Hamad an open-minded, educated and dynamic young architect
Young Kuwaiti with good leadership skills
HBy Lidia Qattan
Special to the Arab Times amad Jassem Fawaz is a remarkable level-headed young Kuwaiti well educated on the traditional ways of social etiquette. He is a logical, broad-minded young man with good leadership skills; indeed he is one of the new Kuwaitis who will turn the tide of events in his country when they reach a critical mass and become an exponential force to be reckoned with! Times are changing as everything else in this world is changing.
Hamad’s philosophy is learning from the dark and the brighter side of life. Seen in a broad perspective every failure and success offers valuable lessons about what to avoid and what to implement for a happy successful life.
Hamad treats people as he himself likes to be treated with respect and consideration; indeed because of his straight-forward behavior, respect and consideration of others, he is loved and respected by his colleagues and by those he comes in contact with.
Hamad is the opposite of the so called “Typical Kuwaiti”, a cliché that has been forming since the late sixties in Kuwait largely due to new family surroundings and the ways the youngsters have been brought up.
The family is the basic unit of every society according to which a society is dynamic and progressive, or is passive and regressive.
In the old days in Kuwait the extended family consisting of parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, gave to the youngsters not only a feeling of being loved and protected, it trained them to respect and to assume family responsibilities from an early age, indeed they were trained to face life and become an asset to their society.
Appearance
Since the appearance of the nuclear family in which both father and mother are working, those children left in the care of domestic servants with little or no parental guidance and accustomed to be given all they want without commitment, tend to become selfish, materialistic and generally unprepared to face life when they grow up. In reaching adulthood these individuals are mostly uncertain and afraid of taking chances and tend to become followers rather than leaders; they also tend to cling in group that gives them a sense of importance and reassurance. Unfortunately not every group they cling-to leads them to a safe harbor, indeed many lead them astray with devastating consequences to the
Lidia Qattan
individual to society.
Hamad J. Al Fawaz was brought up in a strict family surrounding abiding to the old cultural principles of respect and mutual consideration. His father, Jassem was a true patriarch, a good provider and loving but strict with his children. Even when Hamad graduated and returned from the States, his father would not permit informal familiarity with him. For instance once Hamad said a joke his father didn’t understand, when Hamad said he was joking, his father stopped him short: ‘Don’t joke with me. I am not one of your friends!’ Hamad understood, a parent commands a certain respect
His mother was the opposite of his father, though she was strict, especially about study, she was more lenient, more forgiving and understanding.
Since Hamad could remember, his father was taking him and his brothers when they were still very young to the family diwaniya, for them to listen quietly to the men’s talk and observe their behavior, and learn those social skills that would contribute to their success in life later on.
Indeed, it was from the diwaniya that young Hamad learned most of the basic social skills that enhanced his success in life; it also engrained in him a passion for the historical background of his ancestral linage of which he is proud.
His family stems from the great Tememi tribe. According to Durrama, a renowned Tememi poet, his tribe was divided into four main groups. Hamad’s ancestral branch stems for Abdullah “the Nokheda” (Sea Captain), the son of Ahmad Bin Sager Bin Fawaz Bin Amir Al Tememi.
Choice
Abdullah came to Kuwait in the early 1800s, when the country was in the process of developing from a village into a thriving state under the rule of Al Sabah Dynasty, which was established in 1756, with the election to power of Sheikh Sabah Bin Jaber.
In 1764 Sheikh Sabah died leaving five sons; the choice for the next ruler fell on Abdullah Al Sabah, the youngest of the brothers, because of his superior leadership qualities and statesmanship. When Sheikh Abdullah Al Sabah demised in 1815, Kuwait was prospering through its commerce by sea and land, its prosperity was enhanced by internal peace and friendly relations with its neighbors. It was at about this time that Abdullah Al Tememi settled in Kuwait to continue his commercial activity.
His son Ibrahim inherited his father’s business, but it was his son Khalil, the great grandfather of Hamad, who became the most distinguished member of the family. Starting from scratch and relying on his good sense in grasping a good business opportunity when he saw one, Khalil created a name for himself in the market as one of the most distinguished tycoons in town, indeed he shadowed his father in wealth and prestige; incidentally that was the time the great Sheikh Mubarak was ruling the country.
Because Khalil was dealing mainly in cotton he was importing from India and from Iran and was employing workers to work the cotton, people in town began referring to him as “Al Qattan”, the nickname stuck.
Khalil was a generous and kind man, but he was also a thorough-going business man who commanded respect. He was the first to establish a “Gasariya” (shopping center) in town, known as “Gasariya Khalil Al Qattan, which was also called the Gasariya al Youhood (the Jewish souk), because many of the shops were hired by the Jews coming to Kuwait when there was trouble in Iraq, usually they sold cloth.
After establishing the first Gasariya, Khalil thought of establishing another one, so he bought some houses in downtown Kuwait and sought to buy a nearby area belonging to Sheikh Mubarak, he used for his horses.
When Khalil sent his agent to the Sheikh for a deal, the Sheikh accepted the proposal on account of what he would offer. The offer was accepted and the deal was made, but a merchant, jealous of Khalil’s growing prestige and power in town, went to the Sheikh and told him that the land he sold to Khalil was worthy much more than what he offered. Reconsidering the deal the Sheikh asked for another offer from Khalil, who doubled the money and the deal was sealed. Notwithstanding his defeat the same man then sought to cause more trouble, but Khalil stopped him short with a threat that made him realize he could not mess with him.
Hamad became so enticed by the biography of Hajji Khalil, whom he affectionately calls “Ubui Khalil” (father Khalil), that he sought to emulate him not only in relying on himself, as his idol did when he started his own business, but also in taking chances, while making good use of the social skills he learned from his family diwaniya and from the yearly summer month he was spending at one of his father’s shops in town from his intermediate level of schooling till he was ready to enter university. The time he spent at the shop trained him how to deal with different people, how and when to talk, and how to communicate his ideas clearly and effectively, besides dealing with money and keeping a record.
To be continued