate all day but what was surprising was the fact that Saudi Arabia was ranked as a better destination. How the hell is that even possible?? [Link]

Thanks James

The question ‘What Do You see?’ in reference to the current state of affairs in Kuwait, is a question that I usually get in meetings and tend to dodge to avoid entering into a complaining session about the country in the middle of the work day.

Then, several months ago I was on a red-eye flight back to Kuwait and I began to think what if I am to answer the question. I started writing what came to mind. By touchdown I found myself to have jotted down a collection of contradicting thoughts that have taken the form of a written essay, albeit a loosely-constructed, colloquial essay.

That was in November of 2014. In the weeks that followed I shared that set of contradicting thoughts on LinkedIn, and other social networks, and saw an interesting discussion take place. Since then, two of my colleagues have been working on transforming those thoughts into a visual essay. The result was this well crafted video.

Thank you Mohamed Amin, who shot and edited this video, and Rula Liddawi, who produced and narrated it, for translating my written notes into visual ones.

– Fawaz Al Sirri

Fawaz is the Managing Partner at Bensirri, a local public relations firm. I’ve worked with him a few times and I actually like the guy a lot. I remember the first time I met Fawaz was a few years ago during a meeting in which a digital agency was proposing paying bloggers to write about a brand. Fawaz told the guy that it was unethical to do that and I remember thinking in my head finally, someone else who finds that wrong! It’s why I now always refer Bensirri when anyone asks me if I know of a good PR firm. [YouTube]

Kuwait’s government said it had awarded a contract to build a new terminal at Kuwait International Airport to the same consortium that had an earlier more-expensive bid dismissed.

Turkey’s Limak Holding and local construction firm Kharafi National won the deal after bidding 1.312 billion dinars ($4.34 billion) for the work – 74 million dinars cheaper than the offer it submitted in November. [Source]

Bring out the non-alcoholic champagne!

I would like to thank Mark again for giving me the opportunity to write here, and I know I don’t write as often as I should, but I thought it was very important to share with you what has been taking place behind the scenes of the blog.

I get a lot of emails on a daily basis from people who find my posts while searching for help online. The majority of the emails I get are from expats being mistreated in Kuwait, from CEO’s to blue-collar workers, they all seems to have issues but the worst off are the domestic workers. With that said, there is also a lot of humanitarian work and compassionate people in Kuwait and that in itself makes me very proud to be Kuwaiti.

I want to share with you a story of a domestic worker in Kuwait, how she came here, what happened and how she escaped. Most importantly though, I want to share what we can learn from her experience and how we can make Kuwait a better place.

The lovely woman is from an African country and I will give her the name Malika to respect her privacy. She wanted to move to the Arab world for better opportunity, so she started applying for jobs online. A few weeks later she got offered a job position to work as a supervisor and was promised a lucrative salary of 800 USD – 1,200 USD.

Her agent told her that she would meet her boss at the airport but when she arrived to Kuwait she was shocked to hear she was going to work as a maid.

“We were all taken to a room once we arrived at the Kuwait airport, many girls from many countries, some from Philippines, some from Nepal and many other Asian countries. Young girls even, some as young as 16 or 17, some thinking they were going to work as beauticians, but from my experience we were all there to work as maids”.

The girls waited in the room for hours at end, without water, food or any money, as their possessions were taken away. A woman then came and took them to an office where each girl had to wait for her employer to come and pick them up. Malika’s employer came and picked her up from the office and as soon as she got in the car with her new family, they asked her “Do you have a phone on you? You’re not allowed to have a phone, if you need to call someone, you need permission and you need to use the house phone”. So Malika quickly hid her phone on her.

She describes the house as being busy with a big family of 7 kids living there, she was shocked to see the situation as her agent had told her that she was going to be a supervising maid at the house and only be working from 7am-4pm, she described to me her feelings;

“The first night I couldn’t sleep, because I was crying and crying, I had a phone but no SIM card or money, so I used the phone to search the internet (wifi). I was so depressed working all day, from cooking to cleaning, the work was so much”

She told her employer that she wanted to leave, her employer responded to Malika that if she wanted to leave she had to pay 700 KD. So after some online searching she found her countries embassy’s number that was located in another GCC country. She used a VOIP app to contact them, they didn’t help her though, so she kept on searching online.

She kept fainting at work because the workload was inhumane, and her employer did not bother to take her to the hospital but instead took her to the agency and said that she wanted her money back. She accused Malika of being weak and lazy because she was fainting. The agency ended up beating her. But by going to the agency she found out that her sister and her sister’s friend had come to Kuwait as well, they were told that they would each work here as a nanny and as a waitress.

She was then taken back home by the employer, and she kept searching online for help when she found one of my posts on Marks blog’s. She said “I found out that I have rights and that I can leave. So I sent an email and I was so happy when I got an email back.” When I received her email, I assessed the situation and realized that the best person to help her would be Bibi Nasser Al Sabah from the Social Work Society of Kuwait, who have been aiding many workers in Kuwait over the past few years and I must say are making a huge difference in the lives of many here.

Bibi told Malika about her rights as an employee in Kuwait as well as the rights of her sister and her sisters friend who she was able to get in touch with. Bibi also told her there was a shelter available for them so all three ended up running away from their houses to the shelter. When they arrived to the shelter, Malika was searched and her possessions were taken away except for her clothes (thanks to Malika, the policy has now changed and the ladies at the shelter are allowed to keep their possessions). On Fridays, calls are allowed to be made from the shelter for 1 KD. One of the ladies at the shelter managed to sneak in her phone, Bibi transferred 20 KD for them and the ladies started contacting Bibi till she got them tickets and passports to get back home. They were there for around a month except for her sister who had to stay longer because she had a case against her that turned out to be fake accusations.

Malika says that being in Kuwait was one of the worst experiences in her life, she says that she has domestic workers at home and she treats them with respect and she would never treat anyone like this. She also told me something important;

“I don’t want to judge Arabs, even though I kept hearing mean stories at the shelter from the girls. I can’t judge because Bibi is Arab, so is Fajer, and so was the driver that helped me from the shelter to the airport. They were all so nice.”

Malika was lucky that she spoke fluent English, had internet access and was tech savvy that she was able to reach us at the blog. She is also a very smart lady that understands that issues need to be spoken about. Because of Malika the Social Work Society of Kuwait were able to help 24 other women at the shelter who Malika put us in touch with. I hope that we can learn from her experience and realize that yes there are really corrupt people in Kuwait but there are also a lot of passionate people like Bibi. We bring these topics up because we want to see change and I am positive that one day, Kuwait will be a better place.

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.

Honestly I’m just sharing this timelapse because I love the first 10 seconds of it with the Kuwait Towers. The rest of the video is fairly boring. [Vimeo]

When I got back from my LA trip I had major jet lag so I was waking up at the oddest hours wanting to have breakfast. I couldn’t figure out where to go since most of the places I went to between 4AM and 6AM were closed. So I decided I would put together a list of breakfast places along with their timings so that if anyone ever googles breakfast places they get a nice comprehensive list. Check out some of the popular places below:

Baking Tray
8:00 AM – 1:00 AM

Baker & Spice
Weekdays: 8AM to 1PM
Weekends: 8AM to 2PM

Breakfast Club
KIPCO: 6AM to 12AM
Mahboula: Open 24 hours and breakfast all day

Cheesecake Factory
Friday & Saturday: 10AM to 4PM

Cocoa Room ★
8AM to 12PM

Dar Hamad
8AM to 11:50AM

Dough Cafe
8AM to 2PM

Early Bird ★
Fahaheel: 5AM to 3PM
Jabriya: 5AM to 5PM

Eggcellent
Weekdays: 6:30AM to 2PM
Saturday: 7:30AM to 3PM
Friday: Closed

Gia
Weekdays: 9AM to 12PM
Weekends: 9AM to 1PM

IHOP
Jabriya: Open 24 hours and breakfast all day

Johnny Rockets ★
Salmiya: Open 24 hours but breakfast only from 7AM to 12PM

Ladurée
360 Mall: 9AM to 2PM

Le Pain Quotidien
Marina Crescent: 7:30AM to 11PM

McDonalds
Gulf Road: 6AM to 11AM

Prime & Toast
Seef: Open 24 hours and breakfast all day

Q at The Yard
Weekdays: 7AM to 1PM
Weekends: 8AM to 6PM

Ryoog
6AM to 11PM

Street by Al Makan ★
Saturday: 9:30AM to 2PM

Yellow Lemon
Sunday to Tuesday: 8AM to 4PM
Wednesday to Saturday: 8AM to 7PM

Zaatar W Zeit
Marima Crescent:7:30AM to 12:30AM

★ My favorite places

Update: List updated on 02/01/2017.

I’ve spent the last 30+ minutes trying to figure out what to write. I tend to have a difficult time with words but never like this. By now you’ve probably heard about the devastating explosion that took place at a mosque today during prayers. As of this post at least 13 people are reportedly. I’ve been getting a steady supply of photos and videos via Whatsapp of this tragedy but I won’t be sharing any of them here out of respect. It’s so sad, I can’t believe this happened. If you want to stay up to do date on whats going on, please use this [Link]

This is heartbreaking, may they all rest in peace.

I usually post this list at the start of Ramadan but this year I had a difficult time getting in touch with some of the restaurants so I had to physically pass by them. This is the most comprehensive list I have put together with over 30 restaurants listed. Majority have buffets but a number of them have set menus instead.

Like they do every year, many of the restaurants have increased their prices compared to the previous year (some have decreased). I’ve highlighted the increase in red and the decrease in green. The most expensive option available is The Garden Cafe at Jumeirah, they’re charging KD19 for their buffet this year. The most affordable option is Avanti palace, their set menu is just KD3.3. Check out the full list of places below:

Abdel Wahab
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 1821000

Al Forno
Set Menu Price: KD9.5
Telephone: 22214996 or 22283498

Al Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resort – Taima’a Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 24590000

Al Noukhaza Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD12.950 (+1.000)
Telephone: 24757775 or 1823888

Al Sanawbar Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD8.950
Telephone: 25756273

Applebee’s
Set Menu Price: KD8 (+1.050)
Telephone: 1844466

Assaha Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD11 (+3.000)
Telephone: 22533377

Avanti Palace
Set Menu Price: KD3.300 – min 4 people (-0.300)
Telephone: 25751081

Boccini Pizzeria
Set Menu Price: KD15
Telephone: 22200669

Burj Al-Hamam
Buffet Price: KD12.5
Telephone: 22529095

Cafe Blanc – The Avenues
Buffet Price: KD7.750 (Buffets only on weekends)
Telephone: 22597568

Courtyard by Marriott
Buffet Price: KD13 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22997000

Crowne Plaza – Al Ahmadi Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD12.950 (+0.450)
Telephone: 1848111

Dean & Deluca
Set Menu Price: KD9.950 – min 4 people
Telephone: 22242224

Hilton Resort – Teatro Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD15.500 (+0.500)
Telephone: 22256222

Jeans Grill
Buffet Price: KD7.750
Telephone: 22264503

Jumeirah Messilah Beach – Garden Cafe
Buffet Price: KD19 (+3.000)
Telephone: 22269600

JW Marriott
Buffet Price: KD14 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22455550

Katsuya
Set Menu Price: KD12.5 – serves 2 to 3 people
Telephone: 22283195/6 or 22214985

Kosebasi
Set Menu Price: KD10
Telephone: 22251303

Leila
Set Menu Price: KD9 – min 6 people (+1.000)
Telephone: 22996414

Millennium Hotel & Convention – Lamar International Restaurant
Set Menu Price: KD13
Telephone: 22050505

Movenpick – Free Zone – Bays Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD11.9 (-1.600)
Telephone: 24610033

Movenpick – Al Bida’a – Breeze Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 22253100

Naranj
Buffet Price: KD13 (+0.500)
Telephone: 22268666

Qasr Al-Saraya
Buffet Price: KD8.5 (+0.500)
Telephone: 25711101

Radisson Blu – Al Bustan Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14 (+1.000)
Telephone: 25673000

Red Lobster
Set Menu Price: TBA
Telephone: 22200536

Ruby Tuesday
Set Menu Price: KD6.950 (+1.200)
Telephone: 22444454

Sheraton – Coral Tent
Buffet Price: KD17.250
Telephone: 22422055

Symphony Style Hotel – Luna Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 25770000

THE One
Buffet Price: KD9.800 (+0.300)
Telephone: 22244511

The Regency Kuwait – Silk Road Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD18
Telephone: 25766880

The Southern
Set Menu Price: KD9 (-0.500)
Telephone: 98949799

Vapiano
Set Menu Price: KD4.950
Telephone: 22597171

Veranda
Set Menu Price: KD12
Telephone: 22283141

Villa Fayrouz
Buffet Price: KD13 (+0.500)
Telephone: 22650052

Zafran
Buffet Price: KD7.5
Telephone: 25750647

Zahr El Laymoun – 360 Mall
Buffet Price: KD8.250 (+0.250)
Telephone: 25309511

If you’d like to add a restaurant to the list above [Email Me]

Update: Added Al Forno and Lamar International Restaurant
Update2: Added Jeans Grill, cheapest buffet on the list as of now
Update3: Original price listed for Jeans Grill was their Suhoor buffet
Update4: Added Burj Al-Hamam, Al-Sanawbar Lebanese Restaurant and Taima’a Restaurant
Update5: Added Katsuya

The blogger Crazy in Kuwait posted a few pictures of some interesting looking houses in Kuwait and the one that caught my attention was the house that looks like an American suburban house complete with a white picket fence. Check out the other houses [Here]