Ronnie Biggs

And according to Johann Hari there are British women who have lived here for 20 years but never spoken to an Emirati........

Blue Cat

bimcnorth

...He must have read a book about the past colonial lifestyle in India.

Or he simply make things up, most journos do..

Ethos83

Is it truly unbelievable that there are people who have lived here for years but who have never spoken to an Emirati?

I'm sure I've spoken to Emiratis at various points but I wouldn't be fully conscious that they're Emiratis. I have never spoken to an Emirati on a professional or social basis, which is probably the norm for many if not most Western expats. That was probably what these women meant.

After all, there are no Emiratis in many offices out here. I live in Umm Suqeim, but I only see Emiratis on the road as they speed past my villa. I see far more British and other Westerners.

Plus I gather many Emiratis don't like the Westerners. They view us as a necessary evil in their country.

Meanwhile...

The article was a bit lurid. Interviewing semi-drunk people at a bar is not the best way to be gathering information, but there's no denying that there's a hard, unpleasant kernel of truth at the basis of the article. Life is shitty in Dubai for many, many people, and has progressively become shittier over the years. This reality was masked by the boom, in which many people only participated in through credit. The Westerners were largely isolated from this reality by their large packages, until the credit crunch came along.

Dubai operates in a way that most of us would not tolerate in our home countries. We would not tolerate the explicit exploitation of the back-breaking labour of hundreds of thousands to make a small minority rich. We as westerners pretend we're somehow removed from this reality by the colour of our skin and that because we have no power or say in this country, these problems are simply not ours. But we do profit, in our way, from the sheer supply of cheap maids and Indian labourers.

There's a lot of good reasons why many Westerners don't like the Emiratis. Safe from our self-imposed bubble (largely encouraged by the ruling class here), we can look at the astonishing disparities in the UAE, the inherit contradiction between traditional Islamic values, particularly the five key pillars, and the reality of the huge prostitution scene, the total and absolute disregard for poor people (tearing down Satwa and refusing to build affordable housing elsewhere, for example). We look at the press releases from Sheikh Mo and his boys and see the utter bullshit they put out about the economic situation. We see how the Dubai municipality denied for months about the pollution problem in the seas despite that we could see it for ourselves. We see how prominent Dubai authorities publicly claim that rents would never go down, and just laugh and say, 'sheesh, these Emiratis!'

Last but not least, I'm sure that deep down many of the Emiratis know that there are fundamental flaws in how their country operates, which is why they take every criticism personally. The Emiratis do view themselves as a tribe, and it's at tribal mentality that operates out here. The sanctity of the tribe is paramount, and while the tribe may privately speak among themselves, publicly, they cannot show any signs of weakness or disapproval.

AnotherWorld

And then other western expats call us racist, culturally insensitive and so on for not really liking Emiratis or Emirati culture.

Aikman7981

The point in the Hari article that stands out as most likely suspect to me was the maid interviewed in the shelter.

Why would a runaway maid say anything to a western journalist other than "I was beaten, abused etc"? Everything to benefit from a sad story and nothing to gain from saying "I felt like going home so I ran away". I'm certain many maids are abused here. I'm also certain most are not and some have nice situations.

bimcnorth

It´s as believable as that you spend 20 years in the UK and never speak to a blonde person..

Millsyisland

seven seas

Worth a try:


How many of us, in the past year, have spoken to an Emirati in a normal social situation?

admon

This is what makes me laugh about living here.

People talk about 'Emirati's' like they are some kind of alien life form.

If you haven't spoken to an emirati in a normal social situation in the last year, either you don't get out much (apart from brunch of course), or you are the typical twat western expat that serves as an example to be talked about in a derogatory manner..

MataHari

I've even touched a few...

klaus3974

When I am in Dubai, I would say everyday and sometimes I even have after work "drinks" with some of them.
How come some people go and live in a another country and do not try to get to know the locals???

Ethos83

Pray tell, how do you meet Emiratis?

Take my office. We have no Emirati employees. We do have Emirati clients but I am not a director, and only the directors and very senior staff interact with the clients.

I frequently go drinking with a bunch of Pakistani architects because I went to university with one of them. I lunch regularly with a Saudi from my office. We had a Good Friday barbecue and there was a wide diversity of nationalities, both Western and South Asians, at the party. But not Emiratis.

So, tell me, what am I doing wrong? Should I run out to the middle of the street in front of an oncoming Hummer and after he's barely avoided hitting me, should I run up to the window and beg him to take me out for drinks so that I can say I've met Emiratis?

Don't be so ****ing derogatory towards people who say they've never met Emiratis and pat yourself on the back for being so special. It's very, very easy to get through your stay in Dubai without meeting a native Emirati. After all, they only comprise 10% of the population and they're well-known for being reclusive people. By far most Emiratis I see out in the malls and the bars (where they publicly flout the laws forbidding Muslims from drinking) and they are with only other Emiratis.

admon

wow, dickhead..

alfrombarking

Pretty sad to see people try and defend the attitude towards the foreign workes by saying things like 'those people have nothing in there own countries so should be glad with what they get'.