Sunday, October 19, 2008

Masquerading in Kuwait


I spent a lot of time outside of Kuwait. So much so, that I feel I tend to see things as an outsider would. A lot of times, what surprises and shocks me is seen to be normal and what I find to be normal surprises and shocks the people around me. Don't get me wrong. If you haven't read my earlier posts, or still feel like you don't know me, my attachment to Kuwait is very strong. Its built on sense of duty, honor (inshallah), and nationalism that has become more and more scarce in our beloved country. I remain optimistic….

You know what though? Optimism is faced with daily tests, particularly in Kuwait. Today, I'd like to discuss one of those tests that has me baffled, astonished, annoyed, angry, deceived, underestimated, and slightly disgruntled:

The other day, my family and I were sitting at the dinner table trapped in a general discussion ranging from "True Blood" (HBO's new vampire-related series) to the Kuwait Stock Exchange. Around the later portion of this conversation, one of my cousins entered. Being an educated man, with an engineering background and the tendency to speak in Fus7a (proper Arabic – Think 9 O'clock news), he gave us his input with regards to the stock market and international markets in general.

Now, this would be fine if such input would stop at the "tea time" conversational level. It never does. He went on to discuss how the global markets have zero affects on the local market, that there is a conspiracy by certain families (listing the same families who have literally lost tens of millions in this "conspiracy") and that its all the Central Banks fault. Please realize that no opinion has been voiced. Through his eyes, he has stated a number of unshakable truths, regardless of the fact that he is not linked to the stock market in any shape, way or form (not even as a citizen trader).

Again, such statements (voiced in Fus7a, that people with Islamist inclination so love to embrace) may be argued without opposition if no one at the table was equipped or knowledgeable in this matter. I mean that's when people are supposed to argue something, right? When they actually know what the hell they're talking about? Well, to his dismay, at the dinner table was an MBA from an Ivy League university and business school graduate who happens to work in one of the major investment companies in the country. Now when the MBA started talking, she used her background bachelors degree in economics to argue certain points like monetary policy etc etc. He dismissed her point of view. When the business school graduate started to quote the traders perspective, he again dismissed his view. "Hathee ma6boo5a min zimaan, wil shurra 3ala illy maa gidar yinuthimha gubbil il 6aay7a".

The lesson is this:

In Kuwait, one of the major shocks I received, and continue to experience is the way that people enjoy masquerading. After all, what other name can you assign to someone who claims to know everything about something he actually KNOWS nothing about. Moreover, how can that very same masquerader, when placed with someone who has stayed true to his one and only face, still manage to belittle and disqualify that expert (at least expert by comparison) opinion.

Now, it's not to say the person is a bad guy. I mean there are the old ladies that have no problem prescribing medicine, or the random Joe who thinks he knows what's wrong with your car just by a noise you describe, or the person from a broken home who wants to give married people advice on healthy relationships. These people exist and are part of our everyday lives.

One thing for sure…masquerading is a Kuwaiti pastime, and I for one will never get used to it.


13 comments:

L.R.643 said...

it9adig 3ad, 3ainy kanat ga3da itrif ilyom! Believe it or not…

As for ur post: I beg to differ.. I believe and very much think that all economic markets across the globe are inter-related in a way or another… so if sumthing shakes the U.S's stock market, there's a huge possibility that it'll shake us too…

Masquerading is viewed as a necessity to most kuwaiti's.. I second ur point of view towards this dilemma, but I guess acknowledging the fact of it being exercised has won us half the battle (by us knowing there's much more behind that seemingly convincible mask)…

It's good to know that ur "remaining optimistic"…

wil7imdila 3ala salamtik.. 6awalt il'3aiba..

Q80 Saracen said...

L.R.643: Awal shay, Allah iysalmich min kil shur. Thanks for the warm welcome back. I hope to be posting more often, but don't think we'll reach the daily level yet ;-)

The fact is, if people only talked about what they know to be true (meaning their knowledge base), then 80% of people would stay quite 90% of the time (and that's including myself). So my point is not that people should not comment or speculate on issues.

My problem is that those people don't defer to others who know more about those issues then they do, and enjoy imposing their wrong opinions on the people around them. If you're not sure, why not concede to someone who's more involved? I think its an Arab thing...

L.R.643 said...

true, sumtimes not all of what we say can be proven by substantial evidence... sumtimes, it's a correlation of what we percieve to be the truth and common sense that we have come to know with time...

but like like u said, "itha 7a'6ar ilmaa2, ba6al al-tayamum"..

if ur referring to hard-headed ppl then ya it is indeed an arab trait;p

Intlxpatr said...

Good to hear your voice again, Saracen. I would have loved to be a mouse in the corner to hear that family discussion!

Q80 Saracen said...

L.R.643: Well said...in all honesty, I've gotten more and more used to it. Not to beat a dead horse (who doesn't love that saying?), but people should realize that saying "I don't know" or "you would know better" doesn't make them any less important or knowledgeable in what they do actually know...ya know? ;-)

Intlxpatr: Thanks for the warm welcome. Its good to be heard. You're more than welcome to be a mouse during any of our conversations as long as you head the disclaimer - Beware of unavoidable Frustration ;-)

falantan said...

welcome back, I always enjoyed reading your posts. very calm and analytic views.

and I agree very much. I endear people who openly and quickly say:
"I don't know" when they don't.

makes me trust their words more in the future. atleast I'll know that when they actually say something it's not for the sake of just being heard.

as for the global financial crisis, it's direct effect on Kuwait is oil prices dropping by half. as well as kuwaiti investment companies which hold shares in the US financial institutions, like Myrril Lynch for example, but I heard that the KIA got out of that with a slight + just before the crisis hit in it's fullest.

It would definitely be interesting to know how other kuwaiti investments abroad are faring. no one seems to be answering that question.

in the end, I think it's all because of reba. Alla gal o Alla sadeg, "yam7aq Allah irreba".

prices of everything gets inflated because of it, then suddenly they're bound to correct back down all at once. creating panic in the stock market even though our companies are still sound and healthy.

a7san shai al7een etha 3endek cham flais is to buy buy buy while they're down, and stay for the long term.

L.R.643 said...

actually, saying that ur not fully aware of the topic at hand.. or simply claiming that "u don't know the answer to that question" lets u come off as "insaan mitwa'6i3" <-- o hal 9ifa dayman itrafi3 min qeemat ilsha59... and that's my personal view...

like falantan said, it'll make me trust the person more in the future..

that and 'beating a dead horse' (yes most do luv it indeed) never does u any good...

L.R.643 said...

falantan: i agree with ur advice of buying several stocks as a long-term investment... just as long as u dont buy them on loans, cuz no one knows when we're gonna snap out of this downfall;//

falantan said...

L.R.643: I agree, I'm totally against borrowing with interest anyway.

Ahmed© said...

greetings from somewhere undisclosed *not prison, no worries :P*

down here, theres no such thing as a proper discussion, most of the time people wont accept your opinion or even hear you out because they simply just cant to, its in their nature.

ive always believed in the power of observing, listening, watching closely THEN talking.


ps: long time no see.

Q80 Saracen said...

Falantan: Thanks. Its good to be back.

As for your analysis, and the role "ribba" played in the financial crisis...well you're not the first to look it at that way. I certainly think greed played a major part in this crisis (not to oversimplify). In the US, real estate brokers were getting licenses to be mortgage brokers (which is apparently very easy). So imagine when so joe shmoe goes to buy a house that is way out of his league...and the guy showing him the house is authorized to take a mortgage on his behalf. Waayed greed...

L.R.643: Well said...when someone close to you is talking in confidence about stuff he knows nothing about (BS-ing), its hard to trust him/her when they are talking within their specialty.

L.R.643 and Falantan: Blue Chips are they way to go...in general, are people who are against borrowing with interest also against investing in non-Islamic stocks? Like NBK and Zain?

Ahmed: Hey there. Glad to hear its not prison...(is it Space? The Final Frontier?)

Its a good motto...more people should stick to it.

L.R.643 said...

q80, now that's an area of matter that i havent quite decided upon... yet... i see how u might look at this being a bit contradictory, and for that i personally might not.. plus, mawgifat 3ala Zain and NBK, aku sharikat kbar as well like ilmadeenah for example...

now as for why i really came here:p
i hope ur in the process of formulating a new post! Wow A LOT has happened today! The stock market kept declining, mu'6aharat jidam ilbor9a, a probable istijwab lira2ees ilwizara… the gulf bank losing its funds abroad… seriously post sumthing cuz I have tons to comment on! Jad thaag khilgy ilyom! Magidart arakiz ib wala mu7a'6ara:s

falantan said...

q80_saracen:
I don't know why would anyone be against buying stock in Zain, it's a legit telco service company.

as for NBK, I wouldn't, mainly because it routinely profits from un-islamic activities, namely loans with interest "Reba". so a good portion of its profits are 7aram. and I wouldn't want any part of that.

same as buying stock in Bud-weiser or something.

As for what you said about the crisis, that's 100% agreed. but the deeper problem was that bankers started designing ever more complicated mortgage packages where the consumer didn't even understand, like this one black lady which BBC interviewed who said that she got a modest house which she could afford. nothing too fancy. but it was a "variable-rate" mortgage (still not exactly sure how that works myself) and her payments suddenly went up, and she became unable to pay them. then the bank seizes the house, she's homeless, the bank is stuck with a house that is worth less than half what was paid to buy it, and the offshore (europe or gulf) investor who bought the mortgage as "prime" (which some rating company like Moody's or Standard and Poor's jacked up from "sub-prime") gets stuck with a worthless investment.

Greed can be good (shameless blog plug here) in driving us to prosper, as long as you don't violate the correct laws of trade (in my case, I believe in the Islamic ones).