The Kuwaiti and Mr Hyde
the novel ‘dr. jekyll and mr. hyde’, written by robert stevenson in 1941 (which the same year became a popular horror film) is considered one of the classic works in english literature.
dr. jekyll grew up in a wealthy and respected family. he believed that within each human being two characters live – the evil and the good. to confirm his theory, he manufactured a drug that can change the features and form of the one who takes it, and become evil, commits crimes at night, then returns home, takes the drug and becomes his former good self.
i remembered dr. jekyll’s character and projections on the ethics and behavior of the majority of gulf citizens, particularly kuwaitis when comparing what they do at home and what they become when they travel abroad, especially to western countries.
as soon as they set foot in the west, they find themselves taking on the character of dr. jekyll and they begin to respect the laws of the country they have traveled to, keep their voice low and converse politely and make use of the words such as ‘will you be kind enough’, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.
you see them eating quietly and telling their children to behave when they travel by train or not to make a fuss when inside a plane unless the plane is kuwaiti. they also adhere to traffic rules and, more importantly, carry their own bags, buy their supermarket needs, gladly pay for a plastic bag, take a bag or cloth bag to carry their purchases, put them in bags, and behave like polite and educated europeans.
once dr. jekyll returns to his homeland, he turns to someone else, or to what he was before he traveled, which is like hyde. his behavior changes as soon as he sets foot in the country and the smile leaves his face to be replaced by a frown face. he asks the first porter he meets to carry his luggage from the conveyor belt (carousel), and the tone of his voice goes high and his ego suddenly swells.
we really need to include the subject of ethics in the curriculum. how can we accept all this contradiction in our actions inside and outside the country? what does it mean to have such a frightening number of porters at the airport, while we were gladly carrying our own bags around the airports of the world?
why do we need dozens of workers in each cooperative; just to put our purchases in plastic bags? the view of these workers and their overcrowding is miserable and inhuman, and see a similar scenario at the fish market and elsewhere, as if the “citizens and residents” have suddenly lost their hands and unable to put their own purchases in bags, which are given free of charge; while they did that by themselves outside the country.
we wonder here: what happened to the character which was doing all his own things outside kuwait and became completely unable to do the same work in his homeland? it is necessary to get rid of these increasing numbers of workers who do not get their rights at all. they often pay to the recruiting company and not the opposite.
the government should also create less dependent citizens, with better demographics, to ease the growing pressure on services and the country’s security.
