‘Dawn of ‘New Era’ for two reasons’
“WE ARE blessed that His Highness Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad is named the Amir of Kuwait, and we ask God to help His Highness and guide his steps on the path of goodness and righteousness for the sake of the country and its people,” columnist Turki Al-Azmi wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“We also congratulate His Highness Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad for gaining the trust of HH the Amir and a pledge and allegiance of the National Assembly as a Crown Prince asking God Almighty to grant the rulers efficient staff to serve the nation.
“It is the new era ... an era in which we want to witness boom in various fields, a boom that will achieve more (responsible) freedoms and in which the efficient officials will be chosen to lead the state institutions.
“The conditions are no longer the same as before, not at the level of education, health, services, vision, and the economy, as all that surrounds our field locally and internationally has become different after the Corona pandemic, the economic downturn following the decline in the price of the barrel of oil.
“In recent years, we have been warning of the danger of ignoring to put the right man in the right place and choosing qualified advisors, relying on the quota system and embracing the so-called ‘parachute leaders’ – the outcome of which is crystal clear – and published by international indicators.
“We know with certainty that any stage depends on specific implications and evidence, which is the basis for formulating a strategic reform plan that puts the country back on track of advanced level in all areas.
“I and my colleagues are formulating many initiatives which were the brainchild of experienced and knowledgeable people who prefer not to be in the limelight or personal ambitions. Their goal is a collective professional volunteer work to propose solutions for each problem.
“This article is titled ‘The New Era’ for two reasons. The first ‘new’ in terms of the current senior officials the situation indicates total failure and therefore logically the stage calls for a change.
“The second is the ‘advisory level staff’, including the Supreme Council for Planning. It is clear that Kuwait’s position has declined in most of the global indicators, and this confirms the weakness of the level of our advisors. This also requires a change in the philosophy of choosing consultants. The consultant is a person who possesses knowledge, rationality, long and proven experience, integrity and good conduct. The new era must get rid of wasta which destroys our culture and is the cause of all our failures.
“Yes, from the bottom of our heart we want a new era ... It is wrong to think reform will come from the current leaders and advisors and everyone knows why.
“It is a mistake to think everyone is looking for personal interests, and the evidence for that is the initiatives that have been presented voluntarily, away from the media shows.
“The righteous statesmen do not pursue positions and many of them are ascetic in positions, only wanting to present the good to the country and the people.
“The statesmen are the ones that Kuwait needs during the next stage who work in word and deed of the ‘new era’, to meet the aspirations of a simple citizen. Will this be achieved in the coming days? God help us!”
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“According to a popular joke an employee took his salary and took a crowded bus to go home and surprise his children and bring a smile on their faces. However, he did not know that someone was following him, watching his every move, got in the bus after him and robbed his money,” columnist Dr Ali Al-Zoubi wrote for Al-Shahed daily.
“When the bus conductor asked the man for his ticket, he put his hand in the pocket to pay the fare and discovered the money was gone, his face reddened and he could not utter a word. The bus conductor then insulted him and accused him of playing a dirty trick saying, ‘It is a shame that respectable people like you behave like this.’
“The thief offered to buy the ticket and the honorable employee smiled and said to the thief: ‘God bless you and many like you, gentlemen, and the passengers began to praise the thief and pray for him and his likes that God bless them and increase their numbers, and since then their numbers have increased.
“This painful anecdote, in form and content, may be just an unrealistic tale of a clever narration but it is a fact that reflects a reality in today’s world – the era of globalization in which corruption has also been globalized and increased the numbers of ‘fures’ (fures in Latin means thieves) to the extent the phenomenon of banditry (theft) has become a rooted case throughout the world not only the Third World, irrespective whether the society is advanced or backward.
“In the United States of America, the US Foreign Policy magazine warns of corruption saying it is deep-rooted there more than the Americans think, as it has become a problem which threatens the national security of the country.
“In a report, the magazine described President Donald Trump as one of the symptoms of the problem of corruption, which has now become ‘systematic’ in major financial institutions in the United States.
“In a report published by the Elaph website, Japan was recently a victim of a series of scandals involving senior politicians. The incident has shaken the roots of the Japanese society. The corruption cases revolved around all types of corruption – financial or bureaucratic, sexual scandals and violations of election laws.
“Matthew M. Carlson and Steven R. Reed have written about this country and its adventures in corruption in a book titled ‘Political Corruption and Scandals in Japan.’
“In Germany, a recent study published by Transparency International showed a clear decline in the fight against corruption and bribery around the world, while Arab countries occupy the bottom place on the list of the countries for many reasons, perhaps the most important of which is the ease of embezzling public money by politically and commercially influential people. A study shows a frightening decline in combating corruption, especially in the Arab Gulf states, which have witnessed systematic corruption operations, most of which are protected by the government.
“Personally, I am not surprised that a new international organization will be established in the near future, under the name of ‘The League of Thieves’, which may later turn into the ‘United Fures Organization’, having its own Secretary General (chosen from among one of the thieves), and each country having its own envoy from among the local thieves.
“Wars and conflicts will be global, not between different countries but between state thieves, and armies and military arsenals will be dedicated for the service of the thieves and not the state, and people will be brought up and taught to serve thieves not their homelands.
“This means humanity enters a new stage as a result of the decline of the phenomenon of the state and the rise of the phenomenon of banditry, which will be a new global situation, with its own characteristics and form, and it will be supported by false ideas and institutions, but influential in society, such as false values, false ethics and fake parliaments.”
“The homeland has love and sense of belonging to it. This is a natural and innate feeling, through which a person lives with what happened in the past and looks towards the future,” columnist Hamad Al-Saif wrote for Annahar daily.
“Being away from the homeland makes you feel nostalgic and yearn to return to it. Love for the homeland is an act, not a word – the basis for the regime and parents’ dealings with their children in developing a sense of love for the homeland and the ability for them to innately express this love in every interaction in their lives to be a shield and a safety valve for stability and keenness to work for its progress.
“Therefore, responsibility for the stability and security of the homeland is collectively borne by the system and society throughout history to ensure the continuity of the homeland without any problems in the future and the creation of a sustainable civil State that serves all future generations as it passes from generation to generation.
“There should neither be obstacle nor negative effect in creating a good, solid, thoughtful and growing education in all stages in order to create a special case of patriotism and its reflection on the correct human development for future generations in different fields – political, social, scientific, cultural and sports.
“Creating a strong, solid and growing education with high-quality scientific methods is in the interest of the real nation and contributes to building a nationloving society.
“This is the first issue. The second is the creation of a strong economy, which is the basis for the formation of advanced societies, especially when we live in a country with all the material and moral capabilities that are not available in many other countries to support good education and an ideal integrated economy.”
“The citizen’s concerns and suffering began many years ago, and many of them are still without solutions. Unfortunately, talks about sustainable development and the need to search for strategic alternatives have been going on for many years,” columnist Mishref Eqab wrote for Al-Shahid daily.
“Where is the government planning that the government has been talking about for many years, as well as the sustainable development and projects for youths and citizens which we have heard about?
“The problems of young people are countless – from university to employment to government housing and stability. Look at the indicators of corruption and lack of law enforcement that society faces and are still present. We are hoping for their demise and end.
“With the government’s talk on every occasion about plans for development and building national capacities, and the development plans we always hear from most officials, is it reasonable that more than 15,000 citizens are waiting for the service bureau regarding the employment of all specializations? Is this true?”