Kuwait

I have been in Kuwait for just over 3 months now. I have been working on a contract for one of the biggest privately owned Kuwaiti companies. I am English, 40 and have also lived and worked in Qatar for a year.

OK, not to beat around the bush, if anyone asked me if they should come from the West to work here it would be a definitive no. Forget about any security concerns as the Yanks wouldn't let anything happen here, as they didn't last time. The only issue might be if the Iran problem flared up again. So that aside, what is it like to live here? Maybe my view is a bit biased since I came here without my family, as the contract was short term, but the big problem with Kuwait is that there is very little to do. Unlike most of the other Gulf countries, Kuwait has made no effort to develop itself as a tourist destination, but then I guess who would come here anyway?

The plus points are obvious - tax free money, guaranteed sun (most of the time), I uunderstand the education is OK but as my kids aren't here can't really comment. But then you get all that in the other Gulf countries too, and with things to at weekends / nights. Initially I was keen to get my contract extended beyond the 4 months, but now frankly, I can't wait to get out of here.

Driving is an absolute nightmare, but again, the same throughout the Gulf - I think car death is the biggest or second biggest killer in the region. 95% of people on the roads have absolutely no concept of how to drive, and because half of the vehicles are big 4 wheel drives, any smashes are that much more likely to result in fatalities. You just need to be damned careful.

Alcohol is 'forbidden', but most of the Kuwaitis drink and have their own private stash in their houses. The 'white' expats also drink, either getting it (expensively) on the black market, flying out to Bahrain or Dubai regularly and sneeking it back in - if you get caught, it is just taken off you, not a big deal. Home brewing is also a pretty well developed pastime in the country. Again, just be careful and sensible about it and you won't have an issue.

Getting anything done is usually a nightmare - the residency process is shocking and full of corruption, but again, not something restricted to Kuwait. The whole region is beset with practices which seem to be there just to get in your way.

The main breadwinner needs to be careful about any move out here. The bigger companies will tend to move you out here, show you the best bits, drive you round in limos and generally paint a picture of what a great place it is to be. But after a couple of months of working here you realise that you've made the biggest career move mistake of your life. Working for local companies in the Gulf is a REAL struggle if you come from a Western background. A lot of the people are clueless and change is not something welcomed by the Arab bosses - I get the impression they don't really trust you. This was the same in Qatar.

The local youths seem to spend their time driving round in powerful cars, drinking or getting high, often all at the same time. The female youth seem to spend their whole time in the various shopping malls, which is fair enough as there is nothing else to do. Another result of this is that Kuwait is something like 4th in the league of obese nations in the world. Food is a big, big obsession here.

What else? The public beaches are disgusting, the coastal sea is badly polluted, outside of Kuwait city there is pretty much nothing. Within the 5 star hotel beach clubs things are a lot better though. There are quite a few decent restaurants around, some sports clubs, expat clubs, etc. I have found the Kuwaitis to be a lot more arrogant, aggressive and rude than the Qataris were - not sure why this is. The moral code seems to be a lot more relaxed than it was in Qatar also, again not sure why. There are an awful lot of contradictions in Islamic countries, all involving the usual things - money, sex, drink & drugs.

If I was considering a role in the Gulf again, the only places I would consider are the UAE (prefer Abu Dhabi over Dubai), Qatar & Oman (though this is underdeveloped), possibly Bahrain at a push (though this is very small and squashed in). People who are positive about Kuwait tend to have been here so long they have just got used to it and are really good at making the most of crap situations. Personally, I don't especially enjoy just having to make do with what's available - with all of its oil money Kuwait should be 20 years on from where it currently is, but it ain't

Obviously this is a pretty negative view, but I also found it hard to get any decent objective viewpoints before I came here, so I'm just saying it as I see it without any of the rose-tinted rubbish fed you by prospective employers. I am just glad that I came here on a short-term contract which is due to finish in about 3 weeks. If the question had been about Qatar however, my experience was totally different and the post would have been much, much more positive. This is just my politically incorrect, unplugged view of the country, hope it is helful to someone.

Advice - don't come here unless the alternatives are Iraq or Iran. Same goes for Saudi. Other GCC countries, yes.

Anonymous 13 May 2007, 06:00 - Report