Moving to Bahrain ?

After spending a month in Bahrain and learning about the island, I will highlight few points which can reduce the anxiety of fellow expatriates who are moving to The Kingdom of Bahrain.


Being from India, my reactions or opinions are biased towards sub-continent workers however I am sure others will find it helpful too. Before I begin, just a small background about myself and what I do in Bahrain. I have recently started working as a sales support engineer in a trading firm which deals in a number of industrial products. I am single and a very social person.

Bahrain is a true example of liberalised gulf nation, although there is a Monarchy, it is unlike other Gulf nations.

Gulf Air
Gulf Air was the first true International airline from the region, not only it capitalised on the centralised location but also connected most cities in the region with the outside world. Rulers of Oman, UAE, Qatar, Saudi & Kuwait held minority stake in the airlines and promoted the airlines as their national carrier. However the happiness was short lived as all nations learnt the importance of their locations and established numerous airlines such as Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways, etc. and took away Gulf Air business. Although the airlines flies to 41 destination, its has never been able to regain its lost charm.

Arab uprising
Bahrain has had a tough 2011 with a number of protests, however things have settled down since last year F1 race which got cancelled and people have moved on. However there are instances of violence in troubled areas and police are always on their toes. Communities live in pockets, like my area Umm Al Hassam is dominated with Indians and most Britons are based in Anwaj island, so I recommend doing some local networking while you are here.

Arabic
Arabic is the national language, however apart from English, Hindi and Malayalam is widely spoken. I was with a local in my sports club and he said in Hindi "80% of Bahrain knows Hindi these days"

Work-Life
Bahrain is a small nation and its no surprise that people rush to their homes for lunch. Its surprising to see myself stuck in small traffic at 1300 hours at a road which remains deserted throughout the day. There is no rush like big cities and people do enjoy a lot of time for them self.

Social circle
Being small, it is easy to break into existing social circles. Bahrain is the only nation which allows existence of religious and cultural societies making it easy for individuals to connect with beliefs. I believe Bahrainis are the most down to earth individuals when compared with locals from neighbouring states.

I will keep updating this article from time to time.