I live in Dubai, ask me anything

I was just about to ask how often your kids have done school trips to Alderley Edge! I lived on Cheshire for about 3 years of secondary school and went twice.

I don’t deny that this does happen sadly but what I am saying is, there are also good employers and some decent opportunities that have advantages over ordinary jobs that we don’t criticise. I would genuinely prefer a nannying/housekeeper role with a decent family as opposed to a zero hour contract living on a string. I am British and all of this is hypothetical so kind of a moot point.

As for agencies- our friends and family say they’re becoming less common as most people here seem to hire directly and take on the visa sponsorship themselves. Staff prefer it as the agency doesn’t take a cut but it means making sure you’re working with a good family as you do become reliant upon them. Also agencies don’t have great reputations for all the reasons you mentioned above and for providing staff who are also untrustworthy and just as exploitative. My friend had 2 staff prior to this one. The first did a runner - no idea why but she lied about a family member being unwell, said she had travelled back to her home country etc. My friend thinks that she used the employment as a stop gap whilst her usual family were travelling over the summer months as they didn’t need her. The second stole from her, later admitted it and begged her to not report her if she paid back the value owed. FWIW, she didn’t report it as she knows the woman has family in her home country and didn’t want her to be deported as it would mean that she would unable to earn to support the dependents that relied on her in her home country. The third seems lovely and has been with them for some time now. My friend is travelling for 2 months and is not taking the home help with her. Instead she is continuing to pay her salary for the months she’s not here on the understanding that when she returns, she will be willing to help when my friend has an event or function (effectively offering to work overtime on the odd occasion in return for being paid a salary when not needed). I don’t see the issue with this. Not all employees are victims nor are all employers evil!

I wondered same. But, did it seem such a massive story to me because I have teenage sons- and it added to my list of “not a country I would want to go to” reasons for the place.

OP had probably at least visited before and had tiny children so issues like this probably not as big on her radar (although I agree it was a huge story and I still think of him often and hope he’s doing ok)

Really sadly he died not long after

The case where two teenagers (a boy and a girl, so not gay and think they were 17 and 18 so completely consensual) had sex. He got sent to prison.
Not sure of all the details but it was huge news.

Oh I hadn’t heard about that- just Googled the news story. How sad. 😔

This case was horrific and an awful part of it wasn’t just the fact that the government were prosecuting him for underage sex outside of wedlock. It was that the mother of the girl was the one who reported him and asked for him to be prosecuted. She hated the thought of her Sikh daughter sleeping with a black boy. The issue of racism amongst BAME communities is a whole different can of worms. Earlier in this thread, there is talk of how the Ethiopians are paid less than the Filipinos etc. Amongst south asian communities there is also racism based on skin tone, background, caste etc. It has no place in modern society but unfortunately exists. That mother destroyed another person’s life because of her own racism and worries about reputation/honour etc. The government would have never got involved if it weren’t for the mother.

But the OP is cool with this, because they’re not shackled at the ankles.

Im not sure she'd see it if they were.....

How do you meet local Emiratis?

Have you been in a car accident yet ? Who got the blame?

How do you feel about the Internet monitoring your output on a forum like this ?

You really shouldn't be in Dubai if you have to ask that question ! 😳

You are extraordinarily naive OP. You have tempted fate several times on this thread.
i loved the desert and spent many happy hours exploring its beauty, but the city was not for me (although the old town had some quite stunning architecture). I never enjoyed having to work in the city, I always felt an underlying current of anxiety even on the compound, which objectively seemed very ‘pleasant’, but it did feel like a mirage, look too hard and you realise the sand is ever shifting.
I wish you luck op, I really do, and you might want to (re)read ‘An inspector Calls’…

Totally agree - do you support Christians in the same way?

T
There is an obscene amount of wealth in Dubai. The local Emiratis are some of the nicest people I have possibly ever met. It doesn’t feel particularly shallow to me, no different to any other major city in the world.
Do you see the wives and other females in the Emirs family or just men?

So they are free to roam and dress as they wish -I lived in Bahrain in 8Os local women only went out with male family member or shopped which seemed allowed. Always in black - Emirs wife was as if from a previous century