1. Art and Diseño

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015
LOCAL
AL-ANBA
kuwait digest
In my view
Only in Kuwait
‘The positive side’
What a mess!
By Sami Al-Kharafi
I
ncidents going on locally make an observer wonder
what is really happening. Observers of what is going
on in various diwaniyas and on various social media
networks where citizens’ concerns are being discussed
immediately get an impression that things are not very
well through the many factors and observations
summed up in the following:
Political Situations: The most common debate nowadays is when will the parliament be dissolved because it
has not risen up to voters’ aspirations, has not achieved
anything and has not reacted with the many issues and
only exist for the sake of boasting that we have a parliament. It is also strange that we sometimes hear about
some lawmakers for the first time, which indicates their
insignificance or communication with the Kuwaiti people.
Sport Situations: The repeated failures in general
and in football in particular - as the most popular game
- are usually blamed on the football federation and calls
are heard here and there to dissolve it, while some people criticize the players themselves for not having
enough spirit, fitness or skills, while a third party blames
the coach. Our real problem lies in the lack of gifted
players who make fans rush to stadiums to watch them
skillfully perform that charms them with their magical
touches. The bottom line is that we need to form teams
of various ages to be coached by international trainers
so that we can reap the fruits in the years to come. I also
hope that volunteers help to look for skillful players in
various open yards that have always thrown up lots of
skillful players.
Oil Price Drops: It is very strange that the government keeps silent about the constant drops in oil prices.
What measures have they taken so far? What do they
intend to do if oil prices dropped to $20 per barrel as
predicted by many observers? What measures do they
intend to take in case of a deficit, may Allah forbid it?
There are so many questions and inquiries are becoming very critical, so will an official explain the government’s plans for any future contingencies? The current
situations have made everybody very concerned and
worried that this may be imminent.
Economic Situations: The bourse is undoubtedly a
reflection of the national economy and it is actually in a
terrible situation with many shareholders suffering from
considerable losses, and the only way to revive it is to
have a strong economy and strong system reflected in
KSE’s performance. Many people have also lost trust in
economists. The best proof of this is the escape of a former senior official after embezzling fortunes in public
funds.
Finally, take Kuwait back to how it used to be.
Intentions must be honestly devoted to developing the
country, strict laws must be set to hold corrupt or
embezzling officials legally accountable and the government must have a futuristic vision and transparency
with citizens so that they can regain some trust in public servants who do not mislead the people.
— Translated by Kuwait Times from Al-Anbaa
E
M
E
By Talal Al-Ghannam
V
SA
[email protected]
G
DRUGS
kuwait digest
A complicated scene
By Waleed Al-Rujaib
O
ne is bewildered what to write about. Should I
write about local, Arab, regional or international concerns? The scene is very complicated
and inseparable because international problems
affect general situations both regionally and locally.
Reviewing international situations indicate desperate
situations as major countries, namely the US, are
about to realize their projects and plans that pose disastrous threats to humankind. They have policies that
cannot be deemed as innocent and wishing to
achieve international peace.
Its same old dream of the ‘New Middle East’ makes
the US only think of dominating, controlling the
whole world and looting peoples’ wealth and
resources without the least considerations for human
lives, especially in the Middle East that it is trying to
splinter in a new Sykes-Picot based on its own interests. In other words, dividing the already divided
countries according to ethnicities and beliefs, like
what it did in Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Yemen and
Lebanon, and it might be the rich-oil GCC states’ turn
now.
The West is taking part in agreements with major
international countries like Russia, China or regional
ones like Turkey, Iran and Israel despite the conflict of
interest and disagreement on sharing international
influence, which was the basic reason behind two
totally destructive world wars.
It is no longer a secret that the US created AlQaeda in the 1980s to fight Soviet influence. It is also
using the same technique in creating, supporting and
training IS. Such terrorist organizations are the tools
used to control the world and put the New Middle
East plan into action, while at the same time, it scandalously supports Zionist terrorism practiced by Israel
to divide our countries into smaller ethnic states,
which is the excuse they are using to turn Jerusalem
and all Palestinian territories to Judaism.
Creating an oil war is but part of the same satanic,
destructive plot. Yemen is entering negotiations within the framework of regional compromises and competition while the US did not mind toppling its legitimate regime. It did not even consider it a military
coup against the regime. It even announced continuing its aid, while it had considered the June 30 revolution in Egypt a military coup and threatened to withhold its aid to Egypt.
— Translated by Kuwait Times from Al-Rai
ood morning dear readers. In this article I would like to
shed some light on the “positive aspects” of Kuwait
through my famous column ‘Only in Kuwait’. It is up to
the reader to figure out if these points represent the bright
image of the country or not. My perspective may not necessarily be true but to make things readable, funny somehow
and easy to comprehend, I came up with these points to let
you figure out what I mean by yourself whether they are true
or untrue.
Only in Kuwait new tenants can find apartments easily and
at reasonable prices with no down payment.
Only in Kuwait the janitor of the building (Haris) does not
like money and is happy with only KD 5 a month for accepting
the new tenants as his monthly allowance.
Only in Kuwait when you go to the public hospital pharmacy to receive your medicine, the last thing they would give
you is that famous headache tablets.
Only in Kuwait domestic helpers get their salaries way
ahead of the due date with a kiss. (By the female employer of
course). Only in Kuwait cheap cars are chased by the police
and get pulled over while those who drive manically are left
roaming the streets bothering everyone.
Only in Kuwait most of the government hospitals’ medicines go to the trash bin. Only in Kuwait the doctors’ prescriptions are written in advance prior to your entry to see the doctor with the main course being ‘Adol’.
Only in Kuwait many patients are told by some doctors
that they are ok and sound and the next day they find out that
they have cancer. Only in Kuwait you need one week off from
work to get your hospital appointment taken care of, plus
another week to be seen and another to be diagnosed and
end up with Adol. Only in Kuwait the domestic worker dreams
of staying with her sponsor for the entire life especially those
who put extra load on her.
Only in Kuwait the phrase ‘Taal bacher’ which means ‘Come
back tomorrow’ is becoming a famous proverb used with the
expatriates by many government employees. (Do not blame
them, they are busy whatsaping). Only in Kuwait you enter
the main airport without security screening as if you are entering a mall.
Only in Kuwait many people like to keep up with the latest
technology by changing their mobile every month, thus,
encouraging the famous mobile companies to produce newer versions every two weeks to suck the consumers’ money.
Only in Kuwait you can be deported if you barbecue in the
open space. My advice to the concerned body is to collect
some sort of insurance money and give it back if the place
was kept clean.
Only in Kuwait you need to turn left and right many times
at the traffic light even if your side of the light was green as
many drivers might run you over as they break the red light
from their end of the road. (Haram they are very busy).
Only in Kuwait a ‘one-year-old’ kid can teach you how to
play games on the Smartphone.
Only in Kuwait prices in the so-called co-operative societies are different from one another where an item in the X
supermarket is KD 5 whereas in the Y supermarket is KD 7.
(Who is to blame). Only in Kuwait a destination between
Hawally to Salmiya is only 10 minutes during rush hours.
(Believe it or not). Only in Kuwait public schools are told by the
ministry not to take projects money from parents and yet the
schools threaten the kids if they abstained by yelling at them
or depriving them from attending the class. (Yet you expect
them to like school afterwards?)
Only in Kuwait you encounter the petrol station’s worker
intentionally fills up your car’s tanks up to for example kd
1.950 and struggles to get the 50 fils from his pocket as if he
was drilling oil from the ground in an insinuation to you to
give him the change. This happens at restaurants as well by
some Arab-speaking workers. Only in Kuwait you feel as if you
are riding a roller coaster when you are driving on the various
Kuwaiti roads. Until the next article Insha Allah.
In my view
Help the refugees
By Labeed Abdal
[email protected]
P
eople displaced from Iraqi governorates controlled by
the so-called IS have created problems in getting
security approvals and finding accommodation to
live north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, where refugees and
displaced people already face many problems and accusations of cooperating with IS. Such a problem raises many
regional concerns and calls for international cooperation to
fight all groups posing a threat to regional security.
Reports showing that most of the displaced people are
accused of cooperating with IS although the areas they
moved to are Sunni ones, and many of their original inhabitants are actually fighting with IS, creates concerns about
undermining international efforts needed to secure poor
and needy people who have nothing to do with extremism.
Losing source of living, jobs, normal accommodation,
children’s education and medical treatment might be the
most dangerous threats thousands of displaced people in
both Iraq and Syria are facing. Therefore, hotspots dominated by IS must be thoroughly inspected by Iraqi security
forces and the international alliance in order to clean those
cities so that the displaced can return to them and end their
suffering. Such humanitarian dilemmas need alerting global humanitarian teams to collectively act to end acts of evil
threatening the elderly, men, women and children.
It is very important that the International Organization
for Migration (IOM) exerts more efforts to help over two
million people displaced in Iraq under very critical situations. They are in bad need for immediate relief aid. The
same applies for Syrian refugees as well as millions of
refuges from both countries who were displaced to Jordan,
Lebanon and Turkey to live under very harsh conditions of
extreme cold and sickness. They are in need for effective
international justice and attention.