My time as a POW during the Gulf War

I have been asked many times to write a full diary of mine during the gulf war as I was inside Kuwait that time and held as a prisoner of war in Iraq. I will write in this post a short story of what happened and maybe one day I will document (if my memory aids me) the full story.

Since the beginning of the Iraqi invasion in August 1990 I was 17 years old and like other Kuwaiti citizens , I participated in helping the Kuwaitis to do the common community duties such as delivering foods, working on supermarkets and taking care of the rubbish wastes. I did not join the resistance and no I did not shoot or kill Iraqi soldiers.

My daily routine  in short was to wake up early in the morning and go to the bazar in Shuwaikh and buy chickens , pigeons or ducks, as it was my only hobby beside reading during that time. I used to go there with my father and some friends in my neighbourhood. At afternoon I used to sit with my friends and have fun watching our little chicken farm or play games as I used to own a Commodore, Nintendo and Atari. Then at night we used to gather in our dewaneya (visitors room) and watch CNN where our friend used to translate to us what was going on in the world and we were really looking for any progress or hope toward getting our Kuwait FREE and liberated. That routine lasted for nearly 7 months until February when coalition  started to air-bomb the Iraqi army in Kuwait and Iraq. It was an exciting time as we heard the bombs every day and every hour. Houses were shaken by the bombing and the sound of the Iraqi machine guns were none-stoppable . It was a loud atmosphere.

The last Friday  for me in Kuwait , I was captured with my father and almost 80 other neighbours (all were Kuwaitis) after we did the  Friday prayer in the mosque. That time the coalition decided to move in to Kuwait and Iraq so the Iraqi regime decided to gather as much Kuwaiti youth as possible. We heard we will be held and kept in sensitive and targeted locations so we get the first hit. So we all felt that we will be killed for sure.  We were taken to our local police station and kept in the cell until night. Then we were taken by a big truck with our hands folded to a larger prison in Kuwait. We stayed there over night. I saw a huge number of Kuwaiti prisoners ( approx. 10,000). We slept one night over there and the next night we were transferred in buses to Iraq. We did not know that at the beginning but we figured that out after driving more that 3 hours. It was very dark and dim during the transfer and no lights were in the streets as they were scared from being bombed by the coalition planes.

Now we are in the prison in Basra in a village called “Abo Sokhair”. The cells could only fit 50 prisoners and but they fitted 300 in each cell so you can imagine us squeezed and some even could not sit . I don’t remember  even I rested my back against the walls for nearly a month. For the first two weeks we used to pay the guards to buy us food and cigarettes (for smokers) until Basra were surrounded by the coalition , the Iraqi soldiers in our area were cut-off from Bagdad, so they lost all sorts of communication and support. Our hunger started to welcome us as they did not get us food nor water for more than 10 days. I remember some days I did not eat nor drink for almost 2 days. I was dying to have one drop of water. So we started to drink from the rain and the dirty water in the swamps. Many prisoners went unconscious and some died especially those with an illness. That day they brought us dates and they gave me only one, I did not eat it, instead I used to lick it and save it for later when I get hungry. I kept that date for nearly 3 days as it was my only food. Many including me caught infection from the dirty water , and at sunset the gates were closed so if you need a toilet you have to wait until morning , it was terrible. The cell mates were all sorts of people . I remember I saw MPs, ministers and actors.  One of our mates hid a radio and told us one night quietly that Kuwait was liberated. We were really happy and sad at same time because we did not know if we ever be released and see our families.

One day morning we were assembled outside and a Colonel came to us and gave the magic word “ You are all going to Kuwait” we were screaming and shouting ! we could not believe our ears. They took us to The Red Cross in Safwan. The Red Cross were shocked because no one told them about our release. Anyway they took us and registered our names . They contacted the Kuwait government and the next morning many buses came to take us. We were delivered to Al-Jahra hospital and I saw my mom and many Kuwaiti families waiting. It was a happy day full of hugs and tears. That’s a summary of what happened during that time and I promise to write a complete one in the future.

Tags: gulf war, kuwait pows, POW, pows, q8 pows, أسر, أسرى الكويت, أسير حرب, الغزو العراقي, بو صخير

Do you really need an accounting degree to be an accountant ?

Have you faced this problem before ?

You plan your whole academic and professional  achievements and suddenly you don’t find what you are looking for ?! Or precisely  you are not accepted because the rules are against you !

When I was in Kuwait I saw that very clearly ! Let me tell you about my academic path.

I have achieved a bachelor in IT and computing , then i studied master in accounting and finance because  I always been interested in business and investments, and accounting fulfils this passion quite well. After I finished my master I decided to do two main things in the future . I decided to study a PHD in accounting and at the part time finish and study ACCA . As you can see the later two are quite different but I wanted to strengthen both academic and professional skills in accounting. All my future plans are concentrated on Kuwait. Which I plan ( after gaining some practical experience) to open a small business in accounting and auditing. Unfortunately in Kuwait the rules does not go easily with my plans. The route to establishing this kind of business is not straight forward. To obtain a license you need to have a bachelor in accounting which I don’t have. You also need to be a member of the “Kuwait Association of Accountants and Auditors” where they have the same terms. I think that’s stupid ! because  one don’t need to have a  bachelor degree to open a practise or join an association . Any qualification or a proof of experience should do the job quite simply. How about my case ? When I  finish both PhD and ACCA I will be over qualified in accounting and any one who said the opposite doesn’t know a thing.

Currently I am living and studying in UK. From my experience you can work as an accountant even if you don’t have a bachelor in accounting. All you need to prove is skills and experience, other wise a qualification is a must. I heard that USA is the same.  So why don’t our friends  in Kuwait do the same !

Tags: ACCA, ACCA Kuwait, Accounting, Accounting and Finance, accounting practise, experience, Jobs, Kuwait Association of Accountants and Auditors, PHD, UK

Twitter Teachers in Kuwait

The trend now in Kuwait is to use Twitter rather than Facebook. In the past the number of Kuwaitis who use Facebook was far much bigger than Twitter. Very few who used Twitter even though they had Twitter accounts. I personally not sure what made that switch. It could be to follow politics that’s happening in Kuwait- many tweeters were arrested by the government for their oppositional views.There are also  other reasons , probably the potential to get to know more people for socializing and exchanging opinions about many issues.  There are also the zealots who specializes in one thing only : political rumours, feud and recrimination.I personally had Twitter since 2008 and hitherto my activity  isn’t that much. I have seen some Kuwaiti Tweeters who tweet – and I’m not exaggerating – in every hour of the day . Don’t they go to sleep or rest or have other things in life rather than tweeting. This is serious ! It says a lot about them and how they spend their lives. I don’t mean by that to quit Twitter but what I’m calling for is a balance.There are many important things in Life to take care of . It could be your yourself , family , job , business or other things.

I have read an article in Alarabiya News : Kuwaiti government is studying a project to pay teachers money  to use social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Its like an incentive , but hey this is good news for teachers who are already Twitter-Addicts. Not just that, the salaries of teachers have gone up lately and every one now wants to be a teacher including the tweeters

Tags: 4q8, erada, Kuwaiti teachers, Kuwaiti tweeters, Twitter

When will Kuwaitis start paying TAX ?

I know that this topic will upset many Kuwaitis and they will reject what Im going to mention. But i don’t care about the consequences . Kuwait is a wealthy country-I know that for sure . But what is the source of wealth? Oil only ! this is good news as long as the oil price is high and the supply is still active. But what happens if the price drops or the world no longer needs it? I’m sure that Kuwait will be in a deep trouble. That’s because it has no reliable income that it can use to secure its expenses and to supply the employment with salaries. So in my humble opinion- as I’m not an economist but an apprentice accountant- I ponder: why Kuwait does not follow the developed countries by putting a tax policy in practise?. Taxation will solve many of the above problems if applied right and at the right time. USA and UK’s (for example) main income is from tax and believe it or not its a huge money.Most (if not all) of the developed countries can not function without depending on tax income. Every economist knows the advantages of taxation be it economical or social. Beside I sense that Kuwaiti citizens need to participate in building their country, so when they pay tax they contribute to the development of their country , apropos I’m talking about employee , self employed and business owners. The money goes to boost the country and improve it. Politically is also right , because when Kuwaitis pay tax they have the right to question the government or ask for a raise. We can not always be takers as most Kuwaiti citizens are (unfortunately) we have to be givers as well , and by paying tax we are being responsible citizens.  Looking at the current sad situation in Kuwait,  this is right time to apply taxation. However we have a big challenge, the tax money must be in good hands and must be utilized to advance the country. No more robbery and corruption please, as we can not afford it.

Tags: Kuwait Tax, Tax in Kuwait, Tax law, Tax policy, Taxation in Kuwait