A Word A Day (in the UAE)

Identity

2011-12-29T13:28:00.004+04:00

This post will, I hope, serve some utilitarian purpose for any UAE expat resident who has not yet applied for his/her national ID card. Although I give a completely anecdotal account, I expect it will still help some to more easily navigate the process.

Before I start, here are a few links for official sites, which I should add were not entirely useful, seemingly not to include some quite relevant detail.

First time registration info
Typing center locations

Comment: Lots of centers in "old" Dubai, but only one listed in the vicinity of "new" Dubai.
Registration center locations

Comment: Just a big, country-scale Google map; not at all comprehensive or helpful.

My Story

So, I went off to the single listed typing center in new Dubai. Perhaps there are others not listed on the website, which would not surprise me in the least.

Location: Easy enough to find, along the Al Sufouh Rd side of Knowledge Village at the Dubai Marina end. Look out for a sign for the Medical Fitness Center and the typing center is located in the same building at the On Time Office. Easy to find with parking in a lot opposite the building entrance.

Experience: Certainly particular days, dates and times will affect one's experience. I'm sure the closer it gets to any published deadline for registration, the harder the process will get.

In my case, the timing was mid-morning, end of week, end of month and end of year, but far away from any impending registration deadlines. Despite being the only listed center in new Dubai it was not at all busy--practically no lines and only limited wait-time during processing.

But there were a few surprises along with the routine procedures:

In addition to the fees indicated on the website (Dhs 100 per year of visa validity and Dhs 30 for typing center fee) there is an additional Dhs 40 registration fee to the government. (Now, why isn't this mentioned on the official website!)

On the other hand, there is no need to pay a Dhs 20 fee for courier delivery of the card once produced. This option/requirement (thankfully) no longer exists.
There are application forms resting on the registration counter, easy enough to fill-in oneself, but no one or nothing alerts you to this, so you're likely to end up missing the opportunity to get this step out of the way in advance.
For first time registration, you need provide nothing but your passport with visa, and the cash for payment. (No credit card payments accepted).

You don't need any photos or photo copies of your documents. And it would appear that you also need not be present to present your passport; a proxy could do this for you.

So, that's all you need--passport w/visa and cash.
The wait... You then wait for your passport to get scanned and details to be logged by clerks into the system. Simple enough you may think, but I found my wait dragging on a bit.

On confronting the registration clerk I am informed the wait is for the payment to get logged into the online registration system. So no passport scanning, no nothing until a seemingly elemental and routine network function takes place. (Go figure; this happens instantaneously when making payments at retail outlets.)
Now, the real surprise. In due course (about 40 min) I get my passport back, a printed form and receipt, and an sms notification of my appointment at a registration center. Fine, I guess, but I'm not looking forward to having to compete the process more than a month off and at a distant Rashidiya location.

Anyway, ready to head home, I am told to go upstairs and get my finger prints taken. Hmm, OK... I wasn't really expecting this step. Didn't see anything about this on the website. So, I head upstairs, get a number and wait for it to be called. Soon, I'm on into a little cubicle to get fingerprinted and photographed.

That done, I ask the clerk, What next? What next, he shrugs. Wait to get an sms to collect your card.

Huh? That's it? All done? What a pleasant surprise!

Summation

So, that's the process--my process, anyway--in a nutshell. And it really was in a nutshell. The whole process took only about an hour.

But wait, here was a registration center right in the same building as the typing center. Nothing about that on the website. And wait again, even though I get an sms announcing an appointment some six weeks off, it's all for naught when all I have to do is head upstairs to complete the process then and there.

So, why isn't any of this on the official website?
Go figure, and go get your Emirates ID if you haven't already done so.
(I should also add, there were people ahead of me in line at the typing center. When told it would take from 30 min to an hour to get their passports back, they opted to leave the center and return later to pick them up. So, why weren't they informed that they ought just as well stay and complete the process upstairs?)

Living-Wage

2011-09-14T13:04:00.009+04:00

When did you first hear the expression "living wage" as a notion of the minimum amount a worker should get paid?

Minimum wage, as an expression and an important concept in labor, has probably been around for a long time. A living wage is fundamentally the same thing except for the added attention it brings to need for that wage to be sufficient to survive on.

In a word or two, Dubai desperately needs this! (All of the UAE and the Arabian Gulf countries, where you have millions of migrant/immigrant workers earning meager wages, need this.) Too many workers struggle and endure great hardship through their often long periods of employment.

My argument for a living wage is this:

Work is an all-consuming and fundamental determiner in the lives of most adults. It is rather inhumane that one would have to devote most of his/her waking hours to such an endeavor and not be able to at least survive on it.

A living-wage should be a given. Whatever one's job, if it is full-time, it should provide sufficient income to afford shelter, food, transport and other essentials like health care, clothing and a minimal amount of recreational and personal development opportunities.

Now, when discussing such things, defining the terms precisely often represents a stumbling block.

What exactly is full-time work and how does one define shelter and minimal standards for food, transport, health care, etc. These are not simple clarifications to make, yet there is no reason why workable definitions and standards cannot be set by competent authorities.

What is perhaps even more interesting and important is that definitions and standards would need to be relative to the situation on the ground. That is, the average standard of living in any given region and various demographic factors would need to be looked at so that minimum standards could be set to reflect these conditions.

So, how might a living wage work for Dubai?

Off the bat, a few ideas like the following could be considered for a fair living wage (calculated monthly):

General Cost of Living

housing/accommodation: the cost for 4 men or women to share a studio apartment, as a minimum standard, might average 500 dhs per person.
meals: 500 dhs per individual, mostly home prepared.
transportation: 270 dhs, which buys a monthly rail/bus pass with unlimited use.
incidental health care: 100 dhs, for occasional doctor visits and over-the-counter medicines (health insurance should be a universal employer-provided benefit).
clothing, recreation, educational expenses: 250 dhs, which could cover one's share of cable television or internet, basic clothing care and replacement and admission to a public park or library on a regular basis.

Dubai (& UAE/Gulf) Extras

savings/repatriation: 95% of the labor force in Dubai is expatriate or local-born expat and the vast majority of these work here with the expectation of providing in some way for themselves to return with or family back home. So, above and beyond their own living expenses, workers in the UAE should be guaranteed a slim margin above this, of say 200 dhs.
pension scheme: most expatriate workers lose out on retirement schemes in their home countries for being overseas and don't qualify for any government schemes in the UAE. The government at present enforces a system of gratuity, which is extremely limited and the calculator is reset, so to speak, every time a worker changes employers. So, no amount of substantial funds can ever accumulate. 100 dhs could be added to the living wage to support this need.

--drum roll--

Recommended Living Wage for the Workers of Dubai:
1920 Dhs ($523)
One more key issue is that many employers prefer to provide for some of the workers' living expenses like housing, food and transport (to the worksite). They use this as an excuse to pay significantly lower wages. So a cleaner, for example, gets paid 500 dhs per month. Obviously it is a cost-savings for the employer but results in what I would call exploitation of the worker.

While an employer should have the right to provide for some of the workers' living expenses in lieu of payment it should be as follows:

at the option of the employee to accept or decline, and
if accepted, the associated payment should be reduced by, say, 60% rather than entirely withdrawn.

So, if a minimum housing component to one's wage is 500 dhs, then if an employee is provided accommodation he/she should still be entitled to 40% of the 500 dhs, or 200 dhs. What happens at present is that employers often provide sub-standard housing and meals to employees (at very low costs to themselves) and use this as an excuse to pay extremely low wages.

At the end of the day, the worker is not the property of the employer. The worker should have the fundamental right to receive his/her full wages and determine how he/she shall spend it. The worker should have a great amount of control over where he sleeps and what he eats. The transport portion of his/her wages should not be subject to reduction just because the employer provides transport to the worksite.

The living-wage, on the other hand, should be a minimum standard for the working individual only, and not a family-wage to support spouse or other dependents. That is, it would be sufficient for the bachelor, as it were, who usually comes to the UAE alone. It is the reality on-the-ground here that most workers (both male and female) come to the UAE alone to work. It would not be fair or reasonable to expect employers to provide support for expatriate workers' families to live in the UAE with them or to be comfortably supported back home--not as a basis of a minimum standard.

So, let's hear it for a living-wage for Dubai's workers!
This is an idea that I believe expatriates, non-citizen locals and citizen-locals could all support. It could also set a precedent, with Dubai at the forefront, for all Gulf countries.

See a comparison of salaries and wages table for Dubai. Very few of the jobs on the listing fall below my recommended living wage, however, what the table does not reveal are the percentage of workers in each job category. Probably the single highest category for number of workers in the UAE would be laborer.

Criminal

2011-05-25T23:09:00.006+04:00

The man kissed the cross-dresser before discovering that his seducer was a man. After kicking the cross-dresser out, the man found he had been robbed and reported it to police. He was then charged with consensual sex and deported, while the thief was never caught.

The laws and law enforcement in the UAE has long been a big bone of contention with me. The above reference highlights the danger the expatriate community faces in in interacting with the justice system. The article in today's The National, UAE decency laws need reform, say judges, highlights a few of the problems associated with this.

One hard reality of the life of an expatriate in the UAE is that he or she can be deported and banned permanently from re-entering the country for even the most minor of offenses. Flip the bird as they say and say goodbye to the UAE.

So what!

Anyone looking at this picture from the outside might think it isn't worth being in a place where one is treated as so much the unwelcome guest. But this harsh facet of life in the UAE contrasts so sharply with another reality that makes the UAE the chosen place for work and residence for 90% of its population. The UAE is for the most part a welcoming international destination, where countless millions are offered visas to work and reside and they are for the most part left to live the way they like.

The catch, however, is that there is no ultimate legal protection of these privileges. As the article goes on to mention,

...couples who showed intimacy in public, regardless of how innocent, would face a mandatory sentence of deportation if convicted. Offences include adultery, consensual sex, inappropriate gestures and signs, kissing, touching, and intimate movements, according to another judge. Sentences range from a month in prison, in addition to deportation, to death.

Yes, that's what it says... death! It's on the books and these judges speak of things like mandatory sentences.

For most resident expatriates, the classic scenario is that you are involved in a traffic accident resulting in a minor injury. Whether at fault or not, you (the expatriate) are arrested and jailed for some period of time, passport confiscated and then deported.

Any evidence of alcohol in your bloodstream (there is no legal allowance, simply zero tolerance) and the jail time is extended, your insurance is deemed invalid and you become liable for all financial damages, even if there is no evidence that you were at fault.

Beyond this nightmare, which lurks in the back of any expatriate's mind, is the fact that the legal system is on the face of it extremely arbitrary. While there are laws that reference certain legal procedures, the reality it seems is that once one is taken up by the justice system all bets are off.

Will you have a chance to get legal consul, will any of the proceedings which go on be translated into your spoken language if not Arabic, will you in fact be released if and when a release date is determined...? It is all anyone's guess and everyone's worst nightmare.

On the flip side of it all, however, is that the UAE can be so scary a place from a justice system point of view that it keeps a lot of people scared straight about committing any crimes. The UAE is a relatively safe, crime-free environment as a result. But then, what is really criminal, when all is said and done, is that the system itself seems less to uphold justice than to subvert it.

HIV 2

2011-01-09T19:22:00.005+04:00

My first post on this topic over two years ago, HIV (11-Nov-2008), has gotten a lot of attention. It's a hush-hush topic, after all, and not only in the UAE.

It reflects the immaturity that still exists in many places around the globe. It reflects certain cultural sensitivities, no doubt. Even in a more mature intellectual environment, like that of the US, one has to go around saying things like the N word. How funny and odd that must seem to people not immeshed in that culture.

The problem in the UAE is that HIV cannot even be talked about much less its sufferers being treated humanely. In my 10 plus years in the country I have never heard any office chatter on the topic. It isn't featured in the media and it isn't talked about among groups of casual friends, colleagues or acquaintances. It is the H word here.

Of course, it isn't the only thing that isn't talked about. This is a place where the Internet is heavily censored. Untouchable topics include things related to sexuality, religion, government and some aspects of economy and culture. This, of course, creates an environment where intellectual development is stymied.

Father Knows Best

Now some defend this sort of intellectual subversion--it protects children and the local culture. And the truth is that, even in so-called free and liberal societies, there are things one might say that make many people uncomfortable and can even get one into trouble with the enforces of the law.

Still, SEX, RELIGION, GOVERNMENT, ECONOMY, CULTURE--that is quite a big chunk of topics to take off the table. My mental faculties have certainly been dulled as a result. When there are so many things that one is not allowed to talk about, one eventually stops thinking about them. You eventually stop really thinking at all. That, I suppose, is exactly what the powers at be want--and perhaps many others in the society at large.

And so THEY HAVE WON this fight here in the UAE. We (long term expats like myself) survive and thrive in the UAE, only by turning off a part of our consciousness.

Papa Don't Preach

Now, Abu Dhabi wants to bring culture to the UAE ala the Louvre, the Guggenheim and all things great being planned for Saadiyat Island. But what culture is that really? One hardly has the freedom of thought in this land. A richer culture might emerge, if only the UAE would refrain from deporting or arresting individuals who dare to express views on the many untouchable topics.

HIV--the topic which is the point of this post, but I digress.

I do not think the situation for HIV sufferers... OK sufferers is a completely wrong word choice. (People with HIV--HIV positive status--don't suffer. They live their lives in complete normality if not harassed by government or others in society.) People in the UAE who have become infected with the virus, for whatever reason, still fare poorly--especially those who are non-nationals.

There is no confidential testing. One should take a flight, not only out of the country but completely out of the region, to get tested in order to avoid risk of arrest and/or deportation, or ostracism if one is a UAE national.

Every year that World AIDS Day rolls around we get a few articles in the newspapers addressing the topic with a few hopeful words about how the government is starting treatment or looking to protect the rights of HIV infected individuals. BUT WAIT, this only applies to the population of UAE nationals. It is still the dark ages or the Spanish Inquisition for anyone so identified among the expatriate population, which by some estimates makes up 90% of the UAE resident population.

So, no change in the HIV/AIDS situation here in the UAE for expatriates. No change, either, is likely to come, as long as one dare not even talk about the topic within any public setting.

The Bigger Picture

All things considered, what makes the UAE a livable environment and a place where many people, both local and expatriate, can survive well and even thrive are

a little bit of luck--luck not to be the one to get arrested at the airport for having a grain of narcotic dust on the sole of one's shoe, or a leftover poppy seed from a bun eaten at a transit airport's business lounge--and luck not to contract the HIV virus, whether through a very human error in judgement or circumstances completely beyond ones control, and
a, not only benevolent, but genuinely modern and forward-thinking rulership in the person of those sheikhs and families who rule the UAE.

You see, although it is those same powers that be who have implemented the zero tolerance edicts against alcohol, drugs and HIV (and these things are not ALL vices), they also do a pretty good job of creating a society where there is some distribution of wealth and general peace and tranquility. They cannot be faulted for that.

My one suggestion is to consider that the UAE is still a young nation, which has at least done a great job of providing the basics and spurring incredible economic development. I say, give it time, and the social development will follow. Maybe they've got it backwards in bringing over the Louvre and Guggenheim long before there is any true freedom of expression. But perhaps these things will hasten an eventual social, political and religious maturity.

While being diagnosed HIV positive is still a great tragedy for any individual in the UAE--and not because of the condition itself, but because of the inhumane treatment by the government--it is one of those risks in life that some people choose to live with. It is one of those risks that I have chosen to live with and, at the end of the day, I still choose the UAE, I still choose to live in and call Dubai home.

Home

2010-06-24T15:38:00.013+04:00

What is it? Is it the place where you live? What about the place that you happen to be living at the moment?

For some people, I suppose, it's an easy question. Home is the place you come from, where you were born--where other family members and close relatives are. It can also take on a wider meaning, as in one's country of origin.

In a place like Dubai (or anywhere in the UAE) it is often a more complicated matter. Some people were born here to parents who were not passport holders. On reaching adulthood--18 or 20, I think--they are no longer allowed to live in the country unless they can get an employment visa or, with even more difficulty, a student visa. Imagine that--you are born and raised in the UAE and when you turn 18 you are no longer welcome. You are expected to return to the country of your passport--neither you nor your parents ever given any opportunity to apply for a UAE passport.

That is dire, extremely dire, and I would say the worst of any number of residency predicaments one can face in the UAE. But like many social issues here, the welfare of those affected is largely ignored. I mean, there is a kind of bottom line way of thinking here. If you're not a citizen--a UAE passport holder--then you are a guest, privileged on being allowed to live and work here. Anything else you get on top of that, like say basic human rights, is a bonus, an extra to be grateful for.

That sounds cynical, I know.

There is more to the picture--on the positive side, that is. Life isn't all bad for expatriates in the UAE. Some of us, myself included, are here by choice and happy to be here. But, everything in life has a certain amount of complexity and so too does living as an expatriate in the UAE .

Who's Counting?

Where is home is an especially complicated question for many in the UAE, when what one may feel about this may not be recognized on a legal basis. On the basis of UAE law, only 10-15% of the population of human beings who reside here (this is not including tourists) are recognized as citizens. That amounts to a huge number of homeless people. Incredibly, the government of the UAE has announced a UAE population figure of over 8 million. Five years ago this figure was put at between 4 and 5 million.

Has the UAE population almost doubled within 5 years? This is hard to imagine, especially with all the talk in 2009 of a great exodus due to the economic crises. Personally, I believe the numbers are credible. There was basically an unchecked explosion of new arrivals in the country in the boom years from 2002 to 2008. This could have well accounted for a doubling or tripling of the population.

In 2000, for example, when I first came to the UAE, the streets, pavements and parking lots of Abu Dhabi were largely empty and the road network, not to mention the number of buildings in Dubai, was less than one quarter of what it is now. For those familiar with the cities of the UAE, one might say that within a period of 5 years Ajman became as large a city as Sharjah, Sharjah become even larger than Dubai and Dubai become something of a world class metropolis. Had the economic crisis of 2008 not hit, Ajman, Sharjah and Dubai could have combined to become one the world's leading megacities.

So, yes I can absolutely believe that in 5 years the population in the UAE has gone from 4.5 to over 8 million. For the sake of clarity, population figures here normally include everyone with residency in the UAE. So that 8 plus million would include well over 7 million who cannot, from a legal standpoint, call the UAE home.

Home is where...

the heart is? I suggested in an earlier post that my home was my Peugeot 206 because I spend 3-4 hours each day travelling back and forth between work in Dubai and my home in RAK.

For me the UAE is home--for the past ten years--and Dubai, in particular, is where my heart is. It is a fantastic place to be. Since the closing of the 20th century, Dubai has been one of the few really it places on the globe. The world (Western world initiated) economic crises not withstanding, Dubai is still one of those it places. Even though I am not the sort of person to follow trends or care whether I am where the action is or not, the it factor that Dubai has is the kind of it that excites me. It is new and modern, it is ultra-international, it is bold, it is defiant and it has an attitude that says, Why not, this is Dubai!

I have read posts and commentaries of others who have said that Dubai has no soul, but that is just it... Dubai has a dynamism that can't be classified in static terms. You can't speak of it as having a particular style, look or flavor because these are the things that are constantly being melded and shaped by the flow of immigration and by the great effort of the rulers of the state to have a city and domain at the cutting edge. Dubai, inc or that so-called crass commercialism is a part of it, but equally important is the fact that Dubai is a city of Indians, Filipinos, Middle Easterners, East and West Europeans and others who, together with its rulers, are shaping a new kind of urban sphere.

That is the it that Dubai has, which is special, unique and above all exciting to experience. This is my home. I would be devastated if ever had to leave it.

P.S.

It seems that today is the first anniversary of Michael Jackson's passing. Waking up early morning on 25 June last year to that news was one of those very surreal moments in life.

Zombie

2010-06-10T17:56:00.006+04:00

That’s what I become when transiting Sharjah. It’s up-down-up-down-up-down on the pedal for the slow, painful creep along Emirates Rd. It is more relaxing to zone out than to get irritable and anxious about the lost time.

But even zombies have places to be and things to do. While in space mode I can't help but watch the minutes tallying up on the dashboard. The car inches more and more slowly, as the clock seems to advance more and more quickly. 10 minutes late for work, now 20, now 30…

Today I thought I’d beat the clock. The old highway connecting RAK with UAQ, Ajman and Sharjah is sometimes a nice alternative. Although undergoing roadworks—like everywhere in the UAE—it’s a nice relaxing drive from RAK until you hit the Ajman traffic lights. Here, they kindly display the time remaining for the signal to change. It is somewhat disconcerting, however, when the red digits on the display begin their countdown from 120 seconds.

Once in Sharjah, you can cross the whole width of the city (about 10 km), while encountering only 3 traffic lights. Starting from Ajman on the old RAK highway, you make a left at the massive Sharjah Airport Rd. roundabout (the first signal), then right at the first flyover. That puts you on the Dubai Airport tunnel road, so it’s straight into Dubai from there, with only two more signals to go.

But therein lies the catch. Each of those signals goes through a 3-minute cycle. My attempt to beat the clock today was thwarted with a 12-minute wait at the first and a 10-minute wait at the second. Once breathing a sigh of relief on crossing into Dubai there were still three more long signals to get through in Al Ghusais, before hitting smooth sailing at the Airport tunnel.

You can check in anytime you like...

The trouble with Sharjah is that it hasn’t bothered to invest much in infrastructure, unlike Dubai. I’m sure I am among many whose primary experience with Sharjah is traffic snarl on good days and horrendous traffic nightmares on bad ones.

The worst happens when it rains. Some people just lose their cars, forced to abandon them on the many roads without any drainage. But even on perfectly fine weather days a wrong turn in Sharjah can quickly dampen spirits. A major multilane road could without warning degenerate into a narrow path. Once you’ve tragically ended up on any such roadway to hell, you'll find there’s no turning back. At times like these, being a zombie on Emirates Rd. seems like the stuff of pleasant dreams.

Summer

2010-06-09T10:15:00.003+04:00

I guess I am getting used to it, but summer seems to have started later here this year. There were still comfortable days in late April--comfortable being anything with highs under 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit).

Now early June, the summer is definitely here with highs in at least the mid-forties (above 110 Farenheit), mixed with a good amount of humidity. The government is little-by-little taking steps to address the hardships of outdoor workers. What started a few years ago as a 1.5 month outdoor work ban between noon and 3 pm is now about 3.5 month-- as of 1 June this year.

A Pinoy Abroad article elaborates (Pinoy being the new most visible face of the expatriate community here):

Citing previous reports, Gulf News said that since the rule was implemented, cases of heat exhaustion in Dubai have dropped to 1,500 in 2005 from 5,000 cases a month in 2004. In 2007, there where only 82 reported cases of heat exhaustion and two deaths, the report said.

One of the most common ailments during the very hot weather is heat stroke or hyperthermia. Some symptoms of heat stroke are rapid pulse, difficulty in breathing, hallucinations, disorientation, and seizure. Victims of heat stroke must immediately receive treatment to prevent organ failure that could lead to death.

It is great that additional measures are being taken to protect these workers, but pretty shocking at the risks they still face. I imagine one can be easily lulled into thinking he has a high tolerance before suddenly being faced by a crises.

Enveloping Warmth

I consider myself one of those high tolerance believers. I don't face much risk, however, since I don't work outside or go for outdoor exercise. I just do the 5-minute walk from my parked car to the office, all the while thinking it may be hot, but I can surely take it.

I much prefer having too much heat to too much cold. Basking in the warmth or baking heat, as it were, feels kind of protective, like a warm blanket. I'll take that any day over shivering in a stinging, biting cold.

Sure, those warm and fuzzy feelings only come when the interval in the heat is brief. I have travelled a bit in India and know of people there who resort to sleeping outdoors at night, as the stifling heat can make it impossible to sleep inside. Their homes, built from concrete, absorb so much heat during the day that they continue to bake like ovens during the night. The only solution is to sleep on the porch or pavement in front of the house, while battling the mosquitos.

In the UAE everyone has air-conditioning, even the laborers. However, there are still the problems of electricity being cut, a current regular issue in Sharjah. It also happens often for the many bachelors living as unregistered tenants in over-crowded, shared accommodations, whose illegal landlords miss out on utility payments or air-conditioner maintenance.

That said, except for those outdoor workers, most of us happily hibernate indoors during the summer months.

Commuting

2010-06-08T16:51:00.002+04:00

I wonder how many in the UAE are doing long commutes.

I used to do a two-hour run each day from Abu Dhabi to Dubai. Now it's 1.5 hour from RAK. I was covering around 300 km daily before, while now it is about 200. The total 3-4 hours of lost time is the biggest drag.

I usually listen to the radio or play CDs, which gets stale fast. I had tried playing MP3s through a doodad that broadcasts through the radio speakers but the static and fading in and out was annoying. Another option was a cassette thingy that you plug your MP3 to and play through the car's cassette player, but that produced an annoying ticking sound and eventually broke.

When I bought my car 4 years ago I asked for an audio deck with an input jack, but that apparently was too hi-tech for the Peugeot dealer. So I had to make do with a CD player and have suffered ever since.

Why can't I just get the Internet in my car? I always listen to my favorite public radio broadcasts from the US when online. It is so frustrating that, still in 2010, we have yet to have Internet available everywhere, all the time.

I know you can spend a lot of money and get whatever you want, like a data card in a mobile device, and use that to connect to the Internet anytime anywhere. But if I had that kind of money I wouldn't be needing to commute.

Home Sweet Home

For me, the long commutes are pretty much a financial necessity, even with rental prices in Dubai having come way down recently. I used to have to rent while making payments on two off-plan purchases. Now I'm living in one of the off-plans (completed) in RAK, while still paying for it, with nothing left over to make a final payment on the other off-plan in Dubai (also, now complete).

The trouble in the UAE is that there isn't any financing from banks, for the most part, and developers won't let you take possession of a property until you've paid in full. (My RAK developer has turned out to be the rare exception.)

Buying a home and living in it, while you spend the next 25 years paying for it, is not considered a valid way to achieve home ownership in the UAE. Instead you spend years paying for something while it's getting built (if it gets built). You finally take possession once, and only once, you have made 110% or so of the purchase price to the builder. That extra 10% (over and above the purchase price) is for the myriad fees required to be paid before handover.

For me, that all means that I continue to spend 3-4 hours daily commuting to work. For now, and much of the past 3 years, my car has been my home.

LTI

2010-06-07T23:03:00.005+04:00

FIFA World Cup... coming soon. I don't care--not the least bit interested in football.

The BP Gulf of Mexico gusher continues... again I don't care, even though Louisiana is my home of origin. It's getting too much coverage, and it isn't another Katrina. So much media hype. Oh, and the president isn't showing his anger! The inane press--what does showing anger have to do with anything? That's the Republicans grasping at straws, trying their darnedest to pin something on the president. So, this is Obama's Katrina and he isn't angry enough. Give me a big, fat break! Take it off the news already.

Bhopal tragedy, 26 years hence. Now this is a story worth talking about. The stats I heard today: 4,000 dead in the immediate aftermath, 15-25,000 over the intervening years, and residents still suffering. What a tragedy.

Here in the UAE I used to work at one of Gasco's desert plants. We--I was there as a teacher for new local hires--were told that the sour gas risk at the plant was from the same gas that had killed all those people in Bhopal. We had gas masks ready in our dorm rooms, classrooms, etc. but few of us really took the threat seriously. Still, there were the occasional deaths at Gasco.

Despite the 1 million, 2 million... 100 million ad nauseam man hours without loss time injury endlessly being reported, there was the story of some workers who had got killed. One man was down in a pit and succumbed to a sour gas leak. When his workmates jumped into the pit to help him, they too breathed the odorless gas and died.

The moral of the story--beware of the invisible, odorless, fatal gas. And those poor workers who died didn't count in the LTI (loss time injury) stats. They weren't Gasco workers, but contracted labor--oh, like the 90% of the rest of the workers at the plants, all contracted in one way or another, so no LTI to worry about.

Folly

2009-03-23T21:36:00.003+04:00

This post relates to India, specifically to the news I heard today that Tata is prepared to begin sales of the world's cheapest car. This could someday be looked back upon as one of those genie out of the bottle or Pandora's box kind of moments.

The news report I heard explained that some analysts see the introduction of this very affordable car as leading the way to an environmental nightmare in India. Just imagine the millions upon millions of cars that could be added to India's roads within a few years' time.

Will road infrastructure possibly be able to keep up with this? Imagine the amount of additional air pollution this would create. The most striking statistic was a comparison of the percentage of cars owned today in India with that in very developed countries. Maybe I misheard the statistic--7 in 1000 people own a car in India today, compared with 600+ in a thousand in, say, the US, for example.

Correct me, someone, if I heard this wrong. If this is true, however, then introduction of this affordable car in India could mean an increase in the number of cars by 10, 20, 30, 40 times or more in the coming years. I can only imagine that this would create a nightmare scenario that would cause any existing problems in the country to fade to insignificance by comparison.

Congestion, parking nightmares, pollution and worst of all increased traffic accidents--the $2000 car in India could really become one of the most unfortunate developments that any industrializing country has ever experienced. If we look at this in today's terms, this is a case where government needs to sternly regulate free enterprise and say NO to Tata--for the greater good of the larger society.

As nice as it is as an individual to be the owner of a car, the value of that possession only exists where there is suitable infrastructure, traffic rules and all the other things required to support it. In a nation with a population of 1 billion plus already, increasing car ownership by 10x seems to be a certain recipe for disaster.

India really needs to forge ahead with a different model of industrialization, one that develops public mass transit systems instead of going the one family, one car route.

The introduction of an extensive train network was perhaps an equally pivotal event for India, but an extremely beneficial one, which is perhaps one reason why car ownership is so low today. India is one of those lucky countries where there is a legacy of public transport, inadequate as it may be by today's standards.

I hope India's government officials, MP's or whoever is responsible for looking after the public well-being will see the folly in Tata's new initiative.

Lessons

2009-03-20T11:54:00.002+04:00

The funny thing is that I can hardly remember the year much less the exact date--of my death. I'm sure many people, like me, have had a close call or two. Had only one thing been different I would not be alive today to tell the tale.

My death day was a pleasant, UAE late summer's day, in September or October of 2002. There was little out of the ordinary. I was riding along on my bicycle, as I had often done on daily commutes and trips around Abu Dhabi to wherever I needed to go.

On this morning I was out on an errand at the military base where I worked. There was little traffic to speak of, especially on this off day. Riding my bicycle, I had decided to cross from one side of the road to the other, while at the same time an SUV was approaching from behind.

I judged the speed of the car and its distance away to be safe enough to cross, but the driver, it would seem, had decided to rev up and zoom past me. Midway across the road I heard the car's engine and before I could turn back to see it, I was in the air and soon thereafter on my back.

There was the sound of the collision and the warmth of hot pavement as I lay on my back in the middle of the road. That, as it were, was my death. It was quick and painless.

Of course, I didn't die--I'm here to tell the story. What saved me quite simply was my bicycle helmet. Although unknown to me at the time, my head had hit the pavement before I landed on my back. This was reported by a witness and evident in the crack on my helmet.

As far as I was concerned I was in the air then on my back. In reality, I had experienced a collision between my head and the concrete road!

The helmet lesson is less mine to learn than for others who read this story. I had always worn a helmet, perhaps 98% of the time that I was on the bicycle. The lesson for me, however, as I ponder this instance is to not take life for granted.

I don't mean this so much in the sense of the cliché to smell the roses. What I mean is that we ought to be more aware of the second and third chances we get in life.

We easily forget what are even quite pivotal events in our lives. That cycle accident was a pivotal moment for me, but I can't even remember now the exact date. The passage of time of course, causes things to fade from memory.

After the accident, I was in hospital for a week with a minor back injury. Then I had to pay the driver 2500 dirham for damaging his car! (I'm reminded now of my distrust of the UAE legal system and resentment toward the driver and his ilk!) In time I returned to work and resumed life as normal.

The second chance the helmet had given me quickly receded from memory. Since then there have even been more pivotal moments but these too have quickly faded from view.

Perhaps we should pay tribute to these pivotal moments--enshrine the date in a plaque and hang it on the wall--to be reminded that we got that second, third, fourth... chance to experience more of life.

Dubai 2

2009-03-07T12:10:00.013+04:00

Why Dubai?
I can earn more money here than at home. I get some nice perks like free housing. I can save money because schooling for kids and other allowances are provided. What more is there to say--earn more, save more.
No, these are not my reasons. It isn't so much about money. It isn't even just about money for those coming from, say, a less developed country where the wages for work might be far lower than here in the UAE.

For those who do come for the money there are often other factors at play. For example, if the salary on offer in Saudi Arabia were higher, one would more likely choose Dubai for its liberalism. Many also choose Dubai because they have immediate family, relatives or friends here who precede them. Some also come for the vocational and professional experience that is perhaps more available in Dubai with its more dynamic, diversified economy.

I am not here for the money--I want to make that loud and clear! There are a host of reasons why someone might choose Dubai, which relate to personal factors as much as to economic ones. For me there is on some level a buzz or excitement about Dubai--and I don't mean for getting rich or making more money!

New York of the East

I arrived in Dubai from Sri Lanka in 2000, coming to look for a job--yes, money was a factor. I had not been to Dubai before so had few preconceived notions of what it was like. It was a coolish March when I arrived--just as it is now, the weather was great! What really caught my fancy was how international and vibrant the city was.

In those days--in Dubai years, 2000 was a long time ago--the life and activity of the city were centered around the Creek. All of the color and activity on the streets and on the Creek itself were sort of magical. I spent two weeks in Dubai on that first occasion and loved it. Fortunately I got the job I was looking for, unfortunately it was not in Dubai but in Abu Dhabi.

But it was those two things that hooked me--the buzz and the international flavor. It was also the particularly exotic flavor of the international element that intrigued me. It wasn't just a mini version of New York City, which probably vies with Dubai for having the greatest variety of nationalities represented in a single city. There was definitely something different and special about Dubai.

Luke Skywalker Meets Chewbacca

For those who have seen any of the Star Wars movies, my first visit to Dubai was like when the space travelers enter the crowded bar on this or that odd planet. As a Westerner, even one who had already lived in different parts of Asia, I had never seen so many people on the streets in all variety of dress, wearing tunics, robes and all types of head pieces, in addition to the men having beards, mustaches and all variety of facial features.

Then, there were also all the different languages being spoken, varieties of shops and restaurants, and so on. Two weeks in Dubai and I was sold on a city that was unique and exotic.

During the same trip I visited Al Ain. I had heard this and that about the garden city. I also visited the capital Abu Dhabi, with all of its wide, tree-lined boulevards. But these places did nothing for me. It was Dubai that had caught my fancy.

Now, year 2000 is ages ago. I don't think one can say the Creek is the center of Dubai anymore. I rarely even visit that part of the city now. Still, the buzz and international flavor are here. The once very exotic mix has become more Western, but it is still a mix of everything with even more nationalities than were here in 2000.

If not the exotic clothing anymore, what excites me about Dubai today is how it has transformed itself from an old Singapore-style trading city to an ultra-modern urban experiment on the cusp of 21st century development. Again, there is a kind of Star Wars symbolism here, but of a very different kind. When one sees the cityscapes in the newer Star Wars films, one can sense a bit of Dubai 2008 or 2009.

So Many Places

I have lived in other notable cities, one of these Honolulu, Hawaii. Without a doubt, that city and the Hawaiian islands have to be among the most pristine and beautiful places to live on earth, and Honolulu is also a very international city--mostly Asian and Pacific.

I also lived in Kyoto, Japan--for 10 years. It is a city where all of Japanese history and culture are in a sense preserved and still alive. Even though now overlaid with concrete dwellings and roads, the city is still a treasure trove of the most beautiful gardens and temples and is surrounded by mountains which change their colors with the seasons--from deep summer green, to autumn yellow and red, to winter white and then to bright green with the new growth of spring.

Last on my list of notables is Colombo, Sri Lanka. Now Colombo was--and is--a pot-holed, dusty and smelly-in-places, traffic-clogged third-world city, yet it has its charms. The people are ever so warm and friendly toward Westerners, the green cover, where it exists within the city and definitely on the outskirts, is of a glorious tropical variety, and one can quite simply experience life's simpler pleasures there. One of my favorite of simple pleasures was the shade of a tree--any tree or grove would do, which for Sri Lankans was sufficient to keep body and drink cool. Who needs air-conditioning or refrigeration?

A Personal Choice

Those fascinating and charming experiences aside, Dubai is still my city of choice. It is a city that dares to be first and dares to welcome all of every stripe (well almost every--sometimes in a don't ask, don't tell sort of way). It is in a way no one's real home (the local Emirati population sometimes feel alienated) yet domicile for anyone who wishes to make it so. I am still very much looking forward to the trails Dubai will blaze in the year 2009 and beyond--global economic woes notwithstanding.

Those are my reasons. What are yours?

P.S. Just noticed I had already written a piece entitled Dubai in 2007.

Buses

2009-03-02T23:49:00.001+04:00

So what is the public bus system in Dubai really like? Well, for one, a sweeping generalization is probably not really possible. It seems there are lots of complaints by regular users, yet on some level the bus system is pretty impressive. If nothing else, I don't think anyone can deny that it is ever improving.

On the upside the new buses are quite amazing and there would appear to be a great number of them. Most it would seem are either those long double-buses--buses with long appendages--or genuine double-decker buses of an ultra-modern variety. Who can complain when one of these pulls up and it's your bus!

But therein lie two of the problems. Does the bus actually pull up? Buses often seem to zoom past without any intention of stopping. Presumably they're full, but one wonders, and one can get extremely frustrated when bus number two, three and four zooms past without stopping. The second problem is is it your bus. Another great frustration is seeing that second, third and fourth bus pull up but it isn't your number.

Now again on the upside there are an increasing number of air-conditioned bus shelters. It would seem there are dozens, probably over a hundred around the city. I haven't heard many expressions of appreciation for these, but it is only now, since the shelters were first erected, that the weather is starting to get really hot. I think bus riders will soon start to count their blessings.

So, you've got some incredibly modern and impressive buses on the roads and air-conditioned bus shelters. Why then all the long faces?

An Unsystematic System

There is a bit more to the downside than the anecdotal reports of long waits and buses that zoom by. There is very little information to assist riders at either the bus stops or on the running buses. What routes exactly do the buses take--how about a decent map? What are the upcoming stops, for passengers sitting on the buses?

If not a frequent rider then it's all guess work. Worst of all is the fact that the posted timings at the bus stops appear to be in large measure fiction. Somewhere there appears to be a serious system breakdown, where drivers couldn't care less about schedules, supervisors don't monitor or control anything or the posted schedules are, in fact, just fiction. This, it seems, is where the greatest frustration lies among riders. This is what makes the bus system still in many ways impracticable.

Now, interestingly there is one issue that I seldom hear bus riders talk about--prices. It costs a flat 2 dirham to take any bus to anywhere. It's simple and reasonably cheap. That's 54 US cents. There is also an unlimited use bus pass which costs US$27 per month. So cost is not an issue.

The Big Picture

Those who do complain are often regular users, so they would seem to have valid issues. That said, one should look at the bigger picture. From a bird's-eye view what you have is a very scattered city, sort of Los Angeles-like but probably worse. There are two older sections of the city which straddle the Creek--a wide, water inlet that bisects the older part of the city. This consists of a traditional city layout which a normal bus system might easily serve. Beyond these two districts, however, is where the problems begin.

One source of problems is the great Sheikh Zayed Road, which starts at the edge of the traditional city and stretches on for 40+ kilometers before finally reaching the city iimits. Not only is this 40 kilometer stretch an issue, but the two sides of the highway are, practically speaking, as cut-off from one another as if the highway were a grande river. SZR is basically a super-expressway, but unlike the traditional superhighway, it is lined on either side with tower blocks of residences and offices, shopping centers, showrooms, etc. which means that one is always going to have something to do on one side or the other and more commonly both. Yet there is no way to traverse the two sides by bus--and certainly not on foot. If without one's own car then one can look at spending $5-10 just to get to the other side in a taxi.

The other problems are due to the numerous far-flung sections of the city, those along SZR being only one set among several. This is perhaps very much like Los Angeles. One's errands are likely to be scattered about 30 kilometers in one direction, then 40 in another and then another 50 to get back to where you started. When it comes to the daily commute between home and office, 50-70 kilometer runs each way is the norm for the many workers who can't afford to live in Dubai and have to travel cross-emirate. (My own daily commute is 150 kilometers each way.)

Under these circumstance the bus-network is severely challenged. Thankfully, the opening of the first metro line is but a few months away.

Burj

2009-02-28T09:40:00.007+04:00

This is an Arabic word that has pretty much crossed over to the lexicon of English speakers in the UAE. Meaning tower, it first came into popular use with the opening in 2000 of the Burj Al Arab--the famous, or notorious, 7-star hotel. More recently the Burj Dubai, the soon to be completed 162-floor super tower, has both added further popularity and a good amount of confusion to the term. It is funny that it is usually the local Arabic speakers who translate the word into English for English speakers when referring to either of the towers.

Although I know quite well that one is the Burj Al Arab and the other is the Burj Dubai, my tongue quite regularly mixes the two up. The situation could easily get worse as other tower builders are often inclined to add Burj to the name of their towers.

Beyond the symantics, the Burj, as in the 162-floor tower, is quite an amazing addition to Dubai's already amazing skyline. It isn't just a super-tall structure, but rather quite a beautiful edifice, especially when seen gleaming in the shining sun. Interestingly as well, it has been constructed as not a single, lonely monument but as part of a larger development which includes numerous other towers, an artificial lake and the so-called Old Town, which provides an artful contrast of old and new architecture. It is very much a job well done by its developer, Emaar.

It has been noted that when previous tallest buildings in the world have been built, their completion has ushered in a serious economic crises of one sort or other, as though there is a jinx associated with such feats. Perhaps we could call it the curse of the Tower of Babel. I came across this observation a couple of years ago, before any signs of the current global meltdown. At the time I thought, interesting coincidence, but surely the Burj Dubai will be the exception.

The economy of Dubai after all had been booming for years and the only hint of a slowdown was the forecast eventuality of over-supply in the local property market. No one would dare suggest that this was not going to happen at some point with the massive scale of construction going on. But the conventional wisdom was that, with rampant project delays and overly ambitious predictions of project completions, the day of reckoning was still a couple of years off and slipping.

Alas, come September 2009 the Burj Dubai too would seem to be headed toward the same fate or curse as the super-towers which preceded it. In 2004 the Tapei 101 tower was completed--no recession or dramatic economic events then. But the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, completed in 1998, seemed to usher in the Asian flu, the Chicago Sears Tower and New York World Trade Center towers in 1974 and 1973 respectively saw the emergence of the first world oil shock, and perhaps most notorious of all, the Empire State building witnessed the start of the Great Depression at its completion in 1931.

Certainly, it is not coincidence but rather symptomatic of great booms that they spawn builders to reach for the stars, while as a matter of course, they eventually engender their own bust. In the years that it takes to go from vision, to plan, to realization of a world's tallest tower, the boom will have crested and then begun its hasty retreat. So it is again for the Burj Dubai.

In this instance, there is perhaps a silver lining. The severity of the bust is as spectacular as the great feat represented in the construction of the tower. The Burj Dubai is the first super tower since the Empire State building to rise to such elevation as to leave any challenger far in its stead. It is probably now destined to hold onto the title of world's tallest tower for decades to come.

Consumerism

2009-02-27T22:37:00.004+04:00

Very much related to the credit crunch and global economic downturn is the problem of consumerism. On the one hand, a return to rampant consumption might be just the thing to turn economies around today. On the other hand, the day of reckoning has finally come after too many years of rampant and every-growing consumption.

A large part of today's mass consumption has been funded by debt. Consumer debt is at least one element of the current credit crunch. I heard on the radio today that the amount of consumer debt in the United States is equal to 100% of the country's entire GDP.

To put this into perspective, that number was at about 50% as of year 2000--a more or less manageable ratio--but then rocketed up over the next 8 years. Only twice, since such things have been measured, has the ratio of consumer debt been so high. The other instance was in 1929, the year of the great stock market crash, which led ultimately to the Great Depression.

Consumerism, then, might be considered the big, bad gorilla. It seems to become a problem in societies where a large percentage of the population has increasing levels of disposable income. It is quite logical, of course, that if one has more to spend then one will spend more. Then again, one could save more, instead.

Why don't people save more when they earn more? The issue, in fact, is not only one of rising incomes, but there is the pressure on the consumer that marketing brings to bear. Marketing is so rampant in modern societies that people are in a sense pressurized into buying more and more.

At some point, the marketing pressures reach such hyperbolic levels that disposable income once exhausted is quickly supplemented by credit or consumer debt.

The Nature of Consumerism

Consumerism follows an aggressive trend. If I think way back to my youth in the 1960's, the United States was, of course, already a very much consumption-driven society.

My reckoning of history tells me that it pretty much started post WWII, when the United States emerged not only from years of economic depression but became the world's leading industrial economy, practically unscathed by the devastating war and, in fact, positively energized through the experience.

Back as far as I can remember, however, people wanted things--mostly connected with home and car: a new refrigerator, a black & white or better yet color TV...

By the mid-70's the more common preference became the second TV or the second car. By the 1980's and beyond it was not only these rather nice and convenient household and transportation goods, but people began to fill their homes ever more with every manner of thing big and small.

By the 90's, when one would think there were few new avenues open for consumerism, services of every sort became the big thing. People began spending much more on eating out, grooming, those increasingly expensive cups or coffee, hotels, flights, etc.

Remembering the Time

It is that ever so aggressive trend that consumerism follows. When I think back to my early teen years in the 1970's life seemed pretty good. What more could a family need than what my family already had--a car, a color TV, the usual household appliances. But today, one of anything seems not enough.

If traveling in America over 500 miles then one feels he needs to fly. In former times most would have been content to drive, or take a bus. Clothing for children was something that was still often made at home, or if bought, handed down to siblings. Coffee was coffee was coffee--a 25 or 50 cent refillable cup!

The problem that underlies too much consumerism is, I would argue, not so much rising disposable incomes as over aggressive marketing and the relative space which people have in which to store the things they accumulate.

I lived in Japan for over a decade, during its booming years--the mid 80's to the mid 90's. The Japanese were no less bombarded with pressures to buy and spend money on goods and services than in similarly affluent America. But at the end of the day, they saved a big portion of their disposable income and bought less.

The secret of Japanese frugality was, in part, memory of the hardship that they had emerged from much more recently than had the Americans. But equally important was the fact that the Japanese lived in small houses. There was quite simply no space for a second sofa, an easy-chair or a second 29-inch TV. Closets were where beds were kept, leaving no space for overflowing consumer goods. In fact, many Japanese homes had little space for any furniture at all.

Cross borders and decades to the UAE of 2008-09. This has been a society of increasing wealth, with ever increasing pressures on the population to spend, spend and spend. The pattern of consumerism that took over 40 years to emerge in the United States has taken place rapidly here, in less than even a single decade.

Similar to Japan, however, the forces of consumerism have been held in check to some extent. More than half of the population has very little living space--from merely the space of a single bed to that of a single room. And many, in recent years, have been forced to spend 20-80 percent of their income on accommodation, as bare as it often is.

A Role for the Powers That Be

Whatever the society--Eastern or Western, developed or developing--consumerism is something that evolves and often follows a rather aggressive trend line. Left unchecked, people will easily cross the threshold of spending disposable income to funding their purchases by ever-increasing debt. I have personally witnessed this phenomenon in the USA, Japan and the UAE.

The biggest problem with consumerism, as I see it, is not capitalism per se or people's desire to obtain goods and services. The main problem is the aggressive marketing campaigns. People are bombarded with messages from every source to buy and spend.

I would argue that while governments should allow their citizens and resident population to buy and spend at will, it (the government) should play a strong role in curbing and restricting marketing.

This already happens with regard to issues of health, as in bans on cigarette and alcohol advertising. But there should also be some effort to control the extent to which advertising is allowed to proliferate overall.

The extent of advertising in publications could be restricted in any number of ways, e.g. no front or back cover adverts and adverts limited to a quarter-page size. The extent of billboards and streaming ads along the highways could be restricted, and so on.

Quite simply, if it isn't staring you in the face along every highway or every other inch of page in magazines and newspapers, the consumer will be a little less driven to part with hard-earned cash and credit facilities.

Economies develop and grow on the basis of increasing production, sales and delivery of goods and services, and marketing and advertising feed and nurture this essential economic activity--so the counter argument would go. Restrict the scope of marketing activity and you inhibit growth.

Then, let it be so! The sins and inherent danger in of over-consumption were already apparent even before the global economic meltdown. I suppose, however, that there was the somewhat credible belief that the cyclical economic corrections were sufficient to keep things in balance, negating the need to ever have a dramating day of reckoning.

The reality today, however, is that modern society will have to innovate other ways to develop and prosper, sans mass consumption.

In the end, too much consumerism is harmful to individuals, to societies-at-large and, as we can see now, to the entire global community. It is government's role at the end of the day to establish rules and frameworks that protect people and nations from destructive, and as the case may be, self-destructive activities.

Crunch

2009-02-26T17:41:00.006+04:00

I don't really know what is the single best term to identify this economic crunch that the whole world is talking about. Does it in fact have a single, recognized term or phrase? Perhaps that is something history will have to decide.

Dubai, of course, is not unaffected, and in fact some will say that it has been greatly damaged. I sort of dispute that. While some aspects of the economy have been badly hit, namely real estate, tourism and to some extent the retail sector, the economy is in large measure still intact and life and all the associated activity goes on.

The fact is that Dubai has been on a continuous diversification drive for the past two or three decades. Instead of relying one thing, say trade or oil, Dubai has for years taken pains to expand its scope of activities. One can start with the 1970's, when the ruler of the day, Sheikh Rashid I believe, had the vision to build a big new shipping port. Until that time the bustling port along the waterway that cuts through the center of old Dubai, the Creek, was perhaps enough for Dubai of the time to rest on its laurels. But the new port created a whole new dimension in trade and economic activity.

That it seems was just a beginning. The massive Jebel Ali freeport (tax free--or low tax, less bureaucracy--trade zone) was soon to follow, along with a number of other freezones each catering to a different sort of economic activity. In the late 90s Emirates Airlines began to emerge as a super carrier and at the same time Dubai began to fashion itself as a retail or shopping hub, both of which led naturally to the next big thing, tourism.

Right on the heels of Dubai's emergence as a major tourism destination came a nascent property market which within a matter of 3, 4 or 5 years came to eclipse even the great enterprises that had preceded it. Dubai's economy, even with the so-called credit crunch, economic meltdown or whatever it might be called, is still highly diversified and highly active. The fact that Dubai appears to be in trouble is perhaps more a testament to its successes than its failures.

The very fact that it somehow emerged as a banking and financial hub and a center for stock and commodities exchange, in addition to having its trade, retail, property and construction industries all affected simultaneously by what has happened in the world is evidence of the massive breadth of the economic activity that has taken place here in recent years. Even in the midst of this turmoil, I would dare to say that Dubai is once again, quietly while nonetheless steadily, making progress at developing one of the most modern urban infrastructure networks in the world.

While people continue to harp about the crises, Dubai's ultra-modern 76-kilometer metro system is fast coming online. Expansive highways with countless bridges, flyovers and tunnels continue to get built. The city is also making steady progress on its waterways expansion, such that within a few years time the city should have in place an extremely multi-faceted and efficient transport network. When the world finally begins to emerge from its economic slumber, it will find a Dubai already poised to race ahead again with yet new economic forays, made possible this time by an amazing civil transport systems.

HIV

2008-11-11T19:30:00.008+04:00

I suppose HIV status is passé for most of humankind unless one is or becomes a victim of the virus, or someone near or dear does. Fair enough. There are so many issues in life. Besides, HIV/AIDS basked in the spotlight of media and world attention in the 1980s and 90s. That is perhaps longer than a lot of other worthy issues have.

That said, it doesn't hurt to bring up the subject now and then as it remains a serious matter regardless of where it might be on the public's radar. In the UAE, in fact, it is not only a medical issue but a human rights one as well.

A scenario to consider... A person in the UAE goes in for medical screening (normally required when one applies for or renews a visa). The mandatory HIV screening shows up a posiitive--HIV+. This will automatically disqualify the person from receiving the visa or renewal. Department of Heath policy states,

HIV test is required for both new cases and visa renewal.
Test Interpretation: Positive result of the test will render the individual unfit to work in Dubai, U.A.E.

On the one level, so what? Why should a foreign applicant be granted a visa to live or work in the country when they are in some capacity not fit to do so? It is the prerogative of any country to admit who it pleases. Personally, I have no quarrels with this.

But what about in the case of visa renewal? In a country where perhaps as much as 90% of the resident population is foreign--non UAE passport holders--there are quite literally a million or more (of the total 5 million population) renewing visas and getting screened on an annual basis. Without researching the numbers, I would reasonably guess that a very large number of these renewals are for long-term resident expatriates.

Now, back to the scenario... Say, for example, a long-term resident has inadvertently and perhaps even unknowingly contracted the illness. Upon screening and being found HIV+, it isn't a case of simply being denied entry into the country. Instead, one is uprooted and expelled from the country. Regardless of what familial, financial and other commitments that person may have in the UAE, he/she is rather ruthlessly expelled.

There are stories of people being arrested at once and incarcerated, while immediate deportation proceedings are carried out. The person is hardly given the chance to make contact with family or loved ones much less make arrangements to relocate or settle their accounts--social, business, financial and otherwise.

Nightmare Scenario

Can you imagine! I don't think many take the time to think about what this must really be like. Ironically, it should make the impact of becoming aware that one is afflicted with this ailment seem almost trivial compared to the immediate trauma of being uprooted from one's life and livelihood.

That is where the question of human rights arises. If such stories are true, then it would mean that quite serious violations of human rights are occurring. I cannot even speculate on the number of cases there might be--if, again such stories are true. Sadly, for some, it would not even be a matter of repatriation, as there are among the expatriate population a percentage who were actually born here. To be forcibly deported from the country under such conditions would amount to forced banishment and exile from one's homeland.

My primary concern in this post is the human rights issue. But there is also a medical one, whereby such a draconian policy could in fact facilitate, rather than, impede the spread of HIV among the population. Just think about it--one may have reason to fear that he/she has contracted the virus. In most forward thinking societies the message is test, test, test! Know your status. But doing so--getting tested--in the UAE would risk facing the plight described above should one be so unfortunate as to have had contracted the ailment.

As a result of this fear--not of the disease but of government action--no one gets tested voluntarily in the country. One is practically forced to live with the virus untested and untreated, greatly increasing the risk of its further dissemination among the population. Touchet!

Dubai Cares... about what?

Shame on the UAE. I believe it is one of very few countries in the world with such draconian policy regarding HIV and AIDS. Now, what about Dubai's so called Health Care City. I am not sure that the word Care really belongs there. The country's stance on this issue is not only inhumane, but it also represents a potential failure to control the spread of the disease.

Addendum

Recent reports speak of government plans to illiminate job discrimination against HIV+ individuals. Good news? Well, any such laws will be for the benefit of the 10% or so of the population who are UAE nationals. For the other 90% of the resident population, it remains a case of immediate arrest and deportation.

Free education, free medical care and other benefits bestowed upon the national population are well within the purview of any government. Little argument can be made that such privilages should be bestowed upon non-citizens. But a country does not have the right to treat its non-citizen resident population or even visitors in a manner such as that exercised against those found to be HIV+.

The Crux of the Matter:

UAE government policy is to...

deny the right to work or remain in country to any new arrival or new visa applicant found to be HIV+. Fair enough.
deny such rights to a person who has already established residency in the country who at some point is found to be HIV+. No, this is not fair.
incarcerate and immediately expell any non-citizen, resident or new arrival, from the country who is found to be HIV+. Absoluely criminal.

Follow-Up

2008-09-18T15:48:00.004+04:00

This is my final edition of the Fire report. The National, first published early this year and Abu Dhabi's answer to Gulf News, has done an excellent reporting job again. As an aside, I have to say I liked this paper the day it first came out for its style of writing long, in depth articles. It offers a good combination of info, analysis and commentary. Gulf News has the traditional format of rather brief articles, while longer ones seem to restate what was just mentioned, sometimes in identical words.

I didn't really expect The National to have been able to keep it up but but it has, this time with an excellent exposé on the cause of the fire and related commentary.

Interestingly, the article quotes the building manager as saying that the "penthouse" shacks on the rooftop were part of the original, approved blueprint. Perhaps so, but I'm sure they weren't intended as residences, nor needed for such a purpose, as in years past the UAE and Abu Dhabi in particular was a mecca of spacious, cheap accommodation.

Apparently, many of the tenants are concerned that the building will be condemned, as it probably should be. It is, however, a sturdy stucture, and were this not the land of brand new everything, it would probably be just fine. What it really needs, besides a lower residency count and a lot of paint and facade work, is smoke alarms and the like, which could probably easily be retrofitted. It could turn out that the fire is just what it takes to get added improvements.

If they do decide to condemn the building I suppose some could end up on the streets--well, that doesn't happen here in the UAE. I wonder where the destitute really end up if not being forced to return to their country of origin. I'm sure, however, that some don't have that luxury--perhaps they can't afford the ticket home, or there really isn't a home to go back to. As for me, I'd be forced to face that world of stratospheric rental rates.

Without further ado, I turn this follow-up report to The National:

Oops, Planers Investigate Fire "Penthouse" is the story but it appears to be available only in the print edition. The Gulf News follow-up article will have to do in its place.

Abu Dhabi: At least 67 people, including 14 fire-fighters, were injured in Tuesday's blaze atop a building on Airport Road, officials told Gulf News.

Eleven among the injured were hospitalised, though no one suffered any serious injuries, according to the police.

The fire, that had erupted on the roof of the densely populated 16-storey building, trapped dozens of people on top floors. A wooden shack, built illegally on the roof, and two apartments on the 15th and 16th floors were gutted.

"It took over a hundred firemen more than two hours to put off the flame that began around 12.45 pm," said Colonel Othman Al Tamimi, Director of Emergency Management and Public Safety.

"The fire began from a makeshift home made illegally on the terrace," said Lt Colonel Mohammad Al Nuaimi, the head of the Quick Intervention Team of Abu Dhabi Police.

"Most of the people suffered from excessive smoke inhalation and not burns", he added.

Afterwards

2008-09-17T23:59:00.000+04:00

Day 2, after a restful night in Dubai.

I went to work in the morning as usual. The same friend who had alerted me to the fire, told me this morning of news reports that those affected would be provided temporary accommodation, on the generosity of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed and the Red Crescent Society. Interesting, I thought—it had never occurred to me that the powers that be would intervene to that extent. Perhaps part of the spirit of Ramadan.

Late in the afternoon I arrived back at the scene of the tragedy. My colleagues at work had commented on my calmness, but as I approached my building I began to feel uneasy. So different from just 24 hours earlier, the large parking lot was once again full of parked cars, rather than all the big yellow emergency vehicles. To that extent things had already returned to normal.

I entered the building—only the rear entrance open—and made my way slowly up the stairway to my fifth floor flat. There were lights on in the corridors but other areas were still dark. Glass and other debris littered the stairwell along with patches of water.

Reaching my flat, I was surprised to find a shattered window open to the stairwell and the door bashed in. It was quite apparent that the rescue teams were responsible for the break-in, as other flats were similarly damaged. It was a bit unnerving to find all my worldly possessions left exposed to any who might happen by.

Images of Katrina came to mind. One’s life suddenly borne open, exposed to the will of some unforeseen calamity. Of course, I was lucky that I had not lost my possessions to fire, but the feeling was a bit unnerving nonetheless.

It was, however, crystal clear to me that this was Abu Dhabi and not New Orleans. The risk of being a victim of looting seemed extremely remote. People just don’t do that here. Sure, you hear and read about what seems to be increasing incidents of crime in the Emirates, but if we talk percentages, I would insist that the risks here are still extremely low.

The office where I work, for example, is left most of the day and into the late evening open to whoever might push the door, even when no one is inside. The neighborhood bank branches have no security personnel on duty. Lock your car doors—why bother? Leave a camera, a laptop, your shopping bags inside—no problem. I love that.

But many, including myself, try not to take it all for granted. I have a habit of locking my car door, keeping a double lock on my flat, and making sure not to leave valuables lying about. Still, the law of percentages is certainly on the side of safety in the UAE. I plan to get my door replaced tomorrow, but I won’t worry in the interim that my unlocked flat remains vacant for another night.

That brings me to the highlight of the day-after story. That offer of free accommodation has turned out to be quite genuine. I find myself tonight enjoying the comfort of a new 5-star hotel in Abu Dhabi. It appears that on a first-come first-serve basis, those who applied for assistance were lodged in a nearby red light district sort of hotel. As chance would have it, I was a latecomer and that hotel was full.

I was directed instead to the 121 Hotel. Never heard of it, I thought, as I drove around in circles looking for another red light special. As it turned out 121 was in fact One-to-One, a newly branded 5-star property modeled loosely, it would appear, on the very high-styled One & Only Resorts. I have to blush and say it is one of the nicest hotel properties that I have ever stayed in—with attractive villa style layout and 5-star amenities.

Thank you, Sheikh Hamdan. The spirit of Ramdan has left its imprint on me.

Addendum: Cause

A report in today's Gulf News rings true. They blame the outbreak of fire on the existence of illegal, makeshift structures--shacks--erected on the roof of the building. This should come as no surprise to any current UAE resident. Although this is a country without visible slums, housing costs start at US $1000 per month for a studio--and studio flats are rare to find. The market provides mainly 2-3 bedroom apartments and 4-5 bedroom villas. What is a single-resident earning $250 per month to do?

Where planners and developers have failed to respond to the true demographic conditions, would-be entrepreneurs have stepped in to fill the void. They install plywood partitions in villas and flats or ply up to 20 beds (bunk-bed style) in rooms intended for use as single bedrooms and sitting rooms. Apparently, they build wooden shacks on the roof-tops of apartment blocks as well.

Even a bunk bed space costs $150/month upwards. A wage owner of $250/month is not going to want to spend 60% of that on a single bed. I would guess the makeshift shack on the top of my building provided accommodation in the range of $50/month. I didn't know it was there, and due to the fact that Abu Dhabi has rows of towers and apartment blocks all constructed to identical heights, residents of surrounding buildings are not likely to see these improvised solutions.

I had guessed all along, however, that there were a lot of partitioned rooms or bunk beds at the top of the building. The elevators went up to floor 15 and without fail, every trip the elevator made was to the top floor. So apparently there were larger numbers of people residing there.

The government here, really needs to address the housing problem, but not through rent control, as it is currently doing. It needs to provide dormitories for the hundreds of thousands of single (as in here in-country alone--married and not), low-wage workers.

Ironically, the so-called laborers are the ones to be envied by other low-paid workers now. Numbering a million or more, these who labor to construct the country's massive new infrastructure and construction builds are provided company housing--labor camps--for which the government in recent years has gradually forced companies to improve. It used to be the norm for these workers to be packed up to 20 in a room in rickety, port-a-cabin type structures. The average room population now is probably below 10, with some who were 16 to a room just a couple years ago now enjoying lodging shared with only 3 other co-workers. This is in contrast to low-paid service workers residing 8-20 in a room of strangers.

I can completely understand people resorting to makeshift shacks discretely poised on building roof-tops, although the hazards are apparent. My own building is also just old. There are no fire alarms, sprinklers or even fire hydrants. There are 12 flats to a floor which I would estimate have an average of 3 or 4 residents each. Rent-control, however, means that I stay there and pay the approximately $500/month charge for a studio flat, while at renewal time the landlord informed me that the rate for anyone who newly moved in was around $1500/month! This is a for an old, run-down, over-crowded building where bathrooms, for example, are open to the outside to allow the window or split ACs to vent.

Fire

2008-09-16T17:47:00.009+04:00

...at my building!

Helicopter Rescue in Abu Dhabi, The National

I haven't made a post in quite a while. Now I've got something to blog about. I reside in a crummy, 17-story apartment block in Abu Dhabi. Crummy because it's an old run-down building. In today's rent control environment, one basically has to stay put even if living conditions are less than optimal.

While at work today, 140 km away in Dubai, a friend calls and says, Hey, your building's on fire!

My building? I ask with a tone of surprise. No one around me in the office picks up on the conversation until I mention calmly that my building's on fire.

My friend reports helicopters circling the building, fire trucks all around, smoke pouring from the top, and he could even see flames. To my good fortune, I could ascertain that the fire was not near my floor, more than half a building below the fire.

More than two hours later I arrive on the scene. Fire trucks are still everywhere, a bit of white smoke rising from the top floor, but little visible sign of damage to the facade of the building. It wasn't that bad, I conclude. I gather from a few spectators that no one was hurt and that only the top floor burned. The helicopters? Apparently they were used to douse the fire, as water still seemed to be draining through the central elevator shaft out to the front and rear entrances of the building.

If there was any wild excitement I suppose it had faded, as most spectators--fewer than a hundred it seemed--milled about calmly. Some, for sure, were residents like myself. I recognized only a few, and the watchman. What was interesting was to see the mix of nationalities and cultures--Egyptians, Filipinos, Indians, Afghans... A few older Emirati men stood by and talked with police--perhaps the building owner.

Predictably the emergency personnel were mostly Arabic, non-English speaking. But there was a contingent of Europeans--rescue workers perhaps. At one point one of the non-English speaking officers was tasked with collecting the names, flat numbers and number of residents in each unit. One by one, we passed on our details. He spoke enough English to communicate what he wanted, although there was sometimes confusion about the numbers.

That was pretty much it. Less eventful than I might expect a my building on fire event to be. I am surprised at the number of emergency vehicles. Perhaps there had been no other such incidents this day.

After passing on my details I escaped to my car. Luckily I had my laptop inside, and where I park am able to pick up a stray signal to get online. This is a live report folks.

What next? Perhaps I head back to Dubai and find a hotel room. I've no idea when I'll be able to get back into my flat, but I doubt it will be today. Thankfully, no one was hurt. I guess tomorrow I should visit the insurance office and take out that policy to insure personal belongings--something which has long held a place on my to do list.

One final observation I can make is that as old as my building is, the fire predictably had not spread. I've seen lots of fires here--on the pages of the newspaper mostly--where flats in towers burn. They seldom seem to spread, although there have been some horrific fires recently at warehouses, buildings under construction and other sites. The fact that all tall towers and tower blocks here are built primarily with concrete (steel-reinforced, of course) means that the danger of massive building fires seems remote. I must also add that it is noteworthy that there were 4 helicopters--according to one spectator I spoke to--about 10 fire trucks and other emergency vehicles to attend the blaze. This indicates that the civil authorities, in Abu Dhabi at least, have their act together. Good on the UAE.

Addendum

Although I don't normally post pics to this blog (I prefer to let the words tell the story) I make an exception this time with news accounts of my building's fire--apparently much more serious than I was told. There were injuries.

Gulf News photos

The National coverage

Saved from the Flames, The National article and video report.

The National

Gulf News

Abu Dhabi // A young girl and two adults were airlifted to safety by helicopter today in a dramatic rescue from the roof of a blazing 16-storey apartment block in the centre of the capital.

The fire is thought to have broken out at around 12.45pm in what appeared to be makeshift rooftop accommodation on the Fathima Supermarket building in Airport Road.

Thick smoke quickly engulfed the roof as the fire took hold in the 15th and 16th floors.

Firemen, hampered by parked cars and hundreds of passers-by who were watching the drama unfold, managed to evacuate the building.

Children wearing paper face masks to protect them from the dangerous fumes were led out to safety.

A reporter and photographer from The National who had climbed onto a neighbouring roof spotted a Filipino man and an Arab woman and her daughter trapped on top of the burning building. They immediately alerted the emergency services.

Within minutes, a fire engine had positioned itself below the blaze but its ladder was only able to reach the 13th floor – three metres short of the rooftop.

At this point an army and a police helicopter were dispatched.

On the roof the woman shouted in Arabic to the reporter: “Saedna (help us). There is fire outside my door and smoke is coming into my flat. I am too scared to go to the door.”

Four metres away, across a rooftop wall, the Filipino man, who had a white towel wrapped around his head to protect him from the smoke, yelled: “I was asleep and just woke up. I can feel the heat and can’t get close enough to the door to shout to the firemen.”

Minutes later the police helicopter carefully manoeuvred into place and a rescuer winched the young girl and then her mother to safety.

A larger helicopter from the UAE armed forces picked up the man. Its strong downdraught dislodged a satellite dish that fell to the ground.

Nour Omar, who lives on the 10th floor, said: “I was sleeping when I woke up and saw smoke outside my window. I ran to wake up my mother and sister and dialled 999 and was told to get out of the building as quickly as possible.”

While the cause of the blaze remains unknown, a woman resident, who asked not to be named, said she had heard it started in a faulty air conditioning unit in one of the houses built on the roof.

A man who gave his name as Nishab, who has worked in the supermarket on the building’s ground floor for four years, said it was an old structure. The makeshift rooftop dwellings were apparently jokingly referred to as “the penthouse” and one or two were occupied, he added.

It took firemen about an hour and a half to extinguish the blaze. No one was killed, although several residents and two firemen were treated at Sheikh Khalifa Hospital.

Several firemen were also treated at the scene suffering from exhaustion attributed to smoke inhalation and their day-long Ramadan fast.

Mohammed al Niami, head of Abu Dhabi’s Quick Intervention Team, a new rescue unit trained to tackle large-scale emergencies, said his first priority was to evacuate the top two floors of the building, which were engulfed in smoke and ash. “We didn’t have any problems fighting the fire because it was under control. Smoke was the main problem.”

He added that several firemen had collapsed. “It was in Ramadan and they were fasting and they needed water,” he said. “Some of them collapsed unconscious because they were fasting. It was a small problem – they were given food and water.”

The large-scale emergency required co-operation from several branches of the Abu Dhabi emergency services. Eight fire engines from five stations across the city attended the scene with a number of ambulances and two “bus” ambulances, provided by the Emergency and Public Safety Department, to treat light injuries.

“There was good co-operation between us and civil defence, the owner of the building and the owners of the helicopters,” said Mr Niami.

Jane, a resident in a neighbouring building who refused to give her last name, reported seeing emergency vehicles struggle with the chaotic parking outside apartment block. “I’m really concerned,” she said.

“Fire trucks and ambulances should be able to come through. In case of emergencies, how are people supposed to get there?”

* Essam al Ghalib, Matt Kwong, Matt Bradley and Daniel Bardsley contributed to this report.

Dozens injured in Abu Dhabi blaze
By Rayeesa Absal, Staff Reporter
Last updated: September 16, 2008, 16:29

Abu Dhabi: A fire broke out in a 16-storey building along the Airport Road on Tuesday, injuring dozens of people, including women and children, police said.

The fire, which erupted at around 1pm on the 15th and 16th floors, also destroyed two floors of the building, which is located between 13th and 15th streets.

Civil defence and rescue officials were still struggling to put out the fire when Gulf News contacted them at 5pm. "The exact number of those injured is still unavailable as all our officials are still at the scene," a spokesperson for the civil defence said.

Initially, many people, mostly children, were trapped in their apartments. "I saw smoke coming out of the window and rushed to see what happened. When I realised the building was on fire I took the stairs to go down at the earliest," said Mohammad Abbas, a resident.

According to a civil defence official at the scene, the cause of the fire is still unknown. However, a resident of the building said on condition of anonymity that a penthouse was set up illegally on the roof of the building. "The fire seems to have erupted on the roof," he said.

Frantic scenes

Rescue officials acted quickly to evacuate the building. Several children were airlifted in helicopters to safety. Dozens of frantic parents were in a state of panic, as hundreds of onlookers gathered around the area.

"Give me my child ... please bring my child," cried a mother before she fainted and fell to the floor. She was looking for her daughter, who was undergoing treatment for smoke inhalation in a mobile clinic. Officials pacified the woman, gave her some water and explained the situation.

Dr Bawsan Hallawi, a resident of the building who was treated for smoke inhalation, said, "I was given oxygen at the mobile clinic and am feeling better now."

Minutes later, members of the community police arrived at the scene to calm panicky residents. In between, as the helicopter came down close to the building, clouds of dust were blown at the onlookers and people rushed for shelter in nearby buildings.

Josephine, a teacher who resides in the next building, said the police prevented them from going up their building until around 3 pm, as there was risk of a power disconnection.

Parents of schoolchildren were seen making calls to locate their offspring.

"The bus is supposed to reach here at 1.30pm. I assume the police stopped them from reaching the area," said Aisha Sulaiman, a parent.

Bridge

2008-03-29T00:53:00.009+04:00

I've seen the bridge and the bridge is long, and they built it high and they built it strong. Strong enough to hold the weight of time. Long enough to leave some of us behind. And every one of us has to face that day. Do you cross the bridge or do you fade away?
I listen to these words often as I travel up and down SZR going to work and returning home. While the words are sung by Elton John the image they conjure up is that of the planned Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Crossing, the sixth bridge to span Dubai's Creek and a bridge destined to become one of the most striking landmarks in Dubai.

It seems today that Dubai is a city where a new bridge opening is announced every four months. Within the past year or two we've had the widening of Makhtoum Bridge, the construction of the Floating Bridge, the opening of the Business Bay Bridge, the re-construction of Garhoud Bridge and now the announcement of the 6th crossing, the grandest of them all. Each of these new bridges or widening projects has represented a major construction feat in and of itself, the Business Bay crossing, for example, comprising 13 lanes.

The Floating Bridge is also quite remarkable. It seems to have been put together in about a year's time, has 6 lanes and actually floats on the the water's surface while being joined to the shore on either side. A span is even opened at night to allow boats to pass.

$100 a barrel of oil buys plenty of toys (not to mention bombs, madrassahs, and board seats in US companies).

I.e. just one more extravagance in oil-rich Dubai. This derisive comment appears following an online post extolling the virtues of the new bridge. While Dubai could hardly be any further removed from the kind of radicalism that produces the bombs of terrorists, its wealth, only partly attributable to oil, is certainly financing its multitude of building and infrastructure projects. That, however, should not detract from what will no doubt be an architectural and engineering wonder to add to Dubai's ever futuristic cityscape. If built to plan, the bridge should rank as one of Dubai's most recognizable and appealing landmarks, only second to its new 160+ story Burj Dubai tower (U/C) and ahead of the its iconic Burj Al Arab Hotel .

It will have 12 lanes and a dual metro track running through its center. Its length will be 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) including 2 arched spans. The larger of these spans will be 205 meters in height and 667 meters in width, to make this bridge the largest arch bridge in the world. Tribute should go to the bridge's designers as the render depicts the most magnificent of structures (details). As the melodic percussive notes in the Elton John ballad lead to the opening verse, "I've seen the bridge, and the bridge is long...," the beautiful image of the Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Crossing comes to mind as a new symbol for Dubai.

It will be Dubai's Brooklyn Bridge or Golden Gate. Indeed, it will become Dubai's Sydney Harbor Bridge with an opera house to boot. The entire surrounding area, like so many parts of Dubai, is scheduled for a total transformation, to include a massive Sydney style opera house and a collection of dancing towers, the tallest to rise some 100 stories.

Where’s [sic] the environmental impact statements for the, carbon footprint, snail darter, spotted owls and all the other must haves before projects like this can be started?

Another commenter raises this interesting question. One reason Dubai is getting built on such a massive scale is that the rulers, who authorize such projects, may do so by fiat. This, however, does not mean environmental impact studies are not done. Studies are done and some recommendations are followed, especially now as Dubai appears more and more prominently on the radar of international observers. That said, the site of this construction is on the edge of a large bird sanctuary, extremely rare in a region covered with harsh desert terrain. The government asserts that it will carry out these feats of construction without destroying this amazing natural habitat. Time will tell.

The time frame for construction, according to New York architecture firm FXFowle which designed the bridge, is from the present till early 2013. By that time three or more metro lines will have been constructed, along with additional Creek crossings and the extension of the Creek itself to the Arabian Gulf, thus turning most of central Dubai into a virtual island.

The song's lyrical bridge takes on a cautionary tone,
And the bridge it shines, all cold hard iron saying, "Come and risk it all, or die trying."
And the online commenter waxes, "If the current 'Disneylandia' (to use a non-word) over Dubai ends, the city will end up being one of the world's prettiest failures."

No, Dubai won't fail--oil prices are not going to fall. Dubai, in fact, prospers because, rather than in spite, of the turmoil that afflicts nearby countries. Dubai is the safe haven that the wealthy, with their wealth, flock to. Adverse conditions in distant economies as well, mean that the oil riches of surrounding emirates and states get parked in Dubai's flourishing markets--primarily real estate.

Cover-up

2008-03-28T00:00:00.009+04:00

Here is my theory. The government conspired to minimize and obfuscate the scale and extent of the 11 March highway tragedy. There are a couple of strong indications of this. One, no mention was made (allowed) in the media of the approximately 80-car pile up that took place near Al Rahba. How can something of this magnitude go unmentioned even if the 200-car pile-up at Ghantoot was obviously a more dramatic story?

Two, it would appear that there are a number of other patches of scorched roadway on both sides of the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway, much smaller, but similar to the massive patch of scarred tarmac at the site of the 200-car crash. These include one, some 10 kilometers before the Ghantoot crash site (Dubai bound), and two others on the Abu Dhabi bound side of the highway, one not far from Ghantoot and another not far from the Al Rahba crash area. I had travelled this highway daily for 3 months prior to the 11 March tragedy and never noticed these patches of burnt tarmac. It appears, therefore, that there were fiery crashes at at least 3 other points on the highway.

Although I can only speculate on whether any other fiery crashes occurred, there is little reason to believe that, had these accidents indeed occurred, they would have been reported by authorities. The approximately 80 crashed cars that I drove past that morning failed to merit mention so why should a few other small crashes here and there get acknowledged? Scattered patches of extremely dense fog could have led to numerous smaller accidents all along this stretch of highway and along other highways as well. In fact, a newspaper reader that day commented in an online post that there was a 14-car pile up in Abu Dhabi's Western Zone, near Tarif. Unfortunately, the true extent of carnage that took place on the roadways of Abu Dhabi on 11 March 2008 will most likely never come to light.

Official reports had said that there was a 200-car pile-up on the Dubai bound highway at the Ghantoot exit, resulting in some 30-burnt cars, 300 plus injuries and 3 deaths. Wow, that is a big story, which had plenty of dramatic photos and video footage to accompany it. Such an event was hard to keep under wraps, so it made the headlines. The authorities, it would seem, would take advantage of all the attention this event garnered to keep a lid on reports of any other incidents. Their strategy worked. I only know about the separate pile-ups involving 80 cars because I was there. I know about the 14-car pile-up on the Tarif road because I came across a comment online. I can only speculate on the three other possible fiery crashes along the Abu Dhabi - Dubai highway.

What about other crashes that did not result in fires? What about other possible incidents along Abu Dhabi's other highways?

Why Not the Truth?

Image... reflex... Abu Dhabi is not Dubai. It is conservative and it is used to obfuscation. It's hard for an old dog to learn new tricks. Does it really make sense to downplay the dangers of fog and less than careful driving? All news is bad news, I suppose, is a dictum that the powers-that-be pay homage to. That would have certainly been the case in an Abu Dhabi that began in the 1970's its rapid transformation from scattered tribal communities to an urban metropolis. The family (the ruling tribe) would control everything including the news, as any good feudal leadership would do. Some 30 years later, this manner of leadership is on the wane in the UAE, but it still exists.

Although the rulers still rule by fiat, other voices can be heard and the leadership's focus appears above all (more so in Dubai than in Abu Dhabi) to be on the development of a modern prosperous economy, which is likely to benefit all, not merely the rulers and their clans. Nevertheless, many of the old bad habits persist, among them the effort to keep critical and unflattering reports out of the press. The reflexive reaction is to deny that anything else happened on the highways that fateful morning.

Had the melee occurred on the Dubai side of the border, I believe a more complete picture would have emerged. Read the local dailies, for example, and note that the nation and crime pages report almost exclusively on events in Dubai. What about Abu Dhabi--is it so much more safe and quiet here? Do domestic disputes not take place, do workers labor in tranquility, are petty thieves and crime gangs non-existent? There is a lingering climate of secrecy and press manipulation in Abu Dhabi, much stronger than exists in a Dubai which seems to have had, even historically, a more open and liberal climate.

As a case in point, on the morning of 26 March many in Dubai found themselves rising to the powerful blast of an explosion on a warehouse site. A mushroom cloud rose into the sky and a large portion of city skyline was shrouded in black. Reports of the extent of the tragedy were largely unfettered. It was being reported that 80-100 warehouses were burnt resulting in as much as 600 million AED (163 million USD) in damage. I cannot imagine that any similar degree of unfettered reporting would have taken place had this tragedy occurred in Abu Dhabi.

the Fog

2008-03-13T23:31:00.006+04:00

It still bothers me--the circumstances around the 11 March highway melee. There are two things that trouble me. One, the apparent cover-up of the extent of what happened. The other, the cause. I will start off with the easier of the two to analyze--the cause.

People's knee-jerk reaction, you see, is to blame the drivers. The UAE, among its residents at least, is notorious for its wild, reckless and arrogant drivers. So, why blame mother nature when it seems there is a more likely culprit. My experience on the roads of the Emirates over the past several years, however, tells me that drivers are becoming more careful and indeed more adept at driving. Five or six years ago, a crashed car on just about any weekend night along the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway seemed quite the norm. Now, it is quite rare that I see one, even though the number of cars on the road have increased several-fold.

Like anyplace, you will have that percentage of wild and arrogant drivers, but I would dare to say that many a UAE driver has learned lessons the hard way from mean and careless driving, and that things have been improving over the years.

It Was the Fog

On that incredibly foggy morning, I myself, had slowed down to 60 kph. There were some drivers going even slower, while only a few were going much faster. There was no great multitude of speeding drivers that might easily account for pile-ups adding up to over 200 cars. In fact, at 6:45 in the morning, when the Ghantoot pile-up occurred, there would not have been that great a number of cars on the road. On this fateful morning, regardless of who the driver was, the fog had the upper hand.

When I started off from Abu Dhabi that morning I thought to myself, "Here we go again." It was the third day running for this kind of weather. But not long before I reached the first crash site I was thinking, "Oh my God, this is the thickest fog I've ever seen in my life!" My technique, under such conditions, was to make sure that I was close enough behind any car in front of me to see its tail lights. In that way I could be certain of the length of the gap between us and could adjust my speed accordingly. But where the fog was its thickest, this was almost impossible to do. In seconds the tail lights of the car in front would disappear and leave me with no idea how much space there was between me and the next car.

Only a couple of minutes before reaching the first crash site I had already decided to pull off the highway, but would not do so until I reached the next petrol stand--about 10 kilometers away. As events would unfold, however, I would never get that chance. Reaching the initial crash site and eventually passing 80 wrecked cars, I and everyone else still moving on the road, were diverted at the next interchange and forced to return to Abu Dhabi. It was some 2 and 1/2 hours later and the fog had lifted as the sun shone brightly, but the highway onward toward Dubai remained a no-go, for all the crashed cars that littered the road further ahead.

I was also thinking to myself shortly before reaching ground zero, "Man, I'm in the clouds!" It was the fog that morning--so thick in places--which had caused the melee. Just as airport runways are closed when the fog reaches certain levels, so should the highways. Official announcements ought to be broadcast that highways will be closed from time X to time Y, thus forcing drivers to remain put.

Next post on the nature of the cover-up.

Aftermath

2008-03-12T22:14:00.004+04:00

Day one, post tragedy... try New York City, early morning 9/11, 2001. Many will remember this as one of the most glorious days a city could have--weather-wise. The day after on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway was like that. A bright, crisp, beautiful morning. The skies at the Abu Dhabi-Dubai border were bluer and much clearer than normal. Usually one reaches the border from Abu Dhabi and notices an immediate change in the color and clarity of the sky. One wonders from where the pollution in Dubai's skies emerge, but on this 12 March morning one could clearly trace the trail of brown haze emanating from the region of Dubai's large power station and aluminum plant.

That streak of brown was only recognizable because of the contrasting blue and clarity in the rest of the sky. The skyscrapers of Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Lake Towers' districts could be seen some 30 kilometers in the distance, usually quite impossible. Crucially, there was not a hint of fog in the air.

In deed, the highway itself was almost clear of traffic. Was it the absence of the 300 or so vehicles wiped out in the preceding day's melee, that would have otherwise been plying the road at this time? It had to be the humor of fate to follow the most wretched of days with the most beautiful.

Likewise, the authorities did their best to erase any trace of the calamity that had finally come to pass. At the Al Rahba site of the 60-80 crashed vehicles there was not even a scrap of noticeable debris. There was some damage to a roadside guard rail but by the looks of it, that could have happened any time. Further along at the site of the horrific Ghantoot calamity, there was the dark, scorched highway and some debris still littering the grassy areas of the interchange.

This almost paralleled what remained of any news accounts of what had happened. The Ghantoot incident was undeniable but descriptions of its magnitude had been toned down. Online news reports the evening prior had referenced 200 crashed cars and 8 deaths, but the morning news would announce only 80 crashed cars and 3 fatalities. Meanwhile, the Al Rabha incident went completely unmentioned, as though it had never happened--as though those 80 crashed cars and the commuters involved were but a figment of an over-active imagination.

True to my concerns, it seemed likely we would never know the full extent of the calamity. I am almost certain that, on my way back to Abu Dhabi this evening, I drove over patches of scorched highway that had not been there before--two to be exact, one not far from Ghantoot and another near Taweelah. But there were never any reports of crashes or fires on this side of the highway. One will never know. Abu Dhabi authorities are concerned about the reputation of the emirate, so wish to keep a lid on what really happened that fateful morning.

This is shameful, for it means a missed opportunity to use this tragedy to instill a sense of urgency among the public and those charged with maintaining safety on the highways to change their ways. Everyone needs to learn from this incident--drivers to be more careful and the officials to implement better safety measures.

Regrettably, what follows the tragedy of 11 March is an attempt to erase it from memory and pretend that all are bright, sunny days.

Heroes

2008-03-11T19:49:00.010+04:00

Snapshot

Thick white mist, pairs of diminutive red and yellow lamps. A hitchhiker waving arms, running beside the road. Flames, crashed cars, debris-strewn highway, silence.

11-March-2008, the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway.

What began as a normal morning soon turned into the most incredible commuter's nightmare. Alas for me, I would be among the lucky who only witnessed the tragedy rather than having joined it. The sufferers must include also those who saw the worst of it--the flaming cars and crashed cars into the hundreds.

It had started as quite a normal morning as dawn had broken and traffic had already begun to make its hasty way out of Abu Dhabi, toward Dubai. It was normal for this time of year in that the early morning streets, and the highways especially, were obscured by dense white clouds of fog. It was, in fact, the third day running for the dense morning fog, so drivers I'm sure had an added level of confidence in their ability to maneuver.

But normality began to wane when the thickness of the fog brought visibility down to near zero. Perhaps one could see faintly the tail lights of a car up ahead, to a distance of no more than 10 meters. Some drivers heeded the poor conditions, while others dared to beat whatever clock they were racing. "Just go with the flow... keep some distance between the next car ahead... but where is the next car ahead?"

These were some of the thoughts going through my mind, when suddenly I noticed the foolish/desperate hitchhiker waving his arms, running beside the road. "Wait a minute; he's not a hitchhiker. Something's afoot..." I quickly slowed down, then noticed that the traffic ahead had come to a standstill. Thanks to those frantically waving arms, I had plenty of time to stop.

I soon forgot the heroic efforts of the man or men--in fact there were two or more--waving arms to warn drivers of the dangers ahead. They weren't policemen. In my mind's eye I recall one wearing the familiar white tunic of a Pakistani laborer or driver. I can't recall what the other or others looked like. But I soon forgot their deeds when the traffic eventually inched its way to a scene of several crashed cars, one or two still in the road and a few others along the side. But there would be more, much more.

Moving slowly, stalling, then moving forward again, the four lanes of traffic finally made its way past car upon car, wrecked vehicles lining both sides of the road. I began to count as I rode by... 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, 20... then I lost count as it would appear there were 50 or 60 strewn along the highway. Just past the melee, once again traffic came to a dead halt. After an hour the stream made its way another kilometer forward, this time passing another dozen or so crashed cars.

I had never seen anything like it before. The highway was littered with fragments of glass, plastic, rubber and metal. Emergency vehicles--patrol cars, ambulances and tow trucks--rode by with sirens blaring intermittently. The fog was steadily lifting and people began to emerge from cars as traffic came to a standstill. There was not the usual giddiness one finds among spectators at the scene of a traffic accident. Most did not know exactly what lay ahead but there was among this impromptu assemblage of an audience a sense of awe at what they might expect to see. There was, too, a sense of relief that it was "not me" in the wreckage that was sure to lie ahead.

Radio reports were coming in of a huge pileup with cars aflame at Ghantoot, some 50 kilometers ahead of where we were. Surely, this was not the tailback. Even before catching a glimpse of the man waving arms, I had decided to pull off road and wait at the nearest petrol station for the fog to clear. But I would never make it to that station in Taweelah. The 80-car series of crashes occurred in between Taweelah and the preceding interchange at Al Rahba. At the Taweelah interchange traffic was forced to divert toward any heading except Dubai. I returned to Abu Dhabi, having witnessed a part, and apparently the lesser part, of the UAE's worst ever traffic melee.

I later discovered that Ghantoot was, in fact, the scene of the greater tragedy with up to 200 cars crashed and 30 or more having gone up in flames. Was the weather to blame? Six weeks earlier the country was swamped with a week of rains that led to numerous traffic accidents. At that time I felt nearly traumatized as I daily passed cars lying wrecked along the side of the road--at most I would count six in one journey along the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway.

This time, however, it was different. The extent and scale of the disaster was unprecedented. The 125 kilometer stretch of highway was this time the scene of numerous multi-vehicle pileups. I truly believe that one contributing factor was that many drivers had gotten used to the foggy conditions, and felt no need to exercise extra caution--even as the fog became thicker than ever.

In the end, the numbers traumatized must go into the hundreds, not including the hundreds who would have sustained injuries and the dozen or so who would have tragically died. But one thing that I hope I will not forget are the heroic efforts of those running arm-wavers who are likely to have prevented many more from becoming crash victims on 11 March 2008.

Transport

2007-09-09T17:26:00.000+04:00

Dubai is not known as a public transport friendly city. For the great majority transport is by private vehicle or taxi and traffic congestion horror stories abound. The transport landscape in Dubai has been one of constant transformation, none in the past, however, as dramatic as what is happening today.

When I first happened upon Dubai in the year 2000 comments about the challenge of driving in the city were not infrequently heard. It was often an issue of fast drivers and confusing roads. To me with an American background, it was just a typical city with a freeway. These things made getting around faster and more efficient although they were often confusing. Dubai's freeway in 2000 was Sheikh Zayed Road. What I liked about it then was that it seemed all roads led to it. It was the way to Abu Dhabi and if one wanted to get to it he needed only head in its direction and whatever road he was on would seem to make its way to it.

I was impressed with the road network then and was conscious of the fact that it was always expanding. Literature on the city sometimes announced with pride how many roads had been constructed in a relatively short span of time.

Fast forward to Dubai 2007. SZR is double its diameter, feeder roads have quadrupled and this once lone great highway has been joined by 2 more major freeways. Even with that, complaints about traffic congestion and other woes are almost incessant and the amount of ongoing road construction is of such an unprecedented level that the road network and its level of sophistication will soon, it would seem, be 10 times what it was in 2000.

That said, Dubai is ever more a city where one is forced to rely on private transport. There is no practical way to get from Point A in old Dubai, for example, to Point B in new Dubai, except to hop in a car. The only public transport options are bus lines and a very limited number of boat crossings along the city's main waterway in old Dubai. Even with multiple expansions it has been impossible for bus services to keep up with a city that has expanded geographically 3 or 4 times in less than 10 years. Taking a bus means enduring long waits and even longer transport times. A 15 minute car ride can mean a 60 minute bus ride, not counting the wait time, and for longer distances the cost in time grows exponentially. For those reliant on public transport, the most viable option is to just not go where you otherwise might want to go. Just stay put at the labor camp or wherever you happen to reside.

This sorry state of public transportation is all on the verge of changing. By 2010, I dare say, Dubai could well be one of the most convenient cities in the world for public transport. The extent of development underway at present is so comprehensive as to include everything but air options for getting around the city more conveniently. The most dramatic of these is of course the metro system, which will provide elevated and underground rail lines. This will be supplemented by monorail and tram lines.

Perhaps even more startling than the rail transport is the planned water transport. This involves not only the addition of transport vessels along the city's coasts and waterways, but also the digging out of new waterways across desert landscapes and even through established city neighborhoods. Just like the hundreds of kilometers of new road networks constantly under development, many kilometers of canal networks are to be constructed, including one that could eventually run up to 100 kilometers when joined with existing channels.

Remarkably all this development is happening at breakneck speed and all at the same time--hundreds of kilometers of new roadways, dozens of massive road interchanges, several major bridges, many kilometers of rail networks, viaducts and tunnels, new canals and above all, hundreds if not a thousand or more new skyscrapers. It's all going on at the same time!

Dubai is a city of but one effective transport option today, the car. In just a few years one will have everything but flying craft to get around the city on.

An After-Thought

Will I sell my car! I probably won't get a new one when the current one expires. What fun is a car when one can board a water taxi, switch to a metro, transfer to a tram, hop on monorail, and finally kick back on a luxury bus--all in a day on Dubai's future public transport network. But then again, without a car to use now and then one wouldn't have the chance to scale the double-decker highway, spin around the multiple landscaped flyovers, zip through the new road tunnels are cruise above the new waterways on the one of a dozen or so new bridges.

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Technorati Tags: Dubai transport, Dubai RTA, Dubai Metro, Dubai water taxi, Al Sufuoh Tram, Jumeirah Palm monorai

Words

2007-07-18T23:00:00.000+04:00

The power of words... this phrase evokes thoughts of a powerful or cunning motivational speaker, who has his sometimes desperate audience hanging on his every word. His (or her) words enthrall and would seem to have the power to sway even the adamant skeptic. This is the power of words.

Then, there are those self-help gurus who endlessly nag their avid followers to think positive. If only one's thoughts and words were positive, then, surely, equally positive things would happen in one's life. This too, it seems, would be an indication of the power of words.

I have a friend, a dear friend, who gets angry if I bring up the topic of death, particularly when I speak hypothetically of my own. He hates the fact that I would dare speak of it, as though to merely utter the word death could evince the thing. How irrational my friend is, I think. The simple utterance of a word or words cannot cause a thing to happen. Grant it, thinking positively has its merits as would thinking negatively have its demerits. But a word or words in and of themselves have no such power as a curse, charm or magical spell, that through their mere utterance cause the thing they speak of to occur.

If such were the case, I have argued with my friend, then having just repeated the words "a million dirham, a million dirham" I would have long since become a Mashreq Millionaire.

But it seems that the power my friend fears in the word death is a power that comes particularly when the association is negative. It is a classic superstition--the old bad luck, evil eye syndrome. I, being the total rationalist, dismiss the whole notion of superstition, whether in the guise of good luck or bad. Words have no such power, do they? Absolutely not.

But what if one says, in a sense of crass humor or detached rationality, "May X die!" ~x being say, a dear loved one--a mother, a father, a spouse or a sibling. I, the unemotional rationalist, could say such a thing to prove the point, that simply saying a thing in no way results in the empowerment of the words. The funny thing, though, is that if I were, in fact, to say and repeat such a thing, it would certainly feel funny--or rather eerie, as if to validate my friend's reactions and discredit my argument.

I am not a superstitious person, however. It is pure nonsense to believe that X causes Y when X and Y have no tangible connection in the least. But I am still emotional, even though I would presume to be a rationalist. It is that emotional sense that tugs at the rational mind and suggests that words, especially those which are dark or foreboding, have the power to jinx. Although I can see no harm in saying "May X die!" whether in jest or argument, to do so produces an emotional sense of discomfort.

So, my friend is probably not so superstitious after all--at least not in this regard. He does not really believe that words have such power. That is not to say, however, that words are impotent. Clearly they have the power to inspire, but fortunately not to cast a hex!

555 words

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Technorati Tags: superstition, rationality

Rivalry

2007-04-14T21:53:00.000+04:00

There is a clear and present rivalry between the UAE's two great city states. I have noticed this since first coming to the UAE 7 years ago. Some natives or other old-timers may be able to shed light on how far back it goes.

It is actually quite understandable that such a rivalry exists, although I am less certain of how healthy it is. You have on the one hand the capital, with all its wealth derived in a sense effortlessly from its vast supply of petrochemicals. You have on the other hand the other city, with such a go-get-it attitude that it is easily able to match the wealth and success of the other.

Of course I speak of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, respectively. It is interesting to see this rivalry played out, and for me it has always been so much easier to side with Dubai over Abu Dhabi. My preference, of course, has its basis in my own particular likes and dislikes, but it is fair to say that Dubai, in its need to develop beyond its natural limitations, is a much more open and inclusive sort of place.

In Abu Dhabi there is, one might say, little to do but rest on one's laurels. At the same time, Abu Dhabi has succeeded at making the most of its resources, not squandering them as have other resource rich provinces and countries in the world. It has also shared its bounty with the neighboring emirates, including Dubai, and even with other countries. In this regard, if it were only a tale about Abu Dhabi, then it would read as a great success story.

Dubai however has, out of necessity, pursued its own course, with such revelry that Abu Dhabi has had to take notice of it--not the other way around. The recent freehold property phenomenon is one of the best examples of this. Dubai made its first tentative steps to introduce freehold in 2002. In no time it proceeded to grow this strategy to such an extent that it has become the new model of redevelopment for the whole GCC region.

Abu Dhabi waited and watched from the sidelines for perhaps how and when to answer what amounted to a new challenge from Dubai. Inevitably it did what it probably had to do. Abu Dhabi jumped onto the property bandwagon. Of course, it could not be seconded by Dubai, so it announced its own equally grandiose schemes.

It is not only the freehold model that Abu Dhabi has taken up in response to Dubai's earlier moves. The emirate has recently announced the planned establishment of its first freezone--something with which Dubai has had great success since the mid-1980s. Retail, tourism, infrastructure development... the list goes on of changes coming to Abu Dhabi which would seem to have got their start in Dubai.

So What?

What does it matter anyway that such a rivalry exists? For one, it highlights the differences between the two cities. It also reveals each city's strengths and weaknesses. Abu Dhabi by its attempts to one-up Dubai has made its own missteps all the more apparent. Its answer to the Burj Al Arab, for example, is the Emirates Palace Hotel. While both are over the top grandiose, the Burj Al Arab seems to genuinely serve the requirements of the international luxury travel market while the Emirates Palace seems more a superfluous symbol of government extravagance.

I see a parallel in the two freehold property markets as well. Dubai's if we build it they will come strategy appears to have some basis in reality. They are, in fact coming--Brits for that vacation home in the sun, Iranians for a safe haven, Russians for a combination of the two--and more will come due to Dubai's already established reputation for openness and progressiveness. Abu Dhabi's plans to do the same in property development seem more like the proverbial pie in the sky. In fact, a more apt axiom for Abu Dhabi would be, we can build so we will, whether they come or not.

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Technorati Tags: Abu Dhabi vs Dubai, two cities, the UAE, tale of two cities

the Gardens

2007-04-09T14:07:00.000+04:00

It was about a week ago that I discovered the new expansive Dubai residential development called Discovery Gardens. Today, I came to discover a little more about the adjacent community called simply, the Gardens. I was already somewhat familiar with the neighborhood. Its quiet winding streets and numerous parking lots seemed the ideal place to teach a friend how to drive. I have also found it to be a good venue for a bit of leisure cycling.

My discovery today was a long meandering park-like area with foot and cycle paths, lots of grass, trees and open spaces. It is nestled amidst the complex of 3-story apartment blocks that keep it largely hidden from nearby roadways. With the final onset of summer seemingly delayed, lots of people--walkers, joggers, kids, etc.--were out enjoying the fresh air and open grounds. It is the perfect compliment to what is already an idyllic community.

True to its name there are trees and gardens all around, not only in this park-like vista. The streets and buildings are aptly named after flowers, like Jasmine, Orchid and Lilac. As one walks along the numerous shrub and tree-lined walkways the distinct odor of flowers pervades. It is easy for one to forget that he or she is in a big city in the midst of a big desert.

I highly doubt that the lucky residents of this community complain very much as Dubaians have come, increasingly, to do. The typical gripes for city dwellers are traffic, high cost of housing, over-crowded living spaces and the rising cost of everything in general. These residents, at least within the confines of their secret little garden, have none of these worries, except for having to pay the same high prices when they visit the big Ibn Battuta Mall, which borders one side of the development.

While there are schools in the neighborhood, most who are employed will likely have to leave the sanctity of the Gardens and battle with everyone else to get to and from their jobs. Although it is conveniently integrated into the city's public bus routes, it could take hours to commute back and forth between the Gardens and city center. All the more reason to treasure returning home each day to their lovely, tranquil gardens.

Free is not always better.

Different from much of new Dubai, the Gardens is a rental, as opposed to freehold community. When I first discovered it in 2003, I was told the waiting list was more than 2 years. The list has since been closed, while rental prices remain almost as low as they were then.

One to three-bedroom apartments will set the renter back around Dhs 2500-4000 per month (US $700-1100). Rental prices in the rest of Dubai only start around Dhs 4000 for a 1-bedroom apartment, and exceed Dhs 10,000 per month for many 2-bedroom flats. This makes the Gardens quite likely the most undervalued housing community in the city.

For a comparable lifestyle, freehold buyers in other communities have to spend Dhs 1,000,000 or more and suffer mortgage payments that run as high Dhs 10-15,000 monthly for up to 15 years. Their monthly management or service fees, on top of any mortgage payments, can easily add up to Dhs 1000 for apartments or Dhs 2000 for townhouses and small villas.

One can presume that those who have found a home in the Gardens are likely never to leave. For those of us not so lucky, we can at least visit the area for a nice stroll or bicycle ride.

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Technorati Tags: The Gardens, Dubai, Jebel Ali community

Cleaner

2007-04-03T12:29:00.000+04:00

In the UAE the cleaner is a ubiquitous, low-paid worker. Unfortunately they and what they do are taken for granted by many. The squad of young men we see doing such jobs in the UAE stand in contrast to the elderly men--sometimes women--going about their work in solitude in the US, from where I come. Even so, buildings are just as clean, likely due to people doing their own share of cleaning up and a more judicious use of machines.

We encounter these squads of cleaners in the UAE in our work places, in retail and commercial establishments, on the streets and even for some in our places of residence. Even cleaners will have a designated person, to clean their shared accommodations.

The only parallel to this that I can see in the US is in hotels, and even there housekeepers and janitors are comparatively few in number. Of course, to a large extent this difference is due to economics. In countries where there are minimum wage laws, janitors and cleaners of any kind cost a lot of money. It is usually more economical to buy expensive machines--vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers, etc.--than to hire sweepers, gardeners and the like to do the menial tasks.

In Japan, where I once lived, the cleaner was indeed a rare breed. People actually swept the streets in front of their own homes and shops. The students were assigned to clean the school themselves--though they rarely did a good job of it. Of course, technology and gadget-driven Japan had its fair share of machines to do the task, as well. Where human labor was involved it was usually an elderly woman. She might be found, for example, busily cleaning a bathroom basin while a male patron relieved himself at an adjacent urinal.

Personally, I like to acknowledge and voice appreciation to the cleaners I meet everyday. While I often feel they are doing the things that I and others should be doing ourselves, I recognize that for many it is an opportunity to earn a wage they otherwise might not.

I wouldn't rate myself a more sensitive or generous person than average, but it is just ingrained in me that a person should dispose of his or her own garbage and clean their own mess. While it might be OK to live it up while vacationing in a posh hotel, even then it would be fair to at least express a measure of gratitude to those cleaning up after you.

I once worked as a cleaner myself, in my college days. It was a short 6-month stint, but it was a job that left me with fond memories. Whether vocalized or not--and it often was--I always had a sense that people appreciated what I was doing. It was a grimy 12-hour shift, on a job I did 7 days-a-week, for up to 4 weeks without a break. It was worth the overtime pay. But, beyond that it really wasn't hard. I felt productive and and the job was rewarding.

Moral of the Story?

Just say hello and thank you to the cleaner. And deposit your rubbish in the trash bins yourself! I know some think, "They're getting paid to do their job... I get paid to do mine." But the little things we might do can make a big difference to them, in making them feel more appreciated. There will always be enough big jobs on hand to keep these workers busy. They don't need to be tied up with all of our basic chores.

608 words
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BTW: This post was inspired by the tireless service of Mohammed and Marif, two cleaners in my office, one always ready to flash a broad smile and the other who has to be coaxed to get all but the slightest of smirks.

Technorati Tags: cleaners, janitors, respect for workers

Rain

2007-04-02T23:57:00.000+04:00

It rained across the Emirates today. That used to be news here, but it seems the past several months have brought about more rainy days than we've had in years.

When I see tomorrow's headlines I will expect to find not so much mention of the rain, as of the number of traffic accidents that will have occurred in Dubai. Several hundred, even up to a thousand seem to get recorded on days with heavy downpours. Most are minor, but one of the most tragic accidents ever occurred on a rainy day a couple of months ago, when a speeding bus lost control, flipped over the highway median and landed in the path of an oncoming van. Ten construction workers died; many more were injured.

Today's rain included marble-sized chunks of hail in the Dubai Marina area. The strong winds that accompanied it led to a fatality at the Princess tower construction site. A board from the scaffolding of a neighboring tower under construction landed on the head of a worker, killing him instantly. It would be a wonder if that were the only fatal or near fatal construction site accident. Nearly the whole of Dubai Marina is a highrise tower construction zone, as is Jumeirah Lake Towers, Business Bay, Burj Dubai Downtown and other areas.

The rain, of course, is welcomed by most, despite the nuisances. (How many will have just got their cars thoroughly cleaned after the last spate of showers, just four or five days ago?) I have heard it said that all this rain is a sign of the times--climate change, you know. Why is it that the notion of climate change is automatically associated with peril? Change isn't by definition a negative event. Imagine if indeed rain became a norm of sorts in desert climates like the UAE's. That would be cause for celebration.

Dubai and other emirates in the UAE have already managed to turn barren desert real estate into highly sought after property. If the desert were to naturally begin to turn green the value of land in this country would rocket up even faster. Landscaping would become much less costly and fewer desalination plants would need to be built. Just yesterday, in fact, the Dubai government announced plans to construct a new US $1.5 billion plant. If the rains were here to stay, then perhaps that money could instead go toward a few more highway projects!

I got caught in the rain today in Abu Dhabi's western region--home to all of the underground oil and gas reserves. The children in the night class I was teaching at got sent home early. One came rushing into class like Paul Revere, trumpeting the onset of a hurricane. "You mean strong wind," I corrected him. Sure enough, however, his description was more apt than mine. When I stepped out onto the open walkway the cascading wind and rain was nearly of hurricane proportions, albeit shortlived.

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Technorati Tags: rain, rain in the UAE, climate change, bus accident in Dubai

Discovery

2007-04-01T11:58:00.000+04:00

Although I don't live in Dubai, I visit it frequently. I drive around with my bicycle squeezed into my little Peugeot 206, which allows me to hop out and cycle around some of the nice new developments. The Gardens is one of my favorite. The roads wind and bend, there is little traffic and the adjacent Garden View Villas district, mostly uninhabited, offers hills and beautiful views of gardens and the surrounding cityscape.

On my latest trip I continued on from the Gardens to the neighboring Discovery Gardens project, still under construction. Visible from Sheikh Zayed Road and flanked by high tension electric cables, the mid-rise apartment blocks do little to inspire from that vantage point. They are attractive in design, but one wonders who would want to live amongst such a tangle of high voltage wires.

My bicycle trip, however, gave me a different and altogether awe inspiring view of this development. It was a trek of discovery best suited to a mountain bike, which is able to easily navigate the rough unpaved roads and ride unimpeded past bemused security personnel.

The development is impressive on a number of levels. First of all is its size. The collection of 7-10 story apartment blocks stretches on into the receding desert for at least a few kilometers. It would seem the number of blocks runs into the low hundreds. One can only imagine how many thousands of new apartments and tens of thousands of residents the development can accommodate.

Next, one is struck by the attractive designs, colors and layout of this development. It isn't just a collection of residential blocks, public housing style. It has a European Renaissance look, albeit a somewhat Dinseyesque version, suggesting Venice or other west Mediterranean cities. The assortment of buildings evokes an artist's palette with splashes of pastel pink, orange, olive green, white and brown. There are subtle architectural variations from block to block and section to section, and buildings are oriented individually in such a way as to avoid monotony.

Discovery Gardens was quite the discovery for me, although there is no sign yet of any gardens. Roadways and other infrastructure are not yet in place. Some buildings appear near completion, at least from the exterior, but the complex as a whole is months if not a year or two away from completion. It is clear, nonetheless that once complete, this community will be something of jewel.

A Matter of Perspective

With so many new developments all over Dubai today, it is easy to drive dismissively past Discovery Gardens. It is easy to think that there are so many of these--the Gardens, the Greens, the Springs, the Lakes, etc. It is even easy to overlook a development as massive as this one. Seeing it, however, from the perspective that I did, one can appreciate that it is, in fact, an essential piece in the beautiful jigsaw puzzle that is new Dubai.

The question arises, however, of when and from where the hundreds of thousands of new, sufficiently affluent residents will come to fill these new residences? The irony is that Dubai at present is a city where thousands live in overcrowded conditions, paying up to and over US $1000 per month for a single room in villa or apartment, or for $200 getting a share of a room with 4, 5, even 8 others.

It is also anybody's guess as to how many residences--ranging from studio apartments to multi-floor villas and penthouses--are under construction at present. The number goes well into the hundreds of thousands. Yet, how many among the destitute thousands who live in substandard accommodation today will be able to take up residence in these new, mostly high-priced luxury units?

That is a topic for another day. What is nonetheless amazing is the sheer scale of development. Whether it is Discovery Gardens, a high-rise tower community like Dubai Marina, manmade offshore islands and the like, there is an incredible number of unique and awe inspiring developments waiting to be discovered in Dubai.

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Technorati Tags: Discovery Gardens Dubai, new Dubai, housing crisis in Dubai, Dubai real estate

RTA

2007-03-31T15:29:00.000+04:00

Traffic is vying for 1st place as the most talked about issue in Dubai and it is gradually becoming the hot topic in other parts of the Emirates. So much so, that when there was a recent fire in a high-rise tower, the lead headline read, Roof fire throws rush hour traffic out of gear in Dubai. (The other hot button issue is rent increases.)

I remember, on first coming to the UAE in 2000, people were talking about traffic even then. People often compared driving conditions in Dubai with the country's other main city, Abu Dhabi, and usually concluded that it was harder going in Dubai. My own observation was that things moved faster in Dubai. Driving was more challenging on Sheikh Zayed Road, the country's first real expressway, with numerous overpasses and tunnels feeding into it. It certainly made for a thrill.

Now, however, the challenge of Dubai's roads have little to do with thrill and everything to do with gridlock. There are at least two more major expressways and many more flyovers and tunnels, but the volume of traffic has increased several times over. The prognosis is for continued exponential growth in traffic volume.

Pretty pessimistic stuff, but there is a silver lining. A large percent of the current gridlock is no less due to the preponderance of ongoing construction work meant to provide solutions to the gridlock. In this regard one has to take the discomfort with a measure of appreciation.

I would say that the RTA--the Roads and Transport Authority--is the most important governmental department in Dubai in terms of the breadth of its impact on the lives of individuals here. The challenges it faces are gargantuan, yet far from being overwhelmed this department has embarked on a wide variety of schemes to not only eliminate gridlock, but also make Dubai one of the most advanced cities in the world with regard to roads and public transport.

Case in point, a news article of 9 months back heralded, Dubai to spend Dh74b on transport system. That translates into US$ 20 billion. That is what, I would suppose, a mid-sized country might spend on transportation projects, not a single city.

The thought comes to mind of other cities and governments in the world debating for years whether or not to implement this or that new project or scheme to improve transportation, while in Dubai these things are introduced almost monthly. It isn't just talk either. Work on a new massive interchange is announced and in a year you have it. Month to month, riding along the main expressways one will find a new flyover here, new lanes there and so on. It seems the latest bridge across the Creek was started and finished in hardly a year. Not least of all is the new Metro--a 3-year project (for the 40+ kilometers of its first phase)--which while creating chaos across the city, appears to be materializing almost overnight.

People always complain about gridlock, but I see more to be thankful for than to complain. The RTA should be the most admired department in government.

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Postscript: The RTA Never Sleeps

Gulf news reports on 3 March, Emirates Road to be expanded to 12 lanes.

...meanwhile, construction on a three level interchange with 13 bridges is going on schedule on the roundabout at the Emirates Road linking Dubailand, Autodrome and Arabian Ranches.

Technorati Tags: Dubai transport, Dubai RTA, Dubai traffic

Prison

2007-02-22T08:52:00.000+04:00

It's just like prison.

How many times have you heard this, or perhaps thought it yourself about some aspect or another of life? Recently these words were spoken to me by the employee of a catering company where I work in reference to his job and situation. Obviously he's unhappy, but is it really like prison?

As far as I know of his situation it involves a 12-hour workday, more or less for 6 days a week. The off-day offers little chance to get away, as public transport, including wait time, could mean 3 hours in transit to reach the city from the desert site where we work. That's up to 6 hours on a round trip.

On the other hand, his pay while not high includes a hardship stipend. Accommodation--less cramped than that in labor camps or the inner city--is also provided along with meals and some amenities, and the grounds are quite nice for a desert compound.

I recall my own experience when much younger of working in an even more confined and isolated setting. It was on an off-shore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. My 12-hour shift was everyday and I opted to spend up to 5-weeks there without a return trip to the mainland. Once I got used to the environment, it all just came to seem normal. It was a 4-month sojourn in total for me.

Admittedly part of it was the luck of being with pleasant or at least interesting co-workers and other residents. Although I was nothing more than a lowly cleaner, the technicians and hardhat workers above me in status were often more than appreciative of the job I did. In the UAE, such niceties as people to clean up after you are often taken for granted if not expected and demanded. So, doing such work can clearly be more demeaning here.

Glass half-empty or half-full...

In a relative sense one may feel imprisoned within his or her particular setting. Whatever the amenities or lack thereof, one may just need to get away at regular intervals. Even a long time in transit might be a worthwhile price to pay. But many, I suppose, would choose to forgo the lesser of two bad choices and settle for the do-nothing-but-complain option. Even if several hours on a bus were too much to ask, a thirty-minute trip to a nearby albeit less exciting town could do the trick, which is another option for those stuck out at my desert compound.

Alas, that is one fundamental difference between real prison and the prison in our minds. There are options in even the hardest of situations on the outside. But we usually make life more difficult when choosing the wrong, perhaps easier, options that leave us with more despair.

The Real McCoy

I have seen a bit of real prison in the UAE. It usually starts with police confinement, where the accused suddenly finds himself whisked out of normal society and locked into a small hall with others. The wheels of justice which then go into action are slow and non-transparent. While one reads in the newspaper of people getting one to a few months in sentences for this or that minor infraction, the reality is that one never really knows what is going on with his case as the weeks and months roll on.

If only it were the matter of a clear-cut sentence, prison might be almost easy to bear. Instead, everything is a tomorrow or a day after that never comes... until it comes. And when it happens, it occurs in such a flash that one never has the chance to experience the gratification that anticipation should bring.

In a country where a majority of residents do not speak Arabic it is an added hardship that the justice system is conducted only in Arabic. From the menial traffic fine to court proceedings, everything is in Arabic and there is reticence to communicate in any other language. Real incarceration or imprisonment is, in every sense, a whole lot worse than even the most difficult of environments on the outside.

Perhaps there are exceptions. I have heard that some laborers would rather spend time in jail than remain in the predicaments they find in employment. They would prefer to take up an illegal yet more lucrative practice with risk of arrest, than put up with the hardships of job and squalid accommodations. Prison with its solid roof over head and 2 or 3 square meals a day seems less a disincentive to stay away from a life of crime. Jail becomes the better of two evils.

That is what I have heard, but I have never spoken to anyone who had carried out or planned such a strategy. A few perks, like a building with solid walls and regular meals, do not seem to me to be adequate compensation for the complete loss of one's freedom. Perhaps even under such adverse circumstances one can manage to cope by taking a glass-one-quarter-full perspective.

In any event, as few or limited as one's options may be in any situation within normal society, I doubt that it could ever really compare to being in prison.

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Technorati Tags: prison, UAE jail, UAE police, UAE justice

Salon

2007-01-29T23:59:00.000+04:00

I don't know why it is that the small, neighborhood barber shops are always populated with young men who seem to just be hanging out. The shops I am familiar with usually have on hand their two or three barbers--Bangladeshis, Tamils, Keralites, et al.--in addition to two or three other young compatriots. They sit quietly against the back wall, hang outside the front door or just wander in and out. Sometimes they'll chat with the barber, until he needs to turn away to attend to a customer. That would be someone like me.

These little salons are like relics of times soon to go by, an endangered species on the UAE's quickly modernizing urban landscape. Haircuts go for as little as 10 dirhams, and at times you get what you pay for--a quick, no-frills chop and a shave of questionable hygienic standard. Often, however, you leave with not only a good trim but a complete, invigorating experience.

You are likely to get a close, attentive shave with multiple fresh razors, followed by a spicy aftershave and a good facial rubdown. Next comes a brief, but thorough, massage to head, shoulders, back and arms. There is also the standard, but not-to-be-recommended neck popping. The experience can really amount to a rather extensive, one-stop solution for the man who needs a makeover.

For years I had a favorite barber, who spent up to an hour performing his craft. And that is exactly what it was. He was a barber, his father in Bangladesh a barber and I wouldn't doubt that his grandfather had been one, too. One day, however, he was gone--not on leave, but on an indefinite return back to his homeland. I didn't imagine I would easily find another who could replace him. His skill at giving me just the right cut--and all the little frills--had been, by my reckoning, second to none.

With no alternative, I sought out a salon I had gone to once or twice some years earlier. As expected, the cut I was to get would not be up to my favorite barber's standard, but that was made up for by the excellent service I got at the discretion of the young barber. The eager young man sat me down in a chair in one corner, curtained-off the rest of the salon and turned on a little counter top TV giving me the choice of channel. "This is going to be nice," I thought, and indeed it was.

He followed the trim and shave with a cool, tingling facial and then began the routine massage. Unfortunately it was time for the mid-day break and his colleagues began urging him on. So the massage was abbreviated. Still, it was more than I had expected, and worthy of the wonderful salon attendant's craft that I have come to appreciate in this country. "How much," I asked, prepared to give him whatever he requested. "Thirty-five dirhams," he replied. I gave him 50.

That was far too many days ago. I was looking forward to my next visit, but it was one of those bad hair days that meant I couldn't put off going to the barber any longer. Not on my home turf I had to once again find a new place. Since I was in the Dubai Marina I thought I'd see what was on offer there. There is one side of the Marina where a few of the newly completed towers have small shops on the ground floor. This would probably be cheaper, I thought, than in the more upscale Marina Walk area.

I entered the one salon for men, but no one was in attendance. It was just as well, as I spotted the service menu which read, "Haircut only, Dhs 85." "Eighty-five dirhams! No way," I thought as I made a hasty exit. It was time to head for the cheaper side of town.

That led me to Satwa where a came upon a few shops located within a single block. "Now, which shall I go with," I wondered. My instincts, as it turned out, were not very good that day. What I got was a quick, gruff job. I passed on the shave, and the usually pleasant massage was more a rough smudging of the face and a few hard pats on the head. The barber asked for Dhs 15. I gave him 20, and thought I can't wait till my hair grows out again so I can return to my newly favored barber to get that special salon treatment.

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Technorati Tags: Salon, barber shop, haircut, Bangladeshi barber

Nimby

2007-01-28T17:07:00.000+04:00

The not-in-my-backyard (n.i.m.b.y.) attitude is alive and well in the Dubai Marina. One forum contributor to Skyscrapercity.com's Dubai Marina thread bemoans,

Dubai Marina is absolutely stunning, and with Jumeirah Lake Towers in the background it will become a great skyline; but one thing that ruins it is that UGLY POWER PLANT directly to the left of these developments. I know the power plant is necessary but it is truly unsitely; you can even see the plant from the Palm Jumeirah. I wish there was someway they could relocate this plant!!!

It's an easy sentiment to appreciate. The Marina is billed as an exclusive, upscale high-rise community, where any plot of land large enough to construct a multi-story condominium tower sells for a cool US$40 million. Residents pay top dirham for views of sea, boats and twinkling tower lights--not for smokestacks! But the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority's massive Jebel Ali plant flanks the Marina and occupies as much prime beachfront real estate as all of the Marina.

Like many nimby scenarios, there is little to do but learn to live with it. This power station, Dubai's largest, is crucial if for nothing else than to power and water all of the city's massive new developments. It is almost poetic justice that the huge power station reside beside the Marina, one of the city's first and largest new projects. Although there are rumors (or more accurately, hopes) that this plant will in time be shifted, all indications suggest otherwise. Like the Marina itself this baby is growing larger by the day, as more processing capacity is being built in.

In July 2007, the power plant is due to begin receiving a flow of natural gas via pipeline from Qatar, some 350km across the Gulf. This plant isn't going anywhere. At least, the natural gas feed may mean that it can begin burning more cleanly.

Another Dubai development at which nimby frets have surfaced is the expansive new residential community, International City. Buyers and residents have reported the smell of sewage wafting in from a nearby waste treatment facility. Rumor (or more accruately, hope) was that the plant would be shifted. Instead, master-developer, Nakheel, has announced that the sewage plant would be upgraded and expanded in order to better serve the needs of the sprawling community. Like the power station, the upgrade should mean, at least, that the discharge will be cleaner.

Perhaps I am the eternal optimist when it comes to Dubai. I think it is wrong to take the nimby stance when one clearly benefits from the object of one's opposition. No doubt, the huge Jebel Ali power station is needed now more than ever. There has to be a way to take pride in this mammoth facility rather than begrudge it. It can even be beautiful at times, when seen from Sheikh Zayed Road with the setting sun as a backdrop.

High-tension wires (in the hundreds, it would seem) fan out from the plant, pass over SZR's 10 lanes, brush up against the new Discovery Gardens development and then trail off into the desert. An amazing eyesore, no doubt, but perhaps this along with the power plant can be viewed as an impressive testiment to progress. Dubai, after all, has emerged as not only a tourist mecca but as an economic and industrial powerhouse. There is a measure of pride that one can take in this. One can learn to see beauty not only in presence, but in function as well.

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Technorati Tags: DEWA, Dubai Marina, nimby

Dubai

2007-01-27T23:55:00.000+04:00

Not sure what to entitle today's post, I settled on Dubai as being closest to what's on my mind. This won't, however, be any sort of overview or particularly representative account of Dubai. Instead, just a few snapshots, so to speak, of the bit of Dubai I experienced today.

One compelling image of the day was smog, in that it made for a particularly striking image. It was in fact a beautifully clear day. I was cruising along Sheikh Zayed Road at about noon, leaving Bur Dubai and heading in the direction of Jebel Ali. As I made my way toward new Dubai the Burj Al Arab was off in the distance in all of its postcard splendor. However, that perfect image was being transformed right before my eyes as two streams of brown-colored atmosphere moved toward and beyond the tower, creating an almost pretty contrast against the rich mid-day blue.

I wondered where it was coming from. I thought I might be lucky to be able to determine, definitively, the source of Dubai's smog. "It's probably coming from the Jebel Ali power station," I surmised, as I had recently read that due to a shortage of natural gas supply the plant had been forced to burn oil for electricity, apparently a much dirtier fuel. But as I approached Dubai Marina, just before the power station, it was apparent that that was not the primary source of the brown haze. The Marina was already enveloped in it, though it seemed more diffused than the streams that flowed past the Burj Al Arab. The source, now undeterminable, was somewhere out in the distant inland desert.

Was it perhaps sand turned up by the countless construction vehicles that incessantly plow the desert? Were there factories of some kind out there? Unfortunately I'd have to remain in the dark a bit longer on the source of Dubai's pollution.

As I continued on with the rest of the day, I soon forgot about that little quest to find what was dirtying the air. I walked around Dubai Marina, where I was instead mesmerized by the towers against the blue sky backdrop and the green and blue waters of the Marina and nearby sea.

The number and height of towers are steadily on the rise. Although I've been in the Marina countless times it appears more and more built up with each visit. But I have no qualms with the ongoing construction and endless detours on the roads. It is clear that what is emerging is something that will be quite spectacular when most of it is said and done.

Later, I made my way to the Ibn Battuta Mall, with its beautiful and varied Oriental themes. Some complain about its Disneyland quality, its artificial and rather superficial display of history. Its Indian, Chinese, Persian, Egyptian and other styling is picture perfect, and all too new. But it is so wonderfully colorful and eclectic. That sufficiently makes up for the fact of having to cross great lengths to get from one establishment to another, as the mall stretches on for hundreds of meters--one or two kilometers I would guess.

As I entered the Chinese court with its huge life-sized replica of a Chinese junk, I marveled to myself, "This is Dubai." I really thought that. It was a completely spontaneous thought, and soon forgotten, until now. At that moment I imagined myself having friends and family visiting me from overseas and showing them this place and saying, "This is Dubai."

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Technorati Tags: Dubai, Dubai smog, Dubai Marina, Ibn Battuta Mall

Tapestry

2007-01-26T14:39:00.000+04:00

It may be useful to view the collection of nationalities that co-exist in the UAE as a patchwork of colorful fabrics, which while interconnected remain separate and distinct. As one walks in a shopping mall or down a street--in those parts of cities where one walks rather than drives--an individual's nationality can often be understood by how he or she dresses. Among the various Arab groupings, the color, design and style of the traditional gowns and headpieces are distinctive. Some also wear Western-style clothes, which distinguishes them from those Arabs who generally do not.

It is the same for those from the varied countries of South Asia, who populate the country in large number, where there is a mix of traditional and Western-style clothing, which together with other identifying features--such as hair styles, facial hair, mannerisms, etc.--distinguish one from another. Among Europeans, both Eastern and Western, and among Westerners of various ethnicity, dress is less a distinguishing characteristic than mannerisms or behavior. And of course, among all groupings language, dialect and accent play a big role in identifying nationality.

By way of comparison, one might similarly come across a plethora, as such, of people speaking various languages and dialects, wearing national dress and exhibiting other features of their national origin in other cosmopolitan centers, like New York City, London or Paris. But on the streets of New York, for example, there would appear to be greater intermingling, or at least a tendency for non-locals to begin taking on aspects of the dominant or native culture, whether that be in language, behavior, dress or other forms of expression.

In the UAE, by contrast, this generally does not happen. While all here co-exist, living peaceably and sharing the public and common spaces, the roads, shopping malls, restaurants, parks, etc., the separateness of each group or nationality is quite remarkable. It is rather colorful, and in that sense positive and very much like a tapestry, which can be admired for its richness, contrasts and color. But, this separateness has its negative sense as well, including the commonly recognized failure of different communities to understand and appreciate one another.

Having been in the UAE for over six years, I have always been struck by this notion of distinctiveness among groups with both its good and bad aspects. On balance, it is obvious that people find this arrangement comfortable as it allows them to feel more at home in what might otherwise be an alien environment, even, if not especially, for the native Emirati.

As a Westerner, myself, of United States origin, and in terms of what I consider unique affinities from having lived and travelled in different parts of the world, I find that what I like most in the UAE, and especially in Dubai, is that I can live largely uninhibited the lifestyle I feel most comfortable with. I am bound by neither local traditions nor by my own Western or American heritage. There is a definite and distinct level of freedom in this society that is even somewhat lacking in societies traditionally described as liberal or multicultural.

In America, for example, despite its freedoms, there is sometimes the overbearing sense of Americanism in terms of attitudes, behaviors, outlook, etc., even though the culture accepts a great deal of individual expression. In the UAE, by contrast, I feel I can be as American or un-American as I want to be and not feel out-of-place either way. If I desire I may indulge in Arab, Indian or any number of other cultures without the sense that I am being un-American. This is not to suggest that the UAE is a more free or liberal country than the US; it clearly is not, especially in terms of freedom of speech, religion, politics, etc. But in the sense that such a great variety of lifestyles and cultures co-exist here, UAE society is in many ways more pluralistic than that of the United States and most other countries.

In contrast to the explicit distinctions that exist among the various nationalities here today, I believe that a more assimilated national character will develop within the UAE in time. The fact that this does not exist today is in large part due to the relative youth of the nation and its constant evolution demographically.

Epilogue

The thought behind today's word came to me yesterday as I was sitting at a table in one of the Adnoc Oasis stations between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. I was once again struck by the apparent separateness among nationalities here--an Indian (Keralite) family at one table, a group of local (Emirati) men at another, a middle eastern (Lebanese, Jordanian or Syrian) family at yet another, and so on. The first thought that came to mind was, why do they (we--myself included) remain so separate and distinct from one another? But then I thought, this is what works for us here. It is how we are all able to feel most comfortable, whether expat or native.

Then again, there are the so-called local-expats, those born locally of expatriate parents, who could well serve as a bridge across the various divides. They represent, perhaps, a preview of what in the future could be a more assimilated UAE national character.

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Technorati Tags: multi-cultrualism, ethnic diversity, UAE society

Fire!

2007-01-25T08:47:00.000+04:00

On 17 January, the UAE had its own version of 9/11. It was in retrospect a rather small scale event, but when people saw images of thick black smoke pouring out of a high-rise tower in Dubai and what appeared to be people falling or jumping in desperation, thoughts of 9/11 resurfaced.

In fact the incident was a fire on the top floors of a 35-story tower, still under construction. The initial images for most were seen not on TV but on the Internet. While there were reportedly up to 300 people trapped on the tower's upper floors, many were rescued by helicopter from roof-top and the majority able to escape via staircases once the fire was brought under control some 2 hours or so after it had started. Final reports are of 2 fatalities and a few dozen injuries, most released from hospital the following day.

It was not 9/11 and rather than terrorism--never even suspected--the cause is being reported as an electrical short or other construction related mishap, aggravated by the fact that the building's fire safety mechanisms were not yet being utilized.

The hallmark of this thankfully limited tragedy is the attention it directs toward issues such as

evacuation and fire-extinguishing procedures in high-rise towers--Dubai will soon have the singularly tallest building in the world along with hundreds of other towers including several over 100 floors; and
safety measures in construction--the fire is only one of a number of high profile accidents in recent years at construction sites or affecting the workers who build them.

Is Dubai moving too fast, is one question that has been raised. Is the government not too negligent if not complicit in poor safety measures at building sites and poor health and safety regulations in general?

These types of questions are useful to raise, but one should not be so quick to point fingers. Although the exploding construction sector and over exuberance for grandiose projects clearly have their faults, Dubai is engaging in a social and engineering experiment of sorts which requires all parties to improve and expand their functionality and effectiveness. The country is in essence attempting a speedy transition from a third world paradigm to a first, with a substantial measure of success. Anyone who has been in the UAE over a period of a few years will be aware of how many changes there are, often improvements, within any relatively short span of time.

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Technorati Tags: Fortune Tower, Dubai highrise fire, Dubai construction issues, Dubai tower fire

Classroom

2007-01-24T08:25:00.000+04:00

I'm sitting in my classroom. Like the naughty pupil who does his own thing while the teacher thinks he's studying, I work at my blog. But I'm the teacher, not the student. My small class of Emiratis are chatting in Arabic about last night's soccer match, I presume. I was told I am not to refer to them as students, as they are all adults and may be insulted by the suggestion that they are akin to school brats.

I've been teaching similar groups of Emirati young men for the past 6 1/2 years. They've ranged in age from 17 to the late 30's. It is easy to generalize and say that they are not keen learners. Why would they be, actually, when education and learning are presented to them more as a formality for the job or position they are otherwise guaranteed to get?

Despite that, there are always a few who are well-motivated and gifted. Likewise, while many are boisterous and insolent, there are the few who are quiet and reserved. This exception is one that really stands out. Such individuals seem to possess a spirit of quiet resolve and defiance. They appear to go against the grain of Emerati society which tends to enforce a common group identity above that of the individual.

My trainees, as I am asked to refer to them, are enjoying their chance to chat unfettered as much as I am my chance to blog. But it's time to get back to the job at hand.

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Technorati Tags: UAE classroom, UAE students

Dead?

2007-01-23T22:59:00.000+04:00

Pardon the dramatics, but I'm wondering if my little blog here is as they say, dead in the water. It's definitely out of steam, but I'm reluctant to let it go. I've tried and failed once to resurrect it, but here goes another attempt. It will mean a radical shift in style, but that is hopefully better than closing shop.

The new flavor involves spontaneity and letting go of the presumption of expertise. It was my intention, formerly, to offer reflective comment based on the experience of being on the ground in the UAE. While the being on the ground part was real, my ability to reflect and then elaborate in any meaningful sense on that experience was the really hard part, especially on a daily basis. So, the alternative is just to write briefly on whatever thought that presents itself, and just hope a few meaningful images or anecdotes spill out.

And, the real kicker is that I'll give myself just 15 minutes to do it--the rough draft, that is. So, with just two minutes to go I'll add that it is worth blogging about life in the UAE because this has to be one of the most fluid and changing societies in the world today. That makes life here both challenging and fascinating. It is a place of constant change, but this change is neither random nor anarchic. It is purposeful and driven by a dream--of the state and of many individuals--to become something great. Times up!

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Technorati Tags: rebirth, changing society

Christmas

2006-12-26T00:00:00.000+04:00

I used to be a Christian but gave that up in good time. Now, I suppose Humanist would be a better way to characterize myself and my belief system. That would be better than saying Atheist, which, rather than affirming what one believes, affirms a negation of belief, a somewhat self-contradicting expression.

More than a disbelief, Humanism asserts a belief in the sacredness, if you will, of humanity. It elevates the notion of brotherly love to the highest ideal. So where does the festival of Christmas fit in for an ex-Christian and believer in the primacy of humanity, while living in a somewhat Islamic state?

It comes into play, on the one hand, with often being faced with the assumption that one is Christian, simply because he hails from a Western country. People in the Islamic world, it would seem, view the rest of the world as a mirrored, albeit errant, version of their own. "I'm Muslim so you must be Christian," so the rationale goes. "We have our Eid (an important Islamic celebration) so you must have your Christmas."

It is so much easier to respond, "Right, I'm Christian," rather than create puzzlement, sympathy or, even worse, an opportunity to proselytize by saying, "I have no religion." A non-believer, and even more so, an ex-Christian, is a ripe pick in the world of the Prophet. Invariably some obscure ex-Christian convert to Islam will be held up as proof of the errancy of believing in a faith, thusly discredited.

Such simple minds--one of the main reasons I left Christianity! There may be something to that sense of a mirrored reality after all.

Getting back to Christmas in the UAE, it is gaining in importance here as not only a commercial opportunity but also an expression of the multiculturalism that is growing in this land. To the chagrin of some the UAE is a land of Hindus, Christians and even those invisible and silent humanists and other unorthodox non-believers, in addition to the native Islamics.

Christmas, whether one believes in its religious significance or not, is full of symbolism that goes far beyond the religious fundamentals. It is a festival of the family, togetherness, brotherly love, sharing, fantasy, as well as that of crass consumerism and more, both good and bad. It is an inescapable part of contemporary Western culture, if not Western religion. As Dubai and the rest of the UAE adopt capitalism, globalization and modernization, the legacy of Christmas is bound to take hold.

To its credit, the occasion presents as good a time as any to spend a special moment with a loved one or loved ones. In that, its relevance transcends the confines of any one religion or any religion at all. It is both fitting and beneficial that it continues to grow in significance in even an Islamic society, and more so in one that is as multicultural as the UAE.

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Technorati Tags: Christmas, Christmas in the UAE, humanism, atheism, multiculturalism

Hometown

2006-12-25T21:48:00.000+04:00

I left my hometown a long time ago. It was one day back in August 1979, when I got on a bus (with my mother) to head to college a thousand miles away. Could I have ever imagined I would have one day ended up in the UAE? Of course not. I'd never even heard of the UAE.

I believe the UAE first hit my radar screen in around 1997. I don't remember if it was online, in a newspaper or magazine article or something on TV. It was a report or advertisement for the Dubai Shopping Festival. For some reason it struck me that that would make an exotic travel destination. I flirted with the thought of getting on an airplane and making a shopping trip to a faraway place called Dubai.

By then I was already far away from my hometown. I had made it from small town Louisiana, in the heart of Cajun country, to a more wonderfully exotic land of sushi, hi-tech and a roaring economy. Japan was the home away from home that for a while seemed like a place I would never leave.

But I did, and it wasn't easy. I had already uprooted myself from a 5-year stint in Hawaii. Now, Hawaii was truly a home away from home. It had everything a perfect place should have. A perfect climate, the most magnificent scenery and one could enjoy an easy and comfortable lifestyle in modern, trendy Honolulu.

There was also the culture. There were locals there, too, but it was a much less exclusive club than the one fashioned by locals here. Anyone could become a local--as long as he looked or acted the part. There was the lingo and the dress, but most of it all it was having an attitude that communicated "hanging loose."

Six years in the UAE and I once again have a sense of hometown. It isn't the number of years, however, that has done it. What it is is the change that has been sweeping over Dubai in recent years. It is the magic in that bit of real estate jargon expressed elusively in the term freehold.

This notion of freehold has gradually infected my conscience with a sense that the UAE can mean home. Why wouldn't it? You make a momentous decision to commit yourself to buying a home. It's not a rental contract, not a lease, not even a job contract, but a residence to which you commit years of your life to pay for, and hopefully inhabit for a good slice of life.

It doesn't matter that people often comment derisively or self-depreciatively about being here for the money. That isn't the case when someone decides to invest in a home. Grant it, people get into buying property in the UAE in order to flip it--to make a profit in the short or medium term. But whether it is to beat the rising rent spiral or just have a bit more stability in terms of one's residency, lots of people are buying, or at least want to buy, to make a home of the place they happen to be in.

When I left my hometown in 1979 it was in fact to go to a place that was far away. I wanted to experience a sense of independence that I had never felt growing up in a small town in Cajun country. Although I knew nothing of Dubai or the UAE then, had I known that Dubai would be the place that it has become some 30 years later, it probably would have been on my radar screen.

626 words
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Technorati Tags: hometown, freehold, Cajun, Louisiana, Honolulu, local UAE

Parks

2006-11-17T21:40:00.000+04:00

Does Dubai have too few or is it doing well in this regard? I have heard people complain that there aren't enough, that there is little else to do but go to the malls for daytime recreation. I would quite disagree with that sentiment. There are several parks, some old, some very new, some large, some small and most requiring but a small fee for entrance. Are there really enough, though? Why not?

Starting with one of the oldest and largest, Safa Park, the grounds cover several acres and include a large pond or two, with the itinerant paddle and row boats. There are open grassy fields, a variety of trees, children's play areas and all the normal accruements for a city park. It has recently been eclipsed in size by the new Za'abeel Park, split into two by a major thoroughfare and then again by a smaller one, each section connected to the adjacent by a wide foot-bridge designed for pedestrian and cycle traffic. There are also playing fields and an amphitheater. The park is landscaped with hills, streams and ponds--the largest one with the small pleasure craft. At night, indirect light sources and warmly lit water fountains, cast a multi-colored incandescent glow over the park.

There are two other large parks, set against the shore, with one running lengthwise along Dubai Creek for a good kilometer or two, and the other, about a kilometer in length in Jumeirah, at the Arabian Gulf. Both include wide-open grassy areas and collections of trees and shrubs, including flowering varieties. Creek Park has a high gondola ride running its length, while the beach at the Jumeirah park is broad with golden sand and calm, clear blue-green waters gently lapping the shore.

There are other smaller parks, and most venues include food stalls, barbecue areas, plentiful car parking, etc. Some have bike and running paths, with Za'abeel's extending several kilometers. Those who say there aren't enough parks just don't frequent the many and very nice ones that there are. The only valid complaint one could make is that these parks are not very accessible without a car. That, however, just reflects the nature of Dubai, having a very spread out metropolitan reach, with dense areas interspersed with many sparsely developed and even barren patches of land.

Up-and-Coming.

Some have noticed that the areas of new Dubai, which are being densely built up, lack any large parks. What these areas do have, however, are expansive man-made ponds, lakes and other water features that provide some sense of open space. True, the wide, grassy lawns with trees and play or picnic grounds are not there. However, these newer areas are developed in such a way as to include attractive landscaping among the villas and apartment towers, as well as along the roads. This is in contrast to older Dubai where the denser areas contain a profusion of buildings--small and large—interspersed with streets, lanes and parking lots.

That being said, some areas of new Dubai will, no doubt, have their larger parks in time. Unfortunately, the very densely built Dubai Marina will never get a large park, as there simply isn't any leftover space where towers are not being built. Despite this, at the heart of the Marina is its long man-made canal, designed with a meandering shoreline and stretching a length of 3.5 kilometers. It has a wide promenade along its entire perimeter, said to cover about 11 kilometer as it follows the bends in the shoreline.

So, while Dubai Marina won't have a grassy park, there will be plenty of opportunities to experience a sense of the wide open as one walks, jogs or Segways along the promenade—not sure whether or not cycling will be permitted. There may not ever be any fields to run about or kick a ball in, but every tower will have its fully-equipped gym for residents. Trees, for shade? The towers will be casting shadows a plenty.

For those who would still insist that there isn't enough greenery, word is that a massive new park will be constructed inland of new Dubai, which will be larger than the entire city of Paris. Whatever that city's size, this planned new park should completely satisfy anyone's need for green and open spaces. By that time, the complaint will surely be that there aren't enough unspoiled desert plots anymore.

Activities

So what is there to do in any of the many parks? For those who just can't sit still, there is cycling, jogging, power-walking, strolling… For water-lovers--swimming, boating, sunbathing… For families and groups—picnics and barbecues… For sports-lovers--football, volleyball, cricket, Frisbee… and more.

What can't be done? One will find neither alcohol, nor muggings! The parks are especially popular in the evenings and at night with families and kids kicking about at all hours. In the future, some parks will have wi-fi and there will be a number of amusement, educational and other themed-activities (for a fee) at the largest parks. The only thing, as far as parks go, that Dubai will probably be forever lacking are those tall, stately 100+ year-old trees that shed their leaves with the changing seasons.

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Technorati Tags: Dubai Parks, Safa Park, Za'abeel Park, Jumeirah Beach Park, Dubai Creek Park, new Dubai

Deportation

2006-11-12T09:21:00.000+04:00

A recent post at the UAE Community Blog provided a link to a detailed account of a visiting scholar to Dubai who describes having been surveilled and confronted by five guys in dishdash. His place of residence was thoroughly searched, some belongings confiscated, he then detained, questioned and finally forcibly expelled from country.

The offence? Asking too many questions, it seems, on what was apparently a subject of great sensitivity. The subject? The experiences of those in the UAE who are sometimes called native-expats, e.g. those born of expatriate parents and raised in-country.

Having read the account, I was inspired to examine the issue of deportation in the UAE--not the sort often published in the news of convicted criminal being required to serve sentence then expelled, but of the sort that one occasionally hears talked about in hushed tones. "Did you hear that so and so got picked up..."--the friend of a friend or co-worker who just didn't show up one day, only later to be found to have been deported.

Deportation--it ought to be called the "D" word. There are some, for certain, who would categorically say that "D" is not at all a remote possibility for an expat living here. These are the people who seem to have an innate pessimism about everything. On the other hand, even those of more balanced temperament tend on occasion to point out that one must be on guard about what he says and does.

Until reading that account, my sense was that while it had never happened very much in the UAE in the first place, it was largely becoming a thing of the past. It was also something more likely to happen in Abu Dhabi than in Dubai. I can't say whether or not my view has changed in light of the account, but I am one who tends to possess a naive optimism about such things. Assuming the account is not fictional, however, some of my past assumptions may need to be reconsidered.

The trouble with the whole notion of deportation is that should one be fingered, he or she will have little recourse. The writer of the account seems to have been among the lucky, having had a bit of wasta to fall back on in the form of help from the US embassy. Being more a visitor than a working expat or migrant he also had very little at stake, although a wife and infant might have come into harms way. He rather boasted of being unafraid throughout the ordeal. The typical expat would have a lot more to lose and much less in the way of diplomatic support. One, like myself, who has invested years and both material and emotional commitment to living in the UAE would have a much harder time bearing the threat of deportation.

A reader who posted a comment to the blog which hosted the account offered that such things happen everywhere. So true. No expat in any country is immune to the risk. Pre-9/11 USA, for example, may have been an unlikely venue for a visitor or resident expat to be summarily picked up, cast into a state of limbo and then deported, but that is obviously no longer the case. One might argue as well that it is clearly within any nation's prerogative and part of its duty, in fact, to deport any individual it perceives as a threat to its national interest. But such a prerogative or duty is so susceptible to abuse.

Is deportation in the UAE the "D" word? Is it a demon that lurks in the shadows of every expat's conscience? Is it the elephant in the room that no one dares to acknowledge? That startling account is perhaps only anecdotal. On the other hand, it could be indicative of an unpleasant reality that continues to be a threat to many an expat or visitor, even as Dubai presents itself to the world as an oasis of liberalism in the Middle East.

679 words
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(As a brief afterward, I must vent a bit of frustration that fellow bloggers or writers of any ilk will have experienced at one time or another. After having composed a wonderfully succinct, 500-word piece on the topic at hand, the electricity suddenly went out, and all was lost. My disillusionment was compounded by the fact that it was one of those rare occasions when, without much deliberation on my part, the words just flowed and the piece came to be composed, edited, proofread and readied for publishing all in the span of less than an hour. I subsequently set out to reconstitute my thoughts, but without even the slightest hope of crafting a discourse as worthy as the first.)

Technorati Tags: deportation, deportation in the UAE, native-expat

Religion 2

2006-10-28T09:28:00.000+04:00

Because the UAE is in principle a theocratic state, the question of religion is a contentious one for anyone who doesn't happen to follow the one religion which receives state sanction--that, of course, being Islam. While one is free to practice his religion whatever it may be--in at least some form or other--he is not to proselytize any non-Islamic creed nor criticize Islam. There are accordingly churches, temples and shrines of various faiths and denominations, but they remain in large part hidden or disguised. In the six years that I have lived in the UAE I have never just happened upon a church or a temple, while every other day it seems I'll spot a mosque tucked away that I hadn't noticed before.

Fair enough. Islam is a very significant part of the UAE's heritage, just as say Christianity is for the US. Furthermore, Islam presupposes itself to be the ultimate authority in questions of morality and the law, without provision for a distinct secular code. (There is no give unto Caesar what is Ceasar's and give unto God what is his precept.) This is the reality that most are willing to accept here, whatever their religious conviction, and it is all the easier to do so as there is no pressure to adopt the officially sanctioned state religion or abandon one's own.

Is the UAE, perhaps, a secular Islamic state like Turkey, or a secular multi-relgious state like India?

No, it is neither. The state builds the mosques, pays salaries to the imams or prayer leaders, implements Islamic or Sharia law within its legal code and pays homage to any variety of Islamic traditions. It is clearly a non-secular, Islamic state. At the same time it differs dramatically from neighbors like Saudi Arabia or Iran in that it does not impose religion upon anyone--even as it welcomes a largely non-Islamic population of expatriate workers and tourists.

There is the reality of Islam that the non-Muslim must accept here. Likewise there are certain realities that the state itself must also conform to, which greatly influence the policies it implements with regard to issues of morality and religion.

It is like a juggling act--trying to honor one's Islamic traditions while keeping a large non-Islamic expat population and the hoards of tourists feeling largely free and unencumbered. What might seem contradictory or scandalous--like alcohol and other forms of liberalism--is this tension being played out.

I would argue that the government does a good job of walking the tight rope. It is no easy task to keep a devout Islamic population, expats of numerous faiths and tourists all relatively content with regard to the question of religion. Whether one talks about the state or an individual there is always a pronounced dualism when it comes to religion. That is the case in the UAE, as everywhere regardless of the predominant religious tradition. That seems to be the nature of the religious beast. At least in the UAE this form of dualism is a relatively benign one.
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If interested see further commentary at Religion, an earlier Word A Day post, and Religion, a more personal perspective.

Technorati Tags: religion in the UAE, religion and tradition, secular state

Clash

2006-10-24T01:12:00.000+04:00

I found myself today in a debate of sorts. You might even have called it a clash of cultures. I have Eid to thank for it, the festive day following the supposed solemn days of Ramadan.

I had decided to pay a visit to an old friend who I had not seen in sometime. He is a devout Muslim. Although it was Eid that was not so much the impetus for my visit as opposed to it just seeming convenient, and I was in the mood.

My friend greeted me in his apartment with a collection of flatmates and their comrades. It was thus that the debate ensued. My hosts were all friendly gentlemen from Kerela and they engaged me in conversation that took on very much the character of an intense cultural exchange. I thoroughly enjoyed sharing my views on Bush, Iraq, Iran and, the most intense topic to surface, religion and Islam.

I suppose in accordance with their duty as Muslims, these men sought to enlighten me on the character and basis of the Islamic faith--as much as can be done in such an impromptu setting. Although I was, in a manner of speaking, not having any of it--that is, I have my own views to the contrary which make perfect sense in my own mind--I admired the valor of these gentlemen. Even more so I admired their courtesy to realize when enough was enough and the discussion moved on to a new topic.

If only cultures would always clash in such a congenial fashion. Clearly we were of different backgrounds, with different beliefs, values and lifestyles. But we shared a mutual respect and interest in one another's cultures. I, myself, had visited Kerala and the home of my old friend some years past. There was nothing more interesting to me than experiencing the diversity of the culture there--not only diverse in how it differed from my own, but also in how it manifested itself in the diverging Muslim, Hindu and Christian traditions which coexist there.

Back to the living room of my hosts, we continued to discuss a range of topics--some personal, some general and many with regard to life in the UAE. I explained at one point that one reason Islamic culture seemed distant and alien to me, even though I live within an Islamic and Arabic society, is that many of its key elements seem closed off to me. For example, as a non-Muslim I am not permitted to enter a mosque. Therefore in time I have learned to not only ignore the many mosques that dot the terrain but also other aspects of Islamic culture. It is there I know, but I also know that I am not really welcome within it, unless of course I convert--of which I intend to have no part!

In the end the gentlemen informed me that Jumeirah Mosque in Dubai does have an open door policy of sorts. That I suppose, was a fitting nugget of information to pick up on a day of Eid.
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Technorati Tags: Eid, Kerala, clash of cultures

Katrina

2006-10-23T02:39:00.000+04:00

My word today in the UAE may seem a bit misplaced. What has a storm that occurred in the southern USA over a year ago got to do with life in the UAE today?

The connection is a metaphorical one which popped into my head today. In yesterday's Gulf News it was reported that a labor camp in Jebel Ali has been found to have 60 workers crammed into a single room. A shocking discovery, though one might not be too surprised on hearing it. The story brings to mind the words of one New Orleans resident, spoken in the midst of the Katrina debacle. It was from a middle-aged African-American woman camped out on the street outside the city's defamed Convention Center.

She said in a voice full of emotion which amplified her words all the more, "We don't live like this." Those words echoed in my mind then and they echo in my mind now. That simple statement seemed to speak so much.

It was an expression of anger toward a government and society that would allow her and the countless others on the streets of New Orleans to persist in such a state as though it were their natural habitat.

"We don't live like this" meant we are decent, respectable human beings. We are American citizens and resident in one of the most prosperous and egalitarian societies that history has known. We don't live out on the streets without even water to drink or food to eat. We aren't allowed to succumb to the ravages of nature when our society is equipped with the most advanced technologies.

That was Katrina and New Orleans, and the plight of an African-American in the USA. What concerns me now is Dubai, the UAE at large, and the plight of so many laborers, who are allowed--in deed forced--to live in such inhumane conditions.

A worker in that Jebel Ali camp commented to the press reporter, "We tried to take it in that room but we can't any longer. We feel cramped."

We feel cramped, an understatement which seems to echo with a resonance similar to the words of the New Orleans resident. Does anyone think that this is how these people live? Grown, young and middle-aged adult men, who work hard under hard conditions for 8, 10 or 12 hours a day. These men often sacrifice their personal ambitions to provide for families far away. There is incredible honor in this. These men deserve appreciation and respect. They are human beings, not domesticated cattle. They deserve a bit of space, a bit of privacy, and clean facilities for bathing and defecating.

Like those New Orleans residents abandoned on the streets after Katrina, these workers, essential to the city and country's very prosperity, deserve so much better. They don't and should not be allowed--or forced--to live like that.

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Technorati Tags: Dubai laborers, Dubai labourers, hurricane Katrina, New Orleans

Ramadan

2006-10-22T15:28:00.000+04:00

Ramadan in the Muslim world is a holy month, an important religious observance, a time for family, for charity, etc.

Like other important religious traditions, however, it also carries its share of negative baggage. In the UAE that includes over-indulgence in eating and feasting--that is after the sun sets. It also seems to usher in a time for people to excuse themselves from working hard and taking care of life's other responsibilities. Students need not study, workers need not show up on time or do much of anything once in, or even stick around till closing time. Ironic, isn't it, that a time meant for personal sacrifice to strengthen the character becomes a time for being slothful and pampering oneself.

The same thing happens in Christian societies with Christmas. It is a time that should be characterized by giving and charity, but instead becomes a time when businesses expect to cash in big time and the minds of both children and adults become obsessed with what they are going to get. More money is lavished and wasted during Christmas time than any other time of year, all in honor of course of the humble birth of a shepherd child who presumably had hardly a roof over his head.

If I knew more about Hindu or other religious traditions I suspect I could point out the same contradictions. The more such traditions are promoted and hyped the more things tend to go wrong with them. Ramadan in the UAE is held up as a holy grail that all must take notice of, but such sanctity, I believe, opens up the observance to more abuse. The public, both the religious and non-religious, would probably be better served if there weren't Ramadan timings, Ramadan events and Ramadan sales, promotions, etc.

As one who is under no obligation to participate in the observance of Ramadan, I am not one to say how it should or should not be honored. Nonetheless, I see the negativity associated with it and feel that this is partly due to the over emphasis placed on its observance. Were it to be less hyped and less promoted, it might end up being a more meaningful and beneficial opportunity for individuals and society at large.

380 words
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This post comes after a long lapse. The Word A Day posts were perhaps becoming too crafted and thought-out to sustain. I hope readers will from this point on be able to bear with observations and comments that are perhaps a little more brash, if only for the sake of immediacy.

Technorati Tags: Ramadan, Ramadan in the UAE

Saadiyat

2006-09-02T20:41:00.000+04:00

The coastline of the emirate of Abu Dhabi is incredibly malformed--that is, rather than a defined shoreline, it consists of a long line of irregularly shaped islands, islets and sandbars, closely aligned and interspersed with water channels. At ground level the extent of this mess is not recognizable. There are beaches, lagoons and waterways separating the land formations. There is even a large mangrove swamp opposite one side of the island that forms Abu Dhabi city.

Thanks to Google Earth anyone can get a spaceman's view of this deformed coastline. (See Abu Dhabi coastline from 47 miles above.) In the image one can see that except for Abu Dhabi city the islands are mostly barren.

Saadiyat island is one of these barren formations. It is roughly adjacent to the island that hosts Abu Dhabi city and about one third its size. It has housed in recent years small military installations, including the UAE's Naval College, a private resort and a few piers. In line with the recent popularity in the region of creating massive island and shoreline developments, Abu Dhabi has decided that the Isle of Happiness--as Saadiyat is translated into English--will be one of its feature development projects.

High Hopes

To compare favorably with other large developments, particularly Dubai's, the project's developer has planned world class facilities, including a Guggenheim museum, only the sixth of this prestigious institution's worldwide editions. The extent of the development is described in the following press release excerpt:

Saadiyat will have six distinct districts delivering a multitude of experiences with complementary environments and all connected by a palm-lined arterial freeway. The island will have 19 kilometers of white, sandy beach, two golf courses, 29 hotels with over 7,000 rooms, including an iconic 7-star property, three marinas with berthing for 1,000 vessels, over 8,000 private villas, resorts set on spectacular beaches, over 38,000 apartments and eight iconic string of pearl architectural landmarks housing museums, a concert hall, art gallery and major cultural offerings.

Despite announcements as such, it is warranted to be skeptical as to whether Saadiyat island will indeed turn out as planned.

First Impressions

My own perspective is rather jaded having spent four years on the island working at the Naval College. For my colleagues and myself the island represented a no man's land--a kind of Albatross. Our daily commute to and from the island involved a combination of car, walking, boat ride and bus. Rough seas, reckless boatmanship and driving, broken down boat or bus and sitting or standing in the desert heat waiting to go was typical fare. To us, Saadiyat was a daily joke.

Four years ago, word was that Saadiyat would be developed into an international banking and finance center, to take its place along side New York, London, Tokyo and Singapore. The idea was fanciful and seemed highly unlikely. Although there were some published articles detailing the plans, the story quietly disappeared.

Now in 2006, the new plans for Saadiyat, while still fanciful, have some precedent. Dubai, after all, is in the process of not only developing islands, but building them from scratch. Abu Dhabi city and the island it rests on were themselves, a few decades ago, little more than barren desert, no different from Saadiyat today. So one could make an argument that the current plan for Saadiyat is doable.

Reason for Doubt

I remain skeptical, however. Abu Dhabi, over the past three decades has grown out of necessity. The oil industry was being established and along with it came the infrastructure and personnel needed to support it. Today, new development on the scale being proposed will require an influx of residents and tourists far beyond the requirement and experience of the region to date. The if you build it they will come dictum may play out in Dubai, but Abu Dhabi is not Dubai.

This distinction is important. Some see what is happening in Dubai and assume that with all its oil wealth there is no reason why Abu Dhabi cannot do the same. There are, however, fundamental differences between the two emirates particularly with regard to how things work. Dubai is being built upon a philosophy of economy first. Whatever is good for the economy is good for Dubai. Abu Dhabi, by contrast, works above all else on a philosophy of wasta. That is, ultimately whatever happens is closely tied up with someone's ego.

Abuse of Power & Endless Delays

By way of illustration, you will have in Abu Dhabi a developer working on a project. If at some point one of the influential powers that be has an issue with even a small detail, the whole project could be scuttled, regardless of what economic impact doing so would have. It is ego, not practicality (even economic practicality) that rules the day. This poses an inherent risk, more substantial than in Dubai, to not only private developers and investors, but also to government entities under the direction of a competing sheikh or clan.

This method of doing business is apparent in ways small and large throughout Abu Dhabi, and something which longtime residents constantly experience frustration over.

At a town called Shahama on the main road into Abu Dhabi from Dubai, there was a small stretch of highway under construction in some form or other for over six years. This meant dangerous and annoying speed bumps, lane merging and detours on what is arguably the most important artery in the country. Only this year was an overpass finally completed.

It is much the same for other roadworks across the city. Unneeded renovations are regularly performed and needed ones take years to complete. Bureaucracy on all levels follows this pattern. When one is involved in an auto accident for example, whether routine or serious, it can take weeks or months just to have a police report issued. A simple procedure or request often involves one having to plead to someone with wasta--read inflated ego--to have the task performed.

Equaling a Challenge

There is not only Saadiyat, but several other major development projects in the pipeline in Abu Dhabi. Some of these will get built but not without added layers of frustration and politics not seen in Dubai. Ultimately, however, many will not succeed and like the earlier Saadiyat plan they will quietly and mysteriously disappear.

To give some credit where it is due, there are spectacular successes in Abu Dhabi. Arguably Abu Dhabi's most impressive landmark, the massive Emirates Palace Hotel, was constructed in a span of only two years. Yet, an equally prominent landmark, the grand Sheikh Zayed mosque at the entrance to the city is progressing slowly after more than six years of fits and starts. Similarly, even before one enters the city lies the soon to open Al Raha Beach Mall. Al Raha Beach development, still in its early phases, is Abu Dhabi's answer to Dubai Marina. Its signature mall has been standing unopened in an apparent state of readiness--construction work complete--for almost a year.

Will Saadiyat island follow the example of the grand palace hotel or the grand mosque? Most likely it will fare somewhere in the middle, taking much longer to come around than planned and falling short of designs. The project will, however, gain impetus from a need to avoid falling too far behind Dubai's lead. The overwhelming success of the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, for example, gave added determination to the builders of the Emirates Palace Hotel to come up with a prestigious hotel property, at least equal in stature. The same sense of competitiveness may save the current Saadiyat island plans from fading into oblivion.

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Technorati Tags: Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi coast, UAE Naval College, Saadiyat Free Zone, Saadiyat International Stock Exchange, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority

Top Picks 8/06

2006-08-31T23:59:00.000+04:00

Picks of the Month: August 2006

The UAE

Although it is common in the Arab Gulf states to have large expatriate populations, the UAE epitomizes this dynamic to the extreme. There is a constant ebb and flow between the two (or among the multiple) populations. From year to year laws governing immigration, employment, social services, etc. change to reflect this movement and uncertainty. Equilibrium is maintained, but it is becoming an increasingly difficult balancing act.
BD, 6-August

the Approach

As we continue our descent, leaving Jebel Ali behind, the magnificent Ibn Battuta Mall appears along the right side of the highway. This is no ordinary mall. It bears the great walls of an ancient Egyptian fortress, the dome of a splendid Persian mosque, a royal palace of Mogul India and the foreboding gate of China's Forbidden City. What follows this glorious glimpse into the past are (sigh) power lines. Yes, POWER LINES--hundreds it would seem...
BD, 3-August

Malls

2006-08-22T15:09:00.000+04:00

So Much Snow

For malls in the UAE, these are heady days. The newest of several to open up over the past few years is the Mall of the Emirates, with its highly publicized indoor ski slope. Like the 7-star Burj Al-Arab hotel or the 50+ story Emirates Towers, the mall together with its famous ski slope has become a new symbol for Dubai.

The operations manager of the complex, Maher Al-Aghbar, says that there is little need to advertise or pay for publicity as the ski slope garners headlines all over the world. The attraction was conceived of as a way to increase visitor numbers for the mall, but it has in fact become the main attraction. That being said, the mall itself generates up to 40,000 visitors per day on week days and over 100,000 per day on weekends.

Although all of the hoopla over the ski slope might be regarded as just so much hyperbole, the enthusiasm is warranted. From inside the structure one can easily imagine being on an actual mountain slope. The ground is packed with not artificial but real snow produced nightly. Water droplets are sprayed from the ceiling of the structure with just the right atmospheric conditions and the required distance for decent to transform the droplets into snow.

Environmentalists have complained about the energy and water expenditure required to create the artificial environment but the operations manager is quick to point out that the massive amount of chilled water generated by the melted snow is used efficiently to cool the rest of the mall complex.

Traveller's Delight

The Mall of the Emirates was preceded by the perhaps mischievously named Ibn Batuta Mall. It is an extravagant architectural wonder of a different sort. The structure is built in a style to reflect the architecture of six historic civilizations said to have been visited by the Arab explorer Ibn Battuta in the 14th century. These include China, India, Persia, Egypt, Tunisia and Andalusia (a region of Spain). Both the interior and exterior of the mall are stunning, including reliefs and monumental objects of relevance to the culture portrayed. A majestic elephant ridden by a maharaja adorns the India courtyard, for example, while a giant traditional fishing trawler dominates the China court.

Each thematic area is linked to the one beside it resulting in a mall stretched out across a wide track of land. As beautiful and inspiring as each of the themed sections are, the shopper is often forced to make a tedious trek from one destination to another to find a particular item. The artists, architects and interior designers certainly did their jobs well, but the lead developer should have included an internal transport system of some sort.

Mercato Mall is another extravagantly designed theme mall with a European flavor, including porticos and enclosed patios to give one an outdoor ambience while preserving the comfort of indoor cooling. It is a much smaller complex than either Ibn Battuta Mall or the Mall of the Emirates, but it adds a distinct level of style and comfort to the shopping experience.

Not to Be Outdone

Dubai is not alone in its megamall offerings, with two large complexes recently built in Abu Dhabi and more to come. Abu Dhabi Mall is a 3-level complex at city center, which became when it opened in 2002 the largest mall in the UAE. It was followed a year later by Marina Mall, which due to recent expansions has now become Abu Dhabi's largest.

Similar to the Mall of the Emirates, Abu Dhabi Mall is a thoroughly modern structure with glossy floors, high ceilings and a concentration of high fashion outlets. Marina Mall incorporates suitably a water theme and is presently constructing its own indoor ski slope and a rather out of character observation tower. Abu Dhabi does not put up well with being second to Dubai, but Dubai's sights are on world not national titles.

Until the Fat Lady Sings

Back in Dubai, the largest malls yet are on the way. Already under construction at the foot of the 70-story and rising Burj Dubai--to be the world's tallest building--is the Dubai Mall. It aims to be the largest mall in the world. Its claim to uniqueness will be a concentration of the world's most trendy and distinctive brands. It aims to be the premiere outlet for Gucci, Rolex, Chanel and the like. The plan is not for boutique shops but large retail outlets that will carry the full range of a brand's products.

Located at the heart of Downtown, a new Emaar creation for Dubai, the mall will have express ramps leading right into its parking structure and a dedicated passenger train or monorail. The mall, along with the Burj Dubai, are due for completion in 2008 or 2009.

On its heels will be Dubailand's anchor retail destination, the Mall of Arabia. Dubai Land, still several years away from becoming reality, will be a massive new city built around various entertainment and recreational themes, including sports complexes with Olympic class facilities, theme parks including a Jurassic Park style destination with animated (i.e. robotic) dinosaurs, and a hotel strip that will surpasss Las Vegas's, including a 6000-room complex called Asia, Asia with replicas of Asia's most famous towering skyscrapers. It is among all this extravagence that the Mall of Arabia will be built.

Will it end there? Will the shoppers flock their way? Or, will the malls suffer the effects of over-capacity? The respected founding father of the megamall phenomenon in the UAE is Deira City Centre, opened in the late 1990's. Despite the recent opening of Mercato Mall, Ibn Battuta and Mall of the Emirates along with smaller shopping complexes and those in Abu Dhabi, the ever expanding Deira City Centre is still overflowing with shoppers. It will probably be some time before the fat lady ushers in the final curtain on Dubai's mall developments.

Alright, ready to go shopping?
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Technorati Tags: Mall of the Emirates, Ibn Battuta, Ibn Battuta Mall, Dubai Mall, Mall of Arabia, Deira City Center

Cars

2006-08-17T18:28:00.000+04:00

Although I am not a car buff, it is easy to see that cars are a big deal in the UAE. It is predictably men and particularly the younger and richer ones that are into the latest hot wheels. The UAE is a good country to be in for the car enthusiast. Any popular model can be bought in showrooms and others can be ordered. Prices, without the taxes added on as in other countries, are generally lower. The locals especially know where to go to get good deals, especially on used and imported models.

Road conditions are excellent. Multi-lane highways stretch between the cities, along with wide boulevards (in Abu Dhabi) and freeways (in Dubai). Traffic is often congested, but for the speed demon this offers the additional thrill of dodging traffic while swerving across lanes. Off road driving is also popular, across desert terrain with or without dunes. It is not only US drivers that love SUVs. They are among the most common vehicles on the roads here too.

The down side to the great popularity of the automobile and all the on road and off-road opportunities is a high accident rate, often due to speeding. Young Emiratis are disproportionately represented in casualty numbers. The less sporting driver, like the daily commuter, has to always beware of the high-flying SUV or luxury car bearing down on his tail with high-beams flashing wildly.

Troubling Statistics

The number of drivers and cars on the roads in the UAE is rapidly increasing, especially in Dubai. A combination of more people having the means to buy cars and poor public transport options force people to go independent. The government of Dubai is at once constructing more roads and more efficient road systems, while improving existing and introducing new public transport facilities. Whatever is done in the way of public transport, however, the public in the UAE will remain hooked on the automobile, with increasing traffic and pollution levels.

In the City

Driving in Abu Dhabi tends to be a stop and go affair. Traffic lights are spaced at regular and frequent intervals. Whether the lights are in sync or not, one tends to move in spurts. Dubai, on the other hand, has gone the way of expressways. Were it not for the sheer density of traffic the expressways in Dubai would be a racer's paradise. They traverse up and down through tunnels and over bridges, turning this way and that, lanes merging in and breaking off. When the current phase of construction is complete along Sheikh Zayed Road, the main expressway, drivers will be able to course their way through what will appear to be a maze of flyovers.

Joining the Club

Buying, owning and taking care of one's car is generally a straightforward affair. Loans are readily available through banks and except for the annual registration there is little in the way of taxes or duties. The actual procedure for registration, however, can be a nuisance. The same for insurance, where fortunately or unfortunately all drivers are treated equally. Rates vary little, whatever the driving record of the insured and whatever the agent used.

Of course, another necessary expense is fuel. Sold by the Imperial gallon, prices had been cheap, at around US $1 per up to about a year ago, when they were dramatically increased by about 60%. Even an oil exporting nation has to pay the rising tariff on oil--so we are told.

Individuals are not allowed to wash their cars themselves. The idea it seems is to keep running water and soap off of roads and parking lots. Car owners, either pay watchmen at the flats they live in to discreetly (and illegally) wash their cars using as little as a small bucket of water, or they drive them through the many automatic car washes.

The biggest issue with regard to driving for many is getting a license. Except for those from a number of Western, Gulf and a few other selected countries, attendance at driving schools and testing is required for licensing. The process can easily run up to US $1000. For many laborers, getting a license is seen as a ticket to a better job and a higher standard of living--that is higher for the famlies they provide for back home. Although the government tries to restrict them from availing this option, most find ways to get around the impediments.

On a Personal Note

Though not a car buff, like many I was driven to take the plunge and buy and car. My personal choice has been the Peugeot, which offers a variety of inexpensive models, some with excellent gas mileage. The 206 price tag and style suit me just right. The place to buy in the UAE is Swaidan Motors in Dubai. Fixed prices mean no haggling or worrying that you might be missing a better deal. They do, however, offer promotions like free servicing, free insurance, etc.

The agent to speak to is Norbert. He's on the ball. On my latest purchase he spotted oil on the floor where my just delivered vehicle had been parked. I was immediately alerted, offered another vehicle and given a convertible to use while I waited for the new one to be readied. It would have been much easier (for the dealer) to let me drive off with the oil leak and force me to rely on the warranty for any corrections. Anecdotal, but still a sign of a good dealer.

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See also A Word A Day (in the UAE) post, Transportation.

Technorati Tags: driving in the UAE, traffic in the UAE, buying a car in the UAE, UAE roads, Swaidan motors, UAE license

Counterpoint

2006-08-15T08:01:00.000+04:00

In reference to the previous post, Issues, one may get the impression that there are innumerable problems and challenges that a fast-developing society like Dubai's faces. This is, of course, correct, but it represents only half of the picture. There are also attributes and resources, both material and conceptual, upon which Dubai is able to build its new society. These might be listed, as follows, with particular regard to the role of the leadership, the assets of the emirate and the contributions of its population.

The Leadership

Vision

In Dubai, it is definitely a vision thing. The leadership may not know in the early stages how it is that they will get to where they want to go, but they do have a clear image of what they expect the future to look like. This has been a driving force in Dubai since the establishment of its first major port in the early 1970s.
Authority

One need have no illusions that change in Dubai happens in but one direction, from the top down. The leaders, once inspired by a vision, authorize its implementation. They are less concerned with the how, than with the simple determination that the plan move forward. As a result, things happen fast.
Imagination

Whereas vision entails the ability to see into the future, imagination involves shaping and constructing that future in original and creative ways. Thus, the vision of Dubai is characterized by imaginative projects like the Burj Dubai (world's tallest tower), the Palm and World islands, a variety of specialized zones like Dubai Media City, Healthcare City, Dubaiworld, and so on.
Experience

Some of what is taking place in Dubai today, though groundbreaking in many ways, is in other ways old hat. That is, Dubai has been at this game of taking a seed and growing it into a successful venture for some time. The pattern is of one success leading to another.

Jebel Ali Freezone, for example, was pioneered in the mid-1980s. Its successful development has become a model for other freezones, which once successful have led to the establishment of still more freezones.

As such, a plan for development is devised and implemented; if it works, it is then replicated.

The Emirate

Financial Resources

Oil--this single word would almost say it all, except that it has not been that simple. With limited oil supplies Dubai has developed its economy more through trade and tourism. Oil money today--not Dubai's but its neighbors--is pouring into to its grand development projects. To its credit, Dubai has been able to siphon these funds away from potential investments further a field.
Political Stability

A small well-looked after national populace and a large expatriate population, whose residency depends on the good graces of the government, has meant that Dubai and the UAE have been able to avoid any significant incidents of dissent. The absolute, yet benevolent rule of the government has allowed the economy to flourish unhindered.

Militarily, and within the geo-political sphere, the government has successfully nurtured a discreet partnership with Western powers. There is no evidence of the religious or political upheaval found in other countries in the region.
Open Space

Though small in area, about 4000 km2 and less than half the size of Los Angeles county, Dubai consists primarily of a square-shaped, flat, sandy desert plain with one side bordering the Arabian Gulf. The city had traditionally occupied but a small strip of coastal land until recent developments began, which will more than triple the city's size beyond what it was in the year 2000. Even so, much of the desert plain will remain unsettled.
Water Assets

No typo here, Dubai has engendered ways to exploit its water resources to the fullest. These consist primarily of a 60 km coastline on the Arabian Gulf and a 14 km natural sea-inlet known as the Creek. Offshore and coastal developments such as the Palm islands will create over 1000 km of new coastal land. Inland, the Creek will be extended and other waterways will be newly built from the coast to allow for the development of riverside properties. Lake communities, springs, bays and other water developments are being constructed throughout the new city.

The Population

Unlimited Labor Pool

More than anything else Dubai, the UAE and most of the Arabian Gulf countries have been magnets for expatriate labor. Today new Dubai is being built on the backs of hundreds of thousands of laborers from the Indian sub-continent. The labor pool covers the gamut from unskilled to the highest trained professionals. In a country (the UAE) with a native population today of only 800,000, there is no shortage of workers, who outnumber the native population by 3-4 times.

Though a small segment of the labor pool may be recruited through high salaries and other incentives, wages in the country are low to such an extent that industries with high manpower requirements, like construction, enjoy a competitive advantage.
Cultural Diversity

A largely untapped resource within the emirate is its multi-cultural composition. Over 100 nationalities are represented with over a dozen languages commonly spoken. This richness has yet to be fully exploited but offers great potential in terms of tourism, media and publication opportunities, education, the arts, entertainment, etc. The Dubai Shopping Festival initiated one of the first attempts to commercialize this multi-cultural dimension in its Global Village.
Malleability

The population of Dubai is so adaptable to change that change represents normality. While some lament the passing of quieter times, it is an openess to the outside world that has allowed Dubai and the UAE to prosper. It is the adaptability of both the national and expatriate segments of the population that allow the country and especially Dubai to explore new frontiers in terms of development. Although some fear that traditional heritage may not survive, all of society is being transformed and most are finding ways to prosper with it.
Pragmatism

This is one characteristic shared by most in the UAE, whether ruler, native citizen or expatriate. People will do what they have to do to acheive their goals or manage through hard times. Expatriate bachelors with fortitude crowd into apartments turned into hovels. The Bedouin (traditional nomads) settle into homes and communities. The rulers open their country to a flood of outside influence.

Does it mean a compromise of one's identity and principles? Perhaps, but it is also a means to acheive one's goals. This, I believe, is an important part of the success of Dubai in transforming itself into the dynamic international hub that it has become.

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Related Links

A Word A Day's Issues, the UAE, Geo-politics and the Superlative.
Wikipedia Dubai entry.
UAE map with Dubai.

Technorati Tags: vision of Dubai, Dubai dream, Dubai economy, Dubai developments, Dubai labor, Dubai Global Village

Issues

2006-08-13T23:50:00.000+04:00

It would be interesting to consider what the issues of tomorrow will be compared to the issues of today. In addition to a lot of speculation, one would first have to ponder exactly what the important issues of today are. With Dubai in mind, I propose the following, prioritized on the basis of seriousness or visibility due to public or media attention.

TODAY'S TOP TEN:

Traffic and Transportation
(A transitional issue as major road works and new transportation facilities are being rapidly constructed; it is at present, however, the biggest nuisance to the population.)
Housing, i.e. shortage of affordable housing, high rental rates, over-crowding.
(The biggest hardship faced by a large segment of the population--if not the majority.)
Labor Concerns: exploitation of low and unskilled workers; under-representation of UAE nationals in the private sector; lack of job security among expatriates.
(Very serious issues for the thousands of workers affected--especially the issue of exploitation which can lead to acts of desperation.)
Overall Inflation
(A growing problem, likely to become more prominent over the next few years.)
Excessive Consumerism: too much debt; over-consumption of natural resources (oil & water).
(A serious and growing problem as banks push debt products which government does nothing to curtail or monitor, and the excessive display of wealth is lauded.)
Cross-Cultural Relations
(Seldom talked about as an issue or problem, but clearly the reality wherein there is little social interaction among the various nationalities, ethnicities and other groups within the country.)
Abuse of Power, by police and others in authority.
(Seldom discussed publicly but often privately as a concern among the expatriate population--who often feel their continued presence in country may at anytime be in jeopardy.)
Wayward Youth, primarily national.
(A problem characterized by an excessive number of highway deaths due speeding and other reckless acts, poor academic performance and an absence of career motivation or strong work ethic among national youth.)
Prostitution and Lasciviousness
(Largely an issue of morality, important in a society with a conservative religious heritage, also important in terms of the abuse of those involved and important as a bell-weather of society's direction.)
Poor Air Quality
(Deterioration in air quality is accelerating and clearly apparent, but largely ignored.)

NOT on the List

Interestingly, crime is not a serious issues at present, although no one would doubt that incidences of crime are increasing. The sort of random assault, theft and burglary that plague many of the world's urban centers are not yet serious issues here.

Few, for example, have any concern about car theft--doors are often left unlocked or locked cars are left with unattended valuables; use of parks during the night even by children and families is common (Jumeirah Open Beach, especially popular); and a ride offered to or sought by a stranger on the highway is common.

This reflects in large part certain characteristics which are unique or fundamental to the make-up of society in the UAE. Specifically, the large expatriate population which has migrated or immigrated to the country have come to work. These are goal-oriented individuals. They are not likely to engage in activity that would put at risk the chance to achieve their goals. Those who are generally disassociated from, on the fringes of or deviants within society will not have sought to or have been able to emigrate from their homelands.

The crime that does exist is often the result of those expatriates who come to feel most exploited acting out in desperation. It also reflects a variety of social problems not so prominent within society but present nonetheless. There is, however, an increasing amount of organized criminal activity as Dubai gains more attention worldwide as a relatively wealthy and open society.

As for the future, I would venture to speculate on the top five issues.

TOMORROW'S TOP FIVE:

Growing Discontent, among society's less privileged.
(Unlike today, Dubai of the future will have a less transitory population. Those who are at present disaffected--like the laborers--will eventually emerge as a large underclass within society. Their discontent in the face of an increasing amount of wealth will become a more serious issue for the society-at-large.)
Air Pollution
(Unlike today, this issue will be recognized as more serious as it begins to impede further development of the city as a destination for tourism, residence, business and industry.)
Crisis of Identity
(A crisis will emerge as the national population shrinks, proportionately, to negligible numbers and expatriates clamor for the right to permanent residency and even citizenship.)
International Tensions
(The so-called clash between Western and Islamic civilizations, which has already begun to play out to detrimental effect in a number of countries, will eventually force Dubai and the UAE to pit themselves on one side or the other.)
Organized Crime
(Money invites corruption and greed; international, organized criminal gangs and cartels will attempt to take advantage of this. It will represent the city's biggest law enforcement challenge.)

Victim of Its Own Success

One implication, belied by what I see as potentially the most important issues in the future, is the notion that Dubai will continue to prosper economically and present itself as a model of success. This very success will, ironically, lead to new problems, just as serious, even as substantial inroads are made on present-day issues, like traffic and housing.

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Technorati Tags: traffic problems in Dubai, housing issues in Dubai, labor concerns in Dubai, pollution in Dubai, crime in Dubai, clash of civilizations

Peace 2

2006-08-11T08:57:00.000+04:00

The conflict in Lebanon rages on, even as people rally around the world in support of an immediate ceasefire. On the other hand, the principal participants remain reticent to back down from their positions. Israel, with the firm support of the USA and the UK are reluctant to leave southern Lebanon without the threat of Hizbollah having been eliminated. Hizbollah, with the tacit support of an angry Lebanese public and public support from a limited number of Arab and Muslim allies, refuses to end its shelling of Israeli communities in northern Israel unless Israel ends its bombing campaign. Caught in the middle is the Lebanese population.

Establishing a Dialog

There are two competing notions of peace which one might say engenders the stalemate. One calls for an immediate cease of hostilities--namely military acts, such as bombing and other militia attacks. Another calls for the rectification of what are considered the conditions that have led to the conflict in the first place. It is easy to see that achieving the latter is the more difficult and may take a considerable amount of time, if it can be achieved at all.

Presumably in the face of such a stalemate a middle ground will have to be found. In any solution hostilities would have to cease. That is a given. The point in question is how much the two warring parties can accept of the other's conditions, in order to agree to a disengagement. A first step, naturally, would be for the two parties to establish clearly what is they want--and for each to at least understand what the other is requesting. How, then, might this be done?

One way not to do it is to exclude from discussions any of the principal players. Therefore, talks should be held at a minimum between Israel, Hizbollah and Lebanon, together with a neutral moderator or moderators. It is almost elementary that this is a required first step.

Power Plays

The reality, however, is that the powers of the day intend only to establish debate on their terms. The United States would prefer to see itself in the role of moderator with Israel on one side and some coalition of Arab states on the other, excluding Hizbollah and its main backers. Such a proposal, ludicrous in its utter imbalance, is unfortunately the one that the world is being forced to work with.

To date, the Rome Conference was held involving a multitude of participants, excluding, however, Hizbollah and any of its backers. The United Nations Security Council at present is trying to engender a ceasefire, this time with all three key players left out. Israel, however, has its key backers to speak on its behalf.

Eventually the powers of the day will manage to push something through. It may result in achieving the cease fire that everyone wants, but at what additional cost in lives and destruction to Lebanon? If those with the power get their way, it can be expected that Israel alone will be given the upper hand. Even in the case of such a disproportionate solution, the Lebanese population will at least gain a reprieve from the shelling. So too will Israeli civilians in the affected areas.

Perhaps in the weeks and months that follow, an effort can be mounted internationally to pressure the United States and the United Kingdom to reverse their position of bias in favor of Israel. From that point on a fairer settlement might be worked out. Despite the monumental nature of such a task, it is a worthy goal and one more achievable through actions carried out in peace than in war.

You and I

The point of blogging, often, is to speak out--to have one's say, even when that single voice appears indiscernible. A blogger has an audience, however small it might be. Each individual in that audience in turn has his or her own small voice. Though a hundred or even a thousand such voices may still amount to little, the reality of the physical universe is that everything does in fact have an effect on other things. It is conceivable that at some point a large enough ground swell may rise to achieve the desired effect.

The "small" voices in the UAE have already developed into a collective roar. From the grassroots level to the echelons of power, individuals have participated in a public drive to provide charitable aid to the Lebanese. A colorful description of one of these efforts is provided in the post Sweat, smiles, and humanity... at The View From Dubai.

On the political front in the UAE, people voice their views on the Internet, in letters to the editor of local newspapers, on radio and through local television broadcasts (limited to the Arabic channels). Regrettably, political constraints, as it were, will not allow for truly free dialog to flourish. Similarly, however, the UAE government is not free itself to take a public stand that might endanger its relationship with the aforementioned powers of the day.

One More Voice

These political constraints aside, people in the UAE do have some avenues in which to honestly voice their views and contribute to efforts to resolve the crisis. My own choice is to speak out through blogging, principally on behalf of the humanitarian need. Toward this end, I invite others to consider signing a petition or two that if nothing else, adds one more voice to the call for a ceasefire--in whatever form that cessation of hostilities can be achieved.

The Ceasefire Campaign intones simply,

We call on US President Bush, UK Prime Minister Blair and the UN Security Council to support UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call for an immediate ceasefire and an international force to stabilize the situation.

It explains,

Sign the petition below and your message will be delivered to the UN Security Council and publicized in newspapers in the US, Europe and the Middle East.

The Save the Lebanese Civilians Petition isn't clear on how it will proceed with its campaign, but it presents the following plea:

Up until now more than 1200 Lebanese civilians have been killed and thousands missing under the rubble, thousands wounded, bridges and infrastructure destroyed, refugees are leaving Beirut in droves and worst of all the enforced siege might lead to a human catastrophe in the next few days. There must be an end to this cycle of violence and continuous violation of international laws and basic ethical behavior.

These represent, perhaps, little more than emotional appeals, but even leaders are stirred by emotions--their own and those they serve.

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Technorati Tags: Lebanon conflict, Lebanon crisis, ceasfire in Lebanon, Hizbollah, Hezbollah, superpower politics

Taxi 1

2006-08-10T12:37:00.000+04:00

They are yellow and white in Abu Dhabi--cheap, plentiful, almost always available and the driver usually knows exactly where to go. Who would complain?

They often smell bad (the drivers, the cars--take your pick) and are frequently driven kamikaze-style. The drivers are sometimes rude, speak little English (or even Arabic it seems) and don't usually make for very pleasant conversation anyway. Even worse, for women there is the likelihood of getting ogled.

There is an alternative. They are white with a little green--but they are expensive, only camp out at hotels and other haunts for the moneyed, may not know how to get to your destination, and lest I forget to mention, they are expensive--like 3 to 5 times that of the yellow and white. So, give me the yellow and white. I'll fasten my seat belt tightly and cover my nose and ears a bit.

Public Transport?

The yellow and white have been in operation in Abu Dhabi since I arrived in 2000 and it would appear for many years prior. (Drivers will often tell you that they have been at it for 10 to 20 years.) They are so ubiquitous, one would think that Abu Dhabi had a very well-coordinated fleet of municipal taxis.

Although they do not belong to the city, they are relied upon by its residents as a de facto form of public transport. The fee for a ride is often equivalent to what one pays to ride a bus in other cities of the world. Seventy cents (US) to a dollar fifty to go just about anywhere within the city--door to door. It's hard to beat that.

Abu Dhabi does have a bus system but it is the epitome of uselessness. On the one hand there are what appear to be bus stops all along the city's main streets. These streets are wide, straight and all in a clear grid-like pattern--so, easy to accommodate an efficient public transport system, right? Right. But does it happen? In one's dreams. What there is, for all intents and purposes, are unmarked buses stealthily plying unannounced routes.

Although there is some indication that they are municipality buses due to recognizable color patterns and painted-on symbols, these vehicles have no visible signage or route numbers except for the tiniest of handwritten posts in their front windows--in Arabic only--indicating some sort of destination.

Actual routes are unexplained, also with no signs or markings at what appear to be bus stops. No indication is given of when or even whether buses will actually stop at these otherwise, perfectly situated stops. In similar fashion there is a huge, somewhat ghastly eyesore of a bus terminal on the edge of city center open 24-hours, again with no route numbers or markings posted and no information obtainable except for the grumpy response of a grumpy clerk when one asks specific questions.

The public transport system in Abu Dhabi is in a word, pointless.

Who Wants to Play the Fool?

Even the laborers, who are usually more efficient than others at finding out how things work at ground level, have no use for this system. With fares at only 30 cents within the city and at around 90 cents to more outlying districts, it is the most economical option. But few fools will stand around and wait for or try to decipher a system that dares anyone to actually understand, much less use it.

There is, for example, one such route between the city and the airport. To my knowledge (not very easily obtained) it ploughs this 35-kilometer, 30-40 minute route in either direction once every hour, 24 hours a day, at a cost of just Dhs 3 (90 cents). It is a large bus, always more than half-empty.

So, why don't people utilize this cheap, efficient form of transportation to and from the airport. Try no markings on the buses to indicate that such a service exists, no signage at either the airport or the bus terminal indicating same, and the grumpy response one gets whenever asking for details from anyone who looks like they might know.

I don't mind playing the role of the fool on occasion and have waited around for the municipality bus on several, including on trips to and from the airport. It was always a thrill to see a bus actually pull up, let you get in and then take you to where you wanted to go. That moment of achievement is almost worth the trouble of bothering with such a pathetic system.

Why the coyness?

The city has the aforementioned public bus service. A recent improvement has been the provision of and clear marking of buses that ply the Abu Dhabi/Dubai route, at a cost of about Dhs 15 (4 dollars). There are also buses that run between Abu Dhabi and other towns in the emirate--like Al Ain, Tarif, etc. that are used even to capacity. All of these buses ply intercity routes with no intermediate stops (except for sometimes letting people off, when they request, at odd spots along the highway). As for inner-city transport, one must rely on the yellow and white.

The reason for this, it appears, is that these ubiquitous yellow and white taxis are owned by nationals and provide for them a ready source of income and profit. Not so for the drivers, unfortunately, who bear all the costs of fuel and vehicle maintenance while being restricted to charging minimal fares. The owner collects a set fee of say Dhs 2500 (680 dollars) per month from the driver--with no expenses apart from the purchase price of the vehicle.

The drivers, meanwhile, don't earn enough to afford, for example, clean or comfortable housing, thus the unpleasant odors. The city strictly enforces a cap on prices, most likely to negate its responsibility to provide an efficient transport service.

As for the no excuse of a bus system that does exist, not only do authorities not want to disturb the profitable businesses that national owners are operating, but, like many master-planned systems, the master-planners of Abu Dhabi seldom manage to get things right despite having all the cash resources one could ever hope for.

It is either a fault of design-by-committee where too many heads in the mix results in the poorest of compromises, or it is more likely a case of no one daring to challenge the decrees of the man--therefore even the most unworkable and impractical of solutions gets passed along.

Reversal

There were announcements in late 2005 that all of the yellow and white would be replaced by a fleet of municipal taxis. There were ads in the newspaper calling for drivers. The hard working, much derided but sorely needed drivers of the yellow and white were to be unceremoniously shipped back to where they had come from--mostly Pakistan's Pashtoon region and Afghanistan. An era in Abu Dhabi was about to come to an end.

This was all supposed to happen by an announced date in early 2006. The date came and went and nothing happened. People had already begun to debate the merits and demerits of the plan. "Finally, clean and polite drivers," some said. "Oh no, more of the Gazelle (white and green company) and Dubai-like high fares," others complained.

Apparently the powers that be, that rule by decree, had had a change of heart. The yellow and white would continue to ply the roads--the drivers once again secure in their jobs, miserable as they were, and the riders once again assured the lowest of fares, unbearable as the rides could sometimes be.
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Taxi 2 (in Dubai), coming soon.

BTW

For those who haven't already discovered it the hard way, the so-called Taxi Stand (beside the large Bus Stand) does not actually offer taxis. That is, the taxis there function only as inter-city, not inner city transport. So, arrive at the Taxi Stand from, say Dubai, on a mini-bus or taxi and get ready to switch to a local taxi to get around town. Think again, i.e. abandon all logic. Haul your heavy luggage out to the street in the 40°C heat and try to flag a taxi down. Hey, it's Abu Dhabi!

Technorati Tags: Abu Dhabi taxis, Abu Dhabi taxi drivers, taxi fare comparison, Abu Dhabi public transport, Abu Dhabi municipality, UAE taxi drivers

Rant

2006-08-08T11:29:00.000+04:00

I am not a ranter, but it is obviously something people enjoy doing. It is, of course, a good way to blow off steam. There are a few topics that top the list of rants in the UAE. Perhaps I am not qualified to rank them, but a good bet to place near the top of the list is Etisalat--followed by traffic, reckless/arrogant driving, slow driving, rent increases, harassment (of women by guys), rude behavior in general, wasta, discrimination, banks, lack of pedestrian overpasses and underpasses, poor service from businesses, government workers who can't be bothered, queues, and so on.

Interestingly, people don’t rant much about the heat. That reflects either a certain amount of pragmatism as in, We’re in the desert! Of course it's hot, or the less commendable fact that we are all spoilt with air-conditioning.

A comparison of what people rant about in different countries might provide a telling glimpse of the social issues and concerns important in that country. Politicians and leaders should make an attempt to gauge the rant pulse--sounds a bit repulsive, though--to gain a better understanding of the people they govern.

It is interesting to consider what else people in the UAE don’t rant about, like politics (well, it isn’t allowed, but even so people don’t have much to say on the topic even in private), religion (limited for similar reasons), corruption in government or society-at-large (it isn't a big issue--Ok there's wasta, but that's a separate issue), airlines (the leading carriers are all pretty good), pollution, taxes, etc.

A Holler A Day

So, I am not a ranter, really. But if I were, what would I rant about, besides Etisalat? This is a hard one, because I prefer to be the optimist. I did present a near-rant in my very first A Word A Day post, should anyone would care to revisit that. I could rant about lawyers, but that is a general pet peeve of mine, not specific to the UAE. I could rant about ranters, but I sort of like that they say what they say, so I don't have to.

My rant of choice would have to be on a loathing I am sure I share with many. That is, for those arrogant drivers who flash their headlamps from behind as though they own the road. It irks me and if I let it, it could really get to me; but it always helps to gently remind myself that I am above that level of immaturity. Let them have their lane, and whatever peril their speeding puts them in.

But I can't always stop myself from fantasizing that my car is equipped with a high-tech weapon of some sort--like a laser gun or anti-tank missile launcher--that I could let loose on them as soon as they start flashing their lights. Or, James Bond like, I could spray the road with a slick layer of oil that would send them spinning out of control. But again, I have to remind myself, that I am better than that. Let them have their moment of victory on the highway while I go on to lead a more relaxed and mannered life.

Parting Shot

Ranting also provides a sort of comic relief. When the issue at hand is very serious, however, I suppose there is less ranting and more discourse. Iran is reportedly a hotbed of blogging. My guess is that there is less ranting there, and more debate on the issues.

Rants often come about as spontaneous outbursts. Perhaps the screamer has no better way to communicate the thought, rather like a child who is, shall I say, lost for words.

What better way to conclude this post than with a rant leveled against A Word A Day (in the UAE) itself. In my best imitation of an Australian accent, I must intone, "Thanks, mate, for the inspiration for today's word."

We are not your f_cking students. Every f_cking day, word of the day this, word of the day that. We get the message. How about you limit it to once a week telling us about your special f_cking words? I thought that I would hear fresh discussion from this community, but it is like a stale classroom.
Posted anonymously on the UAE community blog.

717 words
Links:

Top Rant: Etisalad--Secret Dubai's "graphic" expression.

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Technorati Tags: ranting, ranting in blogs, complaints about the UAE, life in the UAE, Iranian blogs

Perspective

2006-08-07T23:00:00.000+04:00

One of the challenges in reporting on one's observations is providing proper balance. In one of today's UAE Community posts, GULF NEWS: the "happy meal" of UAE journalism?, the writer was peeved at what he perceived to be the lack of balance in a Gulf News report on a survey it had taken. Had the editors or reporters deliberately set out to mislead or was their perspective simply skewed?

Another post I came upon today provided a link to a news article which attempts to portray the hardships faced by laborers in Dubai, Dark Side of Dubai (alt. link). It does so by way of contrasting the lifestyles of the rich and privileged who live or vacation in Dubai with those of the many laborers who struggle in destitution. The graphic representation of the laborers' plight makes for insightful reading, however, I could not help but feel that the article failed to provide the proper perspective.

Suffering of the Poor

To take the story of the laborer as a case in point, the writer of Dark Side... asserts,

Mohammed Gurang, 34, wakes at 3am to join the 60-deep queue for the filthy bathrooms.The stench of the sewers makes you gag, the water in the showers is a dirty trickle, and there is no electricity.He shares his fetid 12ft-by-12ft breeze block cell with 11 other Indians. Eight have beds, the others sleep on dirty blankets on the concrete floor. A broken fan hangs limply from the corrugated iron ceiling.

The image is shocking, and having been written as a narrative it is probably real; but it appears to offer an extreme rather than a typical case, no less than the haughty description of the rich, spoilt princess,

It is 36C in the shade and, as the woman gazes dreamily across the shimmering bay at rows of gleaming skyscrapers, three beads of sweat have formed on her immaculately smooth brow. Quick as a flash, a poolside butler is at her side, liveried arm brandishing a cold towel, with Evian facial spray and a cloth to buff her Gucci sunglasses. Crisis averted, she flips over on her padded sunlounger, adjusts her purple thong for maximum exposure and starts planning the rest of her stay at Dubai's Burj Al Arab.

Not to be guilty of presenting excerpts out of context, I will admit that the writer is providing a contrast for the sake of illustrating a point. But the article never acknowledges that these are perhaps the extreme. It leaves the reader to accept the presumption that life for the laborer is nothing short of hell on earth. The writer offers no alternative scenarios nor does he/she ever bring into question what responsibility the laborer has for having placed himself into such a predicament.

Excesses of the Rich

Not to focus singularly on the issue of the laborer, the other main implication in the article is that the wealthy are frivolous and uncaring. Dubai's new towers and rampant development are referred to with some amount of derision. Beginning with a quote from Khalid, 28, a carpenter from Kerala it laments,

'This isn't a real life - it's a nightmare. They treat us like animals. I was told it was the city of dreams.' And so it is, for the Rolex-wearing building contractors, who can't build it quickly enough. Forty-storey tower blocks go from conception to opening ceremony in just two years. Half the world's supply of cranes are here working flat out.

Once again, perspective is lost. The city of dreams which Dubai has become is not only about the rich becoming richer through grandiose schemes--though there is some of that--it is also about the dreams of the hardworking, middle-class expatriates who are now fighting to stay afloat as rental rates spiral out of control. It includes overseas, soon to retire pensioners in the UK who are ready to surrender their hard-earned savings and investments for the promise of a dream home in a distant land, with prospects uncertain.

Responsiblity in Reporting

Perspective in this report, or any, should attempt to offer a broader view which includes some "big picture" analysis. It should also take into account some of the contributing factors behind the circumstances being highlighted.

We see the question of perspective arising in reporting and discussions on the current Lebanon crisis--as referenced in the opening. Those wanting to highlight one issue over another will neglect (whether purposefully or unwittingly) the all important contributing factors. They often fail to position their comments within the wider context of the Palestinian/Israeli/Middle East conflict.

My suggestion is not that one rehash, for example, the history of the Middle East conflict going back to 1947, just to make a cursory comment. It is when one is attempting to characterize an issue, such as that of laborer conditions in Dubai (as in Dark Side of Dubai) or that of public opinion in the UAE (as in the Gulf News article, It is the right of Hezbollah to defend their interests), that one must be careful to include a generous amount of perspective.

As an aside, Dark Side... is a fascinating and informative read, in that much of it is presented as a narrative, with apparent quotes from laborers. Thus, one is able to hear these workers describe conditions and their feelings about them in their own words. Just remember, however, to overlay that with a bit of perspective.

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Technorati Tags: perspective in reporting, perspective in writing, balanced reporting, history of Middle East conflict, labourers in the UAE

the UAE

2006-08-06T17:47:00.000+04:00

VITALS:

Location: In the Middle East, on the Arabian Peninsular, along the Persian (or Arabian) Gulf, beside Saudi Arabia.

Area: 83,600 km² (32,278 sq mi), similar in size to Ireland (the entire island) and West Bengal state of India, double the size of Switzerland and half the size of the US state of Florida (reference, Wikipedia).

Topography: Varied desert terrain, including...

wide plains of white-colored sand and brush
hills and dunes of golden and red-colored sand
rocky-mountainous regions with dry spring beds and sparse vegetation (trees and shrubs).

Climate: The populated coastal areas are hot (30-45°C/86-113°F) and humid April to October, cool (17-29°/62-84°F) and less humid November to March; with occasional sand or dust storms and morning fog; and moderate rains 3-4 times yearly.

Population: 4,104,695 (2005), reflecting a 74.8% increase over 1995 census levels; including 20.1% UAE nationals (source, Gulf News). Expatriate population of about 80%, including 45% South Asian, 23% other Arab, 13% East Asian and Western (source, Wikipedia).

Major Cities (w/population): Abu Dhabi-1,292,119 (capital, main oil producer), Dubai-1,200,309 (hub of trade, tourism and property development), Sharjah-724,859 (cultural and industrial center, bedroom community of Dubai) (population statistics, Gulf News).

History: The country was sparsely populated with nomadic communities and small fishing villages, until production of oil took off in the mid-1960's in Abu Dhabi. Sharjah and Dubai had been the principal areas of commerce, relying on pearling and sea-trade.

The country was ruled as a British protectorate until 1971. In that year the UAE was established as a federation of seven districts (or emirates), Abu Dhabi being larger than all the others combined.

The newly united country was led by Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, until his death in 2004. During his reign the country was transformed into a modern, urban, multi-cultural society. That trend is being accelerated today, spearheaded by the present ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.

Culture: It is historically an Islamic country of mostly Sunni Muslims, with strong Nomadic traditions. The large influx of expatriate workers, however, (over the last 3 decades) has created a multicultural mix of identities and practices.

Interaction (apart from business activity) among the various cultures is limited; therefore, each retains much of its traditional ways. The unifying forces within the society are the competing ideologies of Islam and modernization, with the latter winning out. The UAE, as a result, is rapidly becoming a less traditional, more urban and cosmopolitan society.

One lasting visual display of cultural identity can be seen in the traditional dress worn by UAE nationals and men and women from other Arab countries and parts of Africa. In addition the large Pashtoon community and others from Pakistan and Afganistan commonly wear their native attire.

Politics: The country is governed by ruling families and clans. Each of its seven emirates establishes its own laws under the framework of a federation, led by the emirate and ruling family of Abu Dhabi. The emirate of Dubai has established its own identity within the federation as a force for change and progressive values.

There are no democratic institutions; however, benevolence and tolerance characterize the general manner of governance. The leadership of the country has been effective in generating unparalleled economic development, while maintaining law and order and a general state of tranquility among both the national and the large expatriate populations.

Economy: The economy is at once entirely dependent upon the production and sale of petrochemicals. However, the wealth this has generated has been used, particularly by Dubai, to diversify the economy to such an extent that the petrochemical industry is no longer the leading provider of jobs nor the primary driving force for development. Led by Dubai, the country has become a regional powerhouse in trade, real estate and tourism, with rapid growth in additional sectors.

Issues: Below the surface of economic prosperity and harmonious multiculturalism, the UAE faces a number of potentially destabilizing issues:

labor--on the one end with exploitation of a large migrant labor force, and on the other end with poor integration of nationals into the workforce
general decline in the quality of life for many due to income imbalances and inflation brought on by the country's rapid development
a rise in pollution levels, traffic congestion and incidences of crime connected with urbanization and the country's rapid development
alienation of the local population from its traditional heritage due to the ever growing influx of foreign nationals

Commentary

That is the UAE in a bit of a nutshell.

The most interesting of the statistics and summaries presented are those concerned with the multi-cultural character of the country. Although it is common in the Arab Gulf states to have large expatriate populations, the UAE epitomizes this dynamic to the extreme. There is a constant ebb and flow between the two (or among the multiple) populations. From year to year laws governing immigration, employment, social services, etc. change to reflect this movement and uncertainty. Equilibrium is maintained, but it is becoming an increasingly difficult balancing act.

The second most significant characteristic of the country is its rapid development into a regional, and in some contexts global, magnet for economic activity of almost any kind. This certainly creates immense opportunity and an unprecedented level of economic development. At the same time, however, it is hurling the country and its population--both native and expatriate--into uncharted territory.

In addition to the tensions referenced above, one can expect new problems and challenges to arise. The country's leadership has, thus far, been highly innovative in tackling the issues associated with rapid development. It is, however, difficult to predict whether they will be able to cope with the new challenges being brought on by the course the country is charting.

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Postscript

Population Trends

The data suggest a doubling of the population within the next 12.5 years, although I would expect the country to reach even the 10 million milestone sooner than that. The rate of population growth appears to be expanding, with the many construction projects alone attracting over 200,000 new workers per year in the multitude of related sectors. On the completion of new residences, over 200,000 by 2008, more people will also come to settle in country.

Population increases up till now have been largely accounted for by an influx of workers, but as more people take up residence within country, it can be expected that more family members will join them and births among the expatriate population may finally become a contributing factor to population growth.

With regard to city rankings according to population, Abu Dhabi is ranked highest in the latest poll data (the 2005 census). Dubai, however, probably has at present the highest population with a larger number of workers not counted (those with visit or expired visas) than Abu Dhabi. The city's population growth will clearly have far outpaced Abu Dhabi's by the next official census.

Postscript

One more interesting statistic from the Gulf News article on the latest census results: The UAE has a 68:32 ratio of male to female population. This reflects the orientation toward labor immigration that has been characteristic of the UAE since the 1970s. Until the latest construction boom there was a gradual trend toward this ratio balancing out.

1,155 total word count

Technorati Tags: the UAE, UAE history, UAE culture, UAE population, UAE economy, UAE issues, UAE climate

Freehold 2

2006-08-05T17:56:00.000+04:00

Freehold is a bit of a buzzword in the UAE today, but what exactly is it? It is obviously a legal term with regard to property rights. A Legal Encyclopedia hosted by Answers.com provides the following definition:

A life estate, an interest in land the duration of which is restricted to the life or lives of a particular person or persons holding it, or an estate in fee, an interest in property that is unconditional and represents the broadest ownership interest recognized by law.

In order to be categorized as a freehold, an estate must possess the characteristics of (1) immobility—in the sense that the property must be either land, or some interest derived from or affixed to land—and (2) indeterminate duration.

Determinable freeholds are life estates created by language that provides that the estate is to terminate automatically upon the occurrence of a specified event.

A lot that is referred to in this definition appears to correlate with how the term is used in the UAE. Specifically, freehold as a legal concept in the UAE would seem to include the following notions:

an estate in fee or fee simple (terms interchangeable with freehold); see Wikipedia definition.
an interest in property that is unconditional
...that represents the broadest ownership interest recognized by law
an estate that is immovable, i.e. land
...or some interest derived from or affixed to land
an indeterminate duration of applicability

This might be considered a broad definition of freehold as used in the UAE, with need however to qualify points 2 and 4.

Point 2: In the UAE there appear to be conditions associated with freehold possession in terms of limitation of use. Commonly, for example, the owner may not alter the appearance or other external features of the property accept in accordance with procedures set forth by a master developer. This is, in effect, a rather substantial condition, however, it is not dissimilar to limitations commonly imposed by municipality or community based zoning restrictions.

The notion of unconditionality is particularly relevant in terms of the owner's right to sell, transfer or pass on the property as inheritance. Apart from procedural requirements, these rights may be considered largely unrestricted, except in the case of inheritance, which must be in accordance with federal and state (or emirate) statutes and practices--a grey area at present.

As stated in Point 3, this notion of freehold with the apparent restrictions referred to in Point 2, does in fact represent the broadest extent of ownership interest as recognized by UAE statutes.

Point 4: The question of land ownership and the associated rights thereupon appear to also be in question, whereupon, there are suggestions that even apart from meeting the master developer's zoning restrictions, the owner is not free to build a new structure on the land even in cases of the original structure being demolished or destroyed. (The implication is that the right to build any structure on the land or plot is subject to the consent of the master developer.) The question of ownership, therefore, seems to be primarily concerned with the right to sell, transfer and pass on the land or plot as inheritance.

In Other Words...

To put it in terms the layperson might better appreciate:

Freehold ownership in the UAE involves the unrestricted right to sell, transfer or pass on as inheritance an interest in land or a permanent structure, normally a house (villa) or apartment unit. It also includes permanent ownership of the property not limited to any number of years or the lifespan of the owner.

Freehold is, therefore, distinguishable from leasehold in terms of the indeterminate period of ownership. Otherwise the two concepts as used in the UAE may be considered nearly identical--as even within leasehold the property may be sold, transferred and passed on as inheritance up to the duration of the original lease term.

Another term of relevance is commonhold which refers to the common ownership of public or communal areas of a residence or office property--such as corridors, lobby, community room, gym, elevators, attendant grounds, etc., including the plot of land on which the structure rests. Ownership in such case is governed by the provisions of an owners association. Freehold ownership of an apartment or other unit within any such compartmentalized structure may or may not include commonhold ownership of the public or shared areas and facilities. It is possible that the plot of land and all common facilities will be owned by a third party, the developer for example, with the unit owner having ownership rights over only a single unit or units.
776 words
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Freehold! is an earlier post which discusses the history of and outlook for freehold in the UAE.
Commonhold: A Primer looks at this concept in detail.
Freehold Areas Announced... Some Surprises! reports on recent news about freehold in the UAE property market.
Noteworthy: Dubai's Property Law (English translation)
Interactive Map of Dubai Properties

Technorati Tags: freehold, freehold in the UAE, inheritance in the UAE, leasehold, commonhold, UAE property law

Laborers 2

2006-08-04T23:59:00.000+04:00

As reported in Laborers 1, the situation in the UAE for laborers at present is a fluid one. That is, a lot of changes are taking place—with regard to working conditions, issues of pay, living conditions, worker action, government response and public reaction. If the measure of progress were only a question of how much change there has been, then one could say that there has been substantial progress on the issue of laborer conditions over the past 3 to 4 years. But all change, of course, has not necessarily been for the better.

Continuing Problems

On the one hand, the ever-increasing numbers in the laborer population have led to more strain on the limited resources provided these workers. Shortages of accommodation, food, water, uniforms and work gear arise. Also, workers tend to experience more delays in getting to and from their worksites. Sometimes, apparent solutions or improvements lead to new problems. Workers, for example, being spared the hardship of working during the hottest hours of the day (typically 12 noon to 3:30 p.m.), often end up spending longer days at the worksite. This is often due to the inability of companies to efficiently transport them to and from their accommodations, to rest at during this break. Alternatively some are required to start their work shifts in the darkened pre-dawn hours.

One result of this increasing level of hardship is the greater likelihood that workers will attempt illegal strikes or work stoppages. There are reports of laborers attributing such actions of protest to not only issues of poor facilities or non-payment of salaries, but also to issues of abuse (verbal and otherwise) by superiors and employers. Tempers are flaring on both sides and in general these men are not treated with the respect they deserve.

A case in point is a recent restriction on entry by such workers to Ibn Batutta Mall, one of the largest and most popular new shopping venues in Dubai. It is argued that such workers, who tend to visit shopping centers in groups, especially on Fridays their usual day off, are in violation of the shopping center’s dress code—that is, their civilian wear is not up to the standards of such an establishment. (On one local blog this new policy inspired a rather heated debate.) While their services were more than welcome in construction of the property and its ongoing maintenance, these men are not welcome during their off-hours.

Welcome Changes

The more significant point to make, however, regarding change in the circumstances for laborers, is that much of that change has in fact been for the better. A clear illustration of this is provided by the innumerable improvements made in the Al Quoz district of Dubai, which houses one of the largest concentration of laborers in the UAE. The district is a mixed-use industrial area with a concentration of warehouse and storage facilities in one sector and labor and staff accommodations in another.

Typically, laborer or staff accommodation is set up in a 2-4 storey dormitory type structure running lengthwise, with rooms on either side of a long corridor. Three or four years ago these structures were often poorly constructed, poorly lit, over-crowded, unsanitary and dilapidated. Furthermore, the streets and plots upon which they were built were un-paved or poorly surfaced and unlit with very few facilities—i.e. shops or restaurants—to serve the large population. In the evenings hundreds of workers would walk along and jay-walk across the dark dusty roads, always in danger of being hit by oncoming traffic.

Al Quoz today is almost unrecognizable, compared to what it was just 3 or 4 years ago. Although the laborer population in the area has doubled or tripled, many of the housing structures are new or renovated. Still over-crowded and unsanitary, due mostly to over-crowdedness, these structures are generally sturdily built and well lit. It appears that in response to new Dubai regulations, common areas are often tiled. Where sand and dust were everywhere before, one can enter some camps (as they are commonly referred) and even find ceramic or granite tiles in open areas.

Furthermore, the roads are paved and lit with streetlights, some restaurants and shops can be found, and even a large new shopping center has been opened. Where the Al Quoz housing area used to resemble a slum or shantytown, it is now a thriving community. In the evenings the workers used to appear dejected and desperate as they darted across dark and dusty paths, whereas today they seem busy and pre-occupied with taking care of life’s needs.

The changes in Al Quoz, while still inadequate, represent a substantial improvement for these workers. Over-crowding is still a serious issue and in many cases getting worse, due to the sheer increase in the numbers of workers required to complete the multitude of new projects. In laborer accommodations 10-20 men still share a single room. (The numbers much smaller in staff accommodations.) There are still generally no recreational facilities, and transport from the camps to central city areas is another chronic problem. It is clear that these issues will also have to be dealt with, before anyone can say that these workers have received their due.

But, clearly, the picture is getting better—at least in terms of residential facilities and at least in Al Quoz.

889 words
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Popular UAE blogger, Secret Dubai, offers tribute to the "boys in blue" in a poem, Ode to the Outcasts.

Technorati Tags: Laborers in the UAE, Laborer Issues in the UAE, Al Quoz

the Approach

2006-08-03T01:28:00.000+04:00

Imagine you are in an airplane, about to touch down. You look out of the window and take in the dramatic view of a cityscape rising above the horizon.

Hold on to that image and follow me as I take you in on an approach to Dubai, not by air but by highway, on the wonderful stretch of motorway known affectionately as Sheikh Zayed Road.

Brace Yourself

It's something we residents of Abu Dhabi can especially appreciate. We are probably the most frequent visitors to Dubai and we, more than anyone else on the planet, get to experience that wonderful, transfixing approach into the first city of the 22nd century.

It begins rather nonchalantly as one completes the journey across a wide stretch of Abu Dhabi desert, dotted with a few concrete-block towns, a couple of shimmering mosques and those wonderful ADNOC filling stations cum town centers. One crosses the border into Dubai with the only appreciable change noticed being the end of the long stretch of wall/fence that straddles much of the Abu Dhabi portion of the highway.

Soon Jebel Ali emerges with its various trade and warehouse complexes left of view. To the right there used to be nothing but open desert, but new construction is beginning to make its mark.

As we continue our descent, leaving Jebel Ali behind, the magnificent Ibn Battuta Mall appears along the right side of the highway. This is no ordinary mall. It bears the great walls of an ancient Egyptian fortress, the dome of a splendid Persian mosque, a royal palace of Mogul India and the foreboding gate of China's Forbidden City.

What follows this glorious glimpse into the past are (sigh) power lines. Yes, POWER LINES--hundreds it would seem, fanning out from a huge power station on the left, crossing the highway, and swiping the exterior walls of a sprawling complex of mid-rise apartment blocks under construction. From there they trail off into the hills and the desert beyond.

Enter the Future

I suppose one needs a great amount of power to travel into the 22nd century. The sights which are next to unfold provide a prelude. On both sides of the highway the T-O-W-E-R-S emerge--those magnificent, erect monuments to modern engineering.

To the left is Dubai Marina, with over 100 towers completed or at various states of construction. To the right, Jumeirah Lake Towers district, with two dozen or so towers, mostly under construction. Eventually the two developments will house 200-300 towers, several reaching heights of 80, 90 and 100+ floors.

At present it is a panoply of towering forms of concrete, glass and light. It is hard to drive this stretch of highway without looking left, then right, then left again at the towers as they glide by. This is Sheikh Zayed Road where the number of lanes begins to increase to 10 or 12--half on either side of the median--and flyovers start to appear in multitude at various intervals. The wide highway cuts a blazing trail through the heart of what is called New Dubai.

Passing the twin tower-districts, still more, but now sparsely spaced towers and medium-rise structures line either side of the highway. One of new Dubai's crowning features soon emerges on the right--the Mall of the Emirates, with its towering ski slope and Kempinski hotel, poised in elegance like a Russian summer palace.

From Ibn Batutta Mall to the Mall of the Emirates, one is able to witness the birth of a daring new model of modern urban development.

The Future, Part 2

Just past the Mall of the Emirates and that series of flyovers, the skyline is transformed into open skies and a spread of low-rise properties on either side of the highway--largely villas on the left and auto showrooms and other commercial establishments on the right. One might presume they had left behind the heart of Dubai, only to be mesmerized again, when after a few kilometers they begin to approach the latest addition to the skyline.

What comes into view to the right are Business Bay and the Burj Dubai Downtown districts. Like Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Lake Towers, Business Bay will be a water-themed high-rise tower development. At present a dozen or so towers have begun to rise, to eventually reach 100 or more. The tallest among them, the Rose tower, is presently the tallest structure in the UAE, and rising. The Burj Dubai Downtown features as its centerpiece the presently 60-floor Burj Dubai tower, eventually to reach around 160 floors to become the world's tallest building.

As the Burj Dubai rises, a multitude of other towers rise along with it, some already completed and others at various stages of construction. History rising are the words on billboards which greet frustrated commuters as traffic begins to thicken. The agony of being stuck in traffic begins to recede as one gazes out upon the rising forms and starts to fantacize about living or working in one of those towers. Suddenly, traffic starts to move again and the commuter is abruptly awakend from his dream.

Touch Down

We are just about to land at the base of what was once the outer reaches of the city of Dubai. That was seemingly long ago when the pace of life was slower and one of the commoner modes of transport was by water taxi across and along the bustling Creek of the now quaint Deira and Bur Dubai districts. New Dubai, used to mean this stretch along the Sheikh Zayed Road that brings us to the end of our approach.

Before we unfasten our seat belts, however, we need to navigate one more stretch of highrise fantasy. It is the strip of other-worldly towers, dominated by the still spectacular Emirates Towers completed in 1999. Alongside this final stretch of runway are two rows of gleaming towers that were the first hallmarks of a hyper-modern Dubai.

Each tower makes an ambitious statement of what Dubai represents or aspires to: The Shangra-la Hotel tower combines elements of the classic (circa 1920's era) skyscraper and contemporary design. The Fairmont Hotel tower design takes on the color and glitz of a Las Vegas casino palace. The Chelsea tower makes its mark with a partially embedded spire, in the style of a sun dial. The Tower blends Renaissance cathedral style architecture into modern form.

It is at the foot of the Dubai World Trade Center tower that we reach the end of a journey into Dubai ala the future, once heralded by this lone, now diminutive tower, when it was erected back in 1979.

Unfasten Your Seatbelts

Touchdown... we have landed. The dazzled Abu Dhabi traveller has once again made his or her way into this beguiling city. Time will be spent doing whatever it is that Abu Dhabians like to do in Dubai--shop, enjoy the night life, take care of business, enjoy the beach a water park or ski slope, or like I do half the time, just admire its modern wonders.

1176 words
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Tower photos courtesy FunOnTheNet.in

Technorati Tags: Dubai towers, Sheikh Zayed Road, Ibn Batutta Mall, Mall of the Emirates, Business Bay Dubai, Burj Dubai downtown

le Rêve

2006-08-01T11:41:00.000+04:00

It is French for the Dream, le pronounced as la in lacrosse and Rêve as rev in Rev your engines! In Dubai it is the name of a snazzy new tower. The tower is meant to offer a dream lifestyle, full of luxury and amenities. Dubai itself might be called a city of dreams--one of many accolades it no doubt would like to acquire.

But the dreams of Dubai consist not only of the snazzy kind that involve tall towers and palm-shaped islands. It also includes the humble wishes of ordinary working men and women. Before the towers and all the offerings for the rich and spoilt, Dubai and the UAE were the stuff of dreams, for migrant workers. Their dream was to touch down on the hot desert terrain, work hard for a few years, then return to their homeland bearing gifts for kinsmen and neighbors with enough surplus to build a home. This is still the dream of many such migrants even in the face of decreasing odds.

The Founders' Dreams

The dream of the country's ruling families was to build a state in which their own clansmen would prosper. But such was their fortune that the dream need not have stopped there. It became possible to share the dream with all their countrymen.

Their ideals, however, were misinterpreted and became distorted. The youth of the country began to dream more about fast cars and other luxuries, unlike their parents who were happy to inherit a modest but comfortable home, a farm perhaps and some livestock. Some of the youth today fritter away not only their parents' and country's wealth, but also their own lives. Reckless driving is a leading cause of death for national youth.

Is this not too high a price to pay for the realization of a dream? Their great misfortune is that, unlike the migrant worker and other expatriates, they expect their dreams to be fulfilled without the price of hard work and determination.

Evolution of the Dream

One must recognize that the UAE presents a rapidly changing landscape, both literally and metaphorically. The notion of le rêve is as valid today as it was in the early days. Whether expatriate or national, there is the emergence of a common dream to enjoy a more prosperous and fulfilling lifestyle within the country. Some, of course, will always be ready to sacrifice and take what they earn back to their land of origin. But more and more are preparing to not only pursue their dreams in the UAE but live them here as well.

The towers are clear symbols of the nation's dreams and aspirations. Some will complain that such aspirations are too materialistic and superficial. That may be so. But such images inspire and stimulate the imagination. Even for those who wish to enjoy the fruits of their labor elsewhere, the UAE offers if not the chance, then at least the inspiration to continue to dream.

494 words
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Technorati Tags: Dubai dreams, Le Rêve, UAE youth, life in the UAE

Top Picks 7/06

2006-07-31T20:25:00.000+04:00

Picks of the Month: July 2006

Laborers 1

For those most unfortunate ones, it is usually on the job that they succumb, becoming permanently disabled, dying or falling terminally ill. There is no system in place to gather any statistics. No one knows how many suffer such a fate. Such is the nature of the disrespect these indivuals experience throughout their time here.
BD, 7-July

Participation

I pass a familiar landmark which I've seen for years but still have no idea what it is or what it is for. In such moments I feel rather alienated from the place I've made a home in over the past 6 years. That, I realize, is a reflection of my own failure to participate in the community or society within which I live.
BD, 12-July

World

On the second front, it meekly assented to the fact that it was far out-gunned. Without a fight and nary even a word of complaint (well-founded though it would have been), DP World simply relenquished its right to partially manage operations at several US ports.
BD, 25-July

Most Interesting Comments

the Superlative

As a native expat, whose parents have lived in the UAE for 40 years, whose brothers were born and raised in the UAE - I cannot understand the country's naturalization policy - which honestly seems "Alien" and a bit "brutal".
Blogrosh, 20-July

Universality

2006-07-31T18:40:00.000+04:00

The word is mouthful, but it touches upon an important idea. One dictionary entry offers:

Universality is opposed to relativism in philosophy. Truth may be said to be universal, as well as rights, for example in natural rights.

Wikipedia, online encyclopedia

The question of universality seems of relevance in a society like the UAE's where much appears to happen on the basis of relative criteria. Positions are offered and salaries are determined on the basis of nationality, sex, age, etc. The same standards often apply in regard to services. Favoritism and discrimination appear to be largely the order of the day in the UAE.

An easy way to see this in action is to browse the Classified section of a local newspaper. A couple of common examples read:

1 B/R available in Madinat Zayed, for a non-cooking, Muslim, executive bachelor. Contact 050-XXXXXXX.
Gulf News, 31 July 2006

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, UK/ European/ SAF/ AUS, with good contacts, required. Email CV to xxxxx@yahoo.com

Khaleej Times Online, 31 July 2006

Such advertisements commonly list nationality, sex, age, language and sometimes the religion required. Of course, the motivation behind such listings can be understood to have relevance to the specific matter at hand. Someone wishing to share a room or apartment will understandably have a preference. Likewise, in a business setting, it may be easier to work with members of a selected community, which could translate into higher productivity and higher profits.

Nevertheless, this way of thinking permeates all aspects of life in the UAE, and is used in clearly negative and discriminatory ways. Employment offers the most extreme examples, a few of which have already been highlighted. Patronage and memberships in clubs, bars and other social establishments, are often screened on the basis of racial or ethnic criteria. According to a recent news article, a popular shopping center now bans entry to shoppers who fit a certain profile--read laborer, usually of South Asian origin.

The underlying premise in the concept of universality suggests that such an excessive degree of relativism, as exists within UAE society, runs counter to the more fundamental notion of respecting an individual's natural or human rights. In plain speak, one should not be hired or paid according to his/her nationality. A landlord should not refuse or offer housing to an applicant on such basis. The government of the UAE should pay attention to not only the question of Emiratisation, but also that of anti-discriminatory practice toward all residents.

No Clear Heading

The UAE is at a bit of a crosswords. While on the one hand it is becoming a more developed society, incorporating more and more international standards in business and industry, it remains socially and culturally entrenched in the ways of the past.

The peril is that many suffer in this society, albeit quietly and often in subtle ways. Many may never achieve the lifestyle objectives they pursue, for simple reason of nationality, sex, age, religion, etc. It is an errant practice which effects both the national and expatriate populations in equal, if not differing, measure.

Without meaning to sound platitudinous, the notion of equality among peoples needs to be more encouraged and promoted within UAE society. At present, it is not. Attention is being given to issues such as Emiratisation and treatment of laborers, for example--which are good things--but there is little in the way of promoting or even discussing the notion of universality across all sectors of society.

577 words
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Technorati Tags: discrimination in the uae, employment in the UAE, fair housing practices, Emiratisation

the Palm

2006-07-30T18:39:00.000+04:00

Eighth wonder of the world...

The Palm Jumeirah is the first of 3 planned, palm-shaped islands being built off the coast of Dubai. The island is being readied for the handover of its first 4000 properties by the end of 2006. It is property pioneer Nakheel's showpiece development and will be their first major project completed (partially completed, that is, with sections due to be rolled out in phases over the next two years).

Question: Where are the palms--as in trees?

Ok, the question is a bit facetious. Of course, thousands of palms and other forms of vegetation can be planted or transplanted onto the island once it gets closer to completion. But photos of the Jumeirah Palm, with nearly complete or partially built-up plots, reveal that there really won't be much space for trees or greenery, of any kind.

The island is supposed to be the crème de la crème of residential properties, with a much touted resort ambience. On the face of it, however, it appears little different from existing inland developments which feature rows of tightly packed villas interspersed or separated from one-another by artificial ponds, lakes and other waterways. Surely the Palm is supposed to be much more than that.

On a less critical note, the island is certainly a masterpiece of engineering. Aerial views reveal a perfect palm-shaped formation with the green waters of the Gulf surrounding its many fronds. It will certainly be beautiful, with attractive landscaping and impressive properties to match, once construction of its thousands of properties is complete. It will feature a 10-lane highway as its main thoroughfare, several bridges, a tunnel and a monorail. Despite, its shortcomings, just the fact that it is soon to become reality is something to laud.

Daring to Dream

I have heard the words of critics, both the ringside spectator type and the informed insider. "Nakheel has grand ideas but knows very little about detail...," they suggest--wherein, famously, lies the devil. But grand visions are what dreams are made of, and "...it is from he that dreams, that great things spill forth." That is the thought I would rather convey to the naysayer.

To Nakheel's credit they have dared and continue to dare to dream. What they lack in expertise, they seem to make up for in resolve. That, I say, is the key to success, even more so than having technical expertise or other prowess.

As an illustration, take the US space program. In its early days the dreams were grand, but the experience little and so too the expertise. Yet, when the country's leadership resolved to land a man on the moon in as little as 10 years, all obstacles were eventually overcome. From the 1970's onward, however, that resolve disintegrated. Though the experience and the expertise remained, and even grew, the ability to excel seemed to have faded with the dream.

How Good is Big?

Nakheel fares well in other comparisons as well. I would argue, for example, that one may take heart that Nakheel is not Damac*. Nakheel is sometimes regarded as the UAE's largest property developer (it is a semi-governmental entity). In compasion, Damac is the self-acclaimed largest private property developer. While Nakheel has a dozen or so spectacular developments in progress or in the planning stages, all within the UAE, Damac has some four dozen or so projects, largely in the UAE but also spread out across the Middle East and as far a field as China.

Damac's fortunes, however, appear to rest on a house of cards. With over 50 projects proposed, less than a handful are underway, and only one, thusfar, completed (to disappointing results). There is no warranted claim to greatness in this. Nakheel, on the other hand, despite a spectacular stumble or two has the bird in hand with its first Palm project--even if yet to be completed. Such is the grandeur of the Jumeirah Palm Island. It is not only a wonder for Dubai, but also an ace in the hole for its builder.

*As an aside, I refer to Damac. Who am I, I will admit, to predict where their fortunes lie? But every indication is that there are disgruntled customers and a genuine skepticism as to their ability to deliver on such a multitude of projects without any established record.

722 words
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Links:

What’s Wrong With These Beautiful Pictures?—a word on failed ambitions, ala Nakheel.
Palm Jumeirah Ready by Year End, Gulf News update on Palm progress.

Technorati Tags: Nakheel, Jumeirah Palm, Damac, USA moon mission, daring to dream

About...

2006-07-29T23:23:00.000+04:00

a month has passed since the concept of A Word A Day (in the UAE) hit the presses, so to speak, and a routine has become established. It might be useful to step back for a moment and comment upon what it is supposed to be all about.

First, a word about how the idea evolved. It started from a rather spontaneous, Internet-style Eureka moment. While browsing the net I happened upon a site called Hong Kong, One Photo A Day. The immediate thought that came to mind was, "What a great idea ...and so simple!" It seemed like something workable and at the same time interesting. "Why not a photo a day from the UAE," I thought.

Unfortunately, spending 4-5 days a week at a desert outpost where I work--where cameras are not permitted--a photo a day was not going to be a workable idea. "So, why not a word a day," I thought, and thus the concept was born.

Inspiration

I took off with the idea right away, but A Word A Day, it turns out, is not always that simple. I can only compose decent commentary if the word or thought is inspired. Ideally, when that moment of inspiration hits, I should be at a computer terminal with an Internet connection, and not preoccupied with anything else. Needless to say, it is more likely the planets and stars will line up before all those conditions are met. Relying on that moment of inspiration is the most challenging aspect of the effort.

Then, there is the fact that I must permit myself to be presumptuous enough to think that I, moi, can actually comment with credibility on whatever it is that comes to mind that day. There are things, for reason of personal experience and interest, that I am clearly more qualified to comment upon than others. But at the end of the day, I am afraid I have to be a bit presumptuous. That is, I suppose, part of what blogging is all about. Anyone can become his own authority and his own editor-in-chief.

So, full of presumption I set out each day to comment on a word. But if I may in all humility add, I endeavor to approach each topic with balance and perspective. What I attempt to convey is not only a personal viewpoint but also a position on the subject arrived at after some amount of thought and reflection.

Relevance

An additional challenge is to make certain that the inspired thought relates in some way to life in the UAE. That is one of A Word A Day's guiding principles.

On occasion, however, I may feel compelled to stray from that mission. A case in point was when I decided to take on the topic of religion. Not knowing how to publicly present personal thoughts on the subject without risk of offending local sensibilities, I set upon and completed my post with nary a mention of Islam or the UAE. Touché, for it is more than obvious that the two are of immediate relevance to the topic. That, however, must wait for another day, if not another place.

Writing

A final consideration has had to be the actual writing, the composition of the commentary. Putting pen to paper is not so much a challenge, figuratively speaking, that is. I am an English teacher with years--more than I care to admit--of telling learners what to say and how to say it. Interestingly, however, there is the occasional stickler, when I have to pause for just the right word. It usually isn't the sort of thing that one would need to look up in a dictionary or thesaurus. It is often that simple, everyday little thingy that the grammarian or linguist calls a preposition. Who would have thought that it could be getting the in's, of's, for's, by's and on's right that would be the most trying of tasks?

Closing Thought

Now, did I really ever answer the question of what A Word A Day (in the UAE) is all about? Not very succinctly, I suppose. In a few words, then, I would summarize:

It’s about taking an inspired thought about life in the UAE, expressing it in a word, and then expanding upon that idea in some detail.

That, in exactly 25 words, is A Word A Day (in the UAE).

732 words
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Technorati Tags: A Word A Day, A Photo A Day, writer's inspiration

Emirati?

2006-07-28T21:48:00.000+04:00

I have to admit that after six years of living in the UAE, I as a Western, non-Muslim, non-Arabic speaking expatriate do not have an understanding of the Emirati character, lifestyle or culture. I see it, or rather catch glimpses of it from afar, like when zipping past communities along the super-highway that connects Abu Dhabi and Dubai. I know some of the communities' names, like Baniyas, Mafraq, or Al Rabha. But they mean little more to me than a collection of concrete, square-shaped houses, uniformly designed and lined up in rows.

I've had the occasion to visit the home or two, but I must say I really didn't get what I would call the majlis culture. One enters the home, sits on the floor in the majlis or living room (for guests) and well--just sits on the floor. It is for me an awkward feeling that although present in a home, one is not really present in that home, but rather being discreetly kept at the edge of it.

It is a feeling similar to passing by a mosque. There it is, sometimes small, sometimes big but right there at every turn. Not allowed to enter one just peers or glances while passing by--another part of the local culture that is strictly off-limits.

The youth of the culture are perhaps more accessible, but I don't fancy racing dangerously in sports cars or watching those who do, nor bashing the desert sands or whiling the hours away with hubbly-bubbly. Nor do I like cutting through curtains of smoke, glass in hand, pretending that I like the ear-splitting beats of rap or techno in a club. So, the youth of the culture, I'm afraid, do not offer me much of a window.

I've had different experiences on visits to neighboring Oman. Of course, the Emiratis and Omanis share things in common. But in Oman, it seemed hard not to get invited or pulled into a local's home. On such occasions I was still relegated to the majlis, but my appearance at least prompted the rest of the family to come out and visit me. I even had the occasion to wander around the grounds of a mosque or two, right up to the entrance--my camera in hand, taking photos and never feeling that I was intruding on sacred ground.

To me, Emirati culture is represented by walls--the huge walls around the many royal compounds in Abu Dhabi or the stately mansions of the wealthy. One can drive for block after block in the uptown districts of Abu Dhabi, along roads beautifully landscaped in the middle and on either side. But beyond the landscaping all one sees are the walls of compounds. It is the Abu Dhabi I have lived in for six years, yet know nothing of.

As I referenced in an earlier post, White, there is a uniformity and exclusivity within Emirati culture which seems to say, "We are like this and you cannot be part of it. You see, we have our own dress and we live apart from you."

Certainly language and religion are a part of the barrier, and admittedly some of my own proclivities. But my visits to Oman offer such a contrast. Spending just two or three days in Oman I have felt the urge to know the people, their language and their culture. Spending six years in the Emirates, I have yet to feel that urge.

578 words
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Technorati Tags: Emirati culture, Omani culture, UAE society

the Rent

2006-07-27T17:54:00.000+04:00

Ain't nothin' goin' on but the rent. You gotta to have a J-O-B if you wanna be with me.Gwen Gutharie

Coming from the US, it once seemed inconceivable to me that tenants in apartments and houses could be required to pay a year's rent in advance. It isn't uncommon in the US for tenants to try even to negotiate the required one month advance security deposit, in effect having to put up no more than two-months' rent in advance.

Obviously, circumstances vary from country to country, and the UAE is probably not exceptional in having prospective tenants pay so much up front. It is a combination of market forces and indifference on government's part in looking after the interest of the renter. In a not fully developed economy as the UAE's, consumer protection of any kind is limited, especially in light of the fact that the majority of business and property owners, landlords and the like are UAE passport holders while the vast majority of renters and consumers are holders of foreign passports.

Such being the case, it would be bad enough if it were only the requirement of the lump sum payment. What makes matters all the worse is that over the past two to three years, year-on-year rental rate increases have been in the range of 20% to 50%--with the not too exceptional cases of even 100% increases. Such is the crisis being faced by renters (pre-dominantly expats) in the UAE rental market.

The Lucky Not So Few

A large percentage of the expatriate population are provided housing by their employer. I can only speculate on how many--probably less than 50%. Then again there are hundreds of thousands of laborers in country being provided bed-space, who would also not be among the pool of renters.

The presence, nonetheless, of a large group who need not be concerned with the cost of accommodation means that the outcry over 50% year-on-year increases is muted. The fact, too, that it is often a company paying the rent rather than an individual is one reason why landlords are emboldened to charge so much.

These factors would figure into the market forces side of the equation. Remove either of these variables and prices, or at least price increases, might begin to fall. The bottom line, literally, is that many people in country, native and expat, are not directly impacted by the spiraling cost of renting.

The Not So Silent Majority

This still leaves what is probably a majority of the UAE resident population having to pay rental fees that amount to a form of extortion. This situation has created, or at least exacerbated, the phenomenon of the bed-space bachelor, more commonly and euphemistically called the executive bachelor. This group perhaps out-numbers or at least equals the number of laborers living in company provided bed-space accommodations on the outskirts of the cities. The executive bachelors are usually found in large numbers at city centers, and are often harassed if they try to take up residence in nicer or less crowded neighborhoods.

These renters cope with the rental increases by crowding ever more into rooms and apartments originally designed for single-occupancy or small families. Families also double and triple up in single units or villas. Those with higher salaries rent rooms instead of flats--rooms in multi-room apartments or villas.

As for prices, what may have cost Dhs 20,000 three years ago, could have risen to Dhs 26,000 in the first year, 34,000 in the second and 48,000 in the third. In US dollar terms that would be an increase from about $5,500 in year one to $13,000 by year three. The same scenario plays out for those whose rental properties, like villas, will have increased from say Dhs 60,000 to over 140,000--close to $40,000 for just a year's rent!

Cost of Living

The problem is compounded by the fact that year-on-year salary increases are small in the UAE if they occur at all. The traditional mentality is that people come and work for two or three years then leave. For a company it is cheaper, if not necessarily cost-effective, to hire the next new arrival than pay more to keep the existing worker.

Renters are responding to the escalation in fees in a variety of ways:

cutting back on all discretionary spending
increasing reliance on credit cards, bank loans and other forms of debt
sharing accommodation (usually illegally)--with numbers rising to 20 and more in a 3-bedroom apartment or villa
sending dependents back to the country of origin
moving further and further away from place of employment
finally, just quitting the UAE altogether

For the 50% or more who live in rental accommodation these coping strategies have become the reality of life in the UAE. The lucky ones are those who can, in fact, manage by cutting only discretionary spending. Perhaps the most unlucky are those who go the route of taking on more debt, which could eventually place them into a predicament more worrisome than high rent or inadequate accommodations.

The Bigger Picture

As bad as it is, the rent crisis is just three or so years old. People are muddling their way through it. The government murmurs about action it might take. Meanwhile, thousands of renters are being pushed toward the world of freehold. A construction and property market has taken hold of the UAE in a manner perhaps never before seen in the world. The dynamics, one way or the other, are incredible. The rent crisis appears to be a transitional issue. Rental inflation may turn into deflation when tens of thousands of housing units hit the market within the next couple of years. Salaries may rise as Dubai and the rest of the UAE compete with other countries among the booming Gulf economies for workers.

The good news is that the rental crisis is not an entrenched problem. Those in its grips may need to continue to struggle and cope, but there is something at the end of the tunnel—hopefully a bit of light.

995 words
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Related Discussion and Commentary: Who Pays the Rent?, at the UAE Community Blog.

Technorati Tags: UAE rent, Dubai rent, UAE salaries, executive bachelor, Dubai freehold

World

2006-07-25T13:30:00.000+04:00

Chapter I

The world in a word is Dubai. I know the statement is audacious. To clarify and qualify that a bit, the world in question is actually two, Dubai Ports World and Dubai World Central. The former, perhaps better known as DP World, is the nemisis of the famous ports aquisition battle that took place from around September 2005 to March 2006. It was the aquisition battle fought around the world, first in the form of a daring bidding contest for the world's 3rd largest ports operator, P&O, and then an even more spectacular public relations battle between the Congress of the United States and, by comparison, a humble corporate entity of a soon to be denegrated US ally.

DP World won the first contest but lost the second. In the first the company played hardball, pulling all the stops to outbid a larger player. Perhaps it was a battle waged on territory familiar to the rapidly expanding ports operator. On the second front, it meekly assented to the fact that it was far out-gunned. Without a fight and nary even a word of complaint (well-founded though it would have been), DP World simply relinquished its right to partially manage operations at several US ports.

Both battles were rivetting as they played out in the press. The second battle, of course, had such broad international implications that the ordinarily apathetic American public began to weigh in on it. It was a battle won through dirty tricks or skullduggery, which US Congressman are known to resort to on more than the odd occasion. Though retreating, the UAE and Dubai delegation held the high-ground. A battle lost would not be a war surrendered.

DP World has moved on. The Middle East Economic Digest, a leading international news publication reports in its latest issue,

From virtually nowhere, and in the space of just five years, DP World has emerged as the world's third largest port operator through a combination of aggressive acquisitions... With the deep pockets of the Dubai government behind it, there is no reason why its end goal (to be the world's number one port operator) cannot be reached.

From cover story article Taking on the World.
Chapter II

That is the story of the world of Dubai, part one. Part two takes us into the air. It is a story that in interesting ways parallels that of DP World. To appreciate this one must look back on how DP World came to be. The same article quoted above sets the stage:

When Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed al Maktoum announced plans to build the world's largest man-made port at Jebel Ali in 1978, there were many who wondered why. With Dubai already possessing Port Rashid, it would, they claimed be a white elephant. Almost three decades on the move is now held up as a masterstroke.

De ja vu, two and half decades later, son of Sheikh Rashid, Sheikh Mohammed, proclaims that Dubai will construct the largest airport in the world, again at Jebel Ali. This, as the present Dubai International Airport was undergoing a massive expansion yet to be completed. In the true spirit of replicating history, where the Jebel Ali ports operation would come to be known as Dubai Ports World, the aviation venture, originally called the Jebel Ali International Airport, has been rebranded Dubai World Central.

Indeed, in the eyes of some, this would place Dubai at the center of the world. In even more spectacular fashion than the rapid emergence of DP World on the world's shipping stage, Dubai World Central plans to be an operation of incredible proportions. If one statistic alone were not telling enough, the massive complex is being designed to handle 120 million passengers per year, compared to the 67 million passengers now handled by London's Heathrow, considered the world's busiest international airport, and 88 million per year handled by the United States' Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest airport, handling both domestic and international passengers.

Chapter III

The crowning jewel was commissioned by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in the form a decree dated 2 March 2006. In a 2 July 2006 public announcement, it was reported that a new corporate entity, Dubai World, was being officially launched...

as one of the world's leading holding companies, with over 45,000 employees in over 75 cities around the world.

From AME Info article Focused on the World

This conglomerate would be the umbrella organization for DP World and two of Dubai's massive property developers, Nakheel and Istithmar, along with a host of other interests. The words of Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman of Dubai World, encapsulates the entity's ambitions:

Dubai World never stops working. Around the globe and around the clock, we are committed to achieving tremendous success. Our Holding Company is a pioneering collection of international companies who together will proudly advance Dubai and the world. We know this is just the beginning of what we can accomplish and are excited and optimistic about the future and how Dubai World can help transform it.

Focused on the World

854 words
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Additional Reading:

American Interest in the Dubai Marina
We Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet

Technorati Tags: Dubai Ports World, DP World, Jebel Ali Port, Dubai World Central, Dubai World

Geo-politics

2006-07-24T08:15:00.000+04:00

Dubai on the World Stage

More so than the UAE, it is Dubai which figures to make a name for itself internationally. This is all well and good when one considers that as little as a decade ago Dubai was for the most part an unknown quantity. It becomes problematic, however, when one considers that today Dubai is susceptible to a host of misconceptions, being in a region that is known for a certain amount of turmoil.

The Gulf

To understand Dubai, the first requirement is to look at it in the context of the Persian (or Arabian) Gulf region in which it is located and to where it is politically and culturally oriented. It is within this context, as opposed to the larger Middle East region, that one can gain a sense of not only the character of Dubai but also the conditions of life there.

The Gulf region has been politically and economically stable since most of the so-called Gulf states established their independence in the early 1970's.* Two exceptions of course are Kuwait, which suffered at the hands of an Iraqi invasion in 1990, and Saudi Arabia, which has for decades been threatened by forces of religious extremism.

These may be considered notable exceptions, but despite such concerns, the Gulf states as a whole have prospered--first and foremost, economically, and also in terms of offering a politically stable and calm climate for business, tourists and residents.

*The Gulf states include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman.

The Larger Region

When compared to the larger Middle East region, conditions in the Gulf could hardly differ more. Though geographically near three zones of conflct--Israel/Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq--the Gulf states (with the exception of Kuwait) have been spared the worse effects of the numerous political, military and economic crises that have plagued the larger region.

It is under these conditions that Dubai prospers today. Associating the problems in Baghdad and Beirut with the UAE is sort of like suggesting that Greece is under threat just for being of similar distance to such trouble spots as the UAE is.

This is not to say, with naivete, that the current crises in the Middle East are not linked in significant ways to the Gulf states. There are substantial cultural, economic and social ties amongst the various states across the larger region. One also would not expect that it were inconceivable for problems in one region to spillover into another. But if the past is any predictor of the future, then the Gulf states are likely to stay clear of direct involvement in the current tumultuos events.

It is a difficult balancing act that the Gulf states must maintain, but they have been successful in the past and it is in their interest to make every effort to continue to walk the fine line. Furthermore, in the face of any regional crisis it has been the tendency of Dubai to not only remain aloof, but to even find ways to prosper.

Fundamental Questions

The layperson is not, however, very much interested in geo-politics. His concerns are often more simple and direct.

Is Dubai safe?
Are personal freedoms respected?
Does it operate by the rule of law, or is one at the mercy of corrupt officialdom?
What is it like for the visitor?

What are the risks investors face?

Whether from a personal or business perspective, those from outside the region may not be able to differentiate Dubai and Damascus. But those in the know, who have either lived or travelled or are well-versed in the affairs of the region, will be all too aware of the differences. Dubai fares well in regard to nearly all of the concerns one may have about safety, security, stability and the rule of law.

Living in Dubai

It is a city where residents enjoy a standard and quality of life not unlike that in other international cities. That is, business and personal freedoms flourish. The city enjoys a low-crime rate, liberal social attitudes and a government which values above all else the notion of economic prosperity.

The city houses a relatively transient population of workers--professional, skilled and unskilled. They represent not only a wide range of classes in terms of lifestyle, but they hail from an innumerable list of countries. Despite this, the city, and the UAE as a whole, function in a civil, orderly fashion. The authorities are adept at maintaining control while at the same time respecting individual freedoms.

The point is, Dubai is a safe and prosperous city with the same comfort, conveniences and problems as any other large, modern, cosmopolitan city. It is in many ways Singapore, Hong Kong or New York City. It is not Baghdad, while it is perhaps what Beirut had recently aspired to become.

The Arabian Gulf is not the Levant. It has its own interests, concerns and dynamics, which over the past three decades have led to the creation of stable, prosperous societies.

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