Heading to Dubai

2009-12-29T01:35:00.004+01:00

A quick thought:

Dubai will grow on the basis of hundreds of thousands of foreigners who do, and who always will, contribute to the economy in meaningful and honest ways, and who want to be there for the same fundamental reasons that Dubai has attracted people for the last 30 years, which I will not repeat yet again as everyone can read them below on this blog. Hint - those reasons were there before the real estate boom, and they will be there for the foreseeable future.

And another positive opinion.

2009-12-26T23:26:00.001+01:00

I found a 7 minute video about Dubai's unique and controversial model for economic development.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgAvEP2RgqU

A reaction to the recent Dubai slander

2009-12-08T11:55:00.002+01:00

I found it interesting reading this letter I found on a Dubai expat forum.

On Friday on the LBC radio in London 97.3, James O'Brien show, he slated Dubai as some chav/lowlife spot, so I wrote him a letter, see if he says anything.

Dear James

Firstly you cannot comment on a land or society if you have never visited it, its just you listening to what you want to hear, and closing your ears to any other comments. And to laugh at people who made bad investments here, is pretty abhorrent, I have made good investments here were all my developments are being built, and the Dubai debt, is small change for this Government, it will be sorted by next week, and you can all laugh on the other side of your faces, when you have to pay for your debt, when you will be taxed, and your children will be taxed, and your children’s, children, will be taxed, until they squeak, and you are all bankrupt in a land, called UK, that no right thinking person would go to live in.

You missed the point entirely when talking to some of your phone in callers, most of them lost money here, or were only tourists, who came here for a round of golf, so they where not to well informed. So why did you want to laugh at the people who got swindled in the UK, or Spain, or Florida too, shame on you, where has your heart gone, for a guy with a young family, and Catholic upbringing, I sincerely hope it doesn’t happen to you one day.

I know your job is to stimulate debate, but I thought you were an honest journalist, not one of your rag top types, that talked drivel. I was fuming listening to you, and tried o get on air, as my view in Dubai Marina, on the 27th floor is pretty superb, the beach, the Marina, Emirates Golf course, the Burj Al Arab, what they have done hear in 5 years is amazing. So you think I am some rich sod, no not true, once a Lorry Driver, and shop steward myself, I made good by working hard and getting ahead.

I am more than qualified to talk about Dubai, and England, as I was born in the laying hospital, Waterloo Road, and except for my extensive travelling, I have lived there most of my life, I know where I want to end up now I have hit 60, and its Dubai, a hundred times over.

All your callers missed the main point of living here and it’s the quality of life, The things that make you smile are here, when you say Good Morning to someone, they actually answer you back, being served by a waitress, I went away to the toilet, when I returned she had put a cover over my drink to keep the dirt out, The restaurants and the service in them, is just superb, even the cheap junk food stalls in the Malls are of good quality, and the variety of food that is in them, Iranian, Lebanese, Mongolian, Uzbekistan, and all the other kind of Stans, fish & chips, curry house’s to die for, and an endless list of anything you want, and if you cant get it, you can buy it at the numerous supermarkets, all the pork products, many from the UK, Waitrose are here, Carrefour from France are here, Geant, from Belgium, are here, and a great store called “Lulus” for the Asian market, and even a Co-op.

Some examples that have happened to me in the last 8 months, parking up one day at a pay and display bay, we didn’t know what to do, and was trying to work out the cost, as it was in Arabic, it was a bit difficult, when a Indian man, just stopped and put his 5 dirham’s in for us, how nice was that, I was sitting on a bench uptown, puffing on a Cigar, when a Arab woman sat next to me, she opened up her lunch box and offered me a sandwich, , it’s these small things from a population of mixed races, that touch your heart, and there no road rage here, there are plenty of lunatic drivers, but hand gestures and bibbing your hooter, can get you in to trouble, you just sit there fuming when some nutter cuts you up. The ability to go out and not be scared of a mugging at anytime of the day or night, no drunks, very little crime, leave your purse or handbag on the chair and it will still be there on your return, even watching the the children play in the fountain, I had a guilty conscience, because in the UK its frowned upon by the PC brigade, not here, no such thing just human beings, being human beings, what a refreshing place this, is to be able to enjoy life again.

There are labour laws here, in the summer all workers must take a 3 hour break, any developer caught working them in the midday sun, is heavily fined, all sites have health and safety requirements, there are signs and safe working notices everywhere, there is no Apartheid here, all races can mix together, its probably because of the cost of the meals in some of the restaurants that you don’t see the Filipino or Asian workers frequenting, that keeps them out, not that they are banned, just cant afford it, and you say about slave labour, well next time you buy something made in China or the sweat shops of India, will you think twice, no, of course you wont, and yes there are plenty of Money Exchanges where they can send there money home, The cleaners here get 30 dirham’s an hour a ten hour day is 300, about £50, and no tax to pay, makes that about £75, and there is opportunity here, many of them start there own business’s and go on to great success.

I just heard that Kirkby Council, which is got to be one of the worst places in the UK, has turned down again, an application for building a new stadium for Everton football Club, that just about sums up UK plc. And now we have the Metro, built in 4 years, tell Boris that! not 15 years in planning, before it starts, we are now getting a tram system as well, brand new buses everywhere, clean taxis, and roads that have not been dug up a million times, What they do here and don’t mock it, is they actually deliver on there promises, A fare from the airport to my home is 6 dirham’s on the new metro, that’s about a pound, the same fare in England from Heathrow to my place is £70 and is the same distance.

On your theory of the locals losing there culture and identity, not true, everyday the call to prayer is broadcast, even in the Malls, where they have prayer rooms for the Muslims, during Ramadan, it is forbidden to smoke or eat during daylight hours, in the street, and because the people fasting where hungry, and all rushing home to get there dinners, so as to avoid accidents, the local police, where actually out there handing out food boxes to the drivers as goodwill gesture to stop them driving so fast………………….and we have plenty of culture, not my cup of tea, old pots, but its here, also sport, plenty of rugby, Cricket, Motor Racing, Golf, Tennis.

And what about charity, these Sheikhs out here, are always giving millions of there own money to the west, when there is a problem, whether it is 9/11, or hurricanes in Florida, they are the first with there hand’s in their pockets.

So here’s the choice, a run down gaff in Herne Hill, where they get the hump to even wipe the table for you, or us getting attacked by 4 black girls (yes, I can say black girl here, I can say Indian, or Pakistani, or advertise for exactly what I want to employ) who where trying to mug a young woman, or the drug dealer that sits in his Range Rover every night, plying his trade, and the non existence coppers that do nothing to stop it, or the International cuisine right on my doorstep, with view’s, sun, sea, and the most friendly and honest, and genuine people, I have ever come across.

So Dubai it is then……………………..

Update

2009-11-19T22:18:00.011+01:00

After months of researching, I think I'm ready to share with you my opinion about the Dubai fundamentals.
I 've read two freshly printed books from two prominent British journalists, one of both has worked and lived there for several years, the other still takes part of life in this exciting new world. I read several blogs and did take part in dozens of online discussions as wel as in real life. This piece of writing is a work in progress just like Dubai itself! Every time people asked me why from all locations I picked Dubai, I started summing up the different reasons to them, different from the 350 sunny days a year which everybody loves of course. This time I can come up with this figure I made.

I will explain it in detail on the next update.

To leave you with something more, I pasted a bunch of quotes from Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai

"As a child, I learned how important it was to establish an enabling economy where the government provided incentives and an ethics-based regulatory environment, but left it to the inventiveness and energy of the private sector to expedite economic growth."

"We are determined to achieve the great renaissance in all areas" stated on National Day (dec. 02, 2009)

"The first duty of an official is to make his people happy and provide them with security, stability, welfare and progress."

"We in the UAE, led by my brother, UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, are continuing the work begun by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan and our father the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed in the early 1970s, when they took the first steps towards forming our blessed federation."

"We believe that the role of the government should be restricted to legislation and regulation, in addition to the continuous development of the infrastructure - thus making the private sector the engine of the development process."

"Determination, strategy and vision for the future are our real resources in the quest for excellence and success."

"A leader’s happiness is associated with his people’s happiness; we want our people to live like us, this is what we are actually aspiring for."

"I don’t like those who agree with me on everything. He who always compliments you does not respect you, but he who comes to you with advice and tells you, “That’s wrong,” loves and respects you, or why would he do it…If someone criticises me, I respect them, because it means they care about me and about my country."

"I'm looking for a near day when I see every citizen in our beloved country feels stable with his family in a decent house. This is what we are aspiring for and I hope it will be realised."

"No one can do away with pre-conceived notions and mistaken beliefs, but we can prevent them from nesting in people’s minds."

"The relationship between the leaders and the people of the UAE is one of the secrets behind the nation's success…"

"People naturally like comfort and relaxation, but it is more satisfying to work hard and enjoy your achievements."

"Dubai has succeeded in building a business friendly environment to meet investor needs and requirements, such as full exemption from income and corporation taxes, high-tech facilities and infrastructure and a dynamic real estate market with family orientated conveniences."

"The present and future generations of our country are the top priority of all development plans."

"A mother is a man’s first school, in which he learns morals, ethics and manners. She follows her child through all the stages of his life."

"The best measure of a government's success is the satisfaction of those who deal with it. A job in the government is not just a way of making a living; it is a means of contributing to your country."

"The UAE...enjoys...an excellent human rights record, and good relations with all countries of the world, based on justice, equality, cooperation, mutual respect, and solving problems by peaceful means."

"For a dialogue to be fruitful, there must be mutual respect for each other’s humanity, culture and rights. A dialogue is not true if it does not lead to an understanding of one another."

"I want everyone in this country to benefit and to be of benefit at the same time."

"Every man should have a vision and objectives and set himself a certain time in which to achieve them."

"True joy is that which comes from progress and success."

First Post

2009-07-08T19:31:00.021+02:00

Dear reader,

As I'm writing this first post, I would like to share with you my own awaken western viewpoint about our society today.

Thanks to the internet I became aware of the true meaning of western democracy here in Europe (which is almost the same in the UK/US). After years of educating myself, I came to the understanding that people in the (Middle) East see rightfully through the aggressive western old-style imperialist agenda. Western people are, like I once was, controlled and brainwashed beyond belief by the mainstream media and are the victim of their own criminal leaders who are using their dominance on other people by illegal/immoral means in order to enlarge their powers. It's not a happy thing to talk about but it is essential knowledge to understand our world today, please bear with me for a moment.

After this short introduction I would like to spend some time explaining more about my personal experiences at home, why I think western society is immoral and why I'm planning to leave the west. In short: I'm totally fed up with living in this kleptocratic part of the world called Europe!
Members of our governments are known to be specialized in extending their personal wealth and political power while pretending to deliver honest service to their people who even seem not to worry about it while the mainstream media take care of what people are supposed to be worried about (puppet Obama speeches, celebrities deaths, political mumbo jumbo and other meaningless stuff to distract everyone from what really matters) .
What to tell about being robbed by the Belgian state which started in 1919 to tax away people's income? Today 3/4th of my income (income tax, value added tax, fuel tax, property tax and a dozen of other ripoffs) gets spent, not by me, but by my government on its own disposable civil servants (there are way to much) and moron politicians and not to forget on 'defense'. What the hell do we have to look for in Afghanistan? The national debt is now €320 billion. The national debt in 1919 was €119 million. Therefore, the national debt has gone up by about 269000% in 90 years time. That's not only outrageous, most people here (in Belgium) seem not to care about it.

I'm fed up with this never-ending game between productive people who try to create and accumulate wealth and save it for their future needs versus parasitic governments that try to tap into the population’s wealth for distribution to the not-so-productive people like politicians.
I just proved that my government has spent mountains of money that hasn't been earned yet (=debt) just like governments did in the UK/US and other western countries. Our children and grandchildren will pay for that later! Furthermore, it's disgusting to wage wars with money that's not directly taxed away from people (but with money created out of thin air). The US invaded 14 different nations since World War II without a declaration of war with money it did not have in the first place.
From an economic viewpoint, it lacks any common sense to spend the money from productive people (taxpayers) and give it to the ones who screwed the economy up in the first place (banks, insurance company's, car company's, ...)! We (the west) can thank Keynes for his economic talents and the main stream media for not doing their work and talk about other economic theories that do make sense. Our criminal governments and their greedy friends, the bankers, control the creation of our money and have set up our current monetary system for this reason: taxing us even more with a hidden tax called inflation! Without the ability to create new money, western governments never could have afforded the wars they've waged (WWI, WWII, the 14 other wars mentioned before and now this fake 'War on Terror').
Why is this important to know for people in Europe? They worked and payed for some of those wars directly (taxes) and for all of those wars indirectly (inflation). They also sentenced their own children to do the same even if not born yet!

They even think, here in Belgium, it's common sense to drug healthy children with Ritalin which is a restricted medication (category: narcotics) in the United Arab Emirates. I see this approach as nothing more than achieving temporary relief of symptoms (unwanted behavior labeled as 'ADHD') in a very unhealthy way. To make things worse, we (Belgians) are the number one antidepressant swallowers in the world, no wonder people in this nation act like zombies.

Have I mentioned yet how public education cripples our kids by teaching a compulsory school program which was pretty boring to me to say the least? I rather live in a free society where parents are not forced to give away part of their income to fund state organized 'education'. Why not make your own choices and pay a particular school you believe in and which you have judged to be worth the money?

I have had enough of all that and I'm prepared to take action. I'm moving to the East. This will be one of the smartest decisions in my life, other than three years ago, having taken all my savings away from the banks and converting it into a true and honest store of value, physical gold.

The rest of this blog will focus on positive things: how and where I think to find a better life. For the moment, I am intrigued by life in the (Middle) East and more specifically Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I have set this destination as my ideal place to live and I will document the achievement of my dream on this blog.

Thanks for following my thoughts till this point, more on my choice for Dubai in the following post.