What is Dubai?
Stream of Consciousness Dubai
What is Dubai, in so many words? Without getting too philosophical, I’m trying here to create a word-name-term mind map generated by the city ands experience we know as Dubai. It is a work-in-progress. It has no intellectual or other higher purposes beyond the mindless listing of things we simply associate with Dubai. I can see this post expanding almost into infinity and simultaneously changing in terms of what finally stays there and the order of things listed. It’s not exactly an accurate free-association or stream of consciousness flow, but it’s as close as I can make it. Please send your additions, deletions and changes if you feel strongly about this silly game!
Dubai is……Oasis, Sand, Palm and Ghaf Trees, Hot and Sunny, 90% Humidity, Precious Rain, Desalinated Water, Dubai Creek, Dhow, Abra, Burj Al-Arab, Palm Islands, Al Sufouh, Dubai Marina, Royal Mirage, architecture, Shisha, Knowledge Village, Media City, 7Days, Gulf News, Montgomery Golf Club, Dubal, The Lakes, Sheikh Zayed Road, Traffic, Interchange 5, Defense Roundabout, Burj Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed, Maktoum Bridge, Deira, Clock Tower, Deira City Centre, Trade Centre, Dubai Marathon, GEtisalat, Nakheel, Emaar, Emirates Lakes, Jebel Ali Village, The Gardens, Wild Wadi, Jumeira Beach Hotel, Al-Wasl Road, Speed Cameras, Um Suqeim, Spinneys, Eppco, Medinat Jumeira, Noodle House, Mina Salam, Beach Road, Al Shindagha Tunnel, Al Baraha Hospital, Visa Blood Test, Sponsor, Construction, Emirates Towers, Ras AL-Khor, Creek Golf and Yacht Course, Abra, Bur Dubai, Dhow, Dhow and Anchor, ships, tankers, DPW, Emirates Airlines, the Five Buildings, The Bunker, Long’s, Harvester’s, Al Murooj, Red Lion, Metropolitan, Al-Habtoor,A AL-Naboodah, Galadari, Al-Rostamani, Khansaheb, Al-Tayer, Hard Rock Café, AUD, HCT, ASD, American Hospital, Oil, Dubai International Aerospace Exhibition, Air Show, Dubai Desert Classic, GETEX, Crooks, Mobile Phones, Tolerance, Grand Mosque, Gold Souk, Perfume, Spices, Trade and Commerce, Tax-Free, Taxis, 5-Star Hotels, Beaches, Resort, Holiday Destination, Entertainment, Families on the Move, Many Single Young People, Scarlett’s, Irish Village, Aviation Club, Dubai Tennis Championship, Rugby even, Country Club, Nad Al Sheba, Spikes, Horse Races, Dubai World Cup, Godolphin, Camel Race Track, Child Jockeys, Falconry, Heritage Village, Global Village, Globalization, International City, Emirates Road, Dragon Mart, Arabian Ranches, DubaiLand, Mega Projects, Quick Profit, High Living Standard, Big Salaries, Unpaid Meager Wages, Salve-Like Conditions, Subcons, Indian Schools, Indian Food, Chicken Curry, Indian Furniture, Port Rashed, Dry Docks, Dhiyafa Street, Shawarma, KFC, Cactus Cantina, Multi-Cultural, Expatriates, High Rent, Luxury Villas, Compounds, Labor Camp, High Rises, Dubai Marina, Burj Dubai, Meida City, Intenet City, Al-Wasl Road, Safa Park, Hamriya, Al-Muraqqabat, Garhoud Bridge, Festival City, Al-Ramool, Max Garage, AAA, Dubai International, DXB, Tourists, Sponsors, Russians, Prostitutes, Cyclone, Bur Dubai, Al-Twar, Qusais, Choithrams, Park and Shop, Mushrif Park, Mirdif, Khawaneej, Rashidiyya, Nadd Al Hamar, Construction, Flyover, al-Barsha, Mall of the Emirates, Carrefour, Ski Dubai, Ibn Battuta Mall, Shopping, DSF, DSS, Modhesh, Dirhem, Cars, 4X4, Dune-Bashing, Desert Safari, Stereotype, Camels, Sand, Arabs, Sheikhs, Islam, Un-Islamic, Locals, Emiratis, Western, Sponsors, Business, Banks, Money, Transfer, Offshore, Mina, Beach Road, Jebel Ali Free Zone, Containers, Trucks, Port Rashed, Zaabeel, Royalty, Peacooks, Wafi City, Ancient Egypt, Carter’s, DEWA, Oud Meitha, Karama, Central Post Office, Burjuman, Gold Sand Apartments, Prostitutes, Russians, Tourists, 5-Star Hotels, Labor Camps, Al Quoz, Bastakiya, Brajeel, Shemals, 49 Degrees Centigrade, Sheila and Abaya, Henna, Kandora, Niqab, Arbs, Nomads, Desert, Tents, Land Cruisers, Crazy Driving, Horrific Crashes, Blood Money, Stereotypes, Racism, Exclusive Everything, Stray Dogs, Piracy, Fake Products, Fake People, Fake Culture, Fake Paradise…
Bastards
I know a place that is run almost completely by European and American expatriates. The structure of management and power keeps the highest few positions in the hands of locals, but the actual running of the organization is in the hands of these expatriates; and they do a very poor a job at that. The problem is the locals guys on the top, who are reasonably credible and well-intentioned, have no clue; they are not effective leaders as they are not really informed or involved in any meaningful way in the workings of the organization. So they believe what they hear from their expatriate proxies. The other side of the problem is that the people who truly understand the situation and witness the blatant mismanagement are typically too afraid to come forward and speak out. The risk of losing employment as some have been made to learn is so real that people would rather just shut up and do what they are told to do. It is a classic dilemma of what price one is willing to pay for the sake of the truth and integrity of their job.
These expatriate czars enjoy almost absolute powers, are not subject to any review or evaluation process, and function more like a gang, while keeping the appearance of professionalism and quality and saying all the right things at the right times. Much of their “professional” energy is spent in building their own little fiefdoms, covering each other’s big asses, and nipping any hint of dissent or criticism in the bud. They are willing to fire the most qualified and experienced employees under the lamest of excuses and without batting an eyelid. They hide behind the facade of an empty but glittering image and empty words as they compete not for excellence but for personal power and glory.
Using a variety of pressure and scare tactics, these managers have a special talent for instilling fear and timidity in a place where diversity, freedom and creativity should thrive. They are masters of the time-honored carrot and stick approach, getting people to eventually do their bidding and still manage to look as gentlemen. It doesn’t stop there, as their skills extend to painting their miserable failures as successes, disrupting well-functioning sectors by introducing bizarre changes, moving people around to break any cohesion or collegiality that represents different thinking, and take credit for other people’s hard work and dedication. They are a bunch of little dictators. They have no shame refusing to finance essential operations as they squander enormous sums on stupid PR ventures and on multiplying their inflated salaries by generous compensations for extra positions that they are neither qualified nor have the time to do, plus a package of benefits that no other employee can even dream of.
This breed of parasites would have a difficult time getting away with this outrageous behavior in similar institutions in the West. There, it is more likely that some kind of process of accountability and true transparency would be in place and these bastards will be at least challenged effectively or made to pay for their corrupt and unprofessional management. But they do what they do here, knowing full that despite a false image of integrity that there is just zero accountability and zilch transparency and an absolute lack of real freedom and debate within the organization and outside of it. The sad thing is, these people have been given a trust by the well-meaning and forward-looking locals who put them in those positions, and what they did in return is in essence to betray that trust. In the final analysis they created a defective institution and made a mockery of the lofty goals and values this place was supposed to embody. They are bastards.
Bright Colored Overalls
The bright colors of their work overalls are eye-catching; navy blue, grassy green, hot orange, shimmering yellow. So bright, yet hey stay mostly anonymous and out of sight as they labor in the bellies of the high-rise buildings and on the dangerous beams and surfaces of scaffoldings and cranes. But often we have closer encounters, we see them as they come in the full view of people like us, the other species of the Dubai inhabitants. We pass them so routinely that they become part of the landscape, as they wave a red flag to slow down the traffic at a roadwork site, sweeping streets sides as crazy drivers zoom by them, water grass and trees on roads islands, and work their manual equipment or machinery to dig or dump or roll or pour or scrape or smooth or pack or move. No words exchanged, no gestures, no eye contact; no communication. We might as well be perfect aliens. We pass each other, more silently and indifferently than the manner in which people pass each other in Dubai. The gulf here stretches far beyond what separates us from other groups of the lucky class of expatriates.
The world of the bright-colored overalls is so remote and unimaginable it makes me sometimes think of the Morlocks from Wells's Time Machine (obviously minus the morbid cannibalistic and predatory nature). But the wretchedness of their netherworld existence is not so different, trapped in their netherworld-like labor camps and killing cycle of work-sleep-work-sleep work. Their only reprieve is looking forward to the time they get to go back home in some little corner in the Subcontinent or wherever they came from, having saved a bit of money to help them escape eternal poverty. We recognize their humanity, at least many of us do, but we keep our distance, keeping as far away from their labor camps as possible.
We know they're mostly getting a raw deal, screwed by recruiters and agents, paid in a month less than what many of us make in a single day doing an infinitely more pleasant job, and living in subhuman conditions. We show our empathy by debating their rights and work conditions. That’s about how much we help them in their silent and sometimes vocal struggle to secure a subsistence existence from the clutches of greedy employers and sleazy companies; but we keep our distance from them, the untouchables. This is after all a region where people’s lives and destinies are carved out separately with some of the sharpest social, ethnic and national distinctions you find anywhere. And as we revel in our abundance of luck and fortune as they roast across the divide in the inferno of their working days and the misery of their grueling nights.
This morning I saw them by the airport tunnel, working on the new flyover at Nad Al Hamar, wandering in blue overalls and yellow helmets with a cloth hanging from underneath them on the back of the head and neck and down the sides to the shoulders. They struck as a group of travelers going on some strange safari or members of a disbanded circus troupe. Once again, and despite the very bright appearance, I passed them with little real attention and the memory is almost erased by the time I enter the airport tunnel just a minute later; I could only recall the bright overalls and the helmets, but none of the faces.
On Defense Roundabout (and sisters)
The name for this blog derives from a Dubai’s unique feature, or at least what used to be a unique feature, the roundabout! It’s ironic that the city that eight years ago struck me as a city of roundabouts is now fast becoming a city of flyovers, overpasses, and loops. Once the Jebel Ali Village double-roundabout is taken down (probably soon) there will be only one left over SZR: the Defense Roundabout (let’s call it DR for short), the dinosaur of all the Dubai roundabouts. And though I don’t quite remember now my first Dubai roundabout encounter (was it the one just outside the airport that was later replaced by a flyover?), I could never forget the horror with which I had to drive through DR the first time around! But that was then and this is now!
DR is probably the most ancient of them all, sitting on top of the 1st Interchange, not far from one of the first modern high-rises that adorned the flat sands of the city, namely the Dubai World Trade Center. It still sits there, almost unchanged, getting older and busier and smaller as more and more traffic flows through it (well, ‘flows’ may no be the right word here). I have my theory about why roundabouts are so confusing to so many people. The reason is so simple: roundabouts resemble life (or even the universe). I don’t mean only the obvious cyclical journey, but also the sheer unpredictability of it all, regardless of the existence of road rules and “rites of passage.” Well, in both of these senses, i.e. history and mystery, DR is the quintessential roundabout. Moreover, it is perhaps the most often cited land mark, directing Dubai’s lost tourists to their destinations and orienting disoriented residents, as taxi-drivers search in vain for recognizable symbols and street names. In a way, DR has seen Dubai’s launch as a modern urban center and, till now at least, is more of a land mark than its next door record setter and behemoth of a tower under construction, Burj Dubai.
I must have gone through DR several hundred thousand times since I came to Dubai, learning every time a new little trick of driving through the funky maze of vehicles, navigating the mad rush, plotting how to get to the exit I want without causing public panic, and squeezing in and out of its revolving lanes and bottle necks without being smashed by a massive truck or causing a chain accident. It’s a learning experience, and though I still occasionally give passengers riding with me a bit of a scare, I think I’m now fairly confident about entering DR and getting out of it in one piece. There is really a whole science about how to drive through DR, but regrettably I just don’t have the time or desire to explain it here!
Instead, I’d like to share with you some observations about the purpose of roundabouts. I did a bit of research and I was surprised at some of the findings, at least in light of my experience with DR and its extinct and endangered sisters in Dubai. Here are some of the facts:
Roundabouts are NOT the same as traffic circles!
Roundabout is defined as a traffic-calming device!
Roundabouts are SAFER than traffic circles and intersections.
If you think I’m making this stuff up, then I invite you to visit this
Wikipedia article on roundabouts and educate yourself!
