RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has enabled expatriates to lead a decent life and provide for their children’s education in a tension-free environment.
As a result, many of them obtained graduate or post-graduate degrees in various fields, including medicine and engineering, during their parents’ stay in the Kingdom.
Interviews with a cross-section of expatriates in the Kingdom reveal that while some have made use of the country’s resources and facilities for their professional advancement, others have had a good time, both here and back home, where they built houses and gave their children a good education.
These developments came about in the wake of the Kingdom’s oil boom which in turn triggered economic prosperity, leading to the influx of foreign workforce from across the globe.
They were recruited initially for the Kingdom’s construction and other infrastructure projects, including health care and education facilities as well as household services.
The first wave of this expatriate workforce arrived mainly from south and southeast Asia, while other expatriates from the US, Britain and other Western countries were recruited in an executive capacity to run the various institutions set up during this boom period.
Saudi Arabia’s special status as the home to the two holy mosques, was the major attraction for them to live and work in this country. It was a dream come true for them.
Both Saudis and expatriates have benefited from this God-given fortune, including the children of those expatriates either living with their parents here or staying back home in their respective countries. Thanks to their parents’ remittances they were able to afford a good education in private or high-quality schools in their own countries.
Another major attraction for these expatriates was that the Kingdom not only provides attractive salaries, accommodation, medical insurance and other facilities but has also thrown open its schools to expatriates for free education in government schools and even some upscale private schools like Manarat School in Jeddah and other learning centers.
A symbol of this change is Asnora Saleh, a Filipino whose father worked in Jeddah during the 1980s when she was only six years old. During her stay in Jeddah, Saleh, her three brothers and two sisters, all born here, were also given a chance to study at a well-known private school for elite Saudi children.
Saleh and her brothers have already obtained college degrees, and one of them even secured admission to the computer engineering course at King Fahd Petroleum University in Dhahran under a government scholarship. Saleh subsequently went to Egypt to continue her studies after getting a scholarship grant from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The grant is meant for science and medical students, and Saleh was among those eligible for it.
Speaking to Arab News, Saleh said Saudi Arabia has provided some rare opportunities to expatriate employees including free education for their children. In their case, their simplest dream was to study at Saudi schools mainly to learn Islamic values and Arabic language.
“I did not expect that my Arabic background will open my ambition to a wider horizon of learning like medicine or computer science for my younger brother,” she said, adding that they were so lucky to have these opportunities here despite being expats and this again proves that an Arabic education is not limited to certain courses.
This also applies to her husband Hussien Datu, whose father is Azis Ramos Datu, both civil engineers. His father had worked in the Kingdom for 24 years and contributed to the growth of the construction industry as an engineer supervising construction of bridges, highways and other infrastructural facilities in the Kingdom.
Unfortunately, he died while working abroad. “He is my ideal as he brought us up very well by providing a good education and a comfortable life,” Hussien said. Hussien’s father put in a lot of hard work and sacrificed his own comfort to give a decent education to his seven sons. “We are so proud and thankful to our dad and to this country. Because of him, we have all finished college,” Datu said, adding all his children have achieved outstanding success in the fields of civil, mechanical and electrical engineering as well as in other fields like seaport customs, accountancy, policing and nursing.
Expressing his gratitude for all that he earned and gained in the Kingdom, Datu observed: “It is difficult to express in words how much we owe to Saudi Arabia. We can’t deny that most of the expats have had a positive impact on lives when they worked in the Kingdom, especially Muslims, who can bring up their families in an Islamic environment enjoying peace and security.”
Besides looking after their own interests, expatriates did not lag behind when it came to safeguarding national interests back home. The devastating floods in the southern Philippines galvanized overseas Filipino workers into action.
Their various associations rose to the occasion in response to the appeal of SPMUDA Executive President Camad M. Ali for funds as part of their relief and rehabilitation drive. It was not for the first time that the Filipino expatriates braved the challenges.
During the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in 1990, there was an exodus of OFWs into Saudi Arabia. With the cooperation of then Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Muhammad M. Tamano, OFWs pitched in with their help in organizing relief work for Filipino refugees in the Philippine international schools in Riyadh. The refugees were fed and looked after in all other respects till Philippine Airlines could airlift them back home.
