A Word A Day (in the UAE)

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