True Fact

You see how history can be distorted. In our version, the diamond was given to a Queen by a grateful nation...

Let's agree to disagree and carry on ...

Britexpat: No sir! No sir! You have got it all wrong! Please do not try to rewrite history. The fact is as follows: After two short wars, the Punjab was annexed to Britain in 1849 and Dalip Singh, Ranjit Singh’s eleven year old son, signed the Treaty of Lahore. One of the terms, stipulated by the acquisitive Governor-General of India, James Ramsay, the Marquess of Dalhousie, was that the Maharajah would surrender the Koh-i-noor diamond to Queen Victoria. And so this historic diamond, which had passed across the mountains and plains of central Asia with the ebb and flow of its dynasties, embarked on its voyage to England. Lord Dalhousie had written to Queen Victoria that he hoped she would wear the diamond as “a trophy of the glory and strength of Your Majesty’s Empire in the East”. The diamond set sail from Bombay on 6 April 1850 on board HMS Medea and arrived in Portsmouth on 1 July 1850.

It was not a gift.

acchabaccha: The Kohi-Noor diamond was a gift remember :o)

Jetsetter5000: "Colonial rule" or "colonial loot" (for just around 200 years?)

Mozart , yes better technology ,, but also cheaper technology,, why ,, because there a billion Indians , lots of brainpower sure ,,, but everyone competing to drive the real wages down. I've seen it in my country. Remember , be grateful you had colonial rule.

LOL. Delusional dude.

They will be Americans - not Indians.

The discussion here is moot. To suggest that Asians work harder than Westerners makes no sense. It is your perspective and opinion only

I must say that there are some extremly gifted 10,11 year old children from indian backround that have phd degrees in the states, imagine when they are in there early 20's, good genes i guess!

Successful launch at lesser cost means better technology. Money saved is money earned. Now,... did the penny drop!!!

" India sent space probes successfully at a cost cheaper than making a Hollywood blockbuster." ,, now why would that be do you think ? Think hard my boy ,, I am sure the penny will drop.

Whatever goes up must come down and whatever was down has to rise. The sun had set on the British empire long back. It was just circumstances which brought about the era of colonialism and industrial revolution. These circumstances were poverty due to growing population and lack of natural resources. Asian countries never faced this problem due to abundant natural resources. Even the diamond worn by Queen of England is Made in India. There is no pride in that but actually shameful. America is a superpower due to hard work put in by immigrants mostly Asians. So goes true for the middle east. People from developed nations go to Asian countries for better treatment at 1/10th cost. The concept of 'white is right' is obsolete. India sent space probes successfully at a cost cheaper than making a Hollywood blockbuster. People have to wake up to the fact that 'white is not always right'.

wow ,, hows that working out for you ? Reality check on aisle 5 please

Jetsetter500 & Motiv8er: India and other countries in the region would have been a stronger force had the British not looted this region for centuries. Pray tell me was Japan and China influenced by the west? I never accept westerners looking down on me and never will as I know I am better than many of them even though my backside is not covered in white skin. I hold my head high. Yes, the westerners have been pioneers in many fields and this is because people from Asia were not allowed to rise up and show their mettle when they were being ruled here. It is only when the westerners packed up and left ( or got kicked out for that matter) that local talent came to the forefront and the west began to see the rising powers of Asian countries and the latent talent they have. As for the degree, it is just a piece of paper. Whether it carries the name of an institution from the west or one from Indian the sub-continent hardly matters. At the end of the day, it is the knowledge and know how in one's field that counts. As for the language that we are using to communicate, this has just become a common medium now, a fallout from the years of domination by the west. In Japan and China and S Korea to name a few countries, all educational and vocational courses are conducted in the local language. The "best" from the "west" did not have any influence there. Just for your information, the Indian Prime Minister Mr Modi the leader of the world's largest democracy, hardly speaks English. The president of China and the PM of Japan hardly do, let alone our friend Kim of North Korea.

The aura the westerners carry that they are super in everything and better than the easterners, is rapidly fading away. It is just a matter of time now and the clock is ticking away. If you find this difficult to accept, just gulp it with a pinch of salt.

And furthermore Achha ,, the real salary in my country has reduced somewhat , do you know why ? Immigration and more so refugees, too many people from "mighty" nations that are prepared to work for less money as they know that the reduced wage will be subsidized by the Government, which is not how a local would look at it. Sun finally set on the British Empire ,,,,, really ,, took a while fr it to rise again then.

I also heard dat Rizks emporium business partner a certain lalit modi needs the west more then anything for now :-)

actually , Motiv8er , you do have a very good point there , there are leaders in fields from Asian countries.

Jet I give you 15/10. cant agree more. I can sense Accha tsunami building up :-/

Seriously , do you believe that India would be such a force if it had not been for British rule ? Surely not , again , countries like this one , do you think it would be in such a position if it had not been for Western influence,, surely not. I have worked in over 30 countries ,, and let me state this , get the chip off your shoulder and examine the facts, but , I do not thiink you will because a small part of you still thinks all westerners look down on you ,, its an inferiority complex i see every day of the week and there is no need for you to have it ,, but you just feel you have to prove you are equal or better ,, when frankly I do not care ,, but your statements about salary vs nationality are misguided. Are the most respected degrees from India of the same worth as say a degree from a high ranking UK or USA educational facility? Get over yourself

Accha - why do you need to stretch everything? All I said was they have and are the pioneers in many fields be it technology etc and for the rest asians are there to slog their a$$. evn the language we are communicating here is from there. So west is the best.

Jetsetter500: The ball got into motion when the "sun finally set" on the British Empire. That was just after the Second World war. The people of the Indian sub-continent region got out from the yoke of British rule and stood up. Today, they are both an economic and a military force to reckon with. You may be right that it was during the past 20 years when things began to even up but the momentum began after the British were sent packing home.

60 years ago ?? no way , maybe in the past 20 years things started to even up ,, but 60 ? You are living in a dreamland

Brit: I agree with you. However, when a person firmly believes that "all the best" things come from the West, I think he was stretching things too far. I just wanted to shatter the "dreamworld" he was living in.

acchabaccha: I would have to disagree with you regarding expertise. There are good and bad from ALL nationalities. We as expats have met many.

Motiv8er: Sixty years back what you have stated may have been true. However, things have changed since then. Just look around your with an open mind. China, Malaysia, India, Pakistan are countries where the white man from the west who you term as "the best," is no longer needed or even seen around. These countries have stood up on their own feet and have demonstrated to the world they are equally good if not better than people from the west. That "aura" of people from the west being superior and the "best" as you claim, has long faded away. It is only here that it still lingers on but the locals are gradually wakening up to the realities. I have worked with many westerners in the Middle East and k-n-o-w how good they are. A British maintenance engineer at the plant I was attached to, did not get his contract renewed after the first year. This was also true in the case with a Warehouse Manager from Great Britain. The Saudi management of the company were cursing themselves for hiring this WM and heaved sigh of relief when his contract ended. Just last month QL saw a post from a "teacher" in England who has been offered a job at Al Jazeerah Academy. The "teacher" whose native language is English, could not write even four lines in English correctly! Even the subject line of his post carried a grammatical error. My company here hired a GM from Britain who was being paid QR 50,000. He was sent home during his probation period.

He was not worth his salt!

Change is the rule of nature.

There isn't any need to write.. It is understood. And it's not only in Middle East but the world over. They are the best !

There is a simple unwritten rule here in the Middle East which the locals believe in: The White Man is The Right Man.

Westerners deserve it because they are smart and pioneer's in many fields. For all other hard work Asians are always there

How much more are you earning in comparison to back home ?

Y should a westerner earn double if he is doing less job than his asian counterpart?

In most cases a 'Westerner' will earn double the salary he/she was earning in home country , whereas as an Asian will make anything from five to ten times .

Use yourself as an example

This has been discussed numerous times. This started with the Anericans in Aramco. For the same role, The Anericans were the highest , then the Europeans, then Canadians, Australians, South Africans and Asians.

The logic is that it is because of the salaries earned in their home countries and the cost of living.

You may not agree , but such is life

@Britexpat: Dr. Sitaraman of Doha Bank might be Earning 100K per month. Cos he is the CEO. But the Question asked here is why is there a discrimination between an Asian and a European/American? Is it because of the nationality?

Is he from Doha bank, a south indian ?

I know an Asian who earns over 100k a month