Category

Social

Barrak Al-Babtain 2
0
Politics
November 13, 2012

Hidden Taxes in Kuwait

There's a difference between pride and patriotism. People keep asking for more handouts and assume that we don't pay any taxes in Kuwait. Sure, our salaries and income isn't literally taxed, but we pay for our political and social dysfunction in other ways. We pay…
Read More
Barrak Al-Babtain 6
0
Energy
July 8, 2012

Is It Hot Outside?

It feels so good inside ourselves we don't want to move.* Obesity has been linked by some with the constant use of central air conditioning. I'm not sure i'd go that far, but it does help us maintain a comfortable sedentary existence which is generally…
Read More
Barrak Al-Babtain 3
0
ArchitectureOtherUrban
July 1, 2012

A Gaze onto the City

I am sitting in a coffee shop in downtown Kuwait City. I am enjoying my cup of coffee while browsing the net, checking my timeline on twitter, and gazing out to the street. The sight from where I'm sitting shows how far the city went…
Read More
Barrak Al-Babtain 4
0
NeighborhoodQortubaUrban
October 14, 2011

Park Fence Removal

They are going to start demolishing all the fences that surround public parks. I've asked for this a couple of times (here and here) and it seems their reason for removing them was mainly to stop people abusing the parks for 'immoral acts'. I can…
Read More
Barrak Al-Babtain 1
0
SAM StreetUrban
September 17, 2011

Gubei Gold Street

When thinking of what Salem alMubarak Street could be this is what I kept imagining, a great urban renewal project in Shanghai that has almost the same scale and density as SAM Street. People usually think of buildings without caring about what happens in the…
Read More
Barrak Al-Babtain 4
0
ArchitectureEducationOther
February 6, 2011

Starchitects and Kuwait

Barrak's comment on my last post got me thinking of how to prove my point of the importance of world famous architects building in Kuwait. Barrak argues that Kuwait does not need a new iconic building, since we have Kuwait Towers, which is true. He also…
Read More
Barrak Al-Babtain 3
0
January 28, 2011

Faith in Accountability

Money has no real value. We use it to exchange goods and services only because we all have faith in what we collectively agree to be its worth. If we lose that faith, money is worthless. I think a similar sort of faith exists in…
Read More
Barrak Al-Babtain 2
0
January 23, 2011

Kuwait 2030: Merit Pay

I think we need a way to better reward good teachers. Right now, there's a sort of secondary market where the best teachers are getting paid really well privately tutoring wealthy students. That's not fair because the energy and attention of the teacher is usually…
Read More
Barrak Al-Babtain 11
0
Energy
January 18, 2011

A 1000KD Gift is a Terrible Idea

As if to prove my point, this 1000KD 'gift' is a perfect example of short sighted gimmickry. People don't want to think about how it will cause accelerated inflation, how most of the money will be spent outside Kuwait and what it means when Kuwaitis think of this as…
Read More
Barrak Al-Babtain 15
0
January 10, 2011

Sacrifice

I have a few thoughts in response to an interesting article in the Arab Times by Amer Al-Hilal. I don't think it's generally productive to lament gridlock and hope for progress. Kuwait has major structural problems, but those can be fixed if we can identify…
Read More