Showing posts with label wtf kuwait. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wtf kuwait. Show all posts

Al-Watan Daily: "Are embassy labor departments to blame for rising fatalities?"

, , 7:41 PM | 0 comments

Are you for real Al-Watan Daily?! Embassies have very little authority in handling the issues of labor. First of all, recruitment is done in labourers' home countries, none of the recruitmet process has to do with the destination embassy. Secondly, Kuwaiti newspapers never have the "cojones" to use the word "blame" with any sort of Kuwaiti government institution when it comes to the pitiful labor record in this country. At the end of the day, this reputation is a reflection on the country's internal institutions and regulations. Embassies have nothing to do with that.


Here is what an embassy CAN do. They can repatriate citizens who come to their door. They can, as a reflection of their governments' decisions, put a ban on bringing citizens to Kuwait, as many countries have, or have threatened to do to Kuwait, and lastly, they can release public statements condemning pandemic abuse against their nationals, as the Philippines Embassy has done. The truth of the matter is that many embassies are going far beyond their mandate in this country, such as those who have begun to provide shelters for formerly abused domestic workers.

Asking embassies to work harder is targeting the problem at the source just about as well as a bandage on a broken limb. Embassies have marginal capacities and leverage to tackle the ABYSMAL record in this country on labor rights. I am pleased to see that Al-Watan is bringing to light the sharp and alarming increase in the number of fatalities and suicides of migrant workers in recent months, however, I am flabbergasted that this is the first culprit that Al-Watan Daily has identified as the source of the problem. You must be joking.

KUWAIT: The increase in number of fatalities among Asian workers in Kuwait has alarmingly risen in 2009. Several foreign nationals have raised concerns over this upsurge and many pinpoint the embassies and their labor offices as contributing to the increase in numbers. Al Watan Daily spoke to officials of five Asian embassies that refuted the accusations and explained the factors that contributed to the rise in numbers.

A counselor of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Kuwait explained that the total number of death cases among its nationals in 2009 totals sixty nine with varying reasons that include suicide, sicknesses, accidents and other labor related incidents such as domestic helpers being beaten to death by employers. The counselor said that its embassy is equipped with personnel that look after legal cases field against their nationals by employers and vice versa.

"There are 300 nationals who are currently housed in our shelter and each of them receives legal, medical and psychological assistance. We provide repatriation on a daily basis so long as their cases have been resolved," disclosed the counselor.

He added that "The huge amount of fatalities that occurred in 2009 is relatively high as compared to previous years" but he refuted the complaints that its labor and consular sections were responsible for the deaths of its nationals. "Most related cases of suicide based on reports are personal and not labor related. It is not appropriate then for our nationals to say that we neglected or ignored them and that these are the reasons for committing such crime," added the counselor.

Labor Attachأ) of the Philippines Embassy in Kuwait stated that there are at least fifty three reported incidences of fatalities in 2009 and that five were suicide related cases. The Labor Attachأ) explained that there could be three possible reasons that are to be considered as to why suicide is committed. Topping the list is because of personal reasons that include marital or relationship issues, extreme poverty and financial concerns and finally those that are labor related such as maltreatments and abuses.

The attachأ) added that the fatalities of their nationals in 2009 included sicknesses and complications, murder, accidents and suicides, some of which may not have been intentional but a means of escape from their employers. "The embassy and labor department''s main concerns are to protect its nationals and provide all possible assistance needed to ensure their safety and welfare. We have 160,000 Filipinos in Kuwait and that figure includes the unregistered ones. The ratio is such that we have at least 15,000 Filipinos for every one embassy and labor personnel but we manage to cope with the problems," added the attachأ).

He added "Fatality such as suicide has no connection with the embassy as these crimes were committed out of the victims'' desperation or extreme depression over other issues." Furthermore, he stated that "If any of such cases were reported, the embassy still requests for investigations to substantiate the cause and provide all possible assistance to repatriate the body."

On the other hand, an Indonesian attachأ) disclosed that there has been one reported case of suicide among the 18 cases of fatality for the year 2009 and that the reason is similarly a relationship issue. "Our embassy''s mission in Kuwait is focused on our nationals'' welfare and the embassy has never denied anyone of our services and support. We rely on newspaper reports daily and should we find any Asian (without identifying specific national) reported, our Assistant to the Nationals makes it a point to find out the identity of the victims. The number of fatalities this year has increased slightly from that of last year but mostly were of medical related reasons," added the attachأ).

Two other Asian embassies that deploy foreign workers to Kuwait opted not to comment on the issues.

Air Conditioning through the Four Seasons

, , , , 5:33 PM | 2 comments

Here in Kuwait, we note the change in season not by the turning of colors in the leaves, but rather the phasing out of white and cream-colored dishdashas for ones of dark gray, navy blue, and all the possible shades of tree-trunk.


However, maintenance in offices, entertainment venues, shopping malls and even the airport, as I discovered today, seem to only perceive one season: the constant permafrost of the AC: rain or shine, winter or summer, be it 15 degrees Celsius outside or 50.

What is going on? Decisions on issues related to maintenance in Kuwait run slow and tend to be decentralized. For the past month, yes one month, my coworkers has been pushing hard to turn the AC off in our office.

First, finding a way to open the locked door where the thermostat is located was an adventure as no one knew who owned the key. Second, for some reason, the idea of just turning the switch OFF, cold-turkey (no pun intended) seemed to be unfathomable, an alternative that was improcessable. You'd think visualizing a world without AC was like stepping out of the Matrix or something.

Although the temperature has dropped significantly, and women are pulling out their boots and sweaters of the latest fashion, the AC is blasting full in many buildings, even though the temperature outside allows for maintaining a comfortable environment without it. No one in charge seems to get the hint by Mother Nature.

At the same time, Spain has recently put out a law limiting temperature on air conditioners and heaters in public spaces, such as cafes, bars, offices, government buildings and airports, etc. In the winter, the temperature cannot exceed 21 C, and in the summer they cannot go below 26 C. Furthermore, these places will be open to inspection to make sure that there is sufficient insulation and proper to design to prevent warm and cool air from escaping buildings. This is part of 31 measures the government will take to meet its 2011 energy efficient strategy.

In a way, its a shame that while Spaniards are taking such precautions with policies that require proactive measures by each and every citizen, these efforts are literally wasted when other rich parts of the world are blasting AC in the middle of winter. Wake up from the stupor Kuwait and take initiative. The Copenhagen Meeting is fast approaching and these kind of unnecessary phenomena are completely unpardonable. And for those of you nodding your head to this and sick and tired of freezing, if you work in a building where the AC is still on, do what my colleagues and I did and fight for them to turn it off to save energy during the wintertime.

KPTC: Heal the World, Make it a Better Place

, , 2:00 PM | 0 comments

The Kuwait Transport Public Company has a bus fleet comprising of some of the most polluting, exhaust-emitting vehicles on the roadways. While some of the buses are more modern, the older ones really need to be phased out. If you have ever been behind some of the more "antique" buses, they produce a horrendous black cloud behind everything they pass. Honestly, flowers and plants must wilt instantaneously in their path-they are like the shadow of the Angel of Death! Please continue the modernization and updating of these remaining buses. With many people fighting to decongest the roads by cutting out the number of old, run down vehicles on the streets, these buses set the wrong example to residents and citizens!

IREX Blogging Workshop: Mafi Anglezi!

, 7:26 PM | 0 comments

We live in Kuwait and the workshop has all the right to be conducted in the language of the people, however I wish it would have been written beforehand, or better yet to avoid confusion altogether, that the organizers had not sent invitations in English!


I left early.

Interview with the Jahra Groom from The Kuwait Times

8:45 PM | 0 comments

Excerpt from an article entitled "Jahra Fire Death Toll Reaches 46" by A Saleh:

...Sounding distressed and still shocked by Saturday's horrific events, Al-Thefeiri revealed that he had married his first wife in 2004, with the couple having two children, a boy and a girl, in the next couple of years. He said that they had initially been happy, but added that he had been planning to take another wife for some time due to the constant interference in their marriage of his mother-in-law and his wife's aunt, who he said had only recently been naturalized.

I'm 23 years old and I've been unemployed for five years now. I used to be an army soldier and was dismissed for private reasons that I don't wish to discuss," he said before talking about how he and his first wife had grown apart. "[My first wife's mother and aunt] made her refuse to take care of me, to cook for me and spend time with me," he claimed, laying most of the blame on his first wife's aunt, who he said was 40 years old and married to an 18-year-old man. "This led to my wife starting a rebellion and following in [her aunt's] footsteps in being too free!

Three months ago, therefore, Al-Thefeiri got engaged to his bedoon second wife. On the subject of why he did not divorce his first wife before remarrying, he said that he was friends with her brothers and stayed married for their sakes. "Our main problem was her aunt, originally an Iraqi, who only received citizenship through her Kuwaiti husband," he claimed, adding that a maid working for his parents' neighbors had informed him on the day after the fire that she had been called over by his first wife who
was standing outside the wedding tent, along with two other women and two men, and noticed that she was carrying a container of petrol and a lighter. The maid said that the first wife had asked her to bring a newspaper, which he believes was used to kindle the flames. "I'm in deep shock and still can't believe what happened," he bemoaned.

One of Al-Thefeiri's neighbors, whose mother and sister were injured in the wedding tent blaze, however claimed that Al-Thefeiri, who regularly attended his diwaniya, had informed him that his first wife played in a folk music group and that he had divorced her over a year ago. Another neighbor who lives across the street from the Al-Thefeiri family's home, was full of praise for Zayed's father, who died in the 1980s, who he said was a good man who had worked for the police.

Another of the family's neighbors claimed that Zayed was a drunkard with a criminal record who had only recently been released from prison and suggested that he had only been naturalized in recent years, saying, "Zayed used to be a bedoon and only got his citizenship eight months ago." Another resident of the neighborhood said that Zayed had been married more than once previously, stating, "This is his fourth marriage," and claiming that Zayed had already divorced the wife who set the wedding tent on fire.

From the Paper Edition of the Friday Times

, 5:42 PM | 0 comments

"With Friends Like That..."


"A young Kuwaiti man told police that an erstwhile friend had physically attacked him with no warning as they sat in a diwaniya together, forcing him to strip and using a mobile phone camera to film him naked before sending the footage to mutual friends via bluetooth. A case has been filed and the accused has been summoned for questioning."

1. Obviously there are some holes in this story
2. Why is this information being disclosed to the press?

Can Someone Translate These Titles for Me?

, 8:53 PM | 4 comments

I found these books in the Virgin Store in Marina Mall. I am dying of curiousity to know what they are about. Please help me you wonderful Arabic speakers if you can!


Beauty Standards and the Cosmetics Industry in the Gulf

, , , 4:45 PM | 0 comments

The "salon" experience deserves its own sociological study in the Middle East (although the recent Lebanese movie hit Caramel introduced us to this), especially in the Gulf countries. One of the offers in many salons is to get make-up done, a process that goes far beyond (by far we are talking galaxies and parallel dimensions) Western standards of a makeoever.

I have really tried to do research on the cosmetics industry here in the Gulf to try to ascertain consumer demand but have a hard time finding studies on beauty standards, makeup aesthetics and market sector analysis.

In any case, I found a catalogue of famous makeup artists here in Kuwait. Below are some of their...creations. Yes, the first picture says "Kuwait" on the forehead. I am attempting to honor this month, as christened by Sarkozy, in the name of standards and perceptions of beauty/modesty, freedom/constraint, the secular/the religious towards Women in the Middle East.
























News of the Weird from Al-Watan Times: Devil-Worshipers Threat to Ideal Family, and Homosexuals Too

4:37 PM | 1 comments

How devil-worshippers, homosexuals, and by the looks of the picture, the pope are lumped together is quite peculiar.  How an article of this caliber gets chosen over more pressing topics about "protecting future generations" is depressing.


"Ideal Mother head asks for unity in combating Satanists"
KUWAIT: Chairperson of the Ideal Mother Committee Sheikha Fareeha AlـSabah has asked Kuwaiti society to work together in combating "devil worshippers," since this phenomenon "affects the whole family."

In a press release made available to Al Watan Daily, she went on to say that this phenomenon "is expanding discretely by receiving foreign instructions to destroy local virtues and values."

Moreover, Sheikha Fareeha expressed bewilderment that "some authorities support such a phenomenon under the name of freedom, especially when devil worshippers behead cats and dogs, in addition to worshipping the devil."

She explained that these authorities "do not protect the future generations by indirectly supporting devil worshippers."

Furthermore, Sheikha Fareeha announced that she possesses information about local devil worshippers and homosexuals, and that she presented this information to the former Parliament.

She went on to say that she will combat this phenomenon "by revealing facts about these groups, in addition to holding extensive awareness forums and meetings to alarm families so that they can protect their children."

It is worth noting that Sheikha Fareeha is considered to be the first woman in the Middle East to combat such practices by steering misled groups away from the devastating practices that they follow (for link, click here)

The Megamannequin

4:49 PM | 2 comments

Yesterday, I was walking around in a little shopping complex near Al-Fanar when I stumbled across these mannequins of gargantuan proportion.  The person I was with shushed me not to laugh because apparently these are plus-sized models.  To add insult to injury, one of them was dressed in a strange matching shirt-short combination consisting of a print with the Union 76 gasoline station logo...its screaming for some sort of a symbolic interpretation!






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