Every time, at the mention of Dubai's reputation in being the prostitution hub of the region; the safe haven for all traffickers and money launderers; the city that abuses its cheap labour, domestic workers and young children by using them as camel jockeys - I lower my head in shame.
Am I proud of the advancement of this city? I'm not sure anymore.
Yes, I love the fact that I'm living a comfortable life in an advanced, urbanised society. Compared to other cities in the Arab world, I think Dubai is a much nicer place to live in. There's almost no culture here. It's an international city, and maybe that's what the government wants it to be. Maybe that's sad, but only for us - the natives? I don't know if the tourists would mind it so much.
I hear people say that Dubai is a fusion of East and West; a combination of both. I can see the West-part, but I'm still searching for the East-part. Mina Bazaar? The Abra? Bastakia? I know that in my immediate vicinity, there's no East. There's only McDonald's. And Spinney's - our version of Sainsbury's. Only Spinney's sells labnah - thank God.
Really, I want to change the bad things about Dubai. But bad here is a relative word, I guess. What's bad for me, is excellent for others who make profit out it. Besides, what can a dispensable, insignificant second-class citizen like me do? Nothing much.
I have always wanted Dubai to be the capital of knowledge in the region. The capital of all valued contributions to humanity and the world. Sometimes I come across articles about the brain-drain in the Arab world, and I find myself wishing we had this problem in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. At least I'd come to know we have them!
But if you don't belong to the right "tribe" - pure-bred, wealthy and influential - then you might as well remain invisible and mute. Perhaps the only reason Gergawi and a few others have made it is because they thought of creative ways of bringing in money to the city. Kudos to them, really. Not that their efforts have eliminated the "stigma" attached to the discriminatory nature of many people here, who consider themselves to be better and above the rest. The Ashkenazis of the UAE, I call them. But that's another topic altogether.
Now really, how do we bring about positive change? I'm in.
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