A response to a reader's comment
"Hello Princess, I wonder, is Dubai really changing so fast? Is this change not only superficial? Only technical things, modern equipment? Some sex and a bottle of alcohol for the happy few? How about the menality / the psychology / the mindset of the native people? Their attitude towards others who have less money or are from a different race or religion? How to treat foreigners that do the hard work in your country, do they have rights as well? Does that change as rapidly as the colour or your I-pod or handphone?"
Hi Hans, thank you for your comment. How can a change be superficial? Either a change happens or it doesn't. Perhaps you are referring to attitudes rather than changes that I refer to in my post as actual developments in our society.
As for the mindsets of native people here, I think you are generalising and playing into media stereotypes. The locals of the UAE are known for their overwhelming hospitality and have always welcomed foreigners with open arms, regardless of race and religion. Foreigners are treated well, and I would hope anybody in the world of work "works hard". The number of people choosing to settle in the UAE is increasing day by day, and this reflects the growing attraction of the country as an uphill curve. The rest is just propaganda.
The UAE is a land of opportunity in which foreigners and locals prosper alike.
Where any vibrant economy exists, I would think the variety of colours on the market for I-pods or mobile phones would correlate.
10 comments:
Hello Princess, thank you for your attention. I never expected that you would spend a whole post to my remarks.
Actually I didn't play into the media types. Not deliberately at least, but perhaps I did unintended. I posted only questions, didn't I?
I live in Europe (Old Europe according to Donald Rumsfield) more specific: in The Netherlands, in a village some kilometers south of Amsterdam. English is not my native language. Dutch is.
I have been to several Arab countries, (Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Yemen. I was even once in Dubai, but only at the airport) I know the hospitality of the Arab people and I am very pleased with it. All are warm hearted and I like to go there.)
I think you live in an intriguing, interesting society. Rapid, breathtaking change and your country is in the news (our news) every now and then, especially for the modernization. Isn't that Dubai will have an annex to the Louvre Museum? And aren't there modern American musicals performed on stage?
But is a country with a prospering economy also a modern country? I wouldn't call (parts) of the USA, with its vibrant economy, a modern country, especially not the Mid-West, where religion stil decides the life of millions (Bible-belt) The region where they see them selves as the God-chosen people. Where all other religions are from the devil, as they see it.
Yes indeed, you are right, I referred to attitudes, rather than developments in your society. But can developments go without changes in attitudes, in the long run?
Our country changed from the mid 19 th century onwards rather rapid to a modern industrialized country, but it took 150 years to change the mindset of the people to change to a modern attitude, and compared to the Scandinavian countries we are still, nowadays, rather conservative, in some way or another. Especially women in top positions is a rare phenomenon in our society. But we have a queen as head of state, but not as the political leader, who is elected.
It took us more than 100 years to reduce the influence of the religion, (where only a handful of clergy members decided for the whole population, what to believe and how to handle), to change to an open society where people can decide the course of their life themselves, regardless their background, non-religious or religious (whatever religion you desire, you are free to chose and to switch to any other if you wish. You may even invent your own religion if you please so, nobody will bother you.) Religion is considered a private matter, the state will not interfere as long as the religion doesn't try to interfere with the state.
It took us 150 years to become a modern society, and we are still not finished with the 'job', there is still a lot to be done. I hope to see Dubai going much faster, but, please, don't change your hospitality!
Few weeks ago there was an article in our newspaper about Arab Bloggers and SaudiJeans was in the spotlight. Through his blog I came to other bloggers in several Arab countries and also to yours. I am pleased to read yours (and the others) but I get the idea that you (the bloggers) are all part of the upper layer of society, isn't that so?
Please keep in mind that I do not intent to bother you with long discussions. Go ahead with your posts, If you continue to post regularly I will return regularly to read your postings and enjoy your hospitality. And I hope to learn that in the end you are not 'desperate' at all, just a 'Princess in Dubai'.
All the best
Hans
"The UAE is a land of opportunity in which foreigners and locals prosper alike".
Well said princess. :-)
@who-sane
Sort of true, however the locals prosper so much nmore than the foreigners.
*Hans
Hi there, yours was an interesting comment which I felt deserved attention, so I'm glad you don't mind.
The questions one asks, I find, reflects the person and what he has on their mind.
I luv Holland, yes, I've been there! :) Your English is good...
For your info it's the capital, Abu Dhabi, that will house the Louvre collection, and not Dubai. Abu Dhabi's on a massive tourism drive of late.
What does modern mean anyway? Interesting question. I think relatively speaking, Dubai is the most modern city in the whole of the Middle East - I think this is official too. But there's a lot more to go, like the Metro. Remember that developments are reflected by attitudes in the first place, in this case, the inspirational leadership in the country who are making these changes. And I don't think there is anything particularly unique in the negative sense in the mentality/mindset of locals here than in other countries as compared with other societies.
I think the UAE is doing fine as it is, and therefore there is no current need to "reform" things, as there might have been in other parts of the world, as you mention.
Women in the UAE enjoy great priveleges in the world of work and in society too.
I would say that most regional bloggers are from all walks of life - not necessarily the "upper layer of society" - I've read blogs from this region where people complain about lack of money etc. and are anti-class!
Thank you for visiting my blog and for your comment, which gives an interesting insight into the "outside" view of the UAE.
Thanks Hans!
*who-sane - cheers m' dears! I wouldn't have thought from your blog that you would second that statement. By the way why do we have to fill in so many boxes to leave a comment on your posts? Could you remove them?
*Guy, not all locals are prosperous. Foreigners have an equal chance in terms of prospering, it's not like they're being stopped from prospering. That's why Free Zones were created - foreigners and locals prosper alike!
do bi guy: even if they do prosper more than foreigners, it's their country afterall.
Princess: what boxes? you only need to fill in the name and the email :-)
lol - name and email - there goes confidentiality!
i*maginate: the name and email don't necessarily have to be your real name and email, they're just mandatory fields, i.e. email@email.com would do
Yah-hay! I can now comment on your blog! Who-hoooooooo!! ;) P.S. I like the Arab Expats blog you started, it's well cool.
well thanks for dropping by, really :-) ... and do stop by on the other blog every once in a while, would be cool to have you there and get your feedback
"The locals of the UAE are known for their overwhelming hospitality " -
I Agree
"always welcomed foreigners with open arms"-
That explains why there is a BLANKET BAN on Residency Visas being granted to Iraqis. I am not even going to start with the issues other nationalities face.
"Foreigners are treated well"
Human Rights Watch sure doesn't agree with you on this. After all they did issue an entire report on human rights violations of foreigners in november.
"The UAE is a land of opportunity in which foreigners and locals prosper alike"
True to a certain extent. This website will explain everything that is wrong with this statement:-
www.uaeprison.com
Then again it is blocked....hmmm wonder why??
I too am extremely optimistic about this country. But I feel like there is a difference between optimism and blind ignorance. If we just assume that this is a great utopia to live in then we are setting ourself up for failure. We have to identify flaws and weaknesses, provide constructive criticism on them in order to MAINTAIN A CONSISTENT LEVEL OF IMPROVEMENT!
No point of ignoring all the problems around you and living in your imaginary perfect UAE.
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