KUWAIT CITY BECKONS EXPATRIATES

By Hazlinda Hamzah

FAHAHEEL (KUWAIT), Feb 2 (Bernama) -- "Its awesome. Can I swim in the pool
now?" An excited Malaysian child asked his father Mohd Nazlan Hosnih who was
checking out the new apartment that they were planning to move into upon
arriving in Fahaheel, about 40 minutes from the heart of Kuwait City.

Mohd Nazlan had just brought his wife and three small children from Kuala
Lumpur, to join him in the Middle East since he took a new job in the oil and
gas industry in Saudi Arabia.

His office is located about 100 km from his new apartment across the
Saudi-Kuwait border, where he will have to drive some two hours to and from work
five days a week.

"I chose this apartment with three bedrooms because it overlooks the Khaleej
(the sea) and the view from the living room windows on the higher floors is
intoxicating. I was promised the 7th floor at first, then the 5th and
now the 4th. Well I guess the availability seems to be changing almost every
day," said Mohd Nazlan while looking at the two Indian nationals who were doing
some maintenance work at the apartment.

Recently the writer had a chance to spend two days in Kuwait, staying in a
one-room service apartment at the Swiss Gym here.

The building among others is equipped with an indoor heated pool suitable
for the winter season, a squash court and a comprehensively equipped gymnasium.

THE CHOICE IS KUWAIT

Kuwait draws millions of foreign workers. Some who work across the
Saudi border also choose to stay in Kuwait and commute daily to work.

Kuwait sits on the north-western tip of the Persian Gulf, surrounded by Iraq
from North and West and Saudi Arabia from West. The country covers an area of
17,800 square km.

Kuwait City is filled with towering apartment blocks and one of the reasons
the expatriates choose Kuwait as their place of stay even if they have to travel
hundreds of kilometre to their work places daily is because the education
facilities.

There are many international schools in and around Kuwait City. They are the
only options the Saudis and other foreigners have for English-based education,
as on the Saudi side, English is not the medium used in teaching at schools.
The school fees are much higher compared to Malaysia too, almost RM25,000
(US$7,353)or 30,000 Saudi Riyal a year .

A Malaysian has to pay close to 60,000 Saudi Riyals (about US$16,000) a year
for two school going children, below 12 years of age.

EMPLOYED IN SAUDI ARABIA

Another Malaysian who also stays in Kuwait while working in Saudi Arabia is
R. Sivanathan, from Klang, in the state of Selangor.

Staying in the same apartment building, on a higher floor, Siva chose to
stay in the 400 Kuwaiti Dinar (about US$1,386)apartment to ensure comfort and
convenience for his wife and two children.

"School is not too far away, just opposite the Khaleej and the beach within
walking distance. The other reason for me to shift out to Kuwait after four
months staying as a bachelor in a small Saudi city near the Kuwait border is
because that town is too remote.

"It had too few amenities, only one mall is available and I don't really
think my family would be comfortable living there. Women cannot drive in Saudi
Arabia, unlike in Kuwait," Siva said.

BUSINESS IN KUWAIT

The writer who spent New Year eve in Kuwait City found the capital quite
busy and robust in activities, just like back home in Kuala Lumpur.

However, Kuwait City is filled with highways linking one area to the other.
Shopping is comparatively dearer because of the currency exchange. The Kuwait
Dinar (KD) has been the highest-valued currency unit in the world since December
2007.

However, the quality of the products is up to the expectation of its
purchaser. They are mostly imported from other Gulf countries and Europe.
A beautifully hand woven carpet at the Heritage Souk, in the Al-Mubarakiya area
in Kuwait City surprisingly costs so much less than the shops in and around the
Klang Valley.

It must be due to great competition created in the carpet-selling business
in the Gulf countries as well as the fact that carpets are used so commonly in
and outdoors.

A light weight and foldable piece, sized around 1.0 x 1.5m can cost KD60
onwards, depending on the bargaining between the seller and buyer.

Besides carpets and wall pieces, the Souk also offered some great
restaurants to fill one's empty stomach to their heart's content.
The writer chose a vegetarian restaurant, "Green Land" from Bombay, India,
situated in the Heritage Souk.

"The restaurant is always full at lunch time. Our patrons are mainly those
working nearby, as there are many offices and banks around this area,"
said the restaurant manager, only known as Pratap, when approached by this
writer.

"Everything is freshly served and the important condiments are brought in
directly from India," Pratap explained further.

FOREIGN NATIONALS

There are more than half a million Indian nationals working in Kuwait.
There are slightly less that 200,000 Indonesians and barely 170 Malaysians,
including their families, residing in Kuwait.

According to the official statistics released in 2008, almost 70 per cent
of the population in Kuwait are expatriates including Palestinians and Asians.
The Malaysian Association of Kuwait has its presence felt with the association
playing an active role among its members.

It is headed by a middle aged Malaysian engineer, Mohd Shukri Husin from the
Malaysian east coast state of Kelantan, who works with the Kuwait Oil Company or
KOC in the construction division.Shukri has his family commuting to Kuwait a
couple of times in a year.

"The food here is quite reasonably priced if you work in Kuwait and earn in
Kuwait Dinars. The Thai restaurant serves good food. Reminds me of the food
back home," Shukri said.

The writer had tried the food at two different restaurants during this stay.
The first was a Thai restaurant in Fahaheel.

The food for a table of six, with two plates of fried rice, one fried
noodles, one chicken and cashew dish as well as a plate of fried 'kangkong,'
alongside with a pot of Thai tea and two glasses of iced tea, saw
the bill coming to KD10 or RM130 (US$38).

The cold winter night saw all six diners happy and full, eating the
not-so-spicy Thai food in modern Kuwait.

The second feast was in an Indian restaurant serving vegetarian food, 'Green
Land' in Kuwait City, where mushroom pullao rice, thosai and puree were served
along with two tall glasses of naturally squeezed and cold orange and pineapple
juices. All four guests left the restaurant happy and satisfied and their bill
was KD6 equivalent to RM78 (US$23).

WORKING OVERSEAS

While Malaysia writes about the growing number of Malaysians working
overseas, the 'brain-drain' phenomenon, it is actually a choice Malaysians make
to experience that different kind of living standards in reality.

Besides that, they actually expose their children to challenges no words can
describe nor books can teach, but eventually this will make these Malaysians
more tolerant and better strategists, to avoid failure and the unlikely
consequence of survival in a foreign land.
-- BERNAMA


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