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Thursday, February 3, 2011

Local bias

In the UAE citizens are called locals. Many foreigners think by default that locals are relatively bad people than us - expats. This is a pure bias in my opinion. Why? Because expats do not let themselves go into the society and try to integrate. I guess this is a seriously BIG topic I have chosen here. But let me tell you a bit about local culture here. Main religion in the UAE is Islam, so that makes every local a Muslim by default. In Islam there are certain sets of rules and regulations (if you will) you must follow. One of them is dressing appropriately. Dressing itself can be a major topic if you want to discuss it, but let's focus on locals for now.

As in everywhere in the world, there are bad locals and good locals. This applies to any country of our planet. There is just no place with good people only. If you happened to deal with bad locals, I feel sorry for you. In my personal experience being here for 8 years, I have never felt discriminated. There is a distinctive difference between being discriminated and prioritized in the UAE. For instance: when you arrive in Frankfurt airport, there are different types of passport control booths. One is for EU citizens, and another for foreigners. In Dubai airport it is the same, but many people think it is sort of discrimination to allow your citizens have a dedicated lane. I think it is a pure prioritization, and you should accept it as a real fact. There are countries that don't even prioritize its citizens.

All locals are rich! This is what an average person would think about UAE citizens. Yes, in comparison to other nations, they are richer, but it does not mean they have no financial obligations. Actually, many of them have huge financial liabilities toward local banks, because banks in the UAE easily lend money to locals. Again, there are super rich locals, rich locals and ordinary ones. Of course an ordinary local would also have a house, several cars, and etc... There is a clear difference in the way they dress, what they drive and where they work. I know for sure that Dubai Government assists Dubai locals to get a land, and build a house. House is a huge issue for any person. If you have your own house, the rest can be achieved somehow.

Locals are uneducated! Yet another bias. Locals in the UAE get a free education. That means it is available for every layer of society. Islam strongly encourages to educate yourself. Nobody can force a person to do something he/she does not want. So, education is beneficial, but it does not mean everyone will choose this way and study. Some locals here are very much educated and some are less. Mostly, older generation is less educated than the new one, because back in old times there were no proper universities or institutions. Someone I know teaches at one of the Dubai universities. According to him, it is difficult for locals to study in their own country, simply because many specialists teachers/professors come from western hemisphere, hence locals sort of have to study English language before they actually start main education. It is like being a foreign student and pass IELTS or TOEFL in your own country. I hope that in future there will be more Arabic professors and teachers too.

Locals drive like crazy and do not respect other drivers! I would say, not in Dubai. Or, it is less here in Dubai. If you observe carefully, most of reckless drivers have either Northern Emirates or Abu Dhabi number plates. Dubai locals drive far better than those who come from other emirates. In my personal opinion, Abu Dhabi locals drive most recklessly. Now, expats are also no saints. Some of them drive crazier than locals.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

FOX News can not find Egypt on the map!


Hello everyone. I know that my blog is only about Dubai, but I could not resist myself not to share this bizarre news with you about FOX News not being able to find Egypt on the map. This is old news, but very relevant right now. Credits to Huffington Post.

Huffingtonpost: Twitter has been abuzz today over an image from Fox News showing a map of the Middle East. What's the hubbub? Well, for starters, the map shows Egypt as being where Iraq should be, and, we guess, some other anonymous country in Egypt's spot.
But the bigger news is that the image is, in fact,old news. It was originally circulated two years ago, presumably to show that Fox News doesn't know where Iraq is on a map. But Egypt, Iraq...same difference, as long as Fox News gets the credit for being wrong, right?
Here's the original image in all its glory:

So while the map itself may have been a legitimate gaffe on Fox News' part (and not the work of a miscreant with mad Photoshop skills) it's at the very least, an old gaffe. We certainly don't condone misinformation of any kind, but we can understand the zest with which the Internet has passed this around today. As Harris K. Telemacher almost said in "LA Story," "An erroneous Fox News graphic may not be the truth, but it's what we wish were true."

Monday, January 31, 2011

Dubai Police to increase presence on major roads

Source: www.gulfnews.com
I think this is a good news for Dubai. It would definitely be better to see more police patrolling on roads. Number of bad drivers decreased, but still has to go more down. Biggest fear of people living in Dubai is not to die in a car accident.

Gulf News reports:


Police will intensify their presence on major roads during February to curb accidents, illegal crossing of roads by pedestrians and dangerous driving.

According to police statistics, of the 153 fatalities that occurred in 2010, 30 fatalities were in the month of February.

"Roads such as Dubai Bypass Road, Shaikh Zayed Road and Emirates Road had the highest number of fatalities, so intensifying our patrol presence on those roads will help decrease the numbers especially during the month of February, which is considered the most dangerous," said Major General Mohammad Saif Al Zafein, Director of the General Traffic Department at Dubai Police.

According to police statements, the months of February and October have the highest number of fatalities in the year.

The high number of fatalities prompted the police to intensify their presence on dangerous roads in October which contributed to a decrease in the number of fatalities. "During the month of October 2009, we witnessed 32 road accident fatalities out of 225 fatalities that took place in 2009.

"When we concentrated on monitoring the roads with the highest number of fatalities in October 2010, the number of fatalities dropped dramatically to 10 fatalities only. "We are repeating the same procedure during February and we will see if the results are better," said Maj. Gen. Al Zafein. The weather in February and October might be the main reason for the increase in fatalities in those months, he said.

Weather changes

"During these two months we face great weather changes that affect motorists' visibility and control of vehicles," he said. "Such consequences might contribute to the high number of fatal accidents and fatalities during the months of February and October," he said. Police said they would also be on the lookout for pedestrians crossing roads and major highways illegally, which resulted in 43 deaths out of the 153 last year, statistics show.
"The intensified police presence will also concentrate on stopping such pedestrians and banning them from crossing the roads in such a dangerous manner which might cause a serious threat to the pedestrians and motorists alike," said Maj. Gen Al Zafein.
  • 153 people killed in road accidents in 2010
  • 30 killed in February
  • 43 pedestrians killed in 2010

Sunday, January 30, 2011

New visa fees. Dubai.

If anyone of you wants to have an idea how much visa costs or how long it is valid for, here is an image showing that. I got it from DNRD's website, so it is publicly available to everyone.


























According to the official website, this information is new and valid.

Buying cheaper in the US and have it delivered to your door-step in Dubai.

As you know buying stuff online is cheaper than buying the same thing in a shiny store in Dubai. Even though there is no taxation, many products cost more than what they cost for instance in the U.S. Because US Dollar has been the world's reserve currency for a long time, it is naturally cheaper to buy anything in the US. It can be anything form clothing to computers.

If you want to buy a 15 inch Apple MacBook Pro in Dubai you have to cough up $2,424, where the same laptop in US costs only $1,799. The difference is $625. That is a lot of difference. You can argue with me that if you ship it will cost almost the same. Let's calculate it now.

  • Cost of the laptop $1,799 on Apple online store.
  • Weight: 2.6 Kg
  • Customs duty (5%) $89.90 this amount will be charged in Dubai
  • Standard membership rate for shipping with MyUS: $100.24
  • Premium membership rate for shipping with MyUS: $71

All in all, buying it online and shipping to Dubai will cost you about $190. You are still saving $435

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If you are not happy with MyUS fees or services, you can always use Aramex Shop and Ship services that will cost $35 lifetime fee and for the first 0.5 kg AED 41 and for very 0.5 kg AED 32. Shipment delivery time is 6-7 days. You will get 2 physical addresses, one in the US and another in the UK.

if you know about other companies that offer the same service for cheaper price, let me know in the comments.