Overheard in the Souk
the grapevine
The news coverage of Kuwait at the Olympics has been largely negative on account of the country’s ban and its athletes having to compete under the IOC flag. Despite the medals, the victories have been bittersweet.
It is extraordinary then that one athlete’s decision to don an Arsenal shirt brought much needed laughter and respite from the gloom at the expense of the gunners’ propensity to finish in the top every season without clinching a trophy.
While the twitterati have attributed the victory to the football club in jest, noting that this might be as close as they get to a third this year, one can hope that the happy coincidence ends here and trophies for Kuwaiti athletes are not as elusive.
Health is wealth! A lot of people spend a lot of time in the gym these days or some go to derma and aesthetic clinics. They all want to look fit, sexy, mascular and superb. Some do it the hard way by spending hours on the treadmill while others would rather drink some slimming pills, tea or shakes or better yet go under the knife for some neat tummy tuck.
Those into body building would find it best to pump up their muscles with steroids. It’s very convenient, no sweat and no need to lift those heavy weights.
Those are the easy ways to be pleasant looking from the aesthetics but how about the state of your health? Some may look fabulous and sexy with all the six-pack abs but unknowingly are suffering from intestinal ulcers or some eating disorders.
Those who have been pumping their muscles with steroid unknowingly have kidney problems, hypertension and other complicated illnesses. All these in the name of vanity? Wouldn’t it be nice to look good inside and out and healthy inside and out? Well, as they say, we are all but living in a superficial world. How about you? Are you in or out?
It should be a good news for expatriates living in Kuwait when the government stressed it will not allow any increase in prices of commodities as a result of an increase of gasoline prices beginning of this coming September.
To put things in practice, the government, represented by Ministry of Commerce and Industry recently carried out a campaign against commercial companies and stores that took advantage of the situation and increased prices of their commodities.
These violating companies and stores have been cited violation and will be refereeing to the prosecution as a punishment for crimes involving commercial fraud , unjustified price hikes, manipulation of expiry dates and countries of origin.
On the other hand, people are wondering if this government effort can stay long. In other words, prevention of increase of commodity prices might only be in short term especially after the increase of gasoline takes place in September. This is because the increase will definitely come from transportation. Surely, taxis, buses and other commercial vehicles will increase their charges when the gasoline price goes up.
As soon as these service entities increase their fees, it will definitely lead to price increase of other commodities. People say bravo to the government for its bold step of stopping the price increase of commodities, but they still wondering how long can this go on especially after the gasoline price increase comes into effect next week.
With the football World Cup under two years away it is imperative for Kuwait to move to secure a resolution of the impasse with FIFA early enough before kickoff. For the FIFA World Cup there’d be no neutral participation for any country and no participation under the FIFA flag.
Kuwaitis love football and can’t afford to not be a part of the World Cup. Despite the dispute the youth in Kuwait are getting ready in their own ways to make the most of this event.
While shopping jerseys of their favorite teams and outfitting their living rooms with larger TV sets for a closer-to-ground feel are the more benign preparations underway, some are preparing to indulge in betting. And these guys are perhaps even more desperate to win than the teams they are betting on, because their stakes are high.