Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Saudi Arabia: When is it Time to Leave?

Most of us, expats, are in Saudi because we wish to make more money. Very few are here for purely religious reasons. (True or false?) While this is the best place for a Muslim to live, what can this country offer us? Our bank accounts are monitored (what? I read that our incomes should be proportionate with our monthly salaries), we're not supposed to have extra jobs, or even send substantial amounts of money to our home countries. What irks some expats

most is that you cannot buy an apartment or a piece of land and call it yours.  

Some Muslims are planning to leave Saudi Arabia for other countries: for the West! Why the West when we know how Muslims feel about westerners? Why the West when we know that the standard of living in those countries is much higher that in the Kingdom? Below are the responses of some expats (quote unquote):
  • I felt that I was persecuted. I published a paper and I was verbally abused for telling the truth. What can we gain when in the academic setting a researcher is threatened for publishing his data--results that he did not falsify? How do we expect research to move forward? 
  • The educational system is not good. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry is employed to teach our kids. Some teachers are not even qualified to teach, yet employers hire them without running a background check.
  • You can never be too sure that you'll leave the hospital alive when you're ill. Some specialists are far from being who they claim to be. I've heard of Egyptian doctors who buy the MRCP from the black market and brandish it around to avail of high salaries. Blimey!
  • We get paid according to the colour of our passports. I thought everyone was equal in this country. I was so disappointed when I observed the contrary.  
Is there anything that irks you in Saudi? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. As a matter of fact, there are always pros and cons about life anywhere. To be fair, I had written a post a few years ago about a woman's advantages of living in Saudi.

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