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Max 47º Min 30º FREE www.kuwaittimes.net NO: 15853- Friday, June 28, 2013 HopefulsHopefulsHopefuls ononon thethethe hunthunthunt PAGE 9 Local FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2013 Local Kuwait’s my business Spotlight I met Kuwait’s future in New York City Satire sells and public relations, their academic majors. Every busi- By John P Hayes ness needs operational capability, and the trio’s got it, By Muna Al-Fuzai including knowing something about how to replicate a business. After he successfully established Trolley at GUST, Alsenan opened multiple locations around Kuwait. [email protected] Additionally, Alkhamis is the founder of Entrepreneur [email protected] General Trading, and owns a restaurant. These are not merely students who are earning a college degree, or more than 25 years I’ve taught The A to Zs of which, frankly, doesn’t count for much today. These are Buying a Franchise at the International Franchise students who are acquiring life-changing skills, including l Bernameg’ is an Arabic satirical show Expo (IFE), which attracts visitors from across the F a college degree. That combination makes a huge differ- that monitors media coverage in Egypt world. At the end of my seminar in New York City, three ence. young men walked up to say hello. “We’re all from ‘Aright since the early days of the Egyptian GUST!” they announced. Isn’t it a small world? revolution from Jan 25, 2012. By now, the show Building private enterprise I knew of one student by reputation: Suhaib Alsenan, has risen to become one of the most popular The important point here is not buying a franchise an accounting major, had created Trolley, a convenience shows not only in Egypt but in the Arab world as (even though I hope the Kuwait Trio succeeds), but that store, at Gulf University for Science & Technology (GUST) people in Kuwait recognize that some students are not well. It criticizes the misleading stances and flaws in Kuwait. Joining him were Hamed Alkhamis, a finance merely students. Some are not lazy, clueless or goal-less. of the Egyptian leadership. major, and Abdullah Al-Sheeha, a public relations major. Some sit in classrooms dreaming about a future that Until a year ago, I was not familiar with the Unfortunately I had not taught any of the three until my they intend to help shape. The Kuwait Trio values private seminar, but I was thrilled to meet them at the IFE. They name of Bassem Youssef. At least not until recently enterprise, and we need more students with their values. traveled to the expo to find a franchise that they could when a friend of mine told me about his weekly “We don’t want to work for the government or anyone develop in Kuwait, and once I understood their mission I show. At first I thought it was just one more satiri- else,” one of trio explained. “We want to build our own offered to visit their franchisor of choice and put in a cal program, like the many other Arabic comedy businesses and depend on ourselves.” good word for them. During their earlier chats with the Isn’t that what Kuwait wants to hear and see? Isn’t shows that desperately try to elicit some laughs. franchisor, it seemed to them that the franchisor wasn’t that what Kuwait needs to transform the country in the However, after watching a couple of episodes, I all that interested in talking to three students. Of course, next 25 years? These three students - perhaps “entrepre- knew I was wrong. In fact, these kind of shows not many franchisors want to speak to students because neur” defines them more accurately - are Kuwait’s future. students don’t buy franchises. help analyze the exact nature of some groups like There are more of them in Kuwait than most of us know, the Muslim Brotherhood and where they want to and they are searching for opportunities to change the Capabilities of Kuwait Trio drag us. world. To the franchisor’s credit, he already was working a The show is like playing a puzzle in which they Of course, no matter how successful they become, the lead from the Middle East, and while the students were world will remain small. It’s about to get even smaller depict for the benefit of the audiences parts of cer- interested in developing Kuwait initially and the Middle between America and Kuwait because during the week- tain speeches or acts that were made or done but East secondarily, the franchisor was hoping to find a end the Kuwait Trio heard from the franchisor. They got which simply are in contradiction to the ostensible licensee who would develop several countries simulta- an offer to develop multiple units in Kuwait. It’s too early neously. It’s an ambitious goal, and it usually doesn’t pan claims of the Muslim Brotherhood. This show to announce the brand, but wait a few months for an out, so just in case he needed a backup plan (and I was explains the contradiction bearing in mind that update about the trio’s success. Meanwhile, Kuwait, look certain that he would) I urged the franchisor to take a there are Muslims Brothers all over the world, not for ways to reward student entrepreneurs! close look at the capabilities of the Kuwait Trio. only in the Arab world. They are there even in the Most students do not have the capabilities required of Dr John P Hayes heads the Business Administration depart- Western world, except that they are sleeper cells. a franchisee, but the Kuwait Trio brings as much if not ment at GUST. Contact Dr Hayes at questions@hayesworld- Every week, this show comes up with some sur- more to the bargaining table than do many prospective wide.com, or via Twitter @drjohnhayes. prises and one of the biggest was when well- franchisees. Every business needs accounting, finance known US satire show host Jon Stewart featured as a guest star in Youssef’s show ‘Al Bernameg’, or simply, ‘The Program’. Jon Stewart is in the Middle East to direct his film “Rosewater” and it was the right time for him to stop by at the show hosted by his friend and Egyptian counterpart Youssef. Stewart used a few Arabic words that he knew. For Stewart, it was the perfect show since he is a star in the world of satire. He even said satire is a law in US. Youssef was also a guest on Stewart’s “The Daily Show” in April this year to discuss his arrest. He was arrested for allegedly insulting Islam and Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi on his pro- gram. I think having such shows in the Arab world is like a whiff of fresh air. I think Bassem Youssef is a great example of the kind of political satire which is not accepted or welcomed in many Arab countries. I think most countries would not welcome such shows because no regime likes to see its political figures being exposed to public criticism or becoming a butt of jokes. However, in this age of technology, no one can control such satire. The power of the media is huge and if anyone tries to do so, people would only feel more pressurized and we will only wit- ness more suppression. Youssef’s show is great fun since it shows the reality of the Muslim Brotherhood in political life. KUWAIT: Girls perform at an anti-drugs event to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Wednesday. — Photo By Joseph Shagra FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2013 Local @sona @aptrag @albanay @tabatchoyhk @sunnylara @sona FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2013 Local @amifiz @sona @ann antony @Edmur Rubillos @thenewme20 SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it Wwith others! This summer, let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will fea- ture snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at [email protected] @sona Local FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2013 Calls for ICT Speaking for to reconnect in Kuwait imited uptake of new technology has had an the voiceless Limpact on economic development in Kuwait, according to a recent report. In its “Growth and Jobs in a Hyper-connected World”, released in April, the By Ben Garcia World Economic Forum (WEF) said that despite some advances, Kuwait is finding it difficult to fully utilise the olunteering work is not just a economic potential of information and communica- Vvocation but a gift from God that tions technology (ICT) and is not keeping pace with humanity is badly in need of in others in the region in the race to get connected. this age. There are groups of people, Kuwait is ranked 62 out of the 144 countries covered and often just individuals, who are by the WEF study, the same ranking as in 2012. “Stable doing their best to extend help and per- at 62nd place, Kuwait continues to lag behind in the form charitable and benevolent actions region in terms of leveraging ICTs, with low levels of for other people. One such person is both social (85th) and, especially, economic impacts Ghadeer Al-Saqabi, a lawyer and arbitra- (125th),” the report said. “Despite a very sharp rise in tor at Kuwait’s Ministry of Justice who ICT uptake in terms of Internet users (26th) and house- provides free lawyers and legal consul- holds with computers (38th), as well as internet access tancy to Asian embassies in an attempt (44th), the country still suffers from a shortage of skills to ensure that the most vulnerable sec- (71st).

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