{"id":74754,"date":"2021-06-05T16:00:44","date_gmt":"2021-06-05T13:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.163.207.100\/~timesku1\/news\/?p=74754"},"modified":"2021-06-05T16:00:44","modified_gmt":"2021-06-05T13:00:44","slug":"kuwait-a-beloved-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timeskuwait.com\/news\/kuwait-a-beloved-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Kuwait – A beloved country"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mohammed Aslam Imadi<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Salam Kuwait. Kuwait is a great place and I thank Allah for blessing me to be in this great land for around 30 years.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"In 1988, while working for a leading engineering company in Hyderabad, India, I came across an advertisement in the Times of India newspaper from Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) for a Senior Engineer to work in the company\u2019s Maintenance Service Department. I applied for the post based on my experience, but soon forgot about it as there was no response from the company.<\/p>\n

However, in April 1989, I was surprised to receive a favorable reply from KOC, along with a prepaid airline ticket and an invitation to attend an interview in Kuwait. Though I knew very little about the country or company, I decided to take a chance and proceeded to Kuwait for the interview. I was impressed by the country and more so by the company and following a successful interview decided to join KOC.<\/p>\n

I joined KOC on 9 July 1989 and retired on 1 November 2013. However, the Technical Expertise Team hired me through a Secondment Contract as Projects Engineer from 2013 until June 2015. After which I worked as Lead Design Engineer until 24 June 2019 at Gas Projects Management Team.<\/p>\n

Kuwait Oil Company is an oil company headquartered in Ahmadi, Kuwait. It is a subsidiary of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, a Government-owned holding company. Kuwait is the world\u2019s 10th largest petroleum and other liquids producer and fifth-largest exporter in terms of volume of crude oil, gas and condensates.
\nMy 30 years in Kuwait with KOC has been a long and satisfying journey and forms a big part of my life. During this period the greatest shock and suffering I experienced was the evil invasion of Kuwait by Iraq under Saddam Hussein on 2 August, 1990.<\/p>\n

It was a Thursday and a KOC holiday. Most of us did not know of the invasion until late in the afternoon. I was then living in a company-provided accommodation in Fahaheel. By evening Fahaheel area, including markets and our building were all occupied by hundreds of Saddam\u2019s soldiers. They were shooting wildly on random objects and in the air. Terror engulfed all people living in Kuwait.<\/p>\n

It was a scary time, we could no longer move through the streets or ground adjacent to our residence. We were also stopped from going to the beach as news spread that the beaches were mined. There was a shortage of food and we all had to go through unlimited suffering due to uncertainties and risky life conditions.<\/p>\n

Iraqi soldiers conducted nightly checks on apartments, going through each room, stores, balconies and wash rooms, asking questions about family, job details and trying to find if any Kuwaiti or Arab was hiding in the flat or nearby. We faced these harrowing experiences myriad times.<\/p>\n\r\n