SAMEE-Our Story
There are
many times we ex-ex-pats or children of ex-expats from the Middle East think of
the past days as being safe, glorious, and plentiful. The bonding among
expatriates in the 80s, especially in Saudi Arabia was great. Colleagues of friends came to stay in friends'
or colleagues' houses. They might have barely known each other but the trust
was great and so was the bonding.
In Saudi Arabia:
We 1980s had
the following events, for those who came in the late 70s like us:
·
The
Koreans made roads in the 1980s
·
New
Buildings being built
·
Caravan
Market
·
Introduction
of Sarawat Super Store. There was Safeway and –“International Market” called Sarawat
1.
·
Atari
Games.
·
Shwarma
·
Musakkil
·
Tihama
Bookstores
·
Al
Baik. I never saw the name yet I remembered the logo in the sauces.
There was
the broast and the usual chicken that was grilled and both cost similar except the
grilled one had rice.
The Broast
chicken had French fries and Toum’’(Garlic sauce).
SAMEE stands
for Saudi Arabian and Middle Eastern Ex Expats. This gives us SAMEE.
Ok we don’t
have a site because we need funding, once we have that a site can be easily be
made.
SAMEE is not
just for people who live or work in Saudi Arabia but also for people in the Middle
East.
Condition
being is time period:
1970s-2000.
Few cases of
SAMEE making it big.
Few are:
·
LuLu Group Chairman: Yusuf Ali.
Age:68 years.
Wealth: 8.4 Billion US$
Story:
Yusuf Ali completed a diploma in Business management and administration
and went to UAE in 1973 for his future. He is from a small town in Kerala,
India.
He went to work and struggled but with the help of his uncle,
he established a Hyper Market in UAE and the rest of the Middle East.
Website: https://www.lulugroupinternational.com/
Nationality: Indian
SAMEE congratulates Yusuf Ali, as his story encourages many
expats to go in the Middle East.
This was man
was not a great engineer or doctor but had knowledge of business and saw the positive
side instead of complaining like a lot of expats.
Expats, fail to learn Arabic despite living in
the Middle East for more than a decade. Some think it is kind of a great thing
not to know Arabic or the local language.
·
Al Haramain owner Mohammed Mahtabur Rahman (Nasir)
Wealth: 250 Million US$
Age: 66 years.
Story:
Kazi Abdul Haque main founder of Al Haramain Perfumes. That
is they are a brand representing Attar’.
He was a trader of agarwood or frankincense. This trade was
done in Arabia for thousands of years by the Arabs. A shop was opened in Makkah in 1970.
The current owner is a son of Kazi Abdul Haque.
Read their story. Read their story.
Nationality: Sylheti Bangladeshi.
There are many such stories of expats making it big but in
SAMEE we want to unite stories, memories, and bonding in one platform.
Some of the brands in Saudi Arabia:
·
Suntop
juice
·
Afia
·
Savola
·
Vimto
·
Shani
The point is
to keep united in one platform.
Please
follow us:
·
Face
Book Page: https://www.facebook.com/SAMEEXPATS.