An Eye Opener
Although I have not come online much last week, I left my FeedDemon on and configured it to scan the blogosphere and fish for words like “UAE, Dubai, Emirate” for me to come back and enjoy. It was exciting at first to read truly personal experiences of people living in UAE (other than, I bought this, I bought that, I have this and I have that) then I was kind of surprised by the number of foreigners back home who own blogs, then dismayed by the bias views of some of them.
Understandably, despite living/working in our part of the world, some spend most of their everyday lives in a circle of people, almost entirely made of foreigners from the same or other countries who share similar values and morals. For this subgroup, their closest contact with the local population, judging by their blog writings, comes from experiences in Dhyafa road, Zayed Street and/or night clubs; hardly a representative sample of us as a community. Sadly though, they use these limited contacts to make stereotypes.
That is quite deficient in two obvious ways:
- You can not judge another community based on your own morals, ethics, and way of living or definitions of what is right and wrong. There are people from every culture who do this. It does not lead us to HappyLand.
- The sample of the population they draw their conclusion from is non representative, if you wish to make generalizations; you should go out of your way and look for enough accurate representative information to make credible judgments
You’d want to stretch an open hand and educate people about yourself, your culture, or why you do things a certain way. This is impossibly difficult when those you are trying to communicate with have a single view that unless you are doing things their way; you are absolutely seriously and ridiculously wrong.
June 11th, 2005 at 1:50 pm
Have you ever listened to some of the English FM DJs? Some of the comments are downright racist and degrading toward the locals. I have come close so many times to officially complain, but to how and about what? Is there even a law that deals with such things, or is it going to brushed under the rug as another sensitive driven sentiment?
June 11th, 2005 at 2:00 pm
i appreciate your entry sultan, and Hashem i guess if you listened to that comment you have to reply to them at that time .. before goin to complain about it or something..
i lived very closely to forigners who lived in the UAE and they have a very nice idea about our country .. they actually defend it when ever some1 accuse our society of superficiality or terrorism ..
June 11th, 2005 at 2:01 pm
Judging people by the actions of a few sadly remains the downright fast and furious way of stamping others with judgements. Yes, now we’ve admitted we have a problem. Can we be courageous enough to find a solution to stop this nonsense?
Or perhaps we bring it upon ourselves? And we, thus, deserve such remarks!
June 11th, 2005 at 7:17 pm
Assalaamu Alikum.
Though I’m not an Emarati, I grew up in the Emirates & totally respect Emarati culture..which is very easy to do, since it’s the only culture I’ve seen which is the closet to Islamic teachings! For eg: women wearing hijab, segregated gathering, etc…whic is not found in other ‘islamic’ cultures, such as Pakistani.
I once remember reading a blog by this Western woman who taught at one of the local universities (i think she taught men) I was really offended by some thing she had the gall, to say:
- that emarati women look like ‘dementors’ because they are wearing abayas, walk in groups, and walk slowly with most Masha’Allah covering their face too (i don’t think SHE used masha’Allah)
- that one of her male students said that he did’nt want to get married and not especially to his cousin. she was very pleased at that and remarked “finally…they get it” or something to that extent.
what was she putting in her students head that he said all those things? and the gall…? i went there through another website…the other one shut down, so i don’t really know the url of the teachers.
& hesham, yes…when i used to listen to radios sometimes i’d notice offence..nothing too strong but always there!
Another thing…a girl in my year…she was a south african settler but originally from denmark…when she first came here, she knew a n emarati family who had a son their age…she used to say that he liked her alot..even tried to kiss her, Nauzubillah… if i remember properly she said that he liked her because she was white and she was ok with it because he was loaded!
i think all kaafir should be madde to pay the tax that islamically, kaafirs should be asked for if they are living in muslim land. My humble opinion…
…..but imagine it could be called ‘Kaafir tax’ LOL!
June 11th, 2005 at 10:29 pm
Interesting topic e3ashig.
I believe that these peoples experiences biased their outlooks for our society.
They are picking at the few missing jigsaws rather than seeing the beauty of the arrangement as a whole, just like a person who would notice and scrutinize the hole in a mouthwatering, heavenly donut.
They are being rather selective of what they would like to contemplate and portray, taking for granted all the positive aspects of our community. Disregarding the fact that once, not so long ago, the UAE was a barren inhospitable desert; and out of the vast emptiness of the same despairingly desolate desert sprung an ostentatious country with skyscrapers standing high and towers mushrooming about.
There’s the good and the bad everywhere. No, we are not flawless, but it would be more flattering if they wouldn’t make these faulty generalizations.. as you’ve mentioned..and atleast appreciate the good side of a potential, fast-growing, cosmopolitan country.
June 12th, 2005 at 4:41 am
Hesham, i rarely listen to the english channels when i am at home. There must be a place to voice your complaints - if only to the channel managers if no one else.
Sugar, it always seems the case that those who get very close to us, really love our culture and many end up spending their lives in our part of the world. Those who are not fortunate enough to have this close contact, resolve to some of the bias views of their media and their version of what is morally correct or how thins should really be. In fact, ther recent headache of a debate on flickr central about Nudity is a good example of how some people of every culture (including our own and that of the west) just want to shape the world according to their views.
http://www.e3ashig.com/2005/05/29/flickr-nudity-and-islam/
Saradamore, i am not quite sure I totally understand your point. Indeed, we do have bad people with corrupted mentality, if that is what you are referng to, but the vast majority of us are nice people who are tend to mind their own business and try to make our environment a happy place to live in.
Rozy, I appreciate what you are saying. I think I read the same blog you are talking about a long while ago. It was annoying. But obviously that teacher was a rare example. Most other forign teachers i heared of are decent people who really make an effort to understand.
As for your later note, I am reluctant to welcome debates about Muslims and non Muslims and who should do what to the other on this website. It is beyond me.
Ventage, i love what you say. You talk about the problem beautifully. (..disregarding the fact that once, not so long ago, the UAE was a barren inhospitable desert; and out of the vast emptiness of the same despairingly desolate desert sprung an ostentatious country…) that is almost exactly what I posted as a response to a post in one of these people’s blogs.
June 12th, 2005 at 8:32 am
It’s true that their sources are limited, but some of these sources are from here.
Example: Western teachers that come to teach here in the UAE for the first time are told by the school’s administration about the students and their culture and presumable lifestyles; what they should say and not say infront of them; what to do, etc.
So you see, some of the sources might be people whom we share the same culture with.
Personally, I get really ticked off when a teacher admits that we ‘ are learning the same material as back home, but I’m making it easier for you.‘
It’s like were unable to handle what their students back home handle. >_
June 12th, 2005 at 1:59 pm
Two words: Thank you!!!
June 12th, 2005 at 7:05 pm
The issue doen’t end with the DJs, some publications that are geared toward non-locals print some offending comments and observations about the local population. I did take action on this issue but to no avail.
This doesn’t affect nor reflect my relationship with the many varied friends I have from all over the globe, but I wouldn’t think something like this would go on in any other part of the world with out some reaction.
It is either we never get these sometimes in between the lines stabs or in other cases right in your face jokes, or we simply don’t care.
June 16th, 2005 at 2:11 pm
I Respect ur entry bro .. keep it up and goodluck =) wish u all the best..
http://www.TheRidller.com - Endless Dreams =)
June 16th, 2005 at 3:23 pm
Hey there e-3ashig,
Nice topic as usual.
Speaking of night clubs, that’s what really pisses me off in UAE. How do they allow it? Ok they might say its for the foreigners or the soo called “ajneb”. Well if they want to live in our country then they have to resepct our tradition and culutre and if they don’t like it, they can simply go back home where they can live the life they want. We respect them in thier countries and I expect them to respect my country and my traditions. Sometimes I don’t think its really from them, the problem is due to “people from bldna” that do what they want best “3la 7esab dena”. Take the “fajer prayer” as an example.
Anywayz Thanks e-3ashig for bringing up the topic. I know I kind of took it from a differnt view.
July 7th, 2005 at 9:16 pm
As an expat blogger, I have had a mix of comments in my blog, but most seems to be supportive, which is nice. Like most expats (like most people!) I rant and rail about various things, but try to find interesting topics and positive things to write about as well.
I’m feeling slightly guilty because I once used a “dementors” image to describe a lady in an abaya, but it was in the context of a Harry Potter film and someone rushing up the aisle half-way through (carrying out a scared child far too young to be watching it) which was quite startling!
Regarding the comment above about nightclubs: while I respect that nightclubs are not a very Islamic phenomenon, Dubai in particularly is attempting to grow its tourism. Tourism based solely on religious or historical sites (and to be honest, there are not enough enough to sustain that kind of tourism, if you compare the UAE to Jordan or Syria or Yemen in terms of ancient sites) is limited. Sometimes making money is about compromise - which is what the rulers have clearly chosen to do. You may be of the opinion that there shoudn’t be compromise, and it’s better to be less affluent but hold firmer to moral values. That is fair enough - and that’s what has happened in Sharjah.
But the way I see it is that no one is forced to go to a nightclub, they are usually tucked away, only open at night, and just there for people that want them. Likewise in non-Muslim countries, there should be an attempt to provide halal food and mosque and prayer facilities for ladies, and so forth.
July 11th, 2005 at 10:07 am
Secret Dubai, I have been a frequent visitor to your blog since early June. It is interesting to see ourselves through the eyes of others who live amongst us. Sometimes, an outsider may have a clearer view of what is happening than people born and living on the inside.
I personally do not frequent nightclubs. I can also say with confidence that the vast majority of native uae population do not frequent night clubs. Personally, I dont go because there is alcohol and half (and much than half) naked girls which I do not feel comfortable around and which my religious believes tell me is wrong. However, I do not wish to enforce those believes on anyone. And I do not mind people going to nightclubs if they wish to. You are quite right, Dubai is marketting itself as a top tourist destination and night clubs are part of this campaign. I see the more “right winged” views of other people who posted a comment to this entry and I accept your point as a response to that.
The point I was trying to make in the original post is that it is wrong to make generalizations and judgments on the whole of UAE community, based on the UAE samples that you see in nightclubs (and few named streets) as many expants with blogs do. It is inaccurate, and it is unjust.