Men in My Country

genesis
By genesis

A Qatar University student directed this worth watching documentary about Qatar

By adey• 12 Dec 2011 21:27
Rating: 4/5
adey

Did you pick up on this in the Peninsula?

Expat workforce in private sector soars to 99.3 percent

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/175344-expat-workforce-in-private-sector-soars-to-993-percent.html

'Recent salary hikes announced by the government for its employees has done more damage to the state’s job nationalisation drive, because now more and more nationals want to join the government sector, say sources.

The private sector, on its part, says there are hardly any nationals with some experience who like to take up work with private companies since the public sector “absorbs them all”.

“Nationals are not available for employment at all so how can we attract them to the private sector. The jobless ratio among nationals is almost nil or negligible,” says prominent industrialist, Abdul Hadi Al Shahwani.'

(the unemployment rate is 0.6%)

This leaves the fisherman guy in the video without a leg to stand on really.

No one is taking the jobs away from nationals.

By Justbecause.....• 12 Dec 2011 20:49
Justbecause.....

Normeci, "saying it like it is" and an opinion are two different thing, but yes we can agree to disagree..

By nomerci• 12 Dec 2011 15:44
nomerci

Justbecause, I stated my opinion, which I came to by experience. Now, this is MY opinion, MY experience. I never said it was a universal fact.

If your opinion is different, fine, than we can simply agree to disagree, non?

By political scientist• 11 Dec 2011 22:56
political scientist

Mandilulur, thank you for welcoming me ..

Justbecause, I think you are better than stating an opinion thinking that it is a universal fact!

We are trying to discuss the issue her without being prejudice .. so please stop pointing fingers because this is the easiest thing to do .. Do you think one would run out of reasons to accuse others?!! I'd say No.

By Justbecause.....• 11 Dec 2011 22:15
Justbecause.....

Normeci...It must be great in your perfect little world, where everyone is wrong and your right. If you beleive that your tellinh it like it is, your far worse than i thought. Good luck in the world in that little bubble you live in.

By BorisTheSpider• 11 Dec 2011 19:36
BorisTheSpider

"this video is private"

why was it removed?

By nomerci• 11 Dec 2011 19:08
nomerci

Justbecause I am saying it like it is?

By Mandilulur• 11 Dec 2011 17:44
Mandilulur

Political scientist, welcome!

Mandi

By Justbecause.....• 11 Dec 2011 17:35
Justbecause.....

Normeci your full of it.....

By John.Wilkes.Booth• 11 Dec 2011 08:37
John.Wilkes.Booth

We will see who laughs last Abe

By political scientist• 10 Dec 2011 21:50
political scientist

Prince Planet, I see it more of a cultural/economic conflict ... Qataris, out of the blue, within few years saw a massive "exodus" of Westerners arriving to Qatar .. and getting good jobs ..

The government, did its part of educating people whether by sending them to the finest universities in the world or even bring them a good number of these universities ..

Now those who thought that they can get by without studying hard are complaining now ..

Others, are just sticking for their people!!

The good thing is that their numbers are decreasing .. the more people feel threatened of not getting good jobs unless they work their tail off, then the number of highly qualified Qataris will surely increase ..

Those who will not do so, will remain behind and will finally find out that they are asking for jobs beyond their abilities ..

it is a process that must happen to every country at one point of its life .. and the only difference between them is how their governments handle the issue ..

By nomerci• 10 Dec 2011 21:44
Rating: 3/5
nomerci

I know that some people use fake certificates to get jobs, but usually those are NOT Western people.

Although, they may have Western passports.

By political scientist• 10 Dec 2011 20:30
political scientist

Guys, all must first recognize that this phenomenon "Foreigners are taking our jobs" is wide spread around the world. You will find it almost in every developed country put aside in the developing countries .. having said that, I think that there is an exaggeration in both parties' (Qataris vs Westerners) accusations ..

The first party, Qataris - my people - are treated since we are young to be sort of spoiled .. therefore, we want to get the highest position just for who we are more than what we are good for ..

There are ofcourse some occasions where Qataris unfairly fill in lower positions than what they are qualified for .. now these some occasions are the ones that go viral .. like the old good saying "in a white wall, people only spot the black dot"

As a rebuttal, the second party - Westerners - also hold the opinion that Qataris are slackers ..etc which are not far from truth in SOME occasions .. but these ones that people will publicize for rebuttals right? :)

Now, regarding the wide spread issue of using forged certificates that SOME Qataris accuse SOME Westerners with .. I see that the solution for this issue is not by saying "They are taking our jobs!!" because these are two different issues and being mixed up together for one party's benefit .. rather, we as Qataris should use higher measures to authenticate people's certificates whether they are Qataris or Westerners ..

Final remark on the documentary film: I didn't like it and I see some parts of it to be offensive ..

By labeledas• 8 Dec 2011 10:23
labeledas

and I am not Estonian so can you please apologize to them

By labeledas• 8 Dec 2011 10:22
labeledas

Qatar.Man90 funny I never mentioned anywhere in my post that Qataris were dumb, so why you jump an insult Estonians self conscious are we.

I was merely stating he acts like Qatar is taking in people to train them and then pay the exorbitant amounts of money.

The highest ranking official at my company makes no more than 40000QAR per month. Yet in his rant in the video he goes from 60-70 and then jumps saying westerners get 90000 with no skills or experience.

Also as a side note I know many well off Qataris who don't need to work yet they excel at school put in a tremendous effort and realize they opportunity they are given and take full advantage of it, you sound like you fit into this category and I am sure you earned everything you have up til now. And no that was not sarcasm. Then they are others who sit around doing nothing.

The same is true in any western nation many take advantage of the education systems and opportunities and many sit around drinking looking for handouts. It is not as simple as you are western take all out money, nor you are Qatari sit down and drink tea.

By anonymous• 8 Dec 2011 07:01
anonymous

An excellent documentary showing many sides of the social physique. Many issues like “Being hired for nationality “rings true and such a practice should be avoided to keep the nation competitive and the industry productive. Qatar doesn’t NEED a westerner , Indian. Nepali, ….. but needs PEOPLE to fill up various positions, so the best one for the job be it a Qatari , a Sudanese, an American , British should get it. Tell me, surely even in these economically troubled times they still build roads and building in the US?.. and from where is the labor force Nepal or US? but I don’t see any American construction worker in Qatar! Here as per the documentary certain jobs re ear marked for certain Nationalities, be it a foreigner or National,… it is this practice that needs to change.

By Qatar.Man90• 8 Dec 2011 00:47
Qatar.Man90

no i was ok with it. i mean yeah most british guys i know they work in summer or loans.

but most get paid by parents.

i actually feel sorry for the guys who work for education. but this is life and you not everyone is happy.

By anonymous• 8 Dec 2011 00:23
anonymous

dont know but al the readers would love to know.. maybe teh same as the othere taht go to the UK,,, the company when your class mates have to work second jobs to pay for it as they dont have a silver spoon... you must of hated them so much when your where there..

By Qatar.Man90• 8 Dec 2011 00:20
Qatar.Man90

what do you think?

By Justbecause.....• 7 Dec 2011 22:22
Rating: 4/5
Justbecause.....

Good on them for speaking up. Its high time everyone stops assuming it the Qataris have it all and the poor poor westerners who have it good here, cannot cope with the landcruisers on the road and everything else unders the sun. Dont like the country, go back to your country, no one is holding you by force here. Isnt that what the westerners say to the foreigners when they reside in the west.

By stealth• 7 Dec 2011 21:23
stealth

does it matter as to who paid for his education?

By anonymous• 7 Dec 2011 21:00
anonymous

who paid for your travel, accomadation and education????while you where in the UK Qatar.Man90 .. expand on that again pls.. who paid for it all????

By Qatar.Man90• 7 Dec 2011 19:50
Qatar.Man90

Well while i was in UK doing my Master's, i encountered with many Estonians and they were so dumb. they were asking me for help for every coursework we had.

+asking me for money almost every two to three weeks.

By britexpat• 7 Dec 2011 16:05
britexpat

Interesting. There should be more of these types of documentaries. We all have perceptions and stereotypes.

Genesis: Yes, most are blaming government policies, but deep down there is resentment towards foreigners - especially western expats.

By labeledas• 7 Dec 2011 15:44
labeledas

I liked the part about Qataris training westerners, that was a good laugh.

By alma wad• 7 Dec 2011 15:26
alma wad

In summer when Norway came to the headlines I searched the net a little bit to find out what it is like being an expat in Norway ....

Small population - big expat community - bias against them ... they say that a local clerk in Norway will not accept a job where he should work in the same office room with foreigners .He feels so much above them .The expats are complaining that the locals get jobs /positions without merit - and they make the life really difficult this way ... I had such a deja vue feeling when i read about that ...

By shahzad_14• 7 Dec 2011 10:57
shahzad_14

get well soon coz u r really sick

By shahzad_14• 7 Dec 2011 10:55
Rating: 5/5
shahzad_14

its nice to see that someone has started talkin about the issues here,

Every nation has good and bad people and everyone pointed finger on the bad ones, that the guy works in roads in his country and came to qatar and enjoyin driving luxurious cars and the westerns sayin we go to mall in the morning and see guys sitting in coffee shops n enjoy so there are hundred of people who are working at the same time, If this is the case then you cant blame that western, you should b blaming the person who hired him and that is someone from your Country,

I really laughed when the guy from Qatar Petroleum said what car you (the girl who was takin Interview) drive and he was not able to afford any brand new car in his study period so sorry MR. you are not born in a country which has that much amount of natural resources and less population, it is not something you can compare with coz it is not you choose where to born or not, so that was totally S*** and the other thing as he said the salaries are same compare to UK and Qatar and the guy said the right thing if it is same then how come he is here in this desert as most of the people call this place.

Anyways it is something the govt has to think about. Discrimination is never accepted anywhere and that is right that some certain levels are only meant for western and that is why coz Qatar is very much influenced with Western world nothin else

By Miss Mimi• 7 Dec 2011 08:44
Miss Mimi

Well I'm not sure what the "goal" of her documentary was. If she was seeking to reinforce stereotypes of Qatari's i.e: Their laziness & sense of entitlement, then congratulations, she hit the nail right on the head.

By pride• 7 Dec 2011 08:43
pride

thank's for a different point of view, but was not my feeling from watching it. You see, sometimes even for someone with high education standards and open-minded like myself (sorry about the high self steem moment!), sometimes we need someone to come and open your eyes and show a different angle... Imagine for the narrow view ones! Have a nice day.

By genesis• 7 Dec 2011 08:37
genesis

The people who were interviewed somehow highlighted that this growing feeling of resentment is not toward westerners ( or expatriates in general) , but towards the government. Anthropologist Abdul Aziz Al Ansari who was interviewed in the first part summarized that the real problem is in the Education trend during the 70s till the late 90s where government have encouraged Qataris to take the easy road with meaningless college degrees to end up being surplus labor now.

While the government tried to tackle this through the recent pay raises , Those who were laid off are not fully covered.

By Qatar.Man90• 7 Dec 2011 08:34
Rating: 4/5
Qatar.Man90

i think this is very misleading to most users here.

we are entitled to many by the government.

and no one can deny this. However, some people who get in debt buying houses, cars. yes are in debt to banks and etc... and dont live the life that most do.

the majority are happy and have good jobs and positions.

the fact that being a westerner will probably increase the chance to better salary is possible. but i believe that if the person did not have the experience required for his job will be discovered sooner or later and will be replaced.

Im looking for a change of the system in the next 10-20 years with the next generation to come. with new Qatari graduands who have good education studying overseas.

By pride• 7 Dec 2011 08:04
Rating: 5/5
pride

That's the only thing that comes to my mind watching this... Specially that old man bubling around... the only thing he could probably do in his life is being a fisherman, but he has a boat, a land cruiser, etc, and still complaining... back in my country a equivalent guy with his "expertise" would have nothing! By saying westerners, my dear qataris reading this, it's not only about brits, americans, or arabs holding such passports. I know doctors, enginers, pilots, sport related jobs, etc, from all possible "western countries" giving their sweat here on jobs that you'll be unable to fulfill on the next 100 years, by lack of commitment, interest, study, name it, so don't come with this "qatarization" speech anymore, ok, at least to some of us show some respect, because we deserve!

By anonymous• 7 Dec 2011 08:00
anonymous

I like where your coming from, very one eyed

By genesis• 7 Dec 2011 06:57
genesis

While i agree with your perspective, i can't blame my compatriots who have this sentiment, as it's the blessing of A rentier state. In their minds , they are entitled to those privileges when they pledged alliance with that tribe 100 years ago.

I'm glad that the younger generation who where interviewed seems to have a different perspective & understand the challenges of global competitiveness.

The documentary raise also other issues that doesn't affect Qataris only like employment by Nationality

Also discusses the alarming issue of government Layoffs & early retirement where more than 3500 Qatari employee been identified as surplus

Addressing those issues are important to curb the increasing xenophobia

By anonymous• 7 Dec 2011 02:28
anonymous

I cant see them complaining about being a road worker, or working in the sewage pits, or building the towers here, or deliver the water or gas bottles to my villa, or running the local store. What about the coffee shop, i cant wait to stop out the front and beep beep my horn have a local run out to serve me coffee because i to lazy to get out my car,, all i see is the locals wanting to finish their training and going to CEO,, hello work for it,, we all did, this movie is like a nazi propaganda movie from the 1930's...

By Cryptic-writings• 7 Dec 2011 02:22
Cryptic-writings

totally agree with Drovers ..

It is my belief that anyone who unjustly judges another is a hypocrite.

By spipouh• 7 Dec 2011 00:58
Rating: 4/5
spipouh

le niveau est trés appréciable à l'université de qatar

By genesis• 6 Dec 2011 21:31
genesis

While it cover all perspectives objectively, i think the shortcoming of this documentary that it focuses in two groups only; westerners & Qataris.It would've been interesting to listen to what other expatriates think of Qataris & the other way around

By John Lalay• 6 Dec 2011 21:25
Rating: 2/5
John Lalay

My Manager is an Electrician, with a British Passport in his custody.

By Ice Maiden• 6 Dec 2011 21:13
Rating: 2/5
Ice Maiden

Now that is what I would call "progress" , speaking about issues, rather than sweeping it under the carpet.

Hire people according to their qualifications, experience and what they bring to the job. Not according to nationality.

That way you get to compete with the best, and more competition means you get only the best.

By anonymous• 6 Dec 2011 20:45
anonymous

living in earth is a competition... wherever you are and whoever you are!

By John Lalay• 6 Dec 2011 20:43
John Lalay

Time to jump in LandCruisers and move towards corniche :P

By anonymous• 6 Dec 2011 20:27
anonymous

Good One i really Like It Thank god At least Some One Has The Courage To Speak Out hahhahaha :)

By anonymous• 6 Dec 2011 20:05
anonymous

bla bla bla , crying becas he's not rich

what a sad B****

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