Sunday, June 8, 2008
Dubai, the Rise and...
30 years ago I landed in this place and I literally grew with it. Everyone who spent as much time here as I have would tell you that Dubai was growing a bit better off in certain areas and getting slightly worse off in others year by year.
Nothing strikes as more astounding though as the change of the last 4 years. With the hyper buildings, rapid change of leadership and policies, Dubai marched on with areas a lot better off and in some people's opinions got a lot worse off in others.
The last 6 months cannot be called anything but "confusion".
Rules and regulations in this unregulated supposedly free haven sprang weekly if not daily, all disconnected and unorganized that chaos was certainly the name of the game. Standards of living took a nose-dive in restaurants, government service agencies, banks, hotels, taxis, the works. Everything was worse delivered and much more expensive, and crowded. Very few could focus on the better off now, as most are shell shocked by the sheer velocity of changes, most of which are widely perceived as negative. The dubai lifestyle for one thing was beaten to a pulp. Crowd rules are in play.
Those of you who lived here a mere 10 years ago will actually have so much to talk about regarding "the good old days". My favourite was cruising down the beach road and wondering why would they charge 5000 dirhams a year for a beach club membership when the best beaches are all over and free? When a dubai police car stopped you, you were either messing about and possibly drunk, or they just wanted to chat about your car's performance figures and maybe give you a couple of tips about a good garage.
Remember when the watchman, otherwise called "Natoor", was actually a residential building's version of an office lad? Guard the place, wash the car, clean up the whole building daily, mind the swimming pool and gym facilities, and maybe pick up some light shopping from the grocery next door that has a tab open with your name and apartment number, one that you'ld settle without hassle nor delay at the beginning of each month.
Such things always made it possible to have plenty of time for the beach (as long as we were away from the 5 months of hell). Sometimes it would be a month and the beach gear wouldn't even leave the car for a cleanup. You never fought for a place, as a matter of fact you sought company, and in Dubai company was good, sharing drinks, barbe, and stories.
Most of all, everybody was working around 5 comfortable days a week, and were making good money.
So what exactly got into the dishdasha's thick heads in power, that things needed to change?!
*shrug*
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14 comments:
Hooray! I've linked to you. Congrats on your new blog, and thank you so much for all your comments on mine ;)
Dubai Warrior:
So, you finally did it!
Congratulations :)
For an amateur resident, it was pleasure reading your comments on SD's blog :)
Congratulations on your new blog! I have already bookmarked it. Keep them coming. (p.s. you are not getting rid of me that easily :P, ill try to drop by often and be the devils advocate!)
Saif AlMazroui
Caught your comments on Secret Dubai Diary and I'm glad you took the plunge. As someone relatively new to the Middle East (I spent a year in Dubai in 2006/7), it's always interesting to read and hear the perspectives of those who have experienced the crazy transformations the place has undergone first hand.
Good luck with it.
Oh God, Thank you so much guys. This does mean a lot and it certainly encourages me to write a lot more often.
Secret Dubai, I thought you would probably be hating me for such long comments. :) Thank you for linking me and for the original great blog that I can certainly say brought me here today, (Wanted to send you a message before by the way but there was no icon or facility for that). Hopefully one day my blog will be big enough that it will graduate to grabbing a newspaper mention, and who knows maybe even get blocked by Etisalat (fingers crossed everybody, woohooo!)
Saif, I seriously seriously mean it when I say I'll be looking forward to your comments, mate. Just remember if you come with a really awry comment, unless you present it with an offering of peace (I'll take one day in a closed room with George W. Bush with a real war-hammer and no questions asked by secret service, or one day's rent paid for my home here in Dubai, just as valuable, you choose), unless you come with that, I will be inclined to eat your head off, please don't mind if I do. :D hahaha
Kyle, you and shaper85 put the idea in my head, so whatever happens, I'll always have YOU to blame. :) No seriously, I have been reading the technical pages and you were right, it's not that hard. Right now it's down to the writing.
Little Jimmy thank you for your support and wishes, glad to see you gave it a whole year in dubai. Wherever you are now trust me, you're missing out on a whole lot of fun here. The 6 o'clock jams are just exquisitely fabulous this 08 season! :)
Everyone I'll try not to disappoint, and thank you again for the encouraging words and your first comments.
Dubai Warrior (hammer laid down for tonight to enjoy the pipe)
Hey there, neat blog - honest sentiments. Pretty much relate to everything you had to say.
My folks have been in the UAE close to 40 yrs, they are now retired, however continue to live in the UAE. I was born/raised there, likewise many of my friends. We share your sentiments w.r.t to cost of living, the *change* - daily laws and rules an' all . I've always been sentimental about the place I've grown up - however it's not quite recognizable these days. I'd take the UAE we had 10 years ago to the one we have today. Am not sure why there is a divide or separate set of rules for natives and life long expatriates - or of the several laws and rules that come out these days.
Anyway, I do believe there shall be a lot of positive going forward - she is a very young nation, learning to grow, taking those baby steps into the real world. Extend her the time, patience and support, I sincerely believe she shall do quite well.
In terms of living standards, I remember when apartments and villas used to be HUGE; a regular apartment may be more penthouse style in today's terms. They seem to have shrunk into tiny concrete cocoons which require ones first born as a deposit on the lease.
Also - anyone's who explored Sharjah during that times remembers how alcohol was freely available to buy, along with pork before they became all religious.
Then again, in all fairness to both sides of the argument, I left Dubai because I felt disenfranchised and despondant about the situation amd sought better opportunities elsewhere without turning back (although I still miss Shawarmas). What made/makes you stay on Dubai Warrior?
ha! I've got to agree with sharper - re:apartments/villas, I remember the huge apartments back in the days, even the villas. They were well constructed, excellent quality stuff, with huge rooms and all. Feels like an era gone by.
Personally, I don't think, things shall ever return to the way it was, however, perhaps they'd (and by they - I mean the powers that be and most expat folks) influx some life and reality check into ways of life and functioning within the nation. Get rid off silly racist ideologies, laws, barriers and learn to accept people as people, all trying to make a living.
I think what hurts the place is that not many can or want to think of it as home, instead as a transit spot where to make some monies and move back to a place they identify as home and in a way, its quite sad for the UAE.
dubai warrior, are you for real? your bitching about dubai because you want it to go back to the old days when the beaches were 'free'? god sake get a fucking grip, you want to go back to the old days when natool would come get ur bread and milk from jingly shop? or back to the old days when dubai was soo strict, and boring, not everyone wants free beaches habibti, trust me, send everyone in dubai in a time capsule to dubai 20 years ago, no one would stay it was disgusting, every where u went you would have loads of little indians and pervy emiratis trying to grab your bottom! seriously, they are farrrr worse problems in the world, why do you hate dubai so much, do you honestly think places like the uk are any better? the uk, where there are so many illegal immigrants, health service is crap, chavs, drugs, stabbings, 18 stabings in london on under 18\S in the last 9 months?
Hey anonymous,
Easy there, girl! (I am guessing you're a lady judging from the "grab your bottoms" experience you mentioned) This is a forum of discussions that will certainly take opposite views without worries, but take it down a notch on the immediate f-wording you launched right off the cuff. Where's the fire.
Anyway, I don't know about you lady but no one was grabbing my bottom (well, ALMOST no one) back then, but more importantly, THEY ARE NO LESS TODAY! Do you want to honestly say that pervs have stopped harassing women today?!? The same beaches that had bored deprived male workers scouting the women in bikinis on the beach and anything in less than a sari or abayya in malls back then are STILL here in case you haven't noticed! They DO get into the paid beaches too.
In all cases a bit of personal application of effort always meant that you can avoid such situations by going to the further beaches that today are abused by the JBR development.
And honestly, if any old dubai-timer heard you saying that 20 years ago Dubai was boring and more strict, would say you've been living in a different city! It's only recently that all the fun places like Dubai Country Club, Dubai equestrian club, Rugby grounds, and open air parties have been shut down. It's only recently that they came up with this "no dancing in open air bars", "no display of affection in public" which included husband and wife kissing upon meeting, and the campaigns against what women wear and what stickers are on cars and the big sensitivities that are now filed under "respecting local culture" have been enforced. It's only recently that Dubai icons like the Hard Rock cafe has to close, the free courts at Safa park turned to bookings with 50 dirhams, the free parking everywhere gets locked to be paid at rates higher than New York even when it's left empty as a result.
20 years ago no one would stay you say? EVERYONE stayed! People came to visit and didn't want to leave. Today people are coming for a month and are cutting it short and leaving early. What fun do you find today available? More of the same overpriced malls? Sports clubs sequestered for local men sports activities and non-existent social life within them? Hotels and Spas copying each other and offering the same service as before but multiplying the prices into 5?
I respect your opinion but it doesn't make sense to me. UK was and is still suffering from problems, but that has its own causes and is a result of compromises, and also has nothing to do with Dubai. Please understand, we shouldn't compare Dubai to just other places in the World today and say it's good enough, we're comparing to what it USED TO BE and asking why the senseless deterioration and rule changes that is making everything worse off.
You don't think it's worse off, well, that's your opinion. Enjoy the overpriced, lower standard, overcrowded everything that Dubai has become.
i have 2 words for dubai
ITS FUCKED
Suddenly, it has changed very fastly. Its all due to real estate sector developed there.
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