A report just published by the Federation of Arab Banks Associations has put the wealth of Saudi businessmen at more than SR900 billion, compared to SR600 billion for their counterparts in the United Arab Emirates. However, UAE businessmen are ahead when comparing the total population in each country with the number of wealthy individuals. We must admit that the people of the UAE have succeeded in turning their country into an ever-expanding workshop with new businesses constantly being launched.
This article is about the money that should have been collected from zakah (alms) paid by our wealthy citizens from their staggering SR900 billion wealth, which is estimated to be in the tune of SR12 billion. Compare this to the amounts spent by all Saudi philanthropic and charity societies on the poor, which is no more than SR1.3 billion. But not even this modest amount comes from individuals — a large part of it comes out of the state coffer and from investments being made by these societies.
Let us assume that from the total collected by the Department of Zakah and Income Tax from individual businessmen (excluding companies and farmers), social security is allocated in the range of SR3.3 billion. Let us also assume that another SR500 million is given to such bodies like the International Islamic Relief Organization, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth and other charity institutions. There still remains a huge balance of more than SR6 billion. Counting the money from zakah paid by individuals other than businessmen, this would mean the department is actually getting only one fifth of the expected SR12 billion figure.
It is ironic seeing Bill Gates and his wife donating billions of dollars, almost half their wealth, to charities and other humanitarian projects, while our wealthy people give crumbs. Furthermore, the amount donated by Bill Gates over a period of five years equals the amount spent by all Saudi charity organizations in 13 years.
This is a situation that needs serious consideration. We should start asking ourselves what we have been doing all these years.
I am not generalizing since there are many Saudi philanthropists who have dedicated their wealth to the service of Islam, helping the poor and needy and serving their country.
I suggest that the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs issue a list of honor for the top 100 Saudi philanthropists and donors who have helped charity organizations over the past ten years.
A Good Example To Follow
Dr. Muhammad Al-Harbi • Al-Watan
We shouldn’t expect others to come to us offering to solve our problems. The problems are our own creation and thus the responsibility for solving them should lie wholly with us.
To be able to address and seek solutions to our problems in a serious and constructive manner, we need first to undergo a soul searching process which puts national interests above all other considerations. We have to develop a spirit that appreciates and values work because it is spirit that drives people to work hard, respect time and enjoy the real value of money.
I read a recent statement by the deputy minister of education for girls’ affairs directing his department to set up special service units attached to various government departments. These units would help expedite finalizing any businesses his department’s employees had with the other departments.
This is an important measure that would have positive effects on the morale of those employees and help save a lot of time, energy and money being wasted by employees moving from one government department to another.
Take Saudi Aramco as an example, this big company should have long realized the importance of saving its employees’ time and energy instead of seeing them leave work to attend to some private business. Aramco has a huge staff of 52,000 workers. If just two percent of these leave their offices every day to go out and spend between two and three hours at a government department, this would translate into 3,120 lost hours. Assuming that the worker earns SR50 per hour, Aramco stands to lose SR156,000 every day. Add to this the inconvenience and time loss incurred by people who have business to do with the absentee employees, not to mention the traffic jams caused by people moving from one government department to another at a time when they should have been at work.
Large public corporations should start taking similar steps to the one adopted by the ministry of education to stop their employers absenting themselves during working hours. Assigning others to do this kind of work would also help in the fight against unemployment by providing jobs for many Saudis.
