To not get why people hate Dubai so much?

[Cutitup]

What is there to hate?

I think it's a great place to have a holiday. Great restaurants, great service, fab shopping and spa treatments.

I do understand the problems of domestic and construction staff being exploited but this is not a problem unique to Dubai. I just don't get the vitriol, the 'it has no culture' etc.. I say get out of the bitter farm and play with the hay!

Bear
It has been circling round the same every 100 pots or so. We will be asked to justify slavery and asked if it's worth a manicure several more times I reckon.

Think we have to accept It Is All Our Fault. All of it. Because They Said So. WE are responsible for everything that goes on in Dubai. I'm getting all drunk on the powerfrenzy.

By the way, I had a lovely manicure done today. Going to a wedding tomorrow. It's nice that I get to be corrupt in the UK too.

cote please don't patronise me on my understanding of figures, I can fucking count. Your posts typify the ramming of data down people's throat in a hugely patronising manner.

This situation has highlighted the fact that there is very often more up to date or more complete data to be reviewed in many situations.

I stand corrected on your use of the term 'approximative' but stand by the fact that data is now old. The link you posted didn't even show data for Monaco for 2012 when I opened it.

It depends what you do. I am not willing to share what we do on a public forum.

poppy I'm not asking you to divulge what you do, only to explain how you can have such strong negative thoughts on a place you are financially benefitting from?

I'm sorry you feel patronised. I may have never met a person who doesn't give a shit if she is right or wrong and who claims 90 is the highest figure and then refuses to accept that 100 and above are higher than 90, so I am not used to dealing with people like you ("100 and above" are Norway, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and Monaco, in case you are wondering)

Try searching for "GDP per capita ranking" if you can't figure out where to see these numbers, despite the World Bank link I gave earlier.

2012 data is not "old". 2013 isn't over yet so its data can't be collected.

I said this before, but that's ok. Take your time understanding

The locals treat one like----

The locals treat one like

Really, cote fuck off with your 'which number is the biggest' and your patronising , I'm not a child.

At no point did I say 90 was higher than 160, I said the 2013 figures put Qatar at the top of the world GDP rankings. I await your googling to tell me I'm wrong again because it clearly makes you feel superior.

Continuing with this is not adding to the discussion other than filling up the thread (which thinking about it is actually no bad thing).

I think I hate Dubai as anyone I know who's been there, just goes on about the shopping. Mind you Ive never been to Bluewater, Lakeside or Westfield so Im possibly a bit extreme about it. Theres something about the shallow greed of waxing lyrical over huge shopping centres and spending megabucks..I refuse to get excited about it and I cant think of anything thats less fun when theres a whole life to live out there in this world. A saturday afternoon spent trailing around a huge shopping centre swelling the coffers of big business and treating that as a leisure activity worthy of frittering my precious weekend away for, is my idea of a nightmare.

Also Im dubious about things Ive heard regarding how non-western immigrant workers live and are treated out there. No-one I know has come back from Dubai and talked about how brilliant it was culturally, they chilled out on the beach did excursions etc..its all about shopping and how massive and beautiful the hotels are. I dont think Id be able to bear it. It takes all sorts tho, I suppose...

Oh, and if you are going to quote me, please get it right, I didn't say 2012 data was 'old' I said there was more up to date data- it would appear you have difficultly understanding, not me.

Just a point on the shopping. The last thing I want to do in Dubai is actually shop. The malls are full of brands we have in the UK but, as the exchange rate isn't great and the prices seem to be inflated anyway, it's not worth it.

The vast majority of people walking around the malls when I have been are Emitari.

Oops just seen where I said it was old! Off to shoot myself !

Or Saudis and Kuwaitis as I remember.

Think one of it's draws is the winter sunshine, the weather is supposed to be lovely in winter - if you are looking for some sun and chilling by azure seas while the UK freezes. Or it's a convenient stop over point if you want to break up a long flight to OZ etc.

starwars, you are probably quite right, definitely people in Middle East clothing as apposed to Western clothing.

I love it because it ticks my boxes for a holiday.

Guaranteed sunshine
Good food
Nice accommodation
Easy to get to from UK
Small time difference so no jet lag
Interesting people to speak to
Interesting places to visit

We had fun there. I'm happier at home with my extended family near us as my young family grows up.

We have had various offers to return and also to other places in the world, including to the 'civilised' world as it was put up-thread, but delighted to be home. Not accepting that I'm some kind of moral reprobate for living there though, but can completely understand that it's not everyone's thing.

I think the hotels there are fabulous and the service is fantastic. Tell me you have been to the Madinat Jumeirah and have not been impressed? Tell me you haven't had supper at one of the fabulous restaurants at Burj Khalifa and not been moved by the classical and Arabic music playing to the wonderful sight of the fountains at their very best display. It is glorious.

The shopping is not the same as here at all. For a start, they have decent sports shops. There are at least 4 or 5 chains (adidas, nike, puma, Elle and others) that are solely dedicated to women's sportswear. Unlike the GHASTLY offering on our high street (basically, Sports Direct which is dire).
They also have SEPHORA which is a US brand of cosmetics emporiums. It is fantastic.

I also love to shop in Karama for fabrics and beads and lovely things that I could never find here. I love to go to the spice souk and take a boat crossing the creek. There are lots of lovely things to do that aren't limited to 'expat pursuits'. And did I mention how lovely the Moroccan baths are! FAB!!!

I am moved by the plight of the workers there. But the more we visit, and the more we make our voices heard, the better it will be for them.

And as I've said upthread, you can barely travel or shop ANYWHERE that is what some posters on this thread consider to be ethical. It is impossible.

Poole is a shith

Well blow me, it's worse than I thought.

And no, I'm not holding anyone on this thread personally responsible before people get too excited about an opportunity for a bit more personal attack.

www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE25/004/2013/en/a0462b64-3faf-4b0b-8a5a-5b060a93a897/mde250042013en.html

People linked with al-Islah started facing pressure from the authorities in March 2011 when over a hundred activists, academics, lawyers and student leaders sent a petition to the country’s authorities, calling for parliamentary elections and freedom. What unfolded since then has been unprecedented for the UAE. After the petition was sent, the UAE’s intelligence services started harassing human rights and political activists across the country.

www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/uae-reports-systematic-torture-jails-2013-06-27

The UAE’s judicial system will lose all credibility if these allegations are swept under the carpet while the government’s critics are put behind bars,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Unless the government investigates and takes action, it will be hard to avoid concluding that torture is routine practice in the UAE.

www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE25/007/2013/en/1a43866c-7632-47ba-8b4a-e88430bcb05f/mde250072013en.html

The conviction of 69 government critics is a low point for the UAE’s worsening human rights record and its serious abuse of due process rights,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “These unfair verdicts and the UAE’s efforts to shut down criticism should be a wakeup call to UAE’s international allies.

No have not been to the Burj Khalifa as we left before it wa built but was involved in some of the concept technology infratucture designs for it (when it was then called Burj Dubai - before Abu Dhabi bailed out Dubai for being skint and insisted it was changed to Khalifa... The irony is not lost on me with this thread!)

I learned most from my colleagues and friends. My best buddies at work were a Syrian chap and a Palestinian guy, who was one of the 'unhomed', and had spent most of his time in Jordan. Met most nationalities , it's a mix of a place. Quite an education in many ways.

Do look up the Port Authority incident, it will have you blowing a gasket

I, um, hear the hotels are great though. And visitors are making their voices heard so it's all good.

Sorry, poole is a shithole? Clearly people are influenced by their personal experiences, but objectively speaking, poole, in pebble throwing distance of studland bay, and the rest of the isle of purbeck is not a 'shithole'.

Clearly, anybody can have a bad experience anywhere on the planet, but to find Poole itself traumatic is just plain odd.

I could explain all the reaso

In the interest of balance. This is crap too.

www.amnesty.org/en/news/france-record-number-forced-evictions-2013-09-25