‘Exodus of expatriates to adversely affect development of Kuwait’
“AFTER lean months, restaurants and cafes have begun to breathe following the Cabinet’s decision to allow them to receive customers according to health requirements, and this step, we hope, will be promising and a breakthrough to reopen the airport for travel, provided that the expected openness includes at least a first step for everyone, including the arrivals who reside in Kuwait since the connection with their families was cut off for about two years, and then there are those who are compelled to stay for fear of traveling to their homelands and not being able to return again to Kuwait for more than 3 years,” columnist Mohammad Al-Jalahmah wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“The segment that I talk about is estimated in the hundreds of thousands, and certainly their stay in the country has greatly affected the commercial movement, especially they leave for their countries with clothes, gifts, etc, in addition to the travel suspension, which inflicted millions of losses for airlines, and the tourism and travel sector.
“Although all medical reports say that the dreaded coronavirus is not capable of affecting those who have received the vaccine, the issue of not allowing people to leave and return to the country again continues.
“It is not bad to take precautionary measures to prevent those who come from high-risk countries but the continuation of the lockdown in conjunction with the vaccination of a number that may exceed 3 million people by the end of this month is unjustified and is not in the public interest.
“The issue of travel and the return of citizens who have been vaccinated is a duty not to discuss the issue whether to allow them to return or not, and if the curfew is permissible at the time of the peak of the epidemic it is no longer valid in the face of the vaccine and its effectiveness according to medical reports issued by respected scientific bodies.
“I was taken aback by the survey conducted by the German network ‘Internations’, which revealed that a third of the people living in Kuwait have changed their future plans due to the repercussions of the coronavirus, and that they are planning at the moment to accelerate their departure from the country before the dates they had planned to leave whether going back to their countries or searching for another country to settle and work.
“The report clearly shows the impatience of the expatriates who were waiting for a breakthrough after receiving the vaccine, but they found themselves ignored by the government, and there is a message that they are not wanted anymore in the country.
“I hope that this report will not be ignored with a reminder that Kuwait needs more development and is on the way to projects that necessarily require expatriate manpower.”
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“History is full of stories and lessons that tell about the bygone peoples and nations and the disasters they have gone through while those who came after them did not learn the lesson whether with intention or without so that the situation remains as it is in the interest of the ruling oligarchy over matters to protect its interests and the continuity and permanence of its system,” columnist Ameen Ma’arafi wrote for Al-Qabas daily.
“It is said when the ancient Chinese wanted to live in safety from the evils of others, they built the Great Wall of China and believed that no one could climb it due to the severity of its fortification and its height, but during the first hundred years after its construction.
“China was invaded three times and each time the enemy armies need not penetrate or climb the wall in to get into China, every time they paid bribe to the guard, then they entered the gate and achieved their goals with ease due to the corruption of the guard who did not pay interest to his country.
“The Chinese were busy building the Great Wall and forgot to build the guard (the Chinese man). Building man comes before building everything, and this is what the generations need to know now.
“One of the Orientalists says: ‘If you want to destroy the civilization of an entire nation, there are three methods, the first is destruction of the family, the second demolition of education, and the last dropping of role models and references.
“He pointed out that in order to destroy the family you have to neglect the role of the mother by making her ashamed of describing her as a housewife, and in order to destroy the education do not give importance to the teacher in society and underestimate the teacher’s status so that the students despise the teacher, and in order to undermine the role models start with scholars, so that they are not heard of and no follows them.
“If the enlightened mother disappeared and the sincere teacher disappeared and the role models and reference vanished, then who will groom children with noble values.
“These three things are a bitter reality in many Arab and Islamic societies, and I have nothing to do with them, so what matters to me here is what is happening these days -- the unparalleled corruption in Kuwait. “The mother lost her role and the maid took over the house affairs, and the teacher has no importance in society, and his status was demeaned by students and before them the parents, unlike what it was in our society in the days of the good people, role model and prestige.
“I fear our situation will be like the guard of the Great Wall of China. I hope we will return as guards of the gates of the old Kuwaiti wall.”
“Societies and countries develop by upgrading their institutions, supplying them with ambitious young blood that makes a difference, change and development. Developed countries seek to benefit from the energies of their youths and empower them to occupy leadership positions. This comes with the aim to develop their institutions for the advanced thinking of young people and to keep pace with everything new in order to realize the ambition and desire to build, succeed and prove one’s self,” columnist Dr Hamad Al-Matar wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“As for the lagging countries, they are usually aging from inside, with leaders sitting at the top of institutions and where leaders are usually chosen based on favoritism and quotas. Such practices kill ambition among young people and make them feel hopeless as a result of exclusion and lack of competency standards. Or, they are chosen according to bureaucratic obsolescence, which often makes the institution slow-moving, with little accomplishment and weak. Thus, the State weakens and its files pile up so problems are difficult to solve, as the case with us in Kuwait.
“Sometimes, development does not require huge scientific progress or impossible technological development. First of all, it needs to refresh the blood of institutions and to empower young people who - with what God has given them like ambition and enthusiasm - can achieve technological progress, search for everything new, set plans and keep pace with their implementation vigorously. Actively, we just need to give them the opportunity, not to fight them, break their ambitions and spread despair among them.
“The ambition of our youths is broken, especially the diligent ones. They are desperately looking for the possibility of assuming the positions they deserve to advance the country. Despite their efforts, diligence and their scientific and cognitive empowerment, they see positions in all institutions going out of date among those who view the seat of responsibility as a privilege, a gift and a place for convenience, prestige and a tool of personal influence. The recent appointments by the government are the biggest proofs of this.”