28 January 2008

One Day

Although I don't always see eye to eye with our Minister of Labour, Majeed Al Alawi, I have to admit that on occassion he does speak a lot of sense. Perhaps the motives behind his speeches aren't always that noble (or perhaps they are, I can't be too sure), but when he makes a good point, man, he makes a damn good point.

Yesterday Dr Majeed spoke about our laziness as a people, as a country, as a region. He warned of an 'Asian Tsunami' as he called it, because of our reliance on foreign labour to perform the simplest of jobs.

It's true though. We have become accustomed to the lazy life; we have maids hired to get us a glass of water because we can't be bothered to walk to the kitchen, or to tidy our beds because, well, it's too much work for us to do. We have workers at supermarkets and cafeterias who walk to our vehicle to take our order, just because opening the car door and walking in to get what we want sounds like too much effort. We have people hired to carry out the simplest tasks from making our tea, washing our cars, cooking our food, to ironing our clothes, just because we are the elite who have no reason in life to lift a finger. After all, we are supreme.

Aren't we?

Cheap labour has it's benefits. We become kings, queens, princes and princesses. We sit there, every command taken care of by our servants, our slaves. We become something great, we rise above everyone else. We are great.

Aren't we?

Or maybe it's not so great. Maybe we become lazy, we become accustomed to not having to do anything. We stop learning how to do the bed, how to cook, how to depend on ourselves. We forget, and the most simple tasks start becoming heavy chores. And then come our children, and obviously we throw this 'lavish' lifestyle onto them, so now they're the ones who feel superior and great, and do not have to lift a finger, do not have to learn how to do anything.

But sooner or later you're going to need to know how to do something. This lifestyle isn't going to last for ever; one day all of this is going to go away, as the Asian countries start regaining economic strength, and the workers find it much more attractive to head back home. One day when this lifestyle becomes too expensive to maintain, and your superior self won't be able to afford it. One day when you head to a different country where this sort of thing isn't the norm, and you're going to have to do things yourself. One day when this over-the-top lifestyle fades away, and you're left in a mess, not knowing what to do, or how to act.

One day.


For another interesting issue previously brought up by our Minister of Labour, click here

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very true..
ana personally
i make my coffe/tea alone
I get my glass of water EBROO7E =S
oo i carry my jam3eya stuff to my car ALONE.
I don't cook though. bas the maid doesnt cook either. kil baitna kila nakil barra for some weird reason ;p
Bas when it comes to building houses?
imagine i7na khalijeyeen building our own houses? would that ever happen??
i- ii very much doubt

Anonymous said...

When you lot stop relying on everyone else to do your work for you, I'll pack my bags and head home.

Until then, I'm happy putting my own curtains up, changing the shower-head, cleaning my car, polishing my shoes, fixing the buttons on my shirts, installing a video card on my computer, making tea, cleaning the toilet, cooking, making my bed, and many other little things I've come to enjoy and would dearly miss should they be taken away from me.

Oh, I also happen have a full-time job...

Ugh - no offence, but posts like these make me so mad. You really should print it out and hand it to everyone you come across!

Jay said...

do you have maids and such?

i find that cool. over here in florida i don't think anyone have a maid. at least i don't! i just do everything myself...

except for mowing the lawn!

Ammaro said...

fayoora; whats wrong with ahal el deera working in construction? they dont, because the jobs go for dirt cheap to foreigners, so it becomes a dirt cheap job. in other countries, construction is actually well paid

evil; it pisses me off too dude. the thing is, it slowly drags you down, and im trying not to adjust to the lifestyle here but sooner or later, it gets you. i didnt pick up my tray today at a food court *shock horror*

jaycam; maids, gardners, cooks, etc etc... its ridiculous. imagine the people who mow the lawn for you? now imagine them doing EVERYTHING for you that requires any effort.

Anonymous said...

don't forget about the problems with obesity...another problem that is associated with such laziness

eshda3wa said...

shelmonasaba ele gayl hal kalam?

and 3ala ma this one day comes we will be dead

so ill enjoy having my bed made for me, theres no shame in that.

Ammoontie said...

How true...
More people should realise the lifestyle that they are leading now.We have grown to accept the laziness nature. But it is good for the others to earn a wee bit of living...
After they make enough money they can head home and build a bungalow by the beach.

Coolred38 said...

The really interesting part is that you usually associate "lavish" lifestyles with the more monied class of people...the rich have housemaids, butlers, get waited on hand and foot etc...and yet here in Bahrain where the average Bahraini salary isnt much about Bd250...they still have housemaids and live the "wait on me hand and foot" mentality...whats up with that?

Redbelt said...

Although pampered my whole life, I refused to get a maid when I got married and moved out.
My wife's OK about that but she asks what about when we have kids?
I refuse to get a maid then also.
She cooks, I take out the trash, we make up the bed, something I have never ever done.
True, some times the dishes spend a long time in the sink for lack of free time or "patak" to wash them. I am working on a digital solution for that: dish washer. It will help as much as the auto clothes washer / dryer / deoderizer/ decreaser / breakfast cooker that we got.
Next I'll get a Roomba (Think robot vacume cleaner) and a floor washing Roomba too.
I'd rather spend on technology than exploit poor souls with a monthly wage that equals two dinners.
Thank you.

Dr. Shale bin Agnon said...

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

If you are ever in the Emerald Isle, come cycling through the hills with me for a few days. It will kill you or cure you.

Letting yourself get too soft is very dangerous.

Ammaro said...

anon; definately. you should see some of the big asses that we have here.

eshda3wa; what occassion? no occassion, this attitude's always been here, and the way its going, will continue to be here. and no, this day will come way before you die

amoontie; they build mansions back home! everythings a lot cheaper back there :p

coolred; the fact that i said lavish doesn't mean it's a 5 star lifestyle. that just means people believe they are living a lavish lifestyle, in their tiny little brains. some earn 250 a month, spend half of that on a maid because they believe they are too great to be getting up and pouring themselves a cup of water.

redbelt; i hate the concept of having a maid. it makes you too lazt to have to do anything in your life.

shale; i do not associate myself with the habits of the people i talked about; i only mention the words WE or US because i come from the same country/region. i will beat you in a cycle race. easy.

Dr. Shale bin Agnon said...

Race? Nonsense. I am talking about the cold, the rain, and carting your own cooking and camping gear over rough trails. General good-fun self-sufficiency.

You race much?

Anonymous said...

I would blame it on the people at the other end. People do come to the middle east to mint money and are wiling to do any possible job-even if it is literally licking the floor.

Not to forger, Micheal Dell(founder of DELL computers was a hotel waiter before starting DELL).

Mrs Dynamite aka Lorena +Wonder Women... said...

AMAROOOOOOO!!! LOL im sufering now ! since we move we dont have the house keepers ! and im getting crasy ! i cant control de house! and sara at the same time! dishes to wash , clothes to wash and fold , cleaning , acooking and so on ... we have some one who is coming 1 time a week .. but im thinking very serious to bring Messy after i start working , i wont be able to do both jobs ! ...

Anonymous said...

in some ways the employment of maids provide a way for the poor to get out of poverty. in some cases, they (the maid) come back to their home countries and build their own brick-palaces. This is true in some districts in Indonesia. but the downside of such method of employment is often maids are not protected by labour rights.

anyway, the description of your 'one day' seems very far away. if at all, it is safe to say in this lifetime we will never see that day arrive.