Leave Dubai Alone!

YouTuber Chris Crocker wailed "Leave Britney alone!!".   Now I'm wailing "Leave Dubai alone!"


Some of us are sick and tired of Dubai bashing. 
There have been some damaging articles in the UK press and other places about Dubai. The headlines go something like: "The Dark Side of Dubai", "The Desert Dream is Fading", "All that Glitters is not Gold",  "You Can't Get Rich Quick in Dubai Anymore" (yes, I made that one up but you get the drift!) blah blah blah!! There may be truth in these articles but if the Dubai Dream turns into a nightmare who should be blamed, really?   


I am no politician (just an opinionated individual) so bear with me if my facts are not your facts. 

Dubai has been called out on many violations and much has changed especially for large companies hiring thousands of labourers, but what do we expect them to do about those domestic workers who are so miserably mistreated by their employers that they hurl themselves out of fifth floor windows? Is it possible to police people inside their own homes?


Although the laws protecting domestic workers are in place, most of these workers don't have a clue about their rights.  Doesn't abuse have to be reported before the authorities can take action? Even in the most developed societies victims are reluctant to report their abusers.  How can we educate these workers about their rights when they come here already grown and many from countries where they have even less than here?  It's interesting to note that just as many of their tormentors are foreigners and some are from those same developed countries that raise a stink when they see human or animal rights violations. Evil is evil no matter where it's from.

Dubai has been hit hard by the recession just like the rest of the world.  I read about one traumatised woman living in her Range Rover, waiting for her husband to complete his jail term so they can go back to the UK together.  They've lost everything in the financial crisis. I feel for her although the fact that she is homeless yet sleeping in a luxury car is telling.  From what I understood from the article, they made some misjudgements in their business decisions and this coupled with the global recession, left them flat broke and debt-ridden in a very short time.  I have little financial market knowledge but how is this Dubai's fault?  We were taught in "A" level Economics that businesses fail sometimes. Like, duh!

There are many things wrong here just like in other parts of the world but what good does it do to just gloat, smirk and make exposes? This country is still very new. It took centuries for the finger pointers to get where they are now and Dubai is trying to do that in a few short decades so let's cut it some slack. It's like they're just waiting for a fail. They won't admit it but they want to see Dubai fail.


Unless we can be constructive and help correct what we perceive as injustice then let's just "Leave Dubai alone!"


Now just for laughs, here's Chris Crocker pleading Britney's case.

Abu Dhabi is Scraping the Skies!

Yes! Scraping the skies and not taking us with it, leaving us down here with "parking rage", the cousin of 'road rage".  We are well on our way to becoming another Dubai. Tall buildings sprouting up like mushrooms, all the way from Lulu Island to Al Raha.  Who's going to occupy them? Your guess is as good as mine.  All I know is the city is growing upwards, albeit at a slower rate now due to the recession, but growing nonetheless.  

What does this mean for us residents?  It should mean cheaper rents, more (or at least better) services and job opportunities. Maybe that'll come later, but for now this growth has translated for most of us into traffic jams, and lack of parking space, and the bane of Abu Dhabi city residents, MAWAQIF!!!  Oh! MAWAQIF. For those who don't already know, Mawaqif is the city's new parking "system", designed to decrease congestion in the city centre. What they did was paint the kerbs turquoise and black, and set up parking meters in the city centre. So we now have to pay for parking at 2 to 3 dirhams per hour, or 15 dirhams a day.


What if you live in the city centre? 

Then you'll have to buy a space outside your house at 800 dirhams/year for the first car and 1200 dirhams/year for a second car if you have one.  Maximum 2 cars per household.  Do you hear someone laughing? I thought so, and is the laughter coming from the direction of the bank?  Heh heh!
Go to  www.mawaqif.ae for more.


Has it eased congestion?  Meh! not for me, not by much, mainly because no new parking spaces have been created so far,we're vying for the same old existing ones. So it's the same as it never was, I guess. I'm so glad I'm on local vacay so at least I won't have to worry about the 15 dirhams I pay daily to park at work. Thankfully, I live out of the city centre in a purely residential area, so I don't see Mawaqif coming here ever. 


The weather is super fine, we gots to fire up the BBQ this weekend, Inshallah.