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Rommel · Joined: 01 Apr 2006 Posts: 121

Been away from Kuwait for the past few months. Has Kuwait adopted the "Fri-Sat" weekend schedule? If not, are they planning to before this new school year starts?

thanks

The_Hanged_Man · Joined: 10 Oct 2004 Posts: 224 Location: Tbilisi, Georgia

The new date for this happening is Sept. 1. But like anything in Kuwait I'll believe it when I see it. New government policies here have a bad habit of vanishing before they materialize.

miski2 · Joined: 30 Jul 2007 Posts: 52 Location: Kuwait

Yes, Sept 1st and that means a 6 day week for my first week back Crying or Very sad

sharko · Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 29

The administration where I teach sent out a memo regarding the new weekend this week. But, as Hanged Man says, I'll believe it when I see it. This is Kuwait and that means, it's a life at the improv...

Miski2, unless you usually work 6 days a week, you shouldn't work 6 days on your first week. On the contrary, most people will have a long weekend: Thursday 30 Aug, Friday 31 Aug and Saturday 1 Sep.

That's the way it happened last year in the UAE.

miski2 · Joined: 30 Jul 2007 Posts: 52 Location: Kuwait

Actually I think the papers said it would start from Sunday 2nd. So if I start on Monday 28th...that means ....ok Yu're right-as you see, my favourite subject to teach is NOT maths..........give me history, geog and English anytime..oops. Embarassed

Memory returning slowly.....saying that( it's been a long summer) I remember thinking that we were going to be diddled out of something . Ah that's right, if they had started September 1st we WOULD have had a three day weekend ( because we start on 28th Aug)but because they decided it would come into force from the Sunday 2nd onwards, we miss out on the Thurs , Fri and Sat. Typical!

sharko · Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 29

All newspapers stated 1st September as the starting date, according to the Kuwait Civil Services Commission circular 46/2007.

But again, I'll wait until then just to make sure.

miski2 · Joined: 30 Jul 2007 Posts: 52 Location: Kuwait

New weekend starting Sept 2
Published Date: July 14, 2007

KUWAIT: Starting Sept 2, the government is going to execute the decision of assigning Saturdays off instead of Thursdays, reported Al-Qabas. Governmental authorities, such as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Justice, have already started preparing the required measures for the new weekend. Twisted Evil

sheikh radlinrol · Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 1222 Location: Spain

Interesting that Kuwait is going for the Friday-Saturday weekend. I don't imagine it's going to make much difference to daily life there? I remember the banks used to close on Saturday anyway and everything else was open 7 days a week except for the short Friday prayer break.
I just wondered if there had been any objections from the pious men with long beards and short dishdashas.
BTW Miski, on the KSA board a dishdasha should be referred to as a ''thob''

miski2 · Joined: 30 Jul 2007 Posts: 52 Location: Kuwait

Yes there were some objections that by taking off Saturday we were imitating the Jews..... Rolling Eyes

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

That excuse has been around forever!! In Egypt in the 80's the weekend was Friday and Sunday - with having to work on Saturday. Ridiculous...

And it is the reason that it has been Thursday and Friday for the last years around the Gulf. Finally the power of international business has been able to over-rule the religious authorities.

That is what this is all about...

VS

trapezius · Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:32 pm Post subject:

There was a proposal to change the weekend to Fri-Sat in the Saudi consultative council called as the Shoura Council.

Guess what?

The bearded crazies in the Council gave it a religious spin Evil or Very Mad

Here are the reasons they gave for shooting down the proposal:

1) KSA is a country ruled by Shariah, so we can't have Fri-Sat weekends. (So indirectly, they were saying Fri-Sat weekends go against Shariah)

2) KSA is a model Islamic country and the whole Islamic world looks to KSA for guidance. (Indirectly, they were saying that if we, i.e., KSA, gets perverted like that, that's bad because all other Islamic countries look to us for guidance)

Unbelievable.

And these people study Islam for years and years... sick, really.

miski2 · Joined: 30 Jul 2007 Posts: 52 Location: Kuwait

I felt similarly when I heard that all day licensing laws in the UK would 'stop binge drinking'......absoutely unbelievable. And no beards involved.

sheikh radlinrol · Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 1222 Location: Spain

It's clear what Trapezius thinks about the topic. What about Miski & VS?
Which weekend should the Kuwaitis choose? What do the ordinary people think or don't they really care? Will Riyadh disapprove?

miski2 · Joined: 30 Jul 2007 Posts: 52 Location: Kuwait

I don't really care to be honest.Whether you are off on a Thursday or a Saturday, it's still the weekend. Only thing is it will improve transferring money- at the minute if you transfer on a Thursday, it doesn't get going until Monday . As for the religious idea, well Friday is still off for prayer and we don't need a 'day of rest'- as Mr Deedat tells us in his fantastic lectures- Allah (God) didn't need to 'rest'!!!
Re copying the Jews- well who cares really?

miski2 · Joined: 30 Jul 2007 Posts: 52 Location: Kuwait

Trapezi :
''Unbelievable.

And these people study Islam for years and years... sick, really.''

Yes similar to those zealot archbishops, brothers and priests all across America done for fondling little girls and boys in the chapel pews.Sick ,really-telling people how they should pray, come to mass, say twenty rounds of the rosary and then sticking their equip. where it really shouldn't go. Shame on the Catholic church, shame.