Originally Posted by will068 (Post 6374575)

My dad used to work in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia when I was young. He was an engineer for an oil company there ( cooking oil mind you :) ). A lot of the attributes described in that article reminded me of what my dad would describe to me about Saudi Arabia. Yes there was a lot of $$$. He didn't pay any tax. Luxury items were cheaper - probably 50% off for the entry level goods of these brands ( since there was no luxury tax and low import tax on these goods ). His employer would pay for embassy school or subsidize for the international school tuition fees if my sister and I moved there. We also got to fly for free to Jeddah if we chose to.

The social hierarchy in Jeddah was ranked by your religion and citizenship. Don't be surprised if some foreign workers convert to Islam so they get preference with their careers. These Arabs also see themselves equal to europeans and look down on other races. Among muslim communities, The social hierarchy is goes from arabs, lebanese and other middle eastern folks such as egyptians - all the way down to east indians and indonesians. If you go by citizenship, the arabs will be up there placing themselves with the white americans, british, germans, and other western european countries, then you would have your east asians (if ever there were any), down to your southeast asians and south asians - filipinos, east indians, pakistanis..etc.

As far as the male homosexual population in Saudi Arabia, it has the most male gays out of all the middle eastern countries. I guess this is a result of an extremely conservative view of women in their culture. For adult women, a black veil should cover women up women from head to tow - the face and hair could be exposed though. From what I have heard, other muslim countries are much stricter - where they only allow the eyes of the woman to be exposed.

Funny thing though, when you see houses or mansions side by side that look identical, both those households would consist of the 1st wife and 2nd wife of an arab plus the kids. If you see a vehicle with an arab with two adult women and a swarm full of kids, that;s the guy with his two wives and all the kids in a family night out.

As far as the water issue, they irrigate the water from the sea at desalination plants to convert to fresh water. It's good enough for you to shower, brush your teeth - etc. However, it would be ill-advised if you drink it.

For the maids that do work there, yes I feel sorry for them if their "owner"/employer has the attributes of what was described in the article. There are also cases where the maids are treated well - e.g. when their employer is a saudi monarch.

Keep in mind there are around 30000 members of the Royal family. The Saudi princes have a lot of wives and mistresses ( they can afford to build lots of mansions for the wives ;) ). When I was there (back in 1990), the 3 most important members of the Saudi Royal Family was the King, the Star Prince ( younger brother of the King, and the next younger brother.

FYI, gas was equivalent to under 2 cents a liter. This was in 1991 the last time I was there.

Originally Posted by threezero (Post 6374812)

Thanks for the read.

Are there many chinese and japanese in Dubai? Where are they along the hierarchy what field do they work in?

When I went to Egypt, the tour guide specifically told us not to talk or to even acknowledge women in black veil. If the women is marry and her husband/husband's relative ever sees the women looking at another men or if the men smile at her she would get whipped. Although not officially allow by the law, adultery and rape is punishable by death, for the women that is not the men.

Originally Posted by Hondaracer (Post 6374921)

one question

why are there so many flips there?

Originally Posted by Hondaracer (Post 6374921)

one question

why are there so many flips there?

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp (Post 6373371)

An amazing article. It's long, but VERY good. I suggest everyone read every last word. It will make you a better person (if you agree that having more knowledge makes you a better person, that is).

Originally Posted by RTS (Post 6375274)

If you consider a wildly biased piece of liberal sensationalism "knowledge", then yes, this would be a good article. :rolleyes:

1. The author’s agenda is blatantly obvious.

2. He purposely looked for and highlighted the worst parts of Dubai. Anyone could write a similar article about almost any major city in the world.

3. If you had taken any upper level economics courses in university you may take into account central tendencies, that is, that in any given development scenario there will always be isolated extremes both good and bad.

So no, this is article is not worthwhile knowledge, it's actually quite a piece of trash.

Originally Posted by RTS (Post 6375274)

If you consider a wildly biased piece of liberal sensationalism "knowledge", then yes, this would be a good article. :rolleyes:

1. The author’s agenda is blatantly obvious.

2. He purposely looked for and highlighted the worst parts of Dubai. Anyone could write a similar article about almost any major city in the world.

3. If you had taken any upper level economics courses in university you may take into account central tendencies, that is, that in any given development scenario there will always be isolated extremes both good and bad.

So no, this is article is not worthwhile knowledge, it's actually quite a piece of trash.

Originally Posted by kobefans (Post 6374865)

that's fucked up man !

Are these laws/rules made according to their religion? if so, that's some fucked up religion....

Originally Posted by van_driver (Post 6375654)

QFT

You can make an article like that and write about East Hastinges here and focus on how no one gives a sh!t or some crap.

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp (Post 6375903)

Wow, you are a real idiot.

Saying anything else would be a waste of time, so I won't bother. Someone else can if they want to.

Originally Posted by antonito (Post 6375983)

While I understand the point you're trying to make....that's a pretty poor example. People don't give a shit about the situation in the DTES.

Regardless, RTS is a dumbass. This isn't the first, nor will it be the last article like this about Dubai. I've yet to see any sources that say that migrant workers aren't treated like shit, that there isn't a massive water issue, that the economy isn't falling into the shitter, etc, etc. Have any of you?

So what exactly is the problem with the article? Is it just a knee jerk reaction to seeing capitalism attacked or something?

Originally Posted by CivicBlues (Post 6376225)

I'm going to have to agree with RTS here,
As bad as it is for migrant workers and a few unlucky foreigners caught up in their Dickensian legal system (debtors' prisons? LOL!) For the vast majority of Expats and foreign investors, its nothing short of paradise - considering what Dubai shares it's neighbourhood with (Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia)

How many of you actually been to Dubai? Lived there? Sounds to me like life in any developing country where there is an elite wishing to elevate itself on the world stage. The only difference is that instead of exploiting it's own populace, it has to import poor Bangladeshis and Fillipinos to do so. The same process is repeated in China (Migrant workers), Western Europe (Easterners), and the US (Mexicans).As with every where else you respect the laws of the country you inhabit. Do your research, and if you don't like it, don't go.

Never judge a place before you've been there. And even then your opinion isn't worth it's weight in dog shit until you've lived there > 1 year.

Originally Posted by Ludepower (Post 6376309)

Other countries have done it...so it's ok for Dubai to follow in their footsteps?

What are you trying to say...live in Dubai for a year and support the modern day slave trade?

Originally Posted by CivicBlues (Post 6376335)

No you moron, instead of judging an entire place by one reporter's article, actually live there and come back with an informed opinion - negative or otherwise. Reporters are biased, Emeratis are biased, expats are biased. Either form your own opinion or be a tool.

Originally Posted by RTS (Post 6376221)

Ahh, the good old atheist-anarchist-commie is back in a thread. Honestly man, you will never be in a position where you can actually effect any change so I rather enjoy seeing your nonsensical rants on issues you know nothing about.