The History of Kuwait - Personal Statement Example

Kuwait History Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts 14th November, Personal Account My s are Mohammed Al-Fozan from Kuwait, country which is based in the Middle East region of the world. I was born 25 years ago in the city of Kuwait to Kuwaiti parents of Arab decent. My family is made up of one older brother and two younger sisters who all live in Kuwait. I moved to the United States of America two years ago in search for a better education and work experience. I also wanted to enrich my cultural experience due to the diverse cultures living in the United States. The United States is a big country compared to Kuwaiti and thus a lot of people of different cultures, races and origins reside there. I found out that most of my acquaintances in the US are inquisitive and therefore they are a little bit cautious when they get to know that I am an Arab and Muslim. Moreover, most Americans cannot differentiate between Independent countries such as Kuwait and the Middle-East as a region. The British colonized Kuwait but they did so using the local rulers such as the Emir Sabar (OShea 102). The British rule was not so cruel and they did not change the country a lot in terms of influencing culture, trade or religion. In Kuwait, Arabic is the native and official language with but a lot of people speak English especially as a trade language. I am also an English speaker, which I learnt through formal education system in Kuwait. Before travelling to the US, I was well aware that most Americans speak English and other languages such as French and Spanish are also widely used in the US. The English language and Arabic languages are quite different due to their origins and usage. Most of the Arabic words cannot be found in the English language and vice-versa. Therefore to many words such as Muskrikin, Kafir cannot be found in the Arabic language. The same applies to the English language since Arabic only influenced languages such as Swahili and the like. I personally feel that living in Kuwait is good since the country has prospered since the British left the country (Casey 122). Moreover, the leadership of the country understand the needs of its citizens and have embraced changes in political, social and economic spheres of life. I travelled once to the UK and I was amazed at the multi-cultural aspect of the British life (OShea 94). The big difference with Kuwait is that the UK culture is diverse and the climate of UK is cold and harsh. Although the United Kingdom colonized my country, Kuwait and Britain maintain good relations and therefore they do not influence the decisions made by across the administration of each independent countries. The colonization of Kuwait by the British government was not so bad compared to other British colonies. This is because it assisted the country in accelerating it towards independence and political freedom. Moreover, once Kuwait became independent it was opened to the world for trade and foreign relations starting with our former colonizers, the United Kingdom. In terms of geography, size, religion and cultural aspects, Kuwait and UK are two diverse countries rich in history. Kuwait is an easy country to understand due to uniformity of its culture and religion unlike UK which has a diverse culture and people of different races or origins. The UK is more secular state compared to Kuwait which is predominantly Islam. Britain did colonize Kuwait as a means of it scramble for countries as a show of power. Colonization helped establish the current leadership which is good and has helped to establish better lives for all Kuwaitis. Kuwait is a good country due to its music from Abdullah Khaleeji and other popular artistes and I also love reading books by Mohammed Saeed al-Saha (Casey 86). While, movies like Losing Ahmad and Storm from the South are my favourite from Kuwait. Although, I also have likes from the UK such as books like the ‘The Constant Gardener’; favourite music being ‘Big City Life’ and movie is James Bond’s ‘Casino Royale’. During my stay here in the United States, I read a nice legal book by the name of ‘The Firm’ written by John Grisham, listened to various hip hop music such as ‘New York’ by Jay Z and watched the much acclaimed movie ‘The Titanic.’ Whilst, I like living in the United States, the thing that I have missed the most from Kuwait is the food which is delicious. Kuwaiti cuisine is mainly made up of rice, fish dishes and spices which make the food tasty and good. Overview Kuwait is a country located in the Middle East part of the world and the country gained independence in the year 1961. Before colonization by the British the country had been occupied by Greek during the Ottoman Empire. The country had been greatly under the influence of the ruling Greek class at that time. IT was the Greeks who the first to colonize the country and shaped the country as a major trade zone in the Middle East. It was the influence of the Greeks that led to the definition of the Kuwaiti political administration. It was within this period that the local Arab leaders were given opportunity to establish governments and political leadership for the Kuwaiti citizens (OShea 78). As a result, the control of Kuwait’s political leadership has been under the hands of the Arab leadership under Sabah I bin Jaber family which practices hereditary. The leadership in Kuwait till today is a constitutional monarchy with the Sabar Al-Jaber family in control of the country (Casey 48). The country has also witnessed other forms of leadership during the British colonial rule which was practised in conjunction with the Ottoman leadership. The British however, did practice indirect rule since the Sabar family controlled the most of the political power in the provinces. However, the British went ahead and exercised total control over Kuwait after the First World War. The British did not establish direct autocratic rule as it did in other countries. As a result Kuwaiti citizens are still heavily influenced by Arab culture, language and the Islam religion. The country however is known to be open to outside culture and influences seen by its openness towards modern western culture. Kuwaiti people speak Arabic language but English is also widely spoken in the country (Casey 99). This is because of the influence of the British and the trade links that Kuwait has maintained with many countries. Most of the people in Kuwait live in the urban regions and the population is quite small compared to many countries. The western way of life has become prevalent in Kuwait and religions such as Christianity and Hinduism have taken root in Kuwait. The social and cultural way of life in Kuwait is heavily influenced by the Arabic religion and most Kuwaitis are conservatives. The education system is among the best in the region and many foreigners have come to Kuwait to get an education. In terms of culture, most Kuwaitis are conservatives with influence of Arabic and Islamic values upheld in life. The country has also embraced change through allowing western culture and press freedom to thrive in the country (Casey 106). The freedom has allowed British, American films to be shown in country and movies such as James Bond, Mr. Bean are favourites while books from authors such as Jeffrey Archer, Sidney Sheldon are also read. Local music is common in Kuwait with influences of the Taarab music and local books are adopted in teaching and for recreation (OShea 96). In terms of cuisine, most Kuwaitis eat fish and dishes such as Imawash and machboos laham. Works Cited Casey, Michael. The History of Kuwait. Chicago, IL: John Wiley and Sons, 2007. OShea, Maria and Spilling, Michael. Kuwait. London: Penguin Books, 2009. Read More