Reem Al-Maei

I woke up in the morning to the loudest alarm our house has ever known - the Indian domestic helper who has the mission of waking me up with military precision in the morning. I then went to a café owned by a Kuwaiti youth before reporting to work to correct my mood - like other Kuwaitis who support Kuwaiti businesses regardless of the price and quality. A Filipino made the coffee for me at the Kuwaiti cafe. I then went to process a transaction, and found the female employees busy eating falafel, so I resorted to a Bangladeshi worker, who finished it quickly for me, even if I had to pay a dinar.

I later felt sick, so a Filipina nurse received me and checked my blood pressure and temperature. When the doctor asked me to remain for an hour at my workplace so he can follow the drop in my temperature before I leave, my Kuwaiti colleague avoided me out of fear of infection, but an Egyptian employee invited me for breakfast in his office, saying: "There is one God and one life."

My car broke down, so a Syrian mechanic repaired it for me. I went to the airport with an unconfirmed ticket, where every Kuwaiti employee sent me to another, and they all said what the others said, and it was an Indian employee who helped me out and ended three hours of my suffering in three minutes by getting the approval of a Kuwaiti official, which has become more difficult than meeting the master of the White House. I wrote this column full of spelling mistakes, and it was proofread by a Lebanese. I then waited for my mail, which was delivered by a Yemeni office boy.

All of the above are unlimited examples of good services that expats have presented and present every day to us, and we do not feel them like we feel their presence. We hold them responsible for global warming, budget deficits and administrative corruption, and we ignore that behind every great Kuwaiti is an expat. Since education, arts and letters were established during the renaissance era all the way to the regression era, the expat is a partner the Kuwaiti does not surpass except in bragging, which if the people and jinn gather, will not be able to make something like it, and because of it there is no progress.

Personally, I and other weak people on earth, with the help of Allah, depend on expats, without whom we would waste our country and no one would guide us to the right path. It would be wasted by the deliberate and predetermined actions of some of our compatriots who brag strongly and demand the deportation of expats so that we get lost and they get to control us. For those who demand that we get rid of expat workers in Kuwait, I ask: "Can they do without expats' help in their homes?" - Translated by Kuwait Times from Al-Rai

By Reem Al-Maei