Infuriated: Expats encroach on rights of Citizens?! Are you kidding me?

Hold on a second, what was to start off as a soliloquy to Vimto has taken a drastic turn!


As I was searching for the excerpt article I read on Arab Times regarding the Vimto Fiasco, I came across this opinionated, biased, self-aggrandizing, utterly disrespectful article, regarding the incident, and twisting it to portray foreigners/expats as unlawful, unappreciative and unworthy of staying in Kuwait.

Lets see, a few interesting excerpts from his article go as follows:

The alleged assault on the employee of a cooperative society for refusing to sell extra bottles of Vimto underlines a more serious moral dilemma a tiny minority of expatriates are facing in Kuwait. Such rare type of foreign individuals do not represent either their own compatriots or hard working expatriates.

FYI the article is called "Some expats encroach on rights of Citizens"

"... they can actually encroach on the rights, privileges of the native population of this country, Kuwaiti citizens! "

So, because one is a Kuwaiti citizen, they are automatically given a right to what, buy more bottles of Vimto than the expat? Meaning that, if heaven forbid, a war were to break out, expats in Kuwait would not receive rations until their Kuwaiti counterparts do?

"One cannot interpret the recent assault as mere envy, or feeling insulted due to unfair treatment, but it underlines an entrenched attitude against Kuwaiti citizens. In addition, such kind of noisy, disruptive, uncooperative and unappreciative foreign guests need to come to terms with the realities of their situation in our country: they will continue to be honored and respected in our country as long as they continue to show their utmost respect to our laws and customs."

Hang on a second, you want to talk "respect" of laws and customs, here is a glorifying example, fresh off the news print:

Father ‘better’ than son: Police are looking for an unidentified Kuwaiti man who was driving away with the car belonging to his son, reports Al-Rai daily.

According to reports the son was driving along a road in Salmiya and police ordered him to pull over for violating a traffic law and driving a car with tinted glass.

However, when the police were in the process of impounding the vehicle, the son telephoned the father.

The father arrived on the scene and without a word got into the vehicle and drove off in full view of the cops.

A case has been registered against the father at the Rumaithiya Police Station.

And the Sheikha who delayed shoppers exiting a parking lot by parking directly infront of the exit because she wished to enter the parking lot through the exit? When the security guard tried to explain it cannot be done, she simply turns off her car, and leaves to do her shopping. When confronted by another citizen on her way out, her reply was "Keify, ana sheikha." (I don't care, I'm from the royal family).

The alleged culprit in the recent assault crime does not seem to accept the fact that he and other non-Kuwaitis continue to be respected yet ‘foreign’ guests in Kuwait. As such, they are not citizens, period. I would have made it clear to the person who alleged beat the cooperative’s employee, as soon as he arrived at Kuwait airport: “there is no way you can infringe or transgress on the cultural, national and social privileges of Kuwaiti citizens. As long as you show the greatest respect to our customs, heritage and national character as long as you will be able to guarantee that, no one will infringe on your rights as a decent human being.”

So, according to the Author, as expats, our rights are circumspect to the rights of citizens? Have you not read Al-Rai's article, written by an author whose name eludes me but for whom I have the utmost respect, the article was simply titled "Keify, ana Kuwaiti" (I don't care, I'm Kuwaiti), and how that one phrase is being exhausted in all manners; by Kuwaiti women shopping for items- used to ward off potential competitors for the last article of clothing etc., or by Kuwaiti men in parking lots- to vie off someone for that last parking spot.

Last but certainly not least:

If such people decide otherwise, in other words, if some expats expect to receive a 100 percent equal treatment in all aspects of daily life like any citizen, will; those people need not come to Kuwait.

Attempting to encroach on the rights of citizens is certainly a taboo that rational beings must make sure to avoid, as far as possible.

 

So we come to Kuwait knowing that we are not to expect treatment based on merit, but on nationality? That my friends is the foundation of bigotry and prejudice.

Reading this so called article really infuriated me. And the fact that it was fabricated around an incident such as an argument in a co-op over the "right" to buy Vimto merely adds more fuel to the fire. The author clearly has way to much time on their hands, and their story is full of more holes than Swiss Cheese.

When I was a freshman, we were asked in our Economic History & Resources class to write an essay on a certain phenomenon that contributes to economic crises in countries. Most people selected the devaluation of currency, trade deficits etc. I sought to be more original and chose illiteracy. Yet, I was able to use that as my subject, drawing the proper conclusions, and passing the subject.

This weak incident is similar to stating, when the temperature goes up, people drink more water, there is a higher sale of sunscreen, therefore, drinking water affects the sale of sunscreen.

Vulgar? Yes, but it gets the message across