Here are some questions emailed by a fellow Filipino who intends to work/move to Doha. This would be a first in a series of questions and answers that we receive from people reading our blog. Most of them are inquiries about living in Doha, moving to Doha and other stuff related to Qatar. Although you might get more answers from different people from other forums, we try to be more perosnal in terms of how we answer your questions. So here goes Life and Leisure in Doha, Qatar: The FAQ Series 1
Question 1: To assess your overall stay in Qatar, can you imagine your family coming back to the Philippines permanently in the future? Or my question in tagalog should be "mas maganda bang mamuhay sa kabuuan dyan sa Qatar o sa Pilipinas?"
Qatar is not like Canada, Australia or New Zealand where most people migrate and try to live their lives on those countries. First, you can’t get an immigrant status nor citizenship unless you get married to a Qatari probably or you have lots of money (you can buy property for QR500,000 I think) that you can afford to invest and get a 99 year tenure for yourself. Since you can’t be a citizen, that also means you don’t get the benefits of being a citizen in such country. If you’re thinking of migrating, the Middle East is not for you. Although I know a lot of people who have spent more than 20 years in the Middle East, I’m not too sure how many have made the Middle East their home after Philippines.
So to answer your question directly, of course, I do intend to go back to the Philippines. Or if not in the Philippines, I can probably apply as an immigrant to Canada, Australia, New Zealand or wherever I deem is more suitable. I think most of us working in the Middle East use it as a jumping point to another place or for us to be able to save money for our families but not necessarily stay here for the rest of our lives. That is not to say that living here is not better than living in the Philippines. It depends on a lot of factors;
- Are you getting much more money than what you are getting back home?
- Are you able to save money with your salary and expenses?
- Have you been able to make friends and get a support system for you especially that you don’t have your relatives here?
- Are you able to send your children to good schools?
Again, even if the answer to all of these questions is a YES, I don’t see Qatar as a place to spend your whole life with.
Question 2: Are there lots of Pinoy in Qatar?
Yup. You’ll be surprised how many we are here. It might not like be Khobar, Saudi Arabia wherein you really feel like you’re in the Philippines with like hundreds or thousands walking and just hanging out in the city center but I’m sure you won’t feel that you’re the only Filipino here.
Question 3: Is Qatar a normal place to live in?
As normal as it can get. Again, this is not like Saudi Arabia. It is a very open country. You can practice your religion openly by going to mass (although there is no real Church building to speak of at the moment – they usually hold masses at schools). You can have wine and alcoholic drinks at home (if you get a license) or at hotels. There are some differences in culture, on what is allowed and what is not. For one, Pork is not allowed here. You’re also restrained to show public display of affection even if you’re with your wife/husband but not in a sense that you can’t hold hands or so. In terms of clothing, I don’t really see people frowning when women wear short skirts or tight shirts. You can’t avoid cultural differences anywhere you go and even laws from one country differ from another. You just have to understand where you are and respect where you are. If you can’t live with their culture, law and the like, you can always go back to where you’re comfortable at right?
more in the coming days...
