Kuwait, Japan ink Families torn Djokovic survives deals; Al-Sabeeh apart as Western scare as inspects Tokyo girls join the Murray metro system8 Islamic14 State falls 46in China Max 38º Min 25º FREE www.kuwaittimes.net NO: 16308- Friday, October 10, 2014 Pages 4 & 5 Local FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2014 Local Spotlight Scribbler’s Notebook No shorts at police stations The downward slope By Muna Al-Fuzai By Jamie Etheridge [email protected] [email protected] have a new tip for all male readers and I’m not making tion! But she refused to work unless he went home and put ost of you have likely read the recent survey this up! You all recall those short messages by mobile on trousers. He was an expat, so he was not expected to put published here and elsewhere ranking coun- Icompanies warning drivers not to text while driving. Well, on a dishdasha! Mtries around the world on how friendly they I have a new one for you. Don’t drive while wearing shorts. When I first heard his story, I laughed and made a few are for expats. Kuwait, sadly, ranked at the absolute In case of an accident, you will not be welcomed at the comments about him being a subject of seduction in public, bottom of the list, coming in 61 out of 61 countries. police station unless you go home and change! but this was serious. I agreed with him that if shorts are not Believe it or not, Kuwait was beat out by The World Recently I received a call from a friend who could not allowed at the police station, then they should not be Through Expat Eyes report, created by Expat Insider - believe the way he was treated at the police station because allowed at any other place including malls and restaurants. of the clothes he was wearing. One weekend he went to the Kuwait is hot nearly all year long and shorts are very conven- polled nearly 14,000 respondents from across the beach and while he was driving back home wearing a T-shirt ient to wear for many purposes, not only for the beach but globe. The survey covered demographics, relocation and shorts, he was hit by another car. It was a minor accident for going out too. And when a man leaves a house in shorts, and various aspects of daily life in the host country. and both parties agreed to go to the police station to com- he doesn’t expect to be involved in an accident. This man Countries were weighed according to five sepa- plete the formality of procedures and paperwork. No one was forced to go home, change and come back for a task rate indexes that included general quality of life, ease was hurt. that only took a few minutes. So for those who like shorts, of settling in, work, family life and personal finance. When they arrived at the police station and went to the keep a pair of pants nearby. You don’t know when you Additionally respondents were asked: “how satisfied office of the investigator, she refused to process the paper- might need them! are you with life abroad in general?” In the Quality of work and asked him to go home and change because of the Life Index, Kuwait ranked just above Nigeria overall shorts he was wearing. He told her that when he left the but fell below it in personal happiness and leisure beach, he was going home and did not expect to have an options. I don’t really agree with this ranking first accident. He went directly from the street to the police sta- because there are a growing number of things to do in Kuwait - but it’s up to the individual or family to seek them out. Secondly, personal happiness is affected by a variety of factors that reach far beyond location. One need also consider personal finances, family relationships, societal acceptance. Think Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Kuwait can be reward- ing on a variety of levels but really it’s up to the indi- vidual to make themselves happy, not the place where they live. In the Ease of Settling In Index, Kuwait ranked worst in Feeling Welcome, Finding Friends and Friendliness. No surprise there. This is a common complaint among all expatriates. Though I find that expats also can be as clique-ish and unwelcoming as locals. The report reminded me of another recent analysis where Kuwait struck rock bottom. In the WEF Global Competitiveness Report 2014, Kuwait ranked among the worst on index after index. From foreign direct investment to educational standards, from bureaucracy to transparency in government, Kuwait not only fell far below its regional peers but rivaled several impoverished African and Asian states for last place. The sad part is that Kuwait’s deterioration is whol- ly unnecessary. The country has the resources - both human and capital - to build a thriving, modern urban oasis. It also has the peace and as much securi- ty as pretty much any country in the region can expect. So to see it decline is heartbreaking. Two students from Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) recently asked me what I thought about Kuwait in 2004 vs 2014. I could only shake my head. When I first arrived in 2004, Kuwait was at the beginning of a new chapter, a fresh start after the many years of life next door to a hostile neighbor. Ten years on, she is despondent. A country without a vision and without an idea of how or when it will build its future. Kuwait may be simply experiencing a difficult peri- od, a downward slope in the graph line of its long evolution. As we all know, what goes down, may also rise again and so I am hopeful that Kuwait will one day be a thriving regional hub, a friendly destination for expatriates, a booming economy and a beautiful modern country - a 21st century pearl of the Gulf. Insha’Allah. KUWAIT: Baskets designed with a local flavor in mind at a Ramadan exhibition this past summer. More and more exhibi- tions, markets and outdoor events are incorporating local flavor, styles and imagery into their events as part of a grow- ing support for remembering and capturing Kuwaiti heritage. — Photo by Zara Khurshid Start of planting season ups visits to local nurseries By Nawara Fattahova UWAIT: With the beginning of the planting season, the nurseries in Al Rai (on the Fourth Ring Road) are gearing up for one of their busi- Kest shopping seasons. Visitors are seeking plants, mostly outdoor plants for gardening and are looking for bargains. “Four days before Eid, we recorded huge sales. I felt as if people were celebrating Eid with flow- ers and plants. The planting season has just started, and many people are coming to buy plants for their garden. Most of my plants are for outdoor planting, and they are heat resistant,” Nathem Khaleel, Assisting Manager at Beirut nursery in Al Rai area told the Kuwait Times. Local5 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2014 KD 5000 plant Among the most popular at the nurseries are fruit and olive trees. “The most expensive plant in my nurs- ery is a Spanish olive tree that is 800 years old and it costs KD 5000. This tree does not produce many olives, due to the hot weather here in Kuwait. So we only get few olives. Then I also have a two pepe Italian olive tree that costs KD 1850. Furthermore we have expensive palms from Italy such as the Shamiropis palm, which costs KD 2250 for the big size, and the Bashmarga silver palm that costs KD 1850,” added Nathem. Fruit trees are also popular, though struggle in the arid Kuwaiti climate. “We have the Lebanese tangerine trees worth KD 35, Kimi kuwa trees producing small oranges that are eaten with its skin and others. We also have plants that are used for cooking or consumption such as the rosemary plants used as herbs for cooking or the lemon grass used to boil and drink as green tea,” explained Nathem. He also has some less expensive plants. “I have the Fitna Aptosa tree that costs between KD 5 - 450, depending on the size. It takes about seven years to grow from the small to the medium size which is worth KD 200. Also I have the Bohemia Hong Kong that ranks between KD 35 - 450 and is imported from Malaysia. Then there is the Adenium that ranks between KD 10 - 450,” he pointed out. This nursery imports its plants and trees from differ- ent countries such as Italy, Spain, Lebanon, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and few from Australia. “We import about 75 - 80 containers every year. Some custom- ers also make their special order of plants that reach a whole container or more. All outdoor plants are resistant to hot weather. Also we have a farm where we prepare and plant some trees and plants, and we then transport it to this nursery,” he concluded. Local varieties Local palms are cheaper than imported ones. At another nursery in the same area, local varieties of kinds of plants and trees can be bought. “There is high demand for palms which price differs according to its size and kind. It can rank between KD 90 - KD 400. We have a few here on display, while we have more at the farm. We can arrange transport and also provide a three-month after-sales warranty. Furthermore we have artificial and natural grass, while the natural is cheaper,” said Raouf, salesman at the Gulf Palms nursery.