Leaders Sisi wins as Man United of the pack military owner Glazer 7 reasserts10 grip dies45 at 85 Max 46º Min 27º FREE www.kuwaittimes.net NO: 16181- Friday, May 30, 2014 LONDON: In this file photo, an over- weight person eats. Kuwait ranked fourth most obese country on the planet according to a report published yesterday. — AP Kuwait:Kuwait: No.No. 44 inin obesityobesity SEE PAGE 9 Local FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014 Local Spotlight Scribbler’s Notebook ‘Green Man’ talks taboos Which Kuwait? By Jamie Etheridge By Muna Al-Fuzai [email protected] [email protected] aleed Al-Nasser, a candidate for the by-elections, being “green candidate” due to his untraditional green uring a recent visit to Kuwait by a friend of surprised everyone not with his green clothes, bisht. Some said he wore green because the parliament’s mine, I was asked to describe Kuwait to her. Wbut what he called for! This man was the talk of chairs are green, while others said he is only seeking DI started out with the typical explanation of the town the whole week. Nasser is a simple, ordinary attraction. In all cases, he made some laugh and became the oil wealth and the desert and traditional society man who plays no games and called to legalize the sale of good fodder for the media. He also initiated a great like most people would. Then I stopped. Which alcohol and gambling in Kuwait. If he was running in any debate over societal acceptance of calls such as his. Kuwait was I describing? The more I thought about other part of the world outside Kuwait, no one would Waleed Al-Nasser can’t win in this society. He seems it, the more I realized that Kuwait is not just one even notice him. Here, this is the domain of conservatives extreme to the majority of voters who want someone to place. It’s actually many different things to the and hypocrisy, so they made this man look like a sinner. fulfill their dreams and not tell them how ugly and boring many different communities who live here. Some even called for prosecuting him over what he said. their country is. Although we all think we are a democrat- Social media was awash with comments over this ic society, most people don’t welcome differing opinion Kuwait is for Kuwaitis first and foremost. It’s a man’s calls, described by conservatives as “outrageous” outside the common code of life here. land and a nation and a people and one of the old- and “unacceptable”. But some young people found in his Nasser also called for turning Kuwait’s beaches into est continuous countries in the region. It’s also a comments words of truth. I think he said what he believes “open resorts”. I really could not figure out what this culture and a society rooted in this land, a demo- to be the truth from his own perspective regardless of could be! Nevertheless, this man used his constitutional graphic that has incorporated the wealth of oil, the others’ opinions in a society that accepts dishonesty right and expressed an opinion. Like in the movies, the changes of modernity while struggling to retain its rather than honesty. ‘Green Man’ made people say wow! I guess he succeeded traditions and values. Even in the midst of social This man was given many names, the most popular in that. and political evolution, Kuwaitis remain distinct in their areas and their mode of living. But Kuwait is also a land of expats. A work camp Photo of the day or amazing opportunity, depending upon your salary and how you look at it. It’s a place of (mostly) expat Arabs and Asians and each of these have their own distinct Kuwait. From weekend hangouts and restaurants to gro- cery shops and neighborhoods, Kuwait is divided firstly between locals and expats and then between expats themselves. Go to the shisha cafes of Hawally on Thursday nights and you’ll find Little Egypt. Visit LuLu Hypermarket on a Friday and you’ll see throngs of Asia Kuwait. Most areas, like Salmiya, are mixed but in even there a block or two will be known as predominately Arab or Indian. The sad fact is that each community keeps most- ly to itself. There are hundreds of Asian cultural and social societies here and their members are kept busy on weekends holding events and meetings at Indian school auditoriums to Filipino badminton clubs. Alternatively, each Arab expat community has social groups that meet at hotels and restau- rants. In fact, Kuwait is so segregated that there are only a very few places where you’ll see all the com- munities mixing together. Check out The Avenues on a Thursday evening or Friday and you will see pretty much every nationality represented in Kuwait - shopping or strolling or sitting a restaurant and café. It’s like our United Nations. This is pretty much common in any major metropolis, I guess. Go to New York as a tourist and you will no doubt find your way to China Town or visit London’s Arabian thoroughfare, Edgeware Road. The problem is that the segregation carries over into almost every aspect of life. Even in a multina- tional, multiethnic offices, the Arabs and Asians sel- dom mix and the cliques and mafias that form strangle merit, creativity, efficiency and cross polli- nation of ideas. I get that this is how the mafias sur- vive here but it’s also a lost opportunity for us all. KUWAIT: The Scientific Center is seen on a bright and sunny day in Kuwait. This haunt in Kuwait is much loved by kids How much more interesting and wise and eloquent and adults alike in Kuwait owing to the diversity of entertainment and education offered to everyone. — Photo by we might be if we took the time to get to know Yasser Al-Zayyat each other rather than just keeping our distance? Local FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014 Conspiracy Theories By Badrya Darwish On a tiny chip [email protected] ecently I was tidying up my with my kids and to preserve them dig- all moms and parents to cherish and an advanced country, let’s say the US Rroom when I came across a black itally. enjoy the childhoods of their children. or UK, it might take two days to reach. bag filled to the brim with loads I couldn’t help immediately using Because those moments, once they Forget it if you’re sending to Kuwait. I of old photos. So I said let me have a the technology of sending some of pass, never come back. don’t know out of Kuwait, but to look. It started with me looking at one them via WhatsApp to my friends and I also appreciate technology - that I Kuwait, no way. You’d have to carry it photo, a picture of my son when he family. I shared some of them with my could preserve around 3,000 photos on by hand and personally deliver it. was two or three years old. This sons and they were surprised and the small memory chips of my two Though technology did me a bril- touched me, and my hands just started shocked and asked where did I get mobiles. This is something that was liant job that afternoon, I still have flipping photo after photo. One photo them from and how long had I kept completely unthinkable even 15 years reservations about the speed of today’s pulled me to another and so on. them and why were they surfacing ago. Had I wanted to send a photo to technological advances. It’s scary, but I started at 3 pm in the afternoon now? anyone at that time, I would have to let’s enjoy the good part of it while we and I didn’t realize it was six o’clock, It’s amazing how photos affect us so take the photo, develop it, collect it can. and I looked up and found myself on much. Some of the photos I looked at from the shop (you could pay more for the sofa surrounded by hundreds of took me back in time and I found VIP service to have it developed in a photos, some on the floor, some on the myself crying. Then I laughed at myself couple of hours, instead of days), then table. I was using both my mobiles - and asked, why am I crying? But they you had to put it in an envelope, buy a the iPhone and the Samsung, so no dis- reminded me of something that I can- stamp and if not available, go to the crimination; they both did very well - to not have back: The childhood of my post office to buy it and seal it and take photos of the photos. So that I children. It’s something that cannot be drop it in the postbox. @BadryaD could keep them and later share them repeated to enjoy again, and so I advise Then wait for it to be delivered. If it’s Local FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014 Traditionally modern: Digitizing Gulf music By Sunil Cherian British Library Project preserves usic rang in his ears one day when he was 30 in his Mnative German town. Thus began a life in search of music. The search ended in the study of endangered music and now he is into digitizing traditional Arab music. records since 1920s in new form Based in London, he visits the Gulf countries as part of his job.