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This post is fat too long which is why I never published it. Please try and read it ... pretty please ...all 6 of you who still visit this site.

Your first day in medical school: three subjects for one year: biology, physics and chemistry, mostly rodents, reptiles and Schiff bases...stuff I can't remember anymore, nor will I ever need.

Your second and third year in medical school: You're finally seeing a human body for the first time, you see the parts (anatomy), the mechanisms (physiology) and the witchcraft (biochemistry).

Your fourth and fifth year: You analyze diseases, study about pathology and microbiology but barely see twenty patients a year; half the time you don't know what they are doing or what you're doing to them just taking a general patient history (interview) and physical exam (forget the diagnosis, that's miles off).

The final year: you read, read, read and read - realising that you've barely seen enough to know what or how to recognise what you're reading if a patient even suffered from it.

Graduation Day: You're happy! YOU ARE DONE! But what now? Where do you go from here? You've passed, you know your stuff but don't know what's next ; The reasons why you went to medical school are forgotten and you're not all that inspired, you want to treat people but don't even know how to prescribe yet.

That's a summary of my medical "education" and as most of you can tell, I'm not exactly satisfied by it. Now, I'm not an educator, I'm no teacher. They need to inspire, to possess that ability to make you trust them enough to guide you; they have to have that gift that lets them build a mental structure in which information can be stored and eventually made useful. Sadly, few of my superiors did - and looking around at the new batch of interns from both Kuwait and abroad - few seem inspired. Don't get me wrong, they work hard, right to the bone, they have skills but not the useful ones.

How many of the young doctors you see or meet actually make you feel comfortable, know how to ask the right question at the right time, know how to relay to someone they have a grave disease such as cancer or that a loved one died minutes ago?

How many of the doctors reading this (if any.. ) actually feel a sense of awe at what they do? How many of us actually enjoy reading about how IV fluids (drip...or 'drib' as they say in Kuwaiti slang) were originally made, how the inhalers ('Ventolin') we use evoloved, why we tend to wear green, blue or green scrubs rather then white or grey ones? Or who the first open heart surgeon and how did he achieve that milestone? How many of us were taught the ethics behind palliative care? Contraception? Experimental treatments? Or how clinical trials evolved and the difference between them and standard treatments?

Medical history isn't the reason why you went to medical school, it isn't how you save lives, but in that third year when all you know is the Krebs cycle (the gearbox of your metabolism) and the anatomy of the Brachial plexus (nerves in your arms) you need to feel inspired by people who've done it before you. You need to find a reason to read, to debate, to analyse and to understand and during that final year, you need to learn why trying out new treatments for MS and charging people for it is unethical and why the current manager ('mudeer') is a douchebag and why patients blame you for cancer rather than try to understand it...

You don't learn these things in textbooks on surgery, rheumatology or internal medicine, and contrary to popular belief, you won't learn them by parading the hallways in your new white coat and seeing fifty patients in the E.R.; you learn them by reading about ethics, sociology and other humanities that underpin our profession.

Kuwait University and others like it have the ability to reshape education and inspire us. The reason why they can is - because unlike other institutions - they were built from the ground up to educate us; other institutions need to attract research grants to survive,we don't.

We also have experienced faculty, there are people currently teaching who were there when stomach stapling came to Kuwait and can tell us how they tackled it, how they dealt with errors made during those first cases. We have people who saw Viagra become the drug du jour and who saw the eradication and rebirth of tuberculosis in Kuwait.

We need to reshape our education and have graduates who can debate, discuss and be knowledgeable in our field without feeling the need to read about ethics once a day. Maybe then we'll stop hearing about how doctors who "don't know my name", "don't spend enough time with me" or are "too brash" or "shayif nafsa" (arrogant) - maybe then doctors won't get slapped around too much.

I'll leave you with the following quote relayed to me one afternoon years ago, inspiring a sense of awe. John Cardinal Newman describes a university as a citadel built with the purpose of:

'Raising the intellectual tone of society, at cultivating the public mind, at purifying the national taste, at supplying true principals to popular aspirations, at giving enlargement and sobriety to the ideas of the age, at facilitating the exercise of political powers, and refining the intercourse of private life.'

I only hope that one day the spirit of the above quote materializes at the local university, one whose faculty and students should really expect much more from each other.

Today I was so pleasantly surprised to discover a hidden treasure for kids with mechanical and robotic interests (If any of the kids you know like Lego, they are guaranteed to love this place). I originally heard about it from an acquaintance and must say I was impressed. The place is like a Robotic Centre created by MILSET (A French acronym for 'International Movement for Leisure Activities in Science and Technology'). After hard work, the Ministry of Education backed up the idea and provided a venue: a humble renovated building in Rawda near a gas station.

Kids there are really encouraged to think which in this part of the world is rare. They are presented with problems given by the main centre to all MILSET global branches and try to offer solutions to that problem in regards to their environment (e.g. traffic). I saw wonderful solutions presented by even twelve year olds. In addition, they learn how to install programs from a computer into actual mini robots. Additionally, each student is given his own robot which is locked safely in a tool box when the student leaves (this is all provided free of charge). All you need to offer is a picture of the member. Unfortunately since it is a fairly new club, memberships for the moment are restricted to Kuwaitis boys only (they don't have female employees yet, hence the 'boys only' aspect).

There are competitions held there as well; presently the 'Fourth Annual School Robot Competition' is being held where the finalist goes to Jordan for the semi-finals and the winners go to the United States for the finals. More than three thousand students attend that from all over the world.

If you are interested here is their link: www.milsetasia.org

Check out the video above (taken in 2008 by RTL); It features a European Parliament member whose monthly salary is 14,000 Euros (KD 5,580) sign in for work then dash out with their luggage.

Even moralistic Green Party MEP Hiltrud Breyer, one of the founding members of its party signs in, dashes, out banging her head on the elevator entrance. Maybe she was going to save a beached whale somewhere or harass a super tanker with an inflatable dinghy.

I always thought not coming to work, or signing in and dashing out was a Kuwaiti tradition perfected by Kuwaiti Government employees. Whenever you venture to a Kuwait Government establishment, you rarely see any Kuwaitis, only the Indian tea boy, the Bangladeshi cleaning boy, and the Egyptian clerk.

It seems even Europeans are not immune to laziness and cheating on the job.

On Christmas Day, I had my brother send me some medications from the United States through Fed-Ex. When the package was late, I attributed it to the holiday rush. When 'late' turned into 'very late' and the website clearly showed the package was in Kuwait, we started calling them on a daily basis and every time we would got the same answer: "Customs took them for inspection and when they give us a specimen number we will call you."

A "specimen number"! Sounded like a Sci-Fi movie line. I had been receiving my medications from the U.S. for ten years through Fed-Ex and never had this happen to me before except for that one time during the war on Saddam a few years back.

January 11th - There is still no "specimen number." I lost hope so I reordered them through my doctor there.

January 14th - Called them again and finally at 7.30 p.m. I got my number - almost screamed out 'Bingo!' even though I never played the game. Bear in mind that I was the one who called ('customer care' being such a cliché') and it was a Thursday so nothing could be done until Sunday morning.

I was told to go to the Ministry of Health, the 'Drug Inspection Department' near Sabah Hospital where I can collect my "specimen".

January 17th - Finally we hit Sunday. Woke up early, no breakfast, rushed out to avoid traffic and after a few wrong turns I was there at 8.20 a.m. It was a Department all right, more like a low ceiling three room apartment. It was a "chabra" literally like the ones they put temporarily for engineers at a building site. As I entered the door I couldn't help but notice the pieces of glued grey thin carpet on the corridor floor. To my left was a closed door with a 'Parcels' sign on it. Next to it was a window counter with a man wearing a lab coat.

"Where can I get my Fed-Ex parcel?" He pointed to the door next to him.

"But it's locked," I said. He came out and said "Wait shwaya, he'll be back" referring to the man 'in charge of parcels'.

"Can't you call him?" I asked.

"No mobile."

I waited, and waited, shifting from one foot to the other trying to hold on to my favorite but extremely heavy bag resisting the urge to place it on such an ugly, filthy floor.

My legs seemed fast asleep even though I didn't get more than 4 hours of sleep that night. I had to sit. No sign of any chair around, so I decided to explore. There were three or four rooms to the right and one more to the left. I peeked through one and saw a woman working behind a desk in a minute room with two chairs placed in a straight line near the door. I asked her if I could sit and she welcomed me in. The chair was of the old black leathery dusty variety, with a folded table attached; the kind used for students. Why would they place such a chair there is beyond me. The room, like all the others, had rubber floorings of something like a tile design. (A bit of mix and match decor with the dinghy carpeted hall I guess!).

As I glanced around, my eyes widened in astonishment; I saw their method of file storage: a large Fed-Ex box. a used, old torn half-cut Fed-Ex box. Even the logo tape was struggling to hold on to the sides of the box. That was only one of many of the collections of carton boxes used for storage on the floor.

Then I heard a woman complaining to a man, also wearing a lab coat, that she has no "specimen number" only her Fed-Ex paper and I knew it was my queue. I followed her and the man who finally opened the sacred 'Parcels' room. I couldn't believe it. It was so minute that if you were claustrophobic you would have suffocated with the three of us in there. To the left was a glass cabinet where all the small parcels were and on the floor were all the bigger boxes. The man was very helpful trying to match the woman's name to any of the numbers he had in his big lined notebook (or as we call it "kashkool"). Don't even think the word computer is going to show up here - we are talking 1965 stuff here, folks.

He looked at his ledger, shaking his head in dismay.

Numbers 1 to 19 all had names and their parcels had arrived.

Numbers 20 to 30 had no names and no parcels (i.e. blank pages).

Numbers 30 to 40 contained names and parcels.

As the woman talked to the Fed-Ex office pleading for a "specimen number" so she could take her post-surgery meds, the man found my name one number below my given one.

The parcel was stacked with others in the stuffy glass cabinet. Thank God it was not August otherwise I would have needed meds to recover from my expired meds! Just when I thought I was done, he looked at me with a sympathetic smile, "Sorry can't give you without a prescription".

I was shocked.

"Well I don't have it with me now! I do have it somewhere at home" then I stopped myself before blurting out "I think". So he motioned me to follow him. We walked until the door at the end of the corridor leading to a considerably large room. There was a woman behind a desk inside that spacious room where scented candles were lit. She was so into her pink laptop that she did not even lift her eyes to look at me as she answered my "salam". Eye contact was wishful thinking. So I decided not to even bother explaining anything to her.

The man explained the problem, assuring her I had the prescription paper at home as he placed the form near her laptop. She took one glance (at the paper of course), nodded, and gave her approval.

I was so relieved my parcel hunt was over but even more relieved to leave that place. It was yet another reminder of our reality when we are supposed to be one of the richest countries in the world and still have decrepit systems and processes in place, not to mention surroundings.

I'll write again when my next "specimen" arrives and Fed-Ex kindly inform me where to pick it up (Door to Door 2010 style). That is if they ever let my meds through after today.

Kleptocracy is a form of political corruption that refers to a state in which politicians exploit natural resources in order to stay in power. Does that sound similar to something that's been happening in Kuwait these days?

To answer "Yes" would be to disregard the nature of Kuwait's society as an Arab and Muslim caretaker ethos.

It is written in our Holy Book as Muslims that people should spend their wealth towards the benefit of the larger society whenever they can. Religiously, it's Zakat, where the Muslims pay their annual tax either directly to people in need (at the discretion of the Zakat payer)or in some cases towards a central collections authority that then distributes it to betterment of the society, by way of social development, through schools, hospitals, mosques, homes, etc...Wealthy people with hearts of gold race each other to build something that would benefit society, especially in Kuwait. Examples range from renovating hospital wards, building schools, educational endowments and scholarships, all the way to providing free housing and job opportunities.

To answer "NO" would be to ignore the fact that Kuwait's wealth is solely built upon one natural resource: Oil.

This resource is controlled by the state, its production and sale is controlled by the state, and the revenue it generates is distributed by the state, the distribution process is performed by way of paid salaries, social allowances and benefits. There is no "Free Money" in the Government's Monetary cycle. This means that anyone who works for the state will earn enough money to stay safe and housed, but would never earn enough money to become rich enough to run for political office.

So the first question in this logic is, how does a Kuwaiti Politician become a Kleptocrat in a supposed Democracy?

The First route is the simplest: Active Networking. You make enough friends and acquaintances to build a large enough network of supporters that would vote you into office. How that happens is too lengthy for this post, but think "Tribal/Sectarian/Primary Elections" and you get the picture. They would then support you financially and politically.

The Second route is more difficult: Passive Networking. You build up your reputation as a capable and fierce supporter of justice and equality so much that it becomes visible to the masses, who will turn towards you for assistance and guidance. You then make your way up to the top, only this time it's due to your hard work and reputation, not your connections and affiliations. This is a textbook example of how a Democracy should be held; the power of the people would select the most ideal candidate to represent them, based on principles, morale standing and reputation.

The Third route is Nomination: An individual or a group would appoint you as their representative, and would then mobilize all of their resources to support you into office. Once there, you'd be doing their bidding as their representative in Government. It's closely connected to Active Networking, but without the means nor the skills to to so. This may be acceptable in may Democracies, especially where Political parties and affiliations are admissible.

The Fourth route is Hereditary: You're born into government and rule by association. Examples include Kingdoms, Sheikhdoms and hereditary Republics. Your Mommy or Daddy ruled over everyone, and when they die, their authority reverts to you, barring the presence of any legal framework that would prevent, undermine or limit the extent your authority (such as a Constitution).

The Fifth and Final route is Money: You buy your way into Politics. This is the most corrupt and dangerous route into politics. Your constituents are composed of paid mouths who will sing your praises for a fee, or people already in power that you have packed into your shirt pocket, or legal representatives who will manipulate the Law in order to facilitate your ascension to Political power.

In this context, consider all the present Members of Parliament and the Government currently in office, would any of them fall under a different category? Hardly! Some of them are an actual and clear embodiment of some or all of these descriptions.

Case in Point: HADAS, Salafists, Popular Action Bloc, National Democratic Alliance, they're all political affiliations and de-facto political parties who nominate the most suitable candidate from among them and support this candidate into office to represent them. The problem is, these parties do not enjoy the benefit of a legal acknowledgement under the current Kuwaiti Law, nor do they represent the masses in terms of their political agenda, but, rather simply, they enjoy the generalized affiliation of the masses who have shared principles and the perceived moral standing of their members.

In other words, "I'm a Salafist, so I'll vote for XX the Salafist in my constituency", or "I've taken out a large Bank Loan, so I'll vote for the Popular Action Bloc whose agenda will force the Government to write off all Consumer Loans". Generally speaking, it's as simple as that!

On the other had, those in Government, namely those in the "Hereditary" offices, will strive to protect their personal and political interests from those that strive to attack them, so they utilize their wealth and political power in order to attain their goals. Currently, MP Faisal Al Muslim is trying to prove this is the case with the Prime Minister.

MP Al Muslim raises a difficult question: If you're not from a wealthy merchant family, but you've managed to use your personal wealth to protect your political position in Government, taking into account that you're only source of income 'should have been' your salary, how can you afford to spend so much money to protect your interests? But the MP raises yet another question: If you've risen only from among the masses within your tribal, sectarian or regular connections - who support and assist your endeavors - what gives you the right to attack the Prime Minister in the name of the People with documents you've obtained under shady circumstances?! I believe that MP Al Muslim was trying to prove that the Prime Minister was a Kleptocrat, who usurps his position, power and wealth in order to control and manipulate the Parliament.

As a person who has intimate knowledge of the Kuwaiti Banking Sector, I'm fully aware of the legal penalties that entail the exposure of private information and/or documents within the Bank; I have seen, first-hand, what happens to people who do 'these things', willingly or otherwise. Not only is it in complete violation of the employee's contract with the bank, let alone sickeningly unprofessional, but more seriously, it's a betrayal of the employer, the people and shareholders you work for, and may well get you into prison, destroying your reputation completely without even the slightest chance of redemption.

Constitutionally, if proven correct, the documents pertinent to this case allude to a clause within Article 111 of the Kuwaiti Constitution, which states:

"Article 111: Except in cases of flagrante delicto, no measures of inquiry, search, arrest, detention, or any other penal measure may be taken against a member while the Assembly is in session, except with the authorisation of the Assembly." ("Flagrante delicto" means "Caught in the act of a misdeed").

I'm no lawyer, but I imagine that if it's proven that the documents in MP Al Muslim's possession are authentic, it stands to reason that they have reached him via unauthorized means, which means clearly he's caught red-handed in the crime of possessing private and personal documents. Moreover, he would also be guilty of committing a crime by association of the person who had given him these documents in the first place, and if both these crimes are proven against MP Al Muslim in court, they make the case against the Prime Minster completely illegal since the evidence against him was obtained illegally, and is therefore inadmissible in court.

What remains in question is where did the money came from? Let's assume I'm one of those tree-hugging-love all-live all-people who claim that if it were from the Prime Minister's personal funds, then so be it; he's a kind-hearted person who likes to spend his wealth helping people (and it's his personal wealth that he's using) so any suspicion of misusing public funds gets thrown out the window. But then again, why pay an MP (he did not run for reelection this time) when that person has no clear use for that amount of money? His income is secured by way of his pension from the Parliament, so he's pretty well financed and secured. Moreover, many former MP's become board members of private companies, with very beefy salaries, or revert back to the family business, if one exists. So what's this payment all about?

And finally, what gives MP Al Muslim - a representative of the people - the right to use illegally obtained documents as 'evidence' against the Prime Minister's ''misuse of public funds''? If anything, this case proves what I've been blogging about all along; Proper reforms come from proper voting. Representation should be based on holistic needs and demands, not sectarian nor tribal agendas. MP Al Muslim may have shocked the state's perceptions of the extent of corruption, some may say, but others may also claim that he's unsuccessfully tried to prove what we all know; People in Power are liable to be corrupt, no matter what side of the law they may be standing on. His Immunity as an MP made him believe he's untouchable, while simultaneously trying to prove the same about the Prime Minister.

Power corrupts - and absolute power corrupts absolutely - and that goes for MP Al Muslim too!

Give me a month. Any given month, just one month without a horror story, give me a month in which no one makes a medical error, one month in which we don't hear about some person's horror story at the hands of evil doctors and the henchmen in nurse's outfits.

Chances are you can't, because there aren't any. Medical errors are seemingly inevitable, they have to happen, just like car accidents and farting in public, mistakes happen. They are part and parcel of having healthcare. After all; unlike the airline industry and the people who make the iphone we don't really have a blueprint or a service manual.

This is why I'm using the bible of all medical error literature to date - and the keystone of America's healthcare revolution - to prove my point. The U.S. Institute of Medicine white paper entitled "To Err is Human ...." estimates that between 44,000 and 98,000 people die from medical errors in the US annually. That's more than the people heart attacks and strokes combined kill in Kuwait and is more than those who are killed by breast cancer in the US.

Having said that the study was written in 1999 and the number would probably be three times as high this year if it weren't for the boffins who wrote the document and forced people to follow it.

There's another reason why I chose this study, it's because we have the same problem as the US. We have lots of doctors, lots of hospitals/practices and not enough oversight (three exams make you registered to practice, 2 more make you a specialist in the US and you can do all five without looking at a patient) so I figured their answer would be ours. After all, we've imported everything from ketchup to coffee chains and managed to make them work, might as well do the same for policy; besides we know it works because they've managed to reduce medical errors to about 10% of the original number over ten years.

The study looked into every major medical error, every big lawsuit and settlement and every single post mortem they could find and came up with the following:

• They found that medical errors occur in three stages: failure to diagnose (wrong tests, wrong timing of tests, old and redundant tests), failure in treatment(delay in treatment, lack of drugs, technical error during a procedure) and failure in prevention (lack of patient follow-up, lack of foresight given patients current condition)

• Creating a nationwide program for leadership, research, tools, and protocols to enhance the knowledge base about safety and patient awareness. In other words, integrating administration into day to day healthcare and making it part and parcel of the practice of medicine.

• Developing a nationwide public mandatory reporting system and by encouraging health care organi­zations and practitioners to develop and participate in voluntary reporting systems meaning that you need to report any problems you face without being blamed for them directly and providing the manpower required to piece together the sequence of the events that lead to the problem.

• Providing standards to adhere to and aspire to within each branch of healthcare. As it stands we don't provide doctors with job descriptions when they are hired, only a set of arbitrary rules.

• Putting in place safety systems in health care organizations to ensure safe practices at the delivery level.

The point I'm trying to make with this whole post is the fact that in all of the above not a single doctor/nurse/security guard was beaten, sued or had his license stripped. If anything the strategy outlined tell you to go back and hold yourself accountable for what you've done and find out where you went wrong and how to fix it then share what you've learnt with the people you work with so that the same mistake doesn't happen again.

I am quick to point out however that the study doesn't condone negligence in which someone has made a deliberate error that they should not have (i.e. cutting a nerve because it simplifies the surgery or giving a patient an overdose so that they sleep and leave you alone for the night only to find them not breathing in the morning).

So perhaps the newspaper stories, TV interviews and patient export program may not be quiet as effective (or affective ....still can't tell the difference) as teaching medical students and doctors in training to review medications they've given and procedures they've performed and sharing their experiences with their colleagues.........

Oh well ...I'm not holding my breath...

The Study mentioned can be found on Google books but be for-warned it's about 300 pages long .......

Financial regulations are a form of regulation or supervision, which subjects financial institutions to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines, aiming to maintain the integrity of the financial system. This may be handled by either a government or non-government organization.

Roles and Goals of Regulation:

1. To enforce applicable laws
2. To prosecute cases of market misconduct, such as insider trading
3. To license providers of financial services
4. To protect clients, and investigate complaints
5. To maintain confidence in the financial system

Source: Wikipedia

Obama's Financial Regulatory Reform:
Obama has proposed a Financial Regulatory Reform which address five key objectives;

1. Promote robust supervision and regulation of financial firms.
   
   
   • Financial institutions which are critical in keeping the market stable should be subject to strong supervision and regulations.
   • New powers are given to the Federal Reserve to supervise all the firms that could pose a threat to financial stability, including those which are not banks.
   • To improve inter-agency cooperation and to identify financial risks, a new council will be formed, called Financial Services Oversight Council.
2. Establish comprehensive supervision of financial markets.


• Additional power to Federal Reserve to oversee payment, clearance and settlement systems of financial systems
• Comprehensive regulation of all over-the-counter derivatives by the Federal Reserve (A type of financial derivative that has its transaction directly negotiated between two parties rather than through an exchange. Some financial derivatives, such as a swap, a forward rate agreement or an exotic option, are usually done over the counter.)
• New requirements for market transparencies, stronger regulation of credit rating agencies.
  
3. Protect consumers and investors from financial abuse.


• A Consumer Financial Protection Agency will be established to protect consumers across the financial sector from unfair, deceptive and abusive practices.
• Improving the standards of the providers of consumer financial products and services, whether they are a part of a bank or otherwise.
  
4. Provide the government with the tools it needs to manage financial crises.


• Issues of non-bank financial institutions, whose failure could have serious impacts on the market, to be resolved by an overseeing authority (Federal Reserve)
• Revisions to the Federal Reserve's emergency lending authority to improve accountability.
  
5. Raise international regulatory standards and improve international cooperation.


• International reforms to strengthen the capital framework; improving oversight of global financial markets; coordinating supervision of internationally active firms; and enhancing crisis management tools.
  

The new marriage law providing for pre-marriage checkup will be in force on Sunday, August 2, 2009, Assistant Undersecretary of Kuwaiti Ministry of Health for Medical Services, Dr. Yousuf Al-Nesf announced Wednesday.

Why?

"The aim of the legislation is to ensure a healthy and happy family and eradicate the hereditary and communicable diseases in Kuwait", said Dr. Yousef Al-Nesf during the announcement.

Meanwhile, Abdullah Al-Hamoud, supervisor of family affairs at the Justice Ministry, said if the results of the lab tests proved that the would-be marriage is unsafe due to the illness of one or both of the partners, the marriage contract would be cancelled.

"A marriage officer is authorized to solemnize a marriage only after receiving a certificate that verifies that the couple conducted a checkup and were physically fit," Al-Hamoud reminded.

The survival of the fittest or is it catalyzing the process of being the fittest ?

Do we need to accelerate the nature's process by adopting such rules?

Are we morally justified ?

We all understand that money can be a powerful motivation.

Most of us don't realize it, until we starting making some money by ourselves at regular intervals of time.

Students can be enterprising, independent and smart.
The question is how ?

They can do a lot of multi-tasking with their studies, researching into unknown territories, coordinating events, excelling at extra-curricular activities and so on.

Well that gets one, some good experience, dedication, time management skills, and people management.

However, students may be "Independent" financially.
Not because they are deprived of finances, but because it helps them understand the principles of generating money by their ideas.

How to convert an idea into a money making machine... ?

The product/service which probably may qualify to be a successful startup has certain characteristics such as:

1. It caters to a specific need of a larger community or immediate smaller group
2. It is easily accessible by different means (consider online access and never forget the traditional way)
3. The demand for it is perpetual (lasting an indefinitely long time). It need not have to be in super high demand. It needs to be asked daily. E.g. Bread.
4. It does not require a lot of investment at the beginning
5. Can be coupled with other existing products/services (especially useful while starting, e.g. you can bundle your product or service with some other product/service. e.g. Think DELL and Microsoft)
6. It can be started in a garage or in the basement. (no huge real estate requirements)
7. Can be started with a single individual or two. Two is preferred.
8. It can be described easily to an average individual
9. Takes less time to monitor by the business owner (Spending an hour or two at the beginning should be suffice. Remember your primary objective is still to succeed at studies)
10. Should be able to diversify
11. Being aware of financial lessons which are not taught in classrooms, but gained by experience is a HUGE advantage when one graduates.

The idea here is not to make ONLY money, however in a long run, be able to learn how to shape an economy.

Once one masters certain principles of making money, money just keeps flowing.
Keep the input and output flow of money at almost the same rate.

Keep the money always flowing, never keep it static.
Otherwise one runs a big risk of not making more or even losing it.

It was a fine, sunny Sunday morning, my brother and I wanted to buy something online for our nephew. I quickly pulled out my Internet Card and inputted the details and, to our surprise, the transaction got rejected.

So we dialed the call center number of a major bank in Kuwait, and the customer service agent informed us that my card is blocked since I delayed the payment. I authorized the payment after 15th, (which happens to be the due date), and the transaction shows up on my Internet Card statement; I have sufficient credit to make a purchase.

The agent calmly responded that I needed to visit my branch to unblock my card.

I simply asked him, "Isn't it not logical to a banking system, to just unblock a card when the transaction is done, qualifying it to be valid again for use?"

The agent cordially repeats again, "Please visit your branch Sir"?

I made a quick visit to my branch (Yes, you have to visit THE branch where you opened your account! Sadly my office is in The City and my branch quite far away).

After explaining the issue to the Customer Care Representative at the branch, she replies, "we have to send an email to the head quarters to get your card unblocked and it may take 24 - 48 hours for that."

Now, this is a minor instance where the banking software itself can check to ascertain whether the card is blocked - when a valid transaction is done, and unblock it if the transaction succeeds. This only shows how inconvenient the customer experience can become due to a minor issue of information technology. At the very least, the major banks in Kuwait need to review their IT and software benchmarks based on surveys and general feedback by customers. The idea here is that a very minor feature, when under-estimated, can cause a much inconvenience to a large customer base, not just the incident mentioned above, but other issues related to banking transactions, that ultimately taint customer service satisfaction.

I have been tweeting more than I have been blogging. I apologize, but tweeting on Twitter is so much easier especially from a mobile device, both in reading other peoples tweets and writing your own. I write random things that I see, thoughts that I have, respond to my tweet friends and update them on where I am in this world - all in 140 letters or less.

Recently celebrities have had the media focus on twitter, first Ashton Kutcher was on a head to head race with CNN by being the first to amass the millionth follower. Ashton won if you did not know. A few days later, Oprah joined twitter and tweeted her first tweet from her show, she quickly got told off by Shaquille O'Neal telling her that her caps where on, which is considered similar to shouting and bad Internet etiquette.

A lot of people joined and tweeted on twitter after that.

Today, I got informed by twitter that Aseel09 is following me on twitter.

Knowing that it is the Candidate Aseel Al Awadhi, I followed her back. Unfortunately, Aseel's tweets were more like announcements of her media and campaigning activities. They don't even look like she is the one posting her tweets. I have some advice for Aseel or any celeb whether, local or international, big or small, on how to behave on twitter:

1) If you join Twitter, first be sure that your mobile device supports it and tweet constantly from there. It is more convenient in real time for all your followers.

2) Tweet yourself, don't let anyone tweet for you. The whole beauty of twitter is that it's personalized, and not a tedious announcement of some event.

3) Be human, tell us your activities, spur of the momen thoughts and comments - don't misuse it as a Public Relations form of spin.

4) Be funny, show us your humor.

5) Be interesting, tell us the story about what is happening to you, with one tweet after other.

6) Comment and reply to your followers or anyone else you may have an opinion about.

7) Using Twitter as a platform for announcements is the wrong way to tweet.

If you want to see an interesting and captivating twitterer you can check out my own tweets. (Apologies for the self promotion).

I hope Aseel listens to my advice, and if she does, she will win my vote and others.

The Gulf Road - Kuwait City (from Marof39)

It isn't really that bad in Kuwait in the summer time, traffic gets lighter in August, it is easier to get around, fruits and vegetables become plentiful and cheaper, and people spend more time at the beach, enjoying its usual summer activities.

Kuwait has a very strange peculiarity that you don't see anywhere else in the world; most of our beach front from Salmiya all the way to the southern border - more than eighty kilometers long - is locked out to ordinary people save for very few areas here and there, the rest is occupied by chalets owned by Kuwaiti citizens and, in some cases, by a handful of small scale resorts - with horrendous prices, mind you; for a short family vacation, what the Brits call a "bucket and a spade" holiday. The odd thing is that these chalets remain mostly closed and empty during summer and you see miles and miles of dark or dimly lit chalets along the coast.

What is left of the sea front in a country that prides itself of its past as a seafaring nation is a stretch of coastline that has been reclaimed and developed for enjoyment of the rest of the population, this area is called the 'Gulf Road' or the corniche. More and more locals spend their summer days and nights (as well as Friday afternoons) frequenting it with their families and friends, laughing, playing, swimming and most importantly cooking their meals.

In Kuwait we make a big fuss out of cooking, especially when it comes to roasting kebab and grilled meats on the beach. This alfresco grilling causes people annoyance for no reason. Critics claim the rising blue smoke reminds them of the Red Indians, some say the smell is nauseating, some say the family man who is usually in charge of cooking isn't particularly tidy, leaving a mess of trash afterwards, this in spite of signs that clearly state "NO GRILLING" (it seems Kuwaitis like to do the grilling only in the National Assembly (our Parliament) .

What do we expect when we squeeze two million people on a stretch of sand that is less than 16 kilometers long? There are not enough car parks (people used to park on the pavement - even though we put up these hideous concrete balls to prevent them from parking there - so now they just park on the main road instead).

Beach life on weekends is all about barbequing and grilling anywhere in the world, east or west the best nation for beach barbequing culture is Australia: they placed grills along all their popular beaches so the holiday makers or beachgoers wont have trouble cooking their own food; they even gave these grills a cute names like 'barbies' ("put another shrimp on the Barbie, mate").

Of course as I previously mentioned our 'No Grilling' signs are prevalent all along the beach. Kuwait needs to remove these signs and build grills and let the fires roar, spreading the heavenly aroma for all to share - what is a beach without a mess?

Have a great summer.

It saddens me to repeatedly hear people comment that they "won't be voting" in the upcoming elections on May 16. What saddens me most of all is that these people represent the young demographic, people who are just about-or have begun to create a family of their own, and need every help they can get to ensure their family's security when oil runs out.

It's not just about improving government services; it's ensuring that these services continue to survive after the economy shrinks from complete oil dependence in sixty or seventy years time; according to recent estimates (some reports claim a maximum of forty years).

I have a 2 year old daughter, by the time she's a mother, her children will face Kuwait's hardest economic situation ever-a country without oil to fuel the state's expenditures and services. In other words, what I as a parent decide today will affect my grandchildren's future wellbeing.

By selecting the right MP, we as voters set the standards for a better future, it's not about voting for someone who would be able to help me grab a government-built house quicker than the rest, or someone who would be able to process my papers with his influence or some other short-term personal gain.

Younger voters may not feel it now, but think about this: A University education with gender-segregated classes is no education to rely upon, and this segregation came about recently because the people voted for the wrong MP's. On the same subject, an educational system where course work is dictated by politically and religiously motivated advisers is doomed to produce fanatics and extremists no matter how the situation is justified.

Last year I posted a blog about the difference between the Kuwait of the 1960's and today, and in it, I outlined the features of the ideal candidate for my family and myself. Today, however, there are many options that fit the description I set for myself, and ironically enough, they were not all tribalists nor Islamists or 'service MP's'; They were all right-minded people, with an actual progressive agenda and clean-shaven faces who don't shout their throats off in front of cameras, spurting out brain-farts for local consumption while flexing their tribal or Islamist muscles!

I'm not endorsing anyone in particular here, but I am asking everyone to vote, and vote well. Vote with your minds, not your hearts, not your ears, and certainly not for your expected monetary gains - despite what you may watch in political plays and songs, you shouldn't be voting for Kuwait for the sake of Kuwait; It's simply a plot of land with oil underneath it! You should be voting for your family's well-being in the not-too-distant future, you should be voting for Kuwait's children, since they'll be inheriting the problems and solutions that you will be creating today....and if that's not enough to make someone vote right, think about people in my latest post, and what they'd done for you and your country lately!

The Global Recession in on everyone's mind in one way or the other; not many know, however what sparked it and how it is controlled. Let's go back to the roots of the problem to understand how a debt is created and how it affects millions of lives around the globe.

There are five parts to the video below (from the excellent documentary Zeitgeist: The Movie) which, at the very least, offer a broad analysis of the subject.

Part II.

Part III.

Part IV.

Part V.

For more information on Economic Recession, please visit Recession.org

The Money Masters and Money as Debt also provide similar information as Zeitgeist

Summer in Kuwait - Somewhere Off Abu Halifa

With the short rainy season behind us and the shorter spring almost over, we look forward with much trepidation to summer time here in Kuwait with its usual super heat and mugginess. Although if you have arrived in Kuwait in winter, you would think the cold so severe it would last forever (you probably rushed like everyone else to purchase some new electrical portable heaters).

We had a nasty cold snap last year too, the market ran out of portable heaters, people travelled to their chalets or farms to get heaters and bring them home - we also heard of people travelling to Saudi Arabia to purchase oil heaters (a very popular item in Kuwait - since many people here even with central air-conditioning abhor central heating because they wake up suffering from throat dryness, headaches and fall ill).

Surprisingly, we learnt the Saudis themselves came to Kuwait to look for the same type of heaters because they ran out as well.

As for myself, I ended up scavenging the heater from the driver's room since he was away on his leave, lucky devil.

Of course the big hot summer will be upon us in no time and we will miss the cold, its memory long gone; we will start complaining about how stifling the heat is, and questioning what the heck we are all doing here when everyone is drifting to a cooler climate.

The big deal this summer is the decision by the Ministry of Education to delay the start of the school year to coincide with the end of the holy month of Ramadan, adding more inanity to our educational system. Indeed, many have seized this opportunity and are planning to spend the month of August and first half of September outside Kuwait, like they used to do many moons ago when Ramadan was during the summer season (tickets to Lebanon a favorite destination for a lot of the locals are already sold out for that period).

It would be funny as hell if the Lebanese expatriate community remained in Kuwait (because airline tickets are sold out) while the Kuwaitis travel to Lebanon for the summer.

We only hope that the protagonists in Lebanon remain calm and the Israelis don't start another war to ruin the tourist season there.

I'm a huge fan of TV commercials when they're done right (i.e. creative, funny, daring, bold); and so it was with great anticipation that I scored a ticket for the annual showing of Night of the AdEaters: a global traveling advertising extravaganza that plays in major cities around the world.

I had attended one of these shows in 'simpler times' a few years ago at the 'Shaab Park' cinema, and I had not been back to see them in a while. This year the show was held at 'The Avenues' Cinema; first of all, the lobby looked like a nightclub, and I mean that as a compliment! (Full disclosure: It was my first time ever inside 'The Avenues' Cinema, mainly I boycott 'Cinescape' and their censored movies out of principle).

The invitation stated '6.30 pm' and I got there on time only to find that the actual screening would start at 7.30 pm - in the meantime I thought to myself 'why not visit the various promotional stands' - giving away everything free from coffee to doughnuts to shampoo to sushi, all to the accompanying tunes of an over-excited (yet admittedly good) DJ who pumped the slamming House tunes to unreasonable volume, adding to the nightclub vibe I mentioned earlier... with the obligatory pause for the Prayer Call (Athan).

An hour of this was more than I could bear so I went for a stroll aimlessly around the mall, came back just before 7.30 pm, foolishly thinking the screening would start on time. By the time the attending crowd - made up mostly of self-congratulating ad industry people (see: jerk, circle) herded into the theater as it was already approaching 8 pm. On each seat, 'Zain' (the main sponsor) had placed a bag full of "goodies" including the usual giveaways (t-shirt, coasters) and a rattle made of clapping plastic hands and some geeky 'neon' eye-glasses. The clapping rattles were meant to encourage "audience participation", to encourage loud applause whenever a great commercial appeared (You can see where this is heading, right?).

After a shaky welcome speech by Zain's 'Public Relations' people, and an introduction to their new "Create" service, we then had to sit through a seemingly endless stream of Zain commercials. Did they not know they wouldn't hold a candle to the masterpieces of creativity we were about to watch?

I am forever amazed at people's ability to regress into childhood, and in really big groups; last night was no exception. The audience of full-grown 'professional 'adults kept shaking their rattles in full force at the slightest provocation, regardless of what we were watching. I kept praying for the novelty to wear off, again banking on everyone eventually getting bored or annoyed with the rattles and settling down to enjoy the show. But no, the noise kept on unabated... if there was anything to be heard it was drowned out; if there were any witty jokes in the ads, they were lost.

And if all that wasn't enough... I had the misfortune of being seated next to two overweight ladies who provided us with a running commentary throughout the screening - they simply would not shut up! Oh and they rattled nonstop... I know we're not watching a serious film requiring total silence, but do I really want to hear this woman next to me commenting loudly on every commercial? And rattle too?!

Yes I"m talking about you, the silly cow, third center row from the back!!

When the first intermission came around, in the interests of saving my sanity I made a dash for the door and got the hell out. On my way out, I complained about the stupid rattles and I was told that they do this every year, and for no particular reason other than they think it's 'fun.'

It's a real shame because there were some truly wonderful ads being shown, but I can't imagine ever sitting through something like this again, so I won't be coming back. EVER!!

Note: Their second showing is tonight at 6.30 pm (meaning 8pm?) - you have been warned (if I were you, I'd stay home).

Mahboula 2009: The 'Mermaid Project'

For the first time in my life, I am in a diwaniya. And not only visiting, but participating. Thank you, Amer, for opening up your blog for guest contributors, and inviting me to join. I am honored to be here.

Who am I? I'm Global Gal, an American expat living in China. A long time ago I lived in Kuwait in an apartment with ill-fitting windows, pock-marked facade, (presumably from bullets), and, in the right light, Iraqi graffiti under the thinly-coated paint of the interior walls. It was 1992 and I was sixteen. Fresh off the airplane from Texas, the Mahboula (Mad Woman' in Arabic) area might as well have been the moon. Eventually, it was home and all these years later I still miss it. I even miss that hastily thrown together apartment. I can honestly look back on my two years in Kuwait as some of the happiest and most influential of my life. I have never forgotten my Kuwaiti friends and the Kuwaiti experiences that made me who I am today - a traveler, an expat and an admirer of the little country that could.

When I hear about the current state of Kuwait - multitudes of restaurants, Marina Mall, aquariums, etc. and the current state of Mahboula and Fahaheel, where I lived and spent most of my time, I tend to think like that grumpy old man character from 'Saturday Night Live'.

(Cue Grumpy Old Man voice): "Back in my day we didn't have McDonald's and Burger King right across the road. There was no such thing as McDonald's. If we wanted fast food, we walked to the shawarma stand or found an adult to drive us all the way to Fahaheel. And in Fahaheel you could have Wendy's or KFC and that was it. There was no Hungry Bunny. And we liked it.

And we didn't go down to the beach to play in the sand and water. We weren't allowed anywhere near the beach. Everyone was afraid of bombs and mines and booby-trapped Pepsi cans. We spent all our time buying pirated cassette tapes in Salmiya or eating at Chi Chi's. And we liked it.

And we didn't have Entertainment City or fancy malls or 'fun' places. If we wanted 'fun' we spotted burned out car wrecks on the side of the expressway or found another adult to drive us down to Kheiran where we could wander around the abandoned tank and play in the video arcade. And we liked it." (End Grumpy Old Man voice)

And I really did like it! I would love to see how Kuwait has changed! Consider this my introductory post. I will be contributing travel stories and anecdotes of my Kuwait expat experience to the diwaniya in the coming weeks. I hope you don't mind a little light-hearted fare! It looks like I need to brush up on Kuwaiti politics as well!

Global Gal writes about her life in China, travel experiences and interesting things she sees and reads at On the Fringe.

President Obama won mostly through his strong presence on the Internet - will it work for Aseel Al-Awadhi?

Links:

الدكتورة أسيل العوضي

يوتيوب" ترشح د. أسيل يظهر في نشرة أخبار قناة الراي

Official Webpage

شاهدت مساء يوم الجمعة الماضي برنامج "المنصة" على قناة العدالة، وكان البرنامج يستضيف كلا من النائب السابق /صالح الملا وعضو المجلس البلدي/ماجد موسى"المطيري" ومرشح الدائرة الرابعة لانتخابات مجلس الأمة. سبق وأن أشرت في السابق بهذه المدونة الجريئة إلى مداخلة السيد/ماجد بعنوان "كابتن ماجد" في قناة الفتن، وطرحه القبلي العنيف الذي لا يقبل فيه كل كويتي غيور على وطنه، وكان حول موضوع لجنة إزالة التعديات. ولم يختلف طرحه في ذلك البرنامج عن ما شاهدت "بالمنصة"، هجوم على المناطق التي يقطنها غالبية العائلات الحضرية والدفاع على المناطق التي يقطنها غالبية العائلات البدوية "حسب فكره"، والتي يمثلها بدوره كونه عضو مجلس بلدي حالي ومرشح قادم لمجلس الأمة ومن ضمنها ضاحية صباح الناصر، مع العلم ولا يخفى على أحد بأن التعديات في المنطقة المذكورة لا يغطيه المنخل. المشكلة تكمن في عقلية كابتن ماجد وحده وأمثاله الذين يزداد عددهم وللأسف في هذا الزمن. ويرجع السبب الوحيد في وجودهم وزيادة عددهم "المصالح الشخصية". أما ما تفضل فيه النائب السابق/صالح الملا، من طرح راقي "وهو شيء ليس بجديد" ودفاعه عن قاطني "المناطق الخارجية" وهو مصطلح يحبذ استخدامه كابتن ماجد لإثارة ناخبيه، يدل على أنه رجل يدافع عن كل حق لكل كويتي وينتقده في حال أخطأ بحق الدولة أو أخل بالتزامه بالقوانين المتبعة، بغض النظر إن كان هذا الكويتي "حضري،بدوي،سني،شيعي، في دائرته أو خارجها". وهذا بالفعل ما يجب أن نبحث عنه في شخصية المرشحين القادمين للمجلس القادم. والله ولي التوفيق

At the outset, I would like to thank all bloggers and writers who have so far contributed pieces to 'Hilaliya,' elevating it from a personal blog to a community blog (which I am proud of). Moreover, the 'Diwaniya' concept has also allowed certain bloggers the flexibility of posting about issues they were passionate here, as opposed to their own blogs, due to demographic constraints or otherwise.

Special thanks to Don Veto, Intlxpatr, 4th Ring Road, Forzaq8, Aggz the Aggressor, Daggero, فتح الخير and Hanan Al-Hajeri for their exclusive pieces all of which highlighted their own smarts, style and interests.

A big thanks to you, our frequent reader and commenter, for your feedback and support.

Additional bloggers (and writers) have jumped onto the 'Blogging Diwaniya' bandwagon, so expect some great new posts the coming weeks.

فى خضم الأجواء المحلية الملبدة والمناخية المتقلبة كان لابد من وقفه نستعرض فيها المواضيع الدارجة على الساحة ونحاول أن نعطي هذه المستجدات حقها قدر المستطاع ونكون بذلك قد ركبنا الموجة وتزلجنا مع المتزلجين فى عالم التدوين والذى يغلب عليه مواضيع الأكل وأنتقاد المطاعم , ومواضيع الحب والغرام أو السياسة والأنتخابات

قد بدأ الموضوع الأول بصورة لوليمة فاخرة لشخص ما وعليه بالعافية , هو اللى أستمتع بالوجبة و نحن اللى أخذنا السمعة بأننا أهل سندويش, بس خيرها فى غيره

وحتى يستمر زخم التدوين ومسايرة الأحداث المحلية ونجرب حظنا بالتدوين باللغة العربية الأم فأقترحت على نفسى أن أحاول أن أكتب فى مواضيع جريئة محلية مثل الحب والغرام حيث لهذه المشاعر سوق طويل عريض فى الفضاء الأفتراضى وربما أكون أول من أكتشف ظاهرة جديدة ليكون لى السبق التدوينى فيها ونصبح من الرومانسيين حالنا من حال الباقين , ونحاول أن نمحو تهمة الجفاف العاطفى الشديد المتهم بها الجنس الذكورى المحلى( ولو أن الكويتى أنفع ) الأ أن الهجوم المستمر على شخصيته بدون مسوغات فى كثير من المدونات قد صبغ هذه الشخصية المتميزة بنعت غير مطابق للواقع دون أى مبرر

وفعلا صدق حدسى وبعد البحث االسريع فى أعداد الجرائد المحلية توفقت الى قراءة عدد من المقابلات الشخصية مع أشخاص معروفين فى المجتمع كمسؤلين سابقين أو شخصيات رسمية وهم يتكلمون عن مسيرة حياتهم وأنجازاتهم فى مناصبهم وبعد الأسترسال فى المقابلة تتحول الأسئلة الى الحياة الأجتماعية للمسئول والى السؤال الكلاسيكى الذى لابد منه وهو" كيف تعرفت
"على شريكة حياتك

وهنا تبدأ سلسلة المفاجآت و خاصة بعد أن يكون القارئ قد شبع كلام رسمى مقنن ودبلوماسى وأذا بالجواب على هذا السؤال التقليدى يغير من نمط المقابلة فيقلبها رأسا على عقب فالغالبية من الذين تمت معاهم المقابلات تنفتح قريحتهم ويعترفون ويتباهون بأنهم تعرفوا على زوجاتهم بالصدفة طبعا - والصدفة خير من ألف ميعاد - ويسمى زوجته بأسمها الذى عادة مايكون رقيق ومماثل لأسماء الممثلات العربيات أيام أفلام الأسود والأبيض وليس بكنيتها أم فلان . ويزيد بأن الزواج قد تم بعد قصة أعجاب وحب متبادل .ياولد

هذا والكويت تعتبر بلد محافظ ولم يكن هناك هذه المولات الجميلة أو الهاتف النقال أو الأنترنت أو الأنفتاح فى المجتمع وهنا تطقنى البوهة لهذه التصريحات الجريئة وأفكر بما أن مسؤلينا السابقين لديهم هذه العواطف الجياشة والأحاسيس المرهفة فلماذا الغالبية من المواطنين والمقيمين يحسون بالأحباط والكآبة واليأس .هل لعدم توصيل هذا الحب لنا أو لعدم مشاركتهم لنا بالعواطف والبوح بها فقط بعد مغادرة المنصب الرسمى لأن المدام راح تقرأ المقابلة وياويله أذا ماطلعها جولييت العصر الذهبى للكويت . وعاشت الرومانسية الرسمية .مع تحياتى

According to Al Arabiya news channel, the Kuwaiti government finally passed the financial bailout package today. This is great news for banks and investment companies but we still don't know if any changes were made to the original plan.

The plan itself could cost the country a whopping 5 billion KD. However, Investment Companies have lost over 9 billion KD since the beginning of the meltdown, further augmenting the crisis.

We have yet to hear the Popular Bloc's response to this plan. An interesting week lies ahead.

يا "ويلك" إذا كان لديك معاملة بإدارة الهجرة بمنطقة الشويخ خاصة بالعمالة المنزلية، حيث جبرت ذات يوم "أغبر" أن أكون متواجدا في ذلك المبنى "القبيح" بالصباح الباكر، والتزمت الدور حيث كان طلبي يحمل رقم 45. لله الحمد جاء طلبي وحدث ما هو مبين أدناه:

نحن:السلام عليكم.
الموظف:لا يرد.
نحن: لو سمحت ابي اجدد اقامة.
الموظف: روح فوق شجايبك اهنيه.
نحن: قالولي اهني التجديد واليافطة تقول جذي بعد.
الموظف: "يدخن" قلتلك فوق أنت توحي.
نحن: خير انشالله بس على فكرة هم في يافطة تقول ممنوع التدخين.
الموظف: لا يرد.
بعدها ذهبت للدور الثاني وحدث التالي:
نحن: السلام عليكم.
الموظف: لا يرد.
نحن: اخوي لو تكرمت عندي معاملة تجديد اقامة.
الموظف:المسئول راح يصلي. (حيث حان موعد آذان الظهر، وكنت أنا متواجد من الساعة 8 صباحا).
نحن:خير انشالله انطر بعد شسوي.
بعد انتهاء الصلاة بنصف ساعة:
نحن: تقبل الله.
الموظف:منا ومنك تفضل.
نحن: ابدا بس عندي طلب تجديد اقامة.
الموظف: مو عندي اخوي روح الدور الأرضي.
نحن:كنت تحت وقالولي مو عندهم.
الموظف: الله يعينك أخوي.
نحن:يعين الجميع.

لا أود أن أطيل عليكم ولكن ارتأيت أن أبين وجهة نظري حيال البعض من هذه النوعية من البشر التي لا تهتم لظروف والتزامات الناس، ناهيك عن طريقة التعامل الغير لائقة. حيث من المفترض أن يكون هذا الموضوع وهو "تجديد الإقامة" موضوع اعتيادي لكثرة العمالة المنزلية في البلاد. ولكن تقاعس بعض الموظفين في أداء عملهم ليس فقط في وزارة الداخلية، وإنما في جميع الوزارات التي تقدم خدمات من هذا القبيل تحتاج إلى إعادة نظر جادة من قبل المسئولين. وأكرر ما قلته بالسابق "هذا إذا كان هناك مسئولين".
والله ولي التوفيق

This morning I posted an entry in my personal blog about what the ideal candidate should have in terms of skill-sets and qualities, and later on, it hit me...perceptions differ from one voter to another.

Ours is a very traditionalist-oriented society, one that find comfort in repeating the usual practices of 'doing the same thing', including supporting the usual candidate. But we live in an unusual period in our lifetime right now.

POINT: Iran, our close neighbor, is already future-proofed it's economy, by employing an alternative source of energy, which also doubles as a military deterrent as a force multiplier to its large army.

POINT: Saudi Arabia has realized that extremist movements like 'The Promotion of Virtue & Prevention of Vice' is a threat to its society and government, and has already defanged it, and revamped its educational system.

POINT: Qatar, with it's newly-discovered natural gas resources, is taking slow steps to exploit its primary natural resource, while reaping every penny from its revenue towards economic and infrastructural development.

POINT: China, Japan, the EU, and others among the world's strongest economies, have recently announced drastic measures to save what's left of their economies.

POINT: Globalisation has rendered traditional classroom lectures and tests wholly useless, and as a result, many colleges and universities are now providing their curriculum and coursework online!

POINT: With so many university graduates looking for highly paid jobs, job placement is scarce...and I'm referring to the world all over, not just Kuwait!

POINT: We are an Oil-producing and exporting country, but we still don't have a specialized Petroleum Studies College that can produce the Kuwaiti labour needed for self-sufficiency in this critical and strategic sector - Abu Dhabi has a highly reputable one called The Petroleum Institute!

What we need to do is dare to think outside the confines of our traditionalist ways, and encourage other to do so as well. We need to shed the light on these critical issues, and highlight them as cornerstones of our demands as a people from our government, through the candidates who possess the qualities that would enable them to voice our demands properly and accurately. We need to dare to believe in actual change in our hearts before we demand it of others.

Call me a Liberal, but like it or not, this is what will save and secure our country's future.

A blind, ignorant belief in faith is not enough (I dare to say so!) to deliver us from the evils of this world, and neither is the struggle to implement this faith from within a political agenda, nor is the support of those who strive for it. If one studies history, one would realize that it was the concept of 'practicality' - not just faith - that had delivered Europe from Facist and Stalinist ideologies, or be closer to home, saved the Middle East from Mongol domination.

Back to the present, and in closing, and also to complement my earlier post, whoever can address these issues, and is able to provide practical solutions to address them within 5-7 years can be sure of my vote!

شاهدت قبل قليل فيلم وثائقي بالمدونة "ساحة الصفاة" واسمه "وعد الأحرار" والذي أعده مشكورين طلبة الكويت (فرع الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية)، فهو فيلم يسرد التاريخ السياسي والمسيرة الديمقراطية للكويت بستة أجزاء في غاية الروعة. لكم تمنيت أن أكون من مواليد تلك الفترة الجميلة بتاريخ الكويت برغم ما مرت به من ظروف صعبة. من خلال متابعتي لهذا الفيلم استشعرت بأننا بحاجة لرجال المواقف، رجال لطالما خدموا الكويت داخليا من خلال الحفاظ على الدستور واحترام مصالح البلد والشعب وخارجيا من خلال انضمامهم بالمحافل الدولية كممثلين للكويت وإظهارها بصورة مشرفة في شتى المجالات. إننا مقبلين على انتخابات جديدة يعلم الله ماهية نتائجها، فالإختيار الجيد لمرشحين أكفاء من شأنه إيصالنا إلى ما نصبوا إليه وهو رفعة شأن الكويت وتحقيق مصالحها، أما الإختيار السيء أو "الغير موفق" من شأنه أن يؤدي إلى استمرار الوضع "الردي" كما هو عليه أو أن يتم الإنحدار والوضع يكون من سيء إلى أسوأ " لا قدر الله". سألني صديق عزيز ذات يوم "منو أختار؟ أنا ماني متابع جيد للساحة السياسية في الكويت،أشلون أعرف منو المرشح الزين؟ كلهم يقولون كلام حلو هدفه الإصلاح وان الكويت هي الأهم؟"، جاوبته بالقول " أفضل طريقة تشوف منو اللي يدعم المرشح من خلال حضور ندواته، على سبيل المثال لا الحصر ندوة العم أحمد السعدون والتي كانت خلال افتتاح مقره الإنتخابي السنة الماضية، كان من بين الحضور كلا من: العم الدكتور أحمد الخطيب، النائب السابق وليد الجري،النائب السابق مشاري العصيمي،الإقتصادي الكبير جاسم السعدون، وجود مثل هؤلاء الأشخاص يزيل أدنى شك موجود لديك تجاه هذا المرشح أو ذاك"، فعجبه الإقتراح وأتمنى يعجبكم.
والله ولي التوفيق

HH The Emir

We share more commonalities than differences. Getting democracies up and running isn't such an easy task. All countries wrestle with the same issues - how to create laws that protect both majority rights and minority rights? How to restrain those in power, so that they may serve those they were elected to serve?

Many look at positions of power and think "How glorious! What fun it must be to be the President/ Emir / Minister! Their lives are full of parties and grand openings! They live to give speeches! I could do that!" What people don't see is the true nature of leadership. The life of your Emir is filled with self-sacrifice. His leadership is a holy thing; a burden - he is the leader and servant of all his people.

I remember studying politics in college, to my surprise one of my professors informed us that Communism was the most efficient system for bringing chaotic political systems into order. The brutal infliction of communism on a nation does, indeed, bring order and institutions . . . until that system crumbles under it's own weight, as do most totalitarian regimes.

It would be so easy to be a benevolent dictator. It would be so easy to rule a country, and to focus your resources on education, health care, roads, electricity, water and developing trade. Your Emir has chosen the harder path - leading his citizens to participate in the rule of the country.

It is a much more difficult challenge to bring citizens to responsible self-rule. Your Emir has the patience of Job; he has endured the antics and intricate dances of his House of Parliament with enormous endurance, allowing all the foolishness to play itself out on the Parliamentary stage. It is this servant, this Amir's responsibility to ensure that his nation survives. It can only be with enormous sadness that he must - once again - dissolve the Parliament and call for new elections, hoping beyond hope that the newly elected will have a sense of responsibility and self-discipline to take the place of the posturing egoists in the current Parliament.

I cannot begin to imagine the cloak of responsibility that settled on his shoulders when he accepted the Emir-ship, just over three years ago. While he has his wise counselors, it must be an enormous weight on his shoulders, and ultimately, by the Grace of God, it is he who must make the most painful decisions for the greater good of his nation and its people.

The citizen also has a duty, a duty to look beyond selfish personal needs and to identify the greater needs of society. He or she have an obligation to fully analyze their candidates, to discover whether they are somber, balanced lawmakers - who deliberate, who seek consensus - as opposed to individuals eager for position, backed by delcarations of empty promises, who dance, posture, and bring shame to the position of Member of Parliament.

Your Emir on a daily basis takes on the great burden of managing a vast, complex nation. In return - and this is such a small thing - you should treasure your vote and cast it wisely.

"Democracy has failed in Kuwait-" I hear this sentence a lot these days, the other most common sentiment is "I hope they dissolve the Parliament for ever."

I find this strange, it is illogical, to buy into with the above statement since we have not even tasted democracy in Kuwait for that long. Now some may say "Kuwait has had a Parliament since 1963" which would make it 46 years but let us look at its age and productivity.

1963 - 1967 8 members resign in protests.
1967 - 1971 Vote rigging by Government - 7 members refuse seat in protest.
1971 - 1975
1975 - 1976 Dissolved
1981 - 1986 Districts modified from 10 to 25
1985 - 1986 Dissolved
1992 - 1996
1996 - 1999 Dissolved
1999 - 2003
2003 - 2006 Dissolved
2006 - 2008 Dissolved

In other words, we have a gap during 1976-1981 (5 years) and 1986 - 1992 (6 years) with no parliament - a total of 11 years. We have only had 3 full Parliamentary sessions without any 'government intervention.'

We are young. We have not even completed 50 years of democracy, how the hell do we want democracy to mature if we keep treating like as a fad? The democratic experiment cannot be called a "failure" this fast, considering its young age. We must be patient.

كتبت: حنان الهاجري

يعتبر الإحتفال بيوم القديس باتريك في مدينة نيويورك أكبر احتفال من نوعه في العالم في هذا اليوم خارج الحدود الايرلندية, حيث يشارك الآلاف في الاستعراض الذي دأبت المدينة على تنظيمه منذ عام 1762 و الذي يبدأ في الساعة الحادية عشر صباحا و يختتم فعالياته في الساعة الخامسة من اليوم السابع عشر من شهر مارس من كل عام. و يمتد خط الاستعراض الذي لا يسمح منظموه بمشاركة المسارح المتنقلة أو المركبات أو الحيوانات- عدا الخيول- من الشارع الرابع و الأربعين و ينتهي عند عتبات الشارع السادس و الثمانين على امتداد الجادة الخامسة في مانهاتن . و في حين وصل عدد المشاركين في الاستعراض خلال السنوات القليلة الماضية إلى ما يقارب الربع مليون شخص, فإن الاحتفال هذا يُحوّل سكان و زوار التفاحة الكبيرة إلى "ايرلنديين" أصيلين يعبرون عن مشاركتهم للأمريكيين من ذوي الأصول الايرلندية إعتزازهم بهذا اليوم عبر إرتداء اللون الأخضر, أو أداء الأغاني الأيرلندية, أو العزف على المزمار, أو حتى تناول المشروبات و المأكولات الإيرلندية. و لعل يوم القديس باتريك هو اليوم الوحيد في السنة الذي يتم فيه ارتداء "التنورة" من قبل الرجال دون أن يواجه الأمر بالاستنكار أو الامتعاض من قبل العامة." الديوانية" حضرت الاحتفال النيويوركي بيوم القديس باتريك الذي أقيم يوم أمس و خرجت بهذه اللقطات.

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