Khalaf Al-Harbi Okaz newspaper A youth who studied abroad on a government scholarship returns home. He has learned a lot there and missed much here. He starts to synchronize his biological watch to match with the local time. In most cases, employment opportunities will be more limited than the expectations of the graduate. In some cases, nepotism will have a magical effect. The graduate will be employed long before his plane touches down. When a student begins his professional life through nepotism, all that he or she has learned in the advanced countries becomes futile. Therefore the ambitious scholarship program should be paralleled with an employment program, otherwise the expected gains will evaporate with the passage of time. The vapors will increase the dark clouds of bureaucracy that will not go away with artificial rains. As the scholarship program drives us to be voluntarily optimistic about the future, I will start the messages of the students with a happy one I have received. The message reads: “I wrote to you about a year and a half ago. At that time I was not employed. I had graduated from a US university majoring in medical administration. I want to convey to you the good news that I have now got a job to serve my religion and my home county. I am now the director of King Khaled Hospital in Tabuk after I have proved myself worthy of the job. I am 32 years of age. Young men and women who were sent abroad on scholarships must be given the opportunity to serve their home country. Our country needs qualified and loyal national cadres. Thank you, Salim Al-Attawi.” Optimism, however, sometimes makes us overlook the painful situation in the private sector. For this reason I will summarize to you the message I had received from Ahmed Al-Otaibi, an engineer, which reads as follows: “The total value of the construction projects currently being implemented in Saudi Arabia is the highest not only in the region but in the entire world. This value has definitely crossed the barrier of SR750 billion. “I am a Saudi engineer who graduated from a British university about two years ago through the scholarships program. I was then employed by a gigantic Saudi construction company, which is implementing most of the mega projects in the country. About four months ago I resigned from my job because the company was making all forms of immoral and unethical moves against the few Saudi employees to force them to quit. “The Saudis were a minority compared to employees from a certain Arab nationality. Non-Saudis were paid double our salaries even though they had little or no qualifications. I specialized in a rare engineering subject that is much in demand in the labor market. I came back home with high hopes because I would have a chance to contribute to the building of my country. Regretfully I had to face the painful realities. “As one of the media men who are keen about the interests of the country and citizens, I hope you will do us justice by uncovering the corruption at these private construction companies which are destroying the qualified national cadres by hiring large numbers of unqualified foreigners at the expense of Saudis. The construction boom that we are witnessing now will not continue forever. According to estimates by some economists, this boom will end by 2020.”
