Community counsellor urges financial prudence for Indians in UAE

KV Shamsudheen, an Indian social worker who has lived in the UAE since the 1970s, runs regular money management classes for his compatriots, especially those who belong to low-income and mid-income groups.

K V Shamsudheen says many expatriate Indians’ families ‘assume that the person earning in the Gulf is flooded with money’. Satish Kumar / The National

DUBAI // A community counsellor has urged Indian expats and their families back home to make more efforts to save money.

K V Shamsudheen, 67, a social worker who has lived in the UAE since the 1970s, runs regular money management classes for his compatriots, especially those who belong to low and mid-income groups.

“I have seen people who came here long ago and have earned for years in the UAE, yet they don’t have enough money to buy their return tickets,” Mr Shamsudheen said.

“Whatever they earn here, they blindly send money to their families back home. As a result, I have seen many people who, after working for years in the UAE, are not in a position to give a comfortable life to their families after returning to India.”

Mr Shamsudheen believes that the global financial crisis of 2008 jolted some common sense into many expatriates in the Gulf, especially those following a frivolous lifestyle.

He said they realised that there was a possibility they could lose their jobs and if they did not plan for the future they could end up destitute in years to come.

“I think the recession was a blessing in disguise because more and more people started putting an emphasis on saving,” he said.

Mr Shamsudheen also blamed the families back home for the financial problems some expatriates found themselves in.

He said they did not appreciate the hard work that their relative face to send them their remittance. With this in mind, every six months he returns to his home state of Kerala to conduct money-saving workshops for wives of expatriates in the Gulf.

“Wives back home just love to spend all the money that their husbands send them every month. I try to tell them that their husbands sometimes have to take out a loan to keep up their wishlist,” he said.

Khalid Abdullah, 32, an Indian who works for a private company in Dubai, regularly attends Mr Shamsudheen’s lectures.

Three years ago he was caught in a spiral of ever-increasing debt.

Mr Abdullah said the lectures taught him one vital lesson – live within your means.

“Whatever salary you earn, only spend 80 per cent of it,” he said.

“For example if your salary is Dh1,000 then imagine that your salary is only Dh800 and all your expenditures should be within that 80 per cent. The remaining 20 per cent should be saved for rainy days,” he said.

Mr Abdullah also believed expatriates often recklessly borrowed money from the bank.

“Most people don’t realise that it is only credit and when you use the credit card you have to pay it back to the bank,” he said.

He also agreed that families back home should realise that their relative who works in the Gulf is not necessarily rich.

“They assume that the person who is earning in the Gulf is flooded with money.

“But families back home don’t know our income.

“We should not give them false dreams. We must share our income limitations with them so that they stop demanding unrealistically,” he said.

M Ali, 50, a Keralite who came to the UAE in 1979, agreed expatriates should pay more heed to saving money.

“In my first 15 years in the UAE, I never bothered to think about my future or life after UAE,” said Mr Ali, a bank executive.

“I spent whatever I earned. And if I couldn’t afford it, I used my credit card.”

He said eventually his debts reached Dh70,000.

Mr Ali then began attending Mr Shamsudheen’s classes and eventually came to understand the importance of frugality.

“He helped me to manage my salary and create a balance between spending and saving, “ Mr Ali said.