Until recently, the UAE were not on my relocation wish list. But, coming from Austria, I have always had a thing for odd little countries and the more I found out about this specific odd little country, the more curious I got. Abu Dhabi, more than the other Emirates, offers an intriguing mixture of local culture, cosmopolitanism, location and, erm, remuneration. The UAE are, in a way, the Middle East light, offering the prospect of an easy-going, lucrative kind of adventure, and a good base from which to explore a region I know only through expat friends and the media.
Now, after three days here in Abu Dhabi, a mild culture shock is beginning to give way to a comfortable sort of moodiness that depends on three factors: the availability of taxis, the sight of exhausted construction workers and the current state of various, rather Kafkaesque bureaucratic processes.
But all misgivings pale into irrelevance in the face of the city’s electrifying atmosphere. Years later than its neighbour Dubai, Abu Dhabi has brought forward a gold-rush of its own, stemming from a comparatively prudent economic diversification scheme driven by the Emirate’s rulers. Opportunity and misery lurk at every corner, but Abu Dhabi’s boom is more orderly, grounded and stable than the one that has just come to a brusque end in Dubai.
People from all over the world now come here to make the best of it; from Bangladeshi garbage-sifters and Phillipino nannies to Japanese engineers and British lawyers; everybody wants a piece of the ‘Diamond in the Desert’, as Jo Tatchell refers to Abu Dhabi in her brand new book about the city.
In deciding to come here, I have joined the ‘immigrant mercenaries’ Christopher Davidson likes to speak of. The world’s richtest city entices legions of expatriates, blue- and white-collar alike, with its tax-free earnings, healthy job market and stable, if undemocratic, government. London’s the-end-is-nigh ambiance feels pleasantly distant, as does Vienna’s bated breath.
The crisis may not have reached Abu Dhabi, but its fugitives have. And so have I.
Posted 10 months, 3 weeks ago at 10:53 am. Add a comment
Great article on The Samosa about France and Britain planning to share a chartered plane to transport Afghan refugees/illegal immigrants (take your pick) back to their home countries. French officials say that the plan will only go ahead “if it is certain that the people will be safe when arriving in Kabul”. Given the continuing violence in and around Kabul, it is questionable whether such certainty can be sincerely established anytime soon.
A good opportunity to check out The Samosa, a brand new site. It’s shaping up to be a good source of leftfield news and features about international relations and their focus on identity issues is unusual.
People from low-income families struggle to compete in the internship-based jobs market of the creative industries. Photograph: Think Publick/Flickr
You know things have reached a new low-point when even interns start to campaign to protect themselves from employers.
Youth Fight for Jobs and the Carrot Workers Collective, both campaign groups, are attracting hundreds of members, many of whom look back on formidable, but unpaid careers, mostly in the creative industries.
Theoretically, employers should make a clear distinction between work experience, internships and apprenticeships. Work experience placements should be short and structured; internships should last for longer and be paid. In practice, they often pay little attention to official terminology – let alone their moral and legal obligations.
The Government and industry bodies such as the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) are adamant that unpaid work experience should be short and “focus on providing opportunities for learning and enables individuals to immerse themselves in the industry, helping them to understand the key skills and personal qualities needed to pursue a career in that sector”.
But with the recession well set, employers in attractive sectors such as journalism and advertising are leaning on free labour more than ever before.
Even the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) - not usually to be found championing workers’ rights - admits that the recession may be exacerbating things.
While Youth Fight for Jobs emulates labour unions, the Carrot Workers Collective takes a more philosophical approach to the issue.
Their Counter Internship Guide defines extended periods of unpaid work as a “condition of late capitalist cultural economy” and a “rehearsal for uncertain career paths, hyper-active networking, strategic lunching and infinite flexibility”.
In theory, internships are a great way to start a career. In practice, they are often abused as a cheap alternative to hiring entry-level staff. Photograph: William Couch.
It is also peppered with thoughts on the semantics of EU directives and academic references. Intellectual interns of the world, unite! This is not about a couple of under-performing and over-theorising moaners, who are miffed about not getting a job offer after two weeks of filing and making tea.
Many interns become qualified, experienced workers in the course of “paying their dues”, often being given the same responsibilities as entry-level employees.
Media and communications have always been the worst perpetrators when it comes to class-based selection and exploitation of interns, says Heather Collier, director of the National Council for Work Experience.
Because the sector is perceived as lucrative and glamorous, it attracts a higher number of volunteers than any other sector. But, according to Ms Collier, instead of selecting the best people, the industry relies on picking from a limited pool of people that “can afford to do it for nothing”.
That means “white, middle-class people, predominantly”. As a veteran intern at various media companies, I can confirm that most Western communications agencies, newsrooms and marketing departments have one thing in common: they are about as diverse as a polo tournament.
They are populated by cliques of well-heeled, well-connected and well-bred individuals. No wonder, considering that even profitable media brands such as the Financial Times use unpaid long-term interns.
A former intern at the business news giant, who preferred not to be named, lost hope of being offered a paid position at the end of his work experience when another intern confided in him that, after a year’s hard work, she was not even getting travel expenses or lunch on the house.
But there is no denying that employers, especially in the creative industries, are firmly in the driving seat.
London’s legions of bright-eyed young jobseekers are having to learn a tough lesson: common sense and hard work are a dangerous thing to count on - especially when it comes to free labour during a recession.
Posted 1 year, 1 month ago at 12:26 pm. Add a comment
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) don’t do anything halfheartedly. Superlatives and hyperbole have become a second language to those involved in the many record-breaking projects that are underway in the country.
Now the UAE has embraced sustainability and is pumping billions into research and initiatives to advance green technologies.
Abu Dhabi is the epicentre of the UAE’s gigantic green drive, which came as a suprise to many. After all, the UAE are among the world’s leading oil and gas exporters.
But in the last decade the country’s long-term economic strategy has focused on diversification and the cultivation of non-oil dependent industries such as tourism, media, finance and now, sustainable technologies.
Much of this is due to the legacy of the late President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, who ruled the UAE for more than 30 years and set forth an agenda of religious tolerance, economic reform and protection of the environment.
Masdar City, a living sustainability laboratory currently under construction, is now the centre piece of Abu Dhabi’s environmental strategy. The city will house up to 40,000 residents and employ 50,000 more, but produce no carbon emissions and no waste whatsoever. It will cost US$ 22 billion and is scheduled for completion in 2016. Masdar is the biggest single investment in sustainability to date.
According to Sam Nader of the Masdar Initiative, the project’s aims are „integrating various applications of existing renewable technologies, the cultivation of an innovative academic and business community and the generation of significant intellectual property in order to position Abu Dhabi as a world leader in renewables energy and sustainability.“
Unsurprisingly, the world media have lapped up the story and have bathed the UAE in green limelight.
But some experts have pointed out that initiatives such as Masdar have not yet changed much.
“The numbers must be put into perspective. They are spending welcome billions of dollars on renewables but trillions are still going into climate-changing oil economies. The future is the sun and renewables but there is no time to wait for this revolution,” Tony Juniper, director of Friends of the Earth, told The Guardian.
The 420,000 residents of Abu Dhabi remain among the world’s greatest emittors of greenhouse gases, according to the World Resources Institute.
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago at 1:32 pm. Add a comment
Blood money (diyyah) is derived from Sharia law, which forms part of the UAE's constitution. (Photo by Moha' Al-Bastaki)
Within a week of judge Dr Abdul Wahab Abdool calling for a change in the Unites Arab Emirates’ (UAE)blood money (diyyah) law, which regulates compensation payments for the families of people killed in accidents, The National has published several stories outlining confusing and potentially controversial aspects of the law.
Diyyah is an ancient Sharia law, according to which a person who causes the accidental death of another must compensate the family of the deceased. In the UAE, diyyah is set at Dh 200,000 (US$ 54,000) for an adult.
On 3 May 2009 a pregnant mother who lost her child in a road accident was ordered to pay diyyah for the foetus. The bereaved mother must now pay Dh 1,000 (US$ 270) for causing the accident and Dh 20,000 (US$ 5,400) in legal diyyah for the death of her own baby - one tenth of the diyyah for adults.
The Dubai Traffic Court released a statement that confirmed that this was the first ruling of its kind and argued that diyyah was due because the mother had not exercised due care and diligence while driving.
Chief traffic prosecutor Salah Bu Farousha told the National: “This may be the first case of its kind and may appear unusual to some, but the case highlights the fact that an unborn foetus also has rights as any human being.”
Diyyah is a traditional and much misunderstood law. Its original intention was to reimburse families for the lost future earnings of a relative killed in an accident.
At the moment, the UAE’s more conservative muftis are known to award only half the amount if a woman is killed – in accordance to the way diyyah was awarded at the time of prophet Mohammed. At the same time, more liberal muftis support equal diyyah for men and women.
“There is a conflict in the constitution in this area,” Dr Abdool told reporters. “On one hand it calls for the equality between men and women; on the other hand it calls for the implementation of the Islamic Sharia law. Courts that have ruled women receive half the value of men relied on the Sharia law, while courts who applied equality relied on the constitutional right to equality between men and women. So legally speaking, both are right.”
Another complex aspect of diyyah was highlighted by the story of Sophie Francis, a British expat living in Dubai, who accidentally ran over a labourer from Afghanistan in December 2006. She was arrested and taken to a police station where she was held until her family paid the diyyah of Dh200,000 (US$54,000).
The money was for the family of the deceased, whose only form of identification was the handwritten business card he had on him at the time of the accident. He was not carrying a wallet and the courts were unable to establish why he was so far from his workplace that day.
The man apparently jumped out infront of Francis’ car as she drove towards Dubai Mall of the Emirates. There was no time to brake and the man died instantly.
Francis was later found not guilty by the court, meaning her family was reimbursed by her insurance company.
Only 20 when the accident happened, Francis was distraught when she found out that poor labourers who feel they have nothing to lose are known to resort to jumping in front of cars.
“It happens,” Francis told The National. “They have no money, they are ashamed to go back home and they want to leave something for their families.”
Diyyah, while being an integral and time-honoured part of the legal code in many Arab countries, appears to be in need of a 21st century update.
“More precise laws need to be adopted on a federal level to set this straight once and for all and avoid confusion,” argued Dr Abdool.
On 16 April 2009 the UAE’s supreme judges recommended to the UAE’s Judicial Co-ordination Council that equal diyyah should be paid for men and women. But it could be some time yet until the law is actually changed.
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago at 11:35 am. Add a comment
Clearly, it’s an event not to be missed and here is how I am going to avoid
a.) having to get up early and dress neatly during the Easter break.
b.) missing out on what Jeremy Dear (National Union of Journalists), Andrew Gilligan (Evening Standard columnist) and Alan Fisher (Al-Jazeera London correspondent) have to say.
It’s all possible, thanks to the Frontline Club’s excellent website, which will feature a live video stream of the whole thing from 10am tomorrow. Easy. Should be good.
Last year, the audience voted on the question whether journalism was alive and well. The result? Three to one that journalism was doing just fine.
Tomorrow, they will vote on the following question:
“Are governments at war winning the battle of controlling the international media?”
Somehow, I have my doubts whether the crowd is going to come to such an optimistic conclusion on this one…
In any case, I’m looking forward to seeing Anabel collecting her well-deserved gong.
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago at 4:50 pm. Add a comment
The protective measures have been taken by the owners of the buildings that Banksy chose to adorn with his work - not really surprising, seeing as his work is now selling for almost two million pounds.
“Quite a lot of residents are keen on them and, generally, they are in favour of them. So, where it has been possible, we have helped to repair them. If it would cost a fortune, we wouldn’t do that,” the council spokesperson explained.
He added that even a real Banksy would be removed, if it led to complaints - which none of Banksy’s works in Islington have in the past.
“If our residents say we don’t like this piece of graffiti, because it is aggressive or promotes guns or something like that, we’ll get rid of it. We are not going to say ‘Oh, let’s keep it, it’s a Banksy!’”
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago at 3:31 pm. Add a comment
In the trailer for brand new documentary film New Muslim Cool, a radio talk show host says the following to rapper Hamza Perez:
You are a single dad, a Muslim, a Puerto Rican, you are from the hood, you are an artist, a rapper - you sound like America’s worst nightmare.”
The film centres on Perez, a former drug dealer who converted to Islam and started over as a Muslim preacher in North Pittsburgh. Opening a mosque in a rough neighbourhood and attracting a sizeable following with his unconventional fusion of Islam and hip hop, Perez soon arouses the suspicion of both, local drug dealers and Homeland Security.
Eventually, the FBI raids his mosque and Perez has to come to terms with post-9/11 realities. The archenemy of the state is no longer the African- or Latin-American drug dealer. Muslims are the nation’s new usual suspects, often seen as little more than terrorists-in-waiting.
So far, so familiar. But, luckily, the film doesn’t end there. After the raid, instead of turning his back on society and minding his own business, Perez challenges his own reservations and begins reaching out to Christians and Jews in his own unusual way.
I just came across this on YouTube and it blew me away. Below is a clip from this year’s Million’s Poet, the Arab take on Britain’s got Talent.
Poetry is a popular artform in Arab countries, where poets are veritable celebrities - an alien concept to most Westerners, myself included. Contestants competed for $1,361,207.64 this year, which was awarded to Saudi poet Ziyad Hijab bin Naheet (34).
I admit, my jaw dropped in wonder watching this clip of a fully veiled female contestant bringing poetry to primetime TV:
Competition is getting tougher - even in areas that used to have an air of the unchangeable. In Germany, the funeral business is being taken over by low-cost chains as more people resort to cheap package options. What has already happened to airlines and supermarkets is now hitting old-school funeral homes.
As reported by Die Zeit (in German), a growing number of Germany’s dear deceased are being put in the ground for as little as 499 Euros (a popular offer by German funeral service franchiser Aarau Bestattungen)
Now, I am the first to be cynical rather than nostalgic about this. Funerals, like weddings, have become a greedy business, where big brands compete to profit from fuelling people’s emotions - including the ugly kind. After all, there is a lot of money in guilt, envy, anger and fear. Having a cheaper option simply must be a good thing.
Nevertheless - and to my own surprise - the news made me whince involuntarily.
Apparently, Klaus Schneider, the ultra-entrepreneurial founder of Aarau Bestattungen, chose the name because a double A would get his services listed first in the phonebook. He plans to turn his company into the funeral equivalent of discount supermarket Lidl. Maybe that’s the bit that got to me.
Be that as it may, I couldn’t help it - I had to see whether this trend had already arrived in the UK. The answer: not quite. I didn’t come across a comparable low-cost offer, but some extremely depressing research revealed that the cheapest available service in the UK is currently offered by Direct Funerals - also a nationwide franchise.
Their basic package starts at GBP 960 and includes…
“transferring the deceased from the place of death during normal working hours and placing them in a simple dignified coffin suitable for either burial or cremation, lined and fitted with handles and matching plate of inscription.”
Well, now you know.
PS: Note to self - pick less morbid subject for next post.
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago at 6:40 pm. Add a comment
