OpEdNews » SAFETY and LIVING in KUWAIT, i.e. PROXEMICS & LIVING NEXT to the CIVIL WAR in IRAQ

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Tag(s): Arab; Awareness; Cars; Citizens; Civil Society; Civilization; Engineer; Fear; Iraq War; Kuwait; (more...) Law; People; Stress; Wars; World (less...)
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February 28, 2008 at 07:08:41

SAFETY and LIVING in KUWAIT, i.e. PROXEMICS & LIVING NEXT to the CIVIL WAR in IRAQ

by ALONE Page 5 of 8 page(s)

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This is likely because in the last 5 years only a few terrorist attacks, threats of attacks, or robberies have been reported in the press in Kuwait.

Therefore, it should be understandable that many other issues of safety are more important in the daily lives of the 3 million (mostly foreign born) residents who live in Kuwait. The wars or rumors of war abroad are reported but as Kuwait is not at war with Iraq and as Kuwait currently prohibits its citizens from participating in the current occupation of Iraq, the war seem light years away at times—even though in actuality it is only an hour or two away by car.

FINDINGS OF MY RESEARCH ON “SENSE OF SAFETY” IN KUWAIT In response to the first question, these are some of the tremendous variety of responses: (1) What is your general feeling about safety in Kuwait? Is it very safe? Only safe in certain areas and/or at certain times of day?

--“It seems safe.”

--“No place is safe here, but safer than in Philippines (homeland).”

--“Safe, concerning crime.”

--“I feel it is safer than some cities/or most cities in the U.S., but being so close to a ware zone, always need to be aware of surroundings.”

--“Yes, but in the desert there are dangers”, i.e. reckless boys on three wheel buggies, and some animals, like scorpions.

--“The cities are most safe, but some deserts are surrounded by bombs.”

--“Yes, Kuwait is a safe place to live in, however, residential areas of local Kuwaitis need improvement in safety measures. At noon or night it is not safe for peddlers (and commuters).”

--“Depends on other country(ies), Kuwait is very safe.”

--“Kuwait is safe at certain times of day.”

--“I think there are different places (that are safe)like at home, at school, at shops or supermarket.”

--“No, it is not safe. Well can’t say because every now and then there is problem everywhere. It’s mostly (unsafe) during the evenings.”

The overall variety of respondents felt that only location and time of day led to lack of comfort in moving about in Kuwait. Only a few males claimed that Kuwait was very safe. In response to the second question, these are some of the tremendous variety of responses: (2) At what times are you most concerned personally about safety?

--“At night.”

--“When I am driving at night.”

--“Rush hours (7 to 9am), (12-2pm), (5-7pm) & weekend and nights.”

--“When I’m not at home or in school.”

--“If I am alone in the mall.”

--“Riding in the bus because you can’t get out if there’s trouble.”

--“When a guy dies in front of you and you can’t do anything.”

--“When driving on the road (being driven) or as a pedestrian crossing the road.”

--“After 3am”, i.e. drag racing time scenes are around Kuwait in early mornings

--“Like I said, it’s only on the roads and highways and that has no particular time.”

--“When I ride a car with a bad driver.”

--“In the malls on weekends because of the fights.” When discussing personal safety, the female respondents showed greater variety of fears for all locations and times in contrast to male respondents. Moreover, Asian respondents felt more fear more of the time than did either Arabs or Westerners.

In response to the third question, these are some of the tremendous variety of responses:

(3) At what times are you most concerned about the safety of others, such as loved ones or family members?

--“I am concerned about my big brother when he drives in big sand drifts.”

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http://the-teacher.blogspot.com/

KEVIN STODA has been blessed to have either traveled in or worked in nearly 100 countries on five continents over the past two and a half decades. He sees himself as a peace educator and have been a promoter of good economic and social development--making him an enemy of my homelands humongous spending and its focus on using weapons to try and solve global issues.

"I am from Kansas so I also use the pseudonym 'Kansas' when I write and publish. I keep two blogs--one with blogger and one with GNN. My writings range from reviews to editorials or to travel observations. I also make recommendations related to policy--having both a strong background in teaching foreign languages and degrees in teaching in history and the social sciences. As a midwesterner, I also write on religion and living out ones faith whether it be as a Christian, Muslim or Buddhist perspective."

On my own home page, I also provide information for language learners and travelers http://www.geocities.com/eslkevin/ , http://the-teacher.blogspot.com/ & http://alone.gnn.tv/