I went on down to the African Festival at Katara. It was a pretty fun event. I thought it would be nice to see what happened, what they were up to, and check out the entertainment. Don’t forget to Thumbs Up, Comment, and Subscribe Then I know if you’ve liked it! If you REALLY REALLY like it then please share it too! Take care all, Mr. Q (Your friendly neighbourhood Qatari)

I went on down to check out Ikea qatar at Doha Festival City and decided to vlog it (and sleep in their bed too.)

I thought it would be nice for you to see what IKEA is like since so many people are talking about the place.

Don’t forget to Thumbs Up, Comment, and Subscribe
Then I know if you’ve liked it!

If you REALLY REALLY like it then please share it too!

Take care all,
Mr. Q (Your friendly neighbourhood Qatari)

This is a repost from last year’s blog with some updates.

Qatar is building on the number of events to celebrate National Day year on year. There are a number of huge milestones and events that have lead up to this as well. Qatar’s definitely in the spotlight thanks to mega event after event (World Cup, COP18, Arab Spring involvement, Katara expansions, etc… etc…) and Doha will continue to shine bright as long as changes keep happening.

Why are Qataris so proud? Well we haven’t had that much to be proud of for a long time. Our Emir has brought so much change and development to Qatar that it’s something to almost brag about. A typical Qatari will gladly sacrifice a lot for his country. The Emir has done so much to make our lives better, so why don’t we lift the burden off of his shoulders a bit and try to help?

So whether you’re Qatari, American, British, Indian, Philipino, Japanese, Korean, Lebanese, Pakistani, Chinese or any other nationality (let’s face it, Qatar is a melting pot of diversity), please celebrate National Day with us! Let happiness flow through you like a rush of energy. Think positive and have hope for a fantastic future. Think of each firework that goes off on December 18 as the sound of the country’s heartbeat. WE are Qatar.

One common question I’m asked is how is it that Qatar changed National Day’s date? It never changed. They’re thinking of Independence day, which is on the 3rd of September. Here’s some more info about National Day (from QatarNationalDay.qa):

On 18 December 1878, Sheikh Jassem bin Mohamed bin Thani succeeded his father as the ruler of Qatar. With that, Qatar became a country with a vision… a country that would find unity, grow rapidly, and reach toward ever higher heights.

National Day, also known as Founder’s Day, celebrates the rise of Sheikh Jassem as the father and founder of the State of Qatar. And yet this holiday is a mere two years old: it was founded in 2007 to give people an occasion to honour the history and identity of their country, and to commemorate those who have worked and continue to work to make Qatar a great nation.

The 18th of December is a special day – a day of unity for the people of Qatar. We want you to be a part of it!

Of course don’t forget to check out www.qatarnationalday.qa for all events and great content.

Interested in sponsoring iLoveQatar.net or particular activities? Drop the team an email at contact@iloveqatar.net

That’s nice of Marhaba Magazine, they were very complimentary. If I was a blusher, I would have blushed

You can read it here: The elusive Mr Q from iLoveQatar

Your friendly neighbourhood Qatari decides to go take a drive down Al Khor. (The potential for this place to be something amazing is HUGE).
While driving down and doing the usual Vlogging, I bring up a good point – 998!

Japan is so 3ajeeb! Don’t forget to visit www.qatarjapan2012.com to see how Qatar and Japan are celebrating their 40th anniversary.

While I was in Japan, I decided to do a bit of Vlogging. Here’s my attempt

I felt compelled to write something about this since there are so many people that make posts on the forums about employers not paying salaries, people not getting a No-Objections-Certificate (NOC) after the end of their contract, transfer of sponsorship, or people just not being a part of a positive work environment.

New to Qatar? Here’s the 101, if you don’t have an NOC, you can’t transfer your employment to another company and have to leave Qatar for two years before being allowed to come back.

Let’s start from the beginning? Why do many people take a job here in Qatar? Answer: Because Qatar is a super awesome country. Just look outside of your window, see the blue skies? Tropical weather? Lush greenery and smiling people walking down the street? That’s why. *serious face*

Alright alright. Let’s put the sarcasm to the side. I love Qatar! Just take a look at the title of the website after all! It’s just that there are a few laws in this country that don’t make sense; there probably was a good intention behind the need for them, but it’s like punishing all your kids when you damn well know that it was little Omar who lit the cat on fire! (Poor kitty).

Let’s get back to reality. People come to Qatar for a number of reasons; They want to explore a new part of the world (Doha is an exotic city for many people), people get better salaries, they can live more comfortable and laid back lives compared to where they come from (yes.. depending where you come from), and they probably want to make a name for themselves and climb the occupational ranks. Sound fair so far?

I’m going to try and appeal to the managers out there with this article.

Scenario 1: Let’s say that you come to Qatar after getting an offer for a managerial position. It’s 30,000 QR a month. Nice! You arrive, work hard, and your boss tells you that he can’t pay you this month because the company isn’t doing so well. You’re nice. You understand that companies go through hard times. You’ve made the journey all the way over here and you’re not about to turn away now that you’ve got so far right? Three months of no salary so you decide you’ve had enough! You quit. Your boss confuses your kind-heartedness (since you lasted so long) for stupidity, and thinks that stupid people don’t deserve an NOC. What do you do? Does that mean that you can’t leave?

Scenario 2: You’re already in Qatar. You’ve got an RP and on a family sponsorship. Let’s say that you get a job and so get the company to give you a work permit and you start living a higher quality of life because you and your husband now bring in more money to the house. Either you or the employer decide that after 16 months it’s not working out. In fact, you’re lucky because you got a better offer! Sadly, your employer turns out to be a bit of a douche. You ask for an NOC to transfer employment and he turns into ShaNayNay and tells you to speak to the hand (translated: you’re not getting an NOC). What do you do? Does it mean that you have to leave now? Is it easy to switch back to your husbands sponsorship? Let’s say that everything’s cool, but your family was used to a dual-income (you got a second car and a bigger house)… how do both of you survive in Qatar now if you can’t get a job?

Scenario 3: You’re working for a company. You get a better offer somewhere. You go back to the company and ask for an NOC. Boss says ‘no’ and in fact, since you wanted to leave, you’re now fired and get shipped back home in a crate.

Scenario 4: You get this really awesome job in Qatar! You get 40,000 QR a month to work 2 hours a day! It’s so awesome that I want it! Ok ok.. I don’t want it. It’s cool, it’s all yours. So you get a place in the pearl, take a loan for a BMW Z4, start wearing Massimo Dutti suits, hair all slicked back and three months later, on your way to work, your boss tells you that you’ve been replaced with a monkey. You’re fired! Oh.. and no NOC for you! So you decide to pack up and leave the country, but wait… you’ve taken a loan for your Z4. You’re not going anywhere! You have to pay back the loan before you can leave the country remember? So you don’t have a job to pay back the loan, and can’t get one because you don’t have an NOC. So what do you do? Work illegally or go to jail.

Note: These scenarios are meant to just get the point across. There are flaws in the system. Inshallah they’ll be fixed..

According to a friend who used to work for the National Human Rights Committee, their #1 complaint is when it comes to sponsorship or not being able to get an NOC. What does that say? Worse yet, since they get so many complaints, they turn away most people! So much for compassion…

I’ve never denied any of my employees from leaving iLoveQatar and grabbing better opportunities. I only ask them to give me a chance to better their offer (it’s not always about the salary), otherwise I wish them the best and hope that they’ll always be there for ILQ.

It’s like one of the most basic rules of life. Something my father taught me when I was younger. “Before doing something, ask yourself whether you’d like it if someone did it to you. If the answer is no, then don’t do it”. I know I wouldn’t like to be trapped under an NOC law.

If someone gets a better offer, why not let them take it? Why force an employee to remain in the company and work unhappily? They’re definitely not going to be efficient workers. They’re not going to have the company’s best interest. In fact, from an economical point of view, if companies were worried of employees leaving them, perhaps more companies would treat them with respect and provide for better work environment.

Just a thought.

You might also be interested in the “Workers Rights Handbook”

Update: April 2013
I should have mentioned that there is also a reason to why the NOC is necessary in many cases. Sadly smaller companies can’t compete with bigger companies poaching employees too.
For example, I may have to spend up to 5,000 QR to sort out the processing of a visa for an employee, fly him or her into the country, train the person, and next thing you know, a big company comes and snatches that person up. Leaving poor little small company without an employee and out of pocket. That’s one of the issues here.

I should have mentioned this sooner, however I totally let this slip under the radar. If you’re wondering a bit more about Mr. Q, they asked me some pretty random questions.

If you’re interested —> Visit Mr. Q on the Abode Blog

I was pleased when Abode magazine contacted me because they wanted to hear what my views were on blogging and the blogosphere in Qatar. All I had really done was share my view (in English) so that people can read up on what one Qatari thinks.

Has this blog inspired you to become more vocal? Start up your own blog! Sign up to WordPress or Iktib.com !

Still prefer reading? Then pick up a copy of Abode magazine at a nearby store!