Coming over soon!
 

Hi there - I have been looking at your discussion forum for the last couple of weeks and have found it very useful. We are coming to Dubai in July - I know, the hottest part of the year!- we have a house sorted and school sorted - I was wondering about a few things that maybe you could help me with.

1) - I asked at the embassy about censorship of DVD's, but was told adamantly that this did not happen - the removal men are not so sure about this - has anyone had any problems bringing in DVD's? - things like fitness dvd's, kids films, action-adventure etc.

2) - I read with some concern about the notices giving to people with pets at the Jumeirah Beach Apts - has anything else like this happened? - i was hoping to bring over cats/dogs, but now I am not convinced -

Thanks in advance for your help on this.:)

Re: Coming over soon!
 

bring your DVDs - no porn though ;) the pets will be fine, it is only apartments where such restrictions come into play, never heard it said about a villa before. Good luck!

Re: Coming over soon!
 

DVD's are censored...or rather if they see something they don't like (such as abhorrent children's cartoons like The Prince of Eygpt or violent and subversive titles like Ben Hur or The 10 Commandments) they will take them from you...

Schindler's List is also a big no no!

N.

Re: Coming over soon!
 

Thanks for the help on this one!

Much appreciated!

Can't wait to get over to Dubai!! hotter and dryer than here I think!!

Re: Coming over soon!
 

The only things that cause the censors to get upset (read excited) are:

1 Male Butts
2 Homosexuality (male that is... lesbianism is tolerate a bit more...)
3 Bad mouthing Islam (or even slightly upsetting Islam)
4 an exact phrase "lower female nudity" (upper is fine as long as it's not lingered on)
5 Obvious full on intercourse....
6 Really - male butts are the worst thing ever.... ban ban ban....

The UAE is not Saudi and actually Kuwait is worse where Tom And Jerry are banned as when Tom dies he goes to heaven and the angels etc...

Language and violence are 100% fine - no problems there....

PS (I said lingered)...

Re: Coming over soon!
 

can anyone advise whether a large painting of buddha's face (6 by 8 feet) would be considered offensive? and a 3 foot high buddha statue? I'm moving from singapore and would be quite distraught if these things were 'censored' by customs...if anyone has brought in similar items, i would really appreciate hearing abt yr experience, ie whether the items were delivered intact or if it might be better for me to leave these items here....thanks so much!

Re: Coming over soon!
 

Ther is a 20ft high Buddah in the Buddah Bar in the Grosvenor Hotel, so maybe if you pay 10% service and 10% tourist tax on your Buddahs you will be ok.

Re: Coming over soon!
 

Apparently it isn't a Buddha, it's a monk. I'm not sure what the difference is apart from one being legal in Dubai and the other not.

On a slightly more serious note I notice that the Buddha Bar Cds in Virgin used to have big black stickers over the picture of a Buddha on the front but the newer ones don't, although the picture looks the same to me. Maybe they aren't as strict on this as they used to be.

Re: Coming over soon!
 

You can buy Buddha head statues in The One and I am sure I have also seen them elsewhere.

Re: Coming over soon!
 

nina, our relo company told us not to bring in my buddha's heads because they were likely to be confiscated, so i left them at home...we arrived to find buddha's heads, buddha statues and paintings of buddha for sale all over the place...! I guess if they are really important to you, then don't risk it...

MM, xx

Re: Coming over soon!
 

Wow, thanks for all yr prompt response on the buddhas....very useful....good to know that the society there is actually generally open to buddha replicas.....

Medusa, seems like yr relocation company knows the scene well, so i shall not risk bringing in my buddha items unless i get some special customs clearance of sorts....

plus, i'll be moving to abu dhabi (as opposed to dbx) so i think it would be slightly more conservative there?

anyway, am still crossing my fingers that i can work out some kind of special arrangement...sigh.

Re: Coming over soon!
 

I'm also moving to Dubai in July/August. I was worried about DVD and religious items too. Our DVD's are all kids and action type stuff. Sounds like we should be okay with that from what you guys have already said.

What about other religious items. My daughter has a collection from her visit to the Pope last year - Rosary Beads, postcards etc. Also all her Holy Communion memorabilia. Crucifix wall hangings etc that the kids have made at kindy and stuff. Do you think they will be okay?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Re: Coming over soon!
 

Well I just had all my DVDs shipped over without any problems.

They included such gems as Schindlers List, Munich, Exodus, Root of All Evil by Richard Dawkins, and not one had been removed.

I also had a box of books and the jokers at the removal ompany must have thought it would be funny to put The Portable Atheist by Christopher Hitchens on the top. But again it was there nestling proudly on top when it arrived.

Re: Coming over soon!
 

LOL. I got away with the complete works of Salman Rushdie....

Seems they're more threatened by sex & nudity than ideas.

Re: Coming over soon!
 

I really think it all depends on what customs officers you get on what day and if they feel like going through things. I was advised by my removalists not to bring all sorts of things over so I left them at home (bibles, christening presents, photos etc etc), however I guess it all depends on the risk you want to take. I decided for the few years we would be here that I'd rather keep all my photos etc safe and not have to worry about them. I know the likelihood of the ship going down is remote, but I wasn't willing to risk it.

However I know lots of people that brought everything over and had no problems at all. I did bring some DVD's and religious things in my hand luggage with no problems.