Do all the expatriates make good money by
working in Kuwait? The answer is a big NO.
All expatriates are earning money is a sure fact but not all are earning to
live a reasonably good life. Then how
all of them send reasonable remittances to their home countries to have a
reasonable saving and reasonable standard of living for their dependents back
at their home countries?
As a matter of
fact basically Kuwait is a place meant for the poor and economically low level
expatriates who by making maximum of sacrifices save their money to their
maximum by spending minimum only for their bare necessities. By doing such
sacrifices they build their empires back at home to give a decent life for their
dependents. The little empires that they build in their countries are big for their
standard but surely not as per the Kuwait standard.
Overwhelming majority of expatriates working in
Kuwait
are single ones whom we call here as bachelors. According to the local standard
their average salary is very low to live a decent life. For this reason they make maximum of sacrifices
to survive and save some amount to send back at home. They stay as pay in guests in small rooms
with 3 to 4 other persons where there is no freedom even to cough though it is good
for maintaining good health. When you stay like this you have to sacrifice your
privacy but pay less and save little more which is abundant for the poor
expatriates coming from economically low standard level.
Besides to save
something little more he has to spend less on comfortable traveling, delicious
eating, decent dressing and other amenities and requirements for leading a
normal life. Hence, by undergoing enormous sacrifices, an expatriate can
survive here and save something. However the results of these tremendous
sacrifices create very bad effect on their health at the later stage especially
at the old age stage.
I know a maid some years back on every Sunday
from Fahaheel walking to Ahmadi Church for the weekly Mass covering one hour
distance on foot thereby saving half a Dinar her Madame was giving her for
transport. Thus she was saving 2 Kuwaiti Dinars a month to send to her home. For
her standard these 2 KD were very big amount for her requirement when converted
into Indian Rupees. With her very mediocre monthly salary plus the weekly and
monthly tips she was getting, she got her two children educated up to
graduation with a semi luxurious life and constructed a small but decent house.
By seeing these, her neighbours said she was earning a lot in Kuwait but
actually she was not earning a lot but sacrificing a lot which she invested in
her children education and her house construction.
The result of her precious
sacrifices was such that finally she expired in Kuwait only due to Pneumonia
and was buried here in Kuwait only denying her children a last opportunity to
cast their glance on their dearest mother. Otherwise Maids and other domestics in
Kuwait are worked more and paid less but their sacrifices are tremendous.
Many times when the situation goes out of their
hands, many single expatriate ladies to protect their jobs safely and residence
permits provided by the locals even has to make sacrifices of their bodies.
This is the worst sacrifice females many times have to undergo against their
will. It is not only a sacrifice but it is
also a torture.
In Kuwait very few expatriates are drawing 4
figure salaries and to earn the so low salaries they have to make so great
sacrifices. The greatest sacrifice they make in Kuwait is the sacrifice of acceptance
of humiliation and discrimination they face almost at every level against
their wishes and if they are from the third world countries having non-white
skin, then they are not treated as full-fledged human beings. In the eyes of law you are treated here as
equal with others but in reality and practically it is not.
The low treatment
some nationalities are getting here is so bad that it looks apartheid still
exists not in Rhodesia or South Africa but below our own eyes. Because of this
discriminatory treatment one feels he is a sub-human being and if he has to
survive he has to accept this type of treatment. To accept such a treatment one
has to perform a great sacrifice and many expatriates like dumb Goats are
undergoing such a sacrifice for the benefit of their survival in this part of
the world. To treat people like this is against the commandment of God. But some expatriates working here had to bear
this lowliness only to earn a mediocre remuneration thereby undergoing the
greatest sacrifices.
To run the economy of this country and to develop
it, expatriates are doing lot of sacrifices. These sacrifices are of their
sweat and blood. Hence, they should be
treated with respect and dignity befitting their human nature. Even if they are
wrong they should be treated humanely as human beings and as children of the same
God.
When Kuwait was invaded on 2nd August 1990 many of these
expatriates opposed this invasion by organising protest meetings and rallies in
their countries and also by praying to God to help liberate Kuwait. This kind
and generous gesture of expatriates cannot be ignored and cannot be forgotten.
This was not a paid gesture but spontaneous one for the love of Kuwait and to
get justice for Kuwait.
Kuwait.
