By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
Published: May 13, 2010
DOHA, Qatar — Citizens of Qatar appear to have it made. They tend to drive big cars, live in big houses and get big loans to pay for big watches and an outsize lifestyle. They have an army of laborers from the developing world to build a sparkling skyline and to work whatever jobs they feel are beneath them. And their nation has enough oil and gas to keep the good times rolling for decades.
So why do so many people here seem so angry?
The problem, many Qataris say, is that they resent being treated as a minority in their own country, which is what they are. Citizens make up about 15 percent of the nation’s 1.6 million people — a demographic oddity that fuels a sense of privilege and victimization.
“The priority always goes to the foreigner,” said Ali Khaled, 23, who is finishing his government-financed education in London.
His cousin, Omar Ali, 24, a high school dropout who works as a technician in an electric company, readily agreed: “They always think the foreigner is better at any job than a Qatari, even if the Qatari is perfect at the job.”
In many ways, they appear to be right about how they are perceived.
“Qataris are very spoiled,” said Mohammed Saffarini, a non-Qatari Arab who serves as research director for health science at Qatar’s Science and Technology Park. “They are only valuable in this cultural and political context,” he added, contending that Qataris often lacked the skills, education and qualifications to be competitive in many other economies.
On the surface, Qatar appears to be on a roll. This peninsula of sand jutting into the Persian Gulf has leveraged its oil wealth and unbridled ambition to garner a world-class reputation on many fronts: international relations, art, higher education. But at home, there is tension, anger and frustration between Qataris and foreigners.
“It’s all a sham; it’s all a veneer,” said Dr. Momtaz Wassef, who was recruited from the United States to serve as the director of biomedical research for the Supreme Council of Health. Now he says he is disillusioned with Qatar and is planning to leave. “They never admit they make a mistake,” he said. “They only say they are the best in the world.”
Dr. Wassef’s wife asked that he not be quoted until he left Qatar, but Dr. Wassef would have none of it. “I don’t give a hoot,” he said, clapping his hands together for emphasis.
Qataris do not see themselves as coddled. Sure, they do not have to pay for electricity, water, education or health care, and they are given land and low-cost loans to build houses when they marry. They are eligible for public assistance if they do not have a job, often receive generous pensions and acknowledge they will not take any jobs they do not consider suitable for them.
But they also complain that they do not get paid as much as foreigners, and that foreigners get most of the top jobs in critical industries, like finance, higher education and the media. There is also pervasive frustration that English has become the language of employment, not Arabic, and that local hospitals, restaurants, markets and streets are always crowded with foreigners.
“There is a crisis here,” said Muhammad al-Mesfer, a political science professor at Qatar University. “The foreigners are crowding us out.”
The tension in Qatar is similar to what has surfaced in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where local people are also vastly outnumbered by foreigners and are sometimes likened to colonial rulers in their own land.
“There are about 300 employees at my work and only 4 or 5 Qataris,” said Mr. Ali, the technician at an electric company. “I walk into work and I feel like I am in India.”
He said that the foreigners were never willing to teach him new skills, so he had lost motivation.
“I have been working there for three years, and I still haven’t fully grasped the work,” he said. “I go to work to drink tea and read the paper.”
During a seven-day visit to Qatar, conversations with expatriate workers and Qatari citizens almost always turned to the topic of distrust, even during the most mundane of encounters.
“I am Qatari, and this country is for me,” a driver shouted as he forced his way into a parking space that a Canadian driver had also been trying for. “This is my country.”
Part of the frustration appears to stem from the lack of an effort to address the differences. People here said that when complaints had been raised, those who spoke up got punished. Foreigners get sent home and local people lose their positions, they said.
Qataris and foreigners alike described a social contract that offers material comfort and financial reward in exchange for not challenging the government’s choices. Qatar is a constitutional monarchy led by Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and his council of ministers. For many, the bargain is worth taking.
“To be honest, I’m comfortable and the salaries are good,” said Ibrahim al-Muhairy, 29, a Qatari high school dropout who said he earns about $41,000 a year working for the government as a security guard in a mall. “Everyone is getting what he deserves and more.”
But there are plenty of others who are unwilling to ride away silently in their Mercedes sedans, like Ahmed J. Abdul-Rahman Abdul-Malik, a former news anchor. He said he was furious that he had not been hired to read the news on Al Jazeera, the popular satellite news channel that broadcasts from here. He has written opinion pieces for a local newspaper complaining that Qataris are now treated as second-class citizens in their own country.
“I met with my friends last night, we joked, we are all ‘ex,’ that means unemployed,” he said, as he climbed into the driver’s seat of a Mercedes sedan. His diamond-crusted watch glistened beneath the parking lot lights.
Moza al-Malki, a family therapist, said she was angry, too. She said that she had lost her teaching position when she complained that an Indian woman was hired to run a counseling center that she said she had set up. “We are all angry for staying at home,” she said.
A moment earlier, she turned to the Filipino woman walking one step behind her — a servant carrying bags — and told her to go look around the mall they were in while Ms. Malki ordered breakfast. Ms. Malki ordered a croissant with cheese, sent it back because it was too hard, and then settled on an omelet.
Mona El-Naggar contributed reporting.
A version of this article appeared in print on May 14, 2010, on page A7 of the New York edition.
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DEAR READERS: THE FOLLOWING RESPONSE IS TAKEN FROM A QATARI WOMAN'S BLOG: http://thebrirafile.wordpress.com/. I RECOMMEND THIS BLOG TO YOU.
Author brira
Thank You Michael Slackman
17 May
By: Bint Khalid - (in response to New York Times’s article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/world/middleeast/14qatar.html)
It is a sad misfortune for Michael Slackman to come for a week’s stay in Qatar, point to the sense of disappointment and the outward appearances of Qataris without looking into the deeper underlying causes of their dissatisfaction.
Now except for Slackman’s heinously shallow portrayal and generalization of Qataris’ characters, I as a Qatari would like to raise my right hand, and solemnly swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth so help me God. Deep sigh. What Mr. Slackman has divulged in his article “Affluent Qataris Seek What Money Cannot Buy”….
Is the truth.
But…Is it the whole truth?
Dissatisfaction of workers in Qatar whether Qataris or expats is an awfully complex subject. It is a topic that is multi-faceted on so many layers that one would have to write a book about it, or it could possibly be a subject for sociological research (recommended). It is immensely naïve, unjust and superficial to state that Qataris are dissatisfied and frustrated in their home country simply by attributing this to them being spoiled and pampered. Do not make the erroneous assumption that money is simply handed out to Qataris.
With regards to general employee dissatisfaction in Qatar then one should take a look at how performance evaluation is conducted, if ever. Take a look at promotion and reward policies and see if they are implemented fairly. Come and see whether your professional background and qualifications are as significant as ‘who you know’. Obviously these affect both the locals and expats of Qatar alike.
However, in the case of Qataris, not only do they have to contend with such a system but they must also struggle with the publicized label of being ‘incompetent’ and ‘lazy’ (which somehow idiotically is a description attributed to the whole population of Qataris – some 300,000 people). Qataris have to suffer the superior attitude of foreigners ‘who know what is best’ for Qatar and its people. What about forced retirements of Qataris who are in their 50s and at the peak of their professional experience and whose credentials are as thick as books. Did I tell you about the instances where people are employed with fake qualifications and are placed in managerial roles supervising those more qualified at the job than they are; like the English “engineer” who turned out to be a former taxi driver in his homeland?
So a typical Qatari’s lifestyle in not the same standard as it is in most places around the world. Yes we get that. However, this lifestyle is adopted by many foreigners who come to work in Qatar as they find that their employment contracts include a two floor villa which may embrace a swimming pool, paid travel expenses for the whole family, covered education for their kids at top schools, covered medical expenses for the family, house cleaning services, free use of company car and a personal driver, membership for a health club, not to mention the salaries that go up to ten times what a local would receive for the same position… Would you like to join us in Qatar?
So, the general view is come to Qatar, get rich fast, then leave. I wonder how much Dr. Momtaz Wassef is making?
With regards to feelings of irritation, lack of understanding or distrust between Qataris and foreigners then all these are gathered into a parcel and placed under the heading of Culture Clash, which is the misunderstanding and disagreement between different cultures.
Arabian culture is similar to those of most Eastern cultures in the sense that it is a collective society. Arabian culture emphasizes the group. Confrontation is avoided and disagreement is conveyed privately to protect the person from ‘loss of face’. Words such as “Inshallah” (God willing) are used to convey negative expressions instead of saying a direct ‘No’. Respect for elders, the significance of tradition, family honor and expectations, concern for one’s reputation are deep-rooted principles. It is a fact that Arabs are generous, polite and value loyalty. You may compare these values to those of individualist cultures which Anglo societies fall under. These tend to place emphasis on the individual, goals and expectations of the individual are promoted, there is no need to conform to a group, and people are encouraged to rely on themselves.
Lack of awareness, lack of communication and misguided beliefs are at the root of the issues of resentment between Qataris and the others. Is it possible that culture shock may be another cause for the confusion? After all Qatar’s Arabian culture is drastically different from what most foreigners are accustomed to. Symptoms of culture shock include: heightened irritability, constant complaints about the climate, utopian ideas concerning one’s previous culture, continuous concern about the purity of water and food, fear of contacting local people, refusal to learn the language, a pressing desire to talk with people who “really make sense”, and preoccupation with returning home.
The unchangeable facts that you are stuck with as an expat in Qatar are that: organizational structures are very hierarchal, Arabian culture in general is not particular about punctuality, and “Inshallah”, although often construed as a NO, depending on the circumstance is also used as a polite and somewhat formal way of saying YES. Not to mention that Qataris are warm people and extremely friendly. In my own opinion, Qatari dissatisfaction is not aimed at expats themselves but at government policies that are overly accommodating to foreigners in managerial roles.
As for my friend Michael Slackman, regrettably one cannot help but perceive the tone of ridicule aimed towards the enigma that is our Arabian culture. This might be partly our fault, possibly because many of us do not take the time to explain why we behave the way we do? Or believe what we believe? Or maybe we assume that we have a right to act according to our own values as others act according to their own? Maybe we just like being mysterious and exotic?! Who knows.
Slackman’s observations are all correct. Mr. Ahmed probably does have a diamond encrusted watch and he most likely does drive a Mercedes. I believe Ms. Al-Malki would ask her maid to take a stroll in the mall while being interviewed, and return her croissant if she was unhappy with her choice for breakfast. I’m not sure when returning your food in a restaurant became a crime against principles of etiquette.
It is fascinating how in his seven day stay Slackman has taken the time to observe The Qatari Species, point to the outward ‘veneer’ as many others do, pick at occurrences and merely read them in a way that would confirm their own convictions about what the Arabian culture embodies. To sum up the advertised perception: a wonderland where local inhabitants are a group of ungrateful, apathetic, impassive little devils, running amok with bulging purses and trailing servants holding the tails of their long white or black traditional dress.
Now really what did such asinine observations add to the typically depicted Arab persona? I believe all credit should go to the foundation already laid by Hollywood, CNN, Fox News, George W. Bush, Osama bin Laden and numerous more.
But thank you Michael Slackman because if it weren’t for your article “Affluent Qataris Seek What Money Cannot Buy” many would never have come across what was written above.
Mr. Slackman Replies…
” Dear Bint,
Thanks for the email.I’m happy to disagree. I was not, in anyway, dissing Arabian culture. Indeed, the problems Qatar faces today — most of them anyway — are a result of colliding with modernity, and are not inherent in Arabian culture. I’m not sure why you chose to retreat to that form of defense. Frankly, I think you are too smart for that.It’s interesting to me that you pointed to the two wealth Qatari’s I quoted at the bottom of the piece and not the other middle income people higher up, the security guard and the technician and the computer scientist. But then, they would not have validated your point in the same way.In any case, I will say one thing, this is what journalism does at its best, in my view, promote discussion, introspection and a free and open exchange of ideas. You know, this kind of reporting happens everyday in countries that have and promote a free and independent press. I’m delighted to see, as you said, that so many people in Qatar are now discussing these issues and challenging each other. Agree. Disagree. It’s a great marketplace of ideas. Check out the blogs, just like yours. I think that’s great.
Thanks for writing.Michael “
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