New Dubai and - deeply uncomfortable

[UnderTheStairs51]

There seems to be a new ad promoting Dubai as a holiday destination.

The one that starts and ends with 'swim first'.

I have been sad enough to pause it and hands are bare of rings walking through the market so no indication they are a married couple.

You'd run a risk to behave in the way shown on a public beach surely. They are not in swimming gear so what's the implication here?

I do think people should understand local rules when they visit other places but this seems to send out a message completely at odds with this.

Just me?

Quite.

You could've been chucked in jail which is the point made fairly by the poster. Who would you complain to? You wouldn't have a chance. Just because it didn't happen to you doesn't mean the Dubai authorities wouldn't have been 100% well within their rights to arrest you for public displays of affection. The poster here is right - the image is that you can live like a Westerner doing things that we'd do naturally but actually that might make you end up in a jail cell.

In my experience, it’s certainly particular type of person.

It's very easy to get an impression of a country from your own country's news, without it being the reality of the situation.

Last summer I got a message from an American friend asking if we were okay with all the riots. They'd actually stopped weeks ago but their news was still reporting about them as though there were many happening daily. He was astounded when I gave the actual situation. He'd got the impression from their news that there were riots most towns/cities daily.

Equally well I was in a conversation once with a refugee from Bosnia and another from Iraq. In both cases what we saw on the news had no relation on what their lived experience both had been and now was. It was very interesting.

Unmarried. Went with dp last year.
Have unmarried friends who visit frequently.
No issue.

Same. I honestly can't see the appeal?

@Flustration
Yes indeed democracy has its faults especially first past the post, however dictatorships are far far worse.
I use right wing as that is where the threat is coming from. Yes the left can also be intolerant but they are not likely to gain power in the UK whereas reform and the rump of the tory party hold anti democratic ideas, such as photo ID for voting . That makes me angry every time I think of it. Literally there were only seven cases of voter fraud in general elections, there seem to have been more MPs arrested for rape than that. And photo ID can't guarantee no fraud. Its just an attempt to make voting harder.

You think an 18 yo deserves a prison sentence for having consensual sex with a 17yo? Who was spitefully shopped to the authorities by the girls mother bc she was pissed off that her dd had sex? Wow. No words.

I saw the ad last night too OP - I said to dh I was surprised at the context considering their strict rules and I'm pretty sure a woman out holding hands with her bf and wearing a thigh high dress wouldn't be acceptable?

It's a weird advert that doesn't really tally up with the place.

@Flustration I am amazed you think voting using photo ID is bad. Citizens have a responsibility to vote and to provide evidence of who they are. That isn't "right wing" .

Regarding Dubai, I have never felt the desire to visit. Isn't it just a hot country with posh shops and hotels, built by slave labour, with women treated as second class citizens? No thanks.

Wedding rings are not a Muslim thing. Plenty of married couples there will not be wearing rings.

But hinting at naked sea frolicking being legal - perhaps a report to the Advertising Standards Agency?

I have been, many years ago - found it safe, friendly, loved the beaches, great food (love Middle Eastern food), a bit dull culturally as it's all manufactured vs e.g. Oman where they have the old buildings and goat markets etc. My friend who lived and ran a business there [done very well and it has been the making of her so she is very grateful for Dubai] was very cautious about certain behaviours (dress respectfully, be careful about eating, drinking during Ramadan, don't swear in public, be careful about boyfriend situation) and fully aware of how if you got on the wrong side of an Emirati in business, a tall story would pretty quickly be concocted to land you in jail. https://www.detainedindubai.org exists for a reason. It's far from being everyone's experience

Just to point out. Dubai is an Emirate in a country called United Arab Emirates.
It's like saying Bavaria and thinking whole Germany is the same.

Has anyone managed to find that ad?

Haven’t seen the ad.

But agree there are dangers when a tourist board markets a country as one thing (Marbella of the Gulf) when actually it has stricter expectations of its visitors, in both culture and law.

We should always be consciously aware of, and respect, the laws, traditions and cultures of the country we visit. For example, when visiting most Islamic countries, I’ve always dressed in keeping with social norms, e.g. trousers and long-sleeved tops, pulling a scarf over my head in religious establishments etc.

But not everyone does that. And when a country’s marketing suggests people can bring their own cultural norms with them (e.g. apparently unmarried couples holding hands in public) potential visitors can get the wrong message. Although, not all cultures wear rings to signify marriage.

Well, yes, but individual emirates have quite different ‘cultures’, or did when I lived there, and Dubai was by far the most liberal in terms of enforcement of decency laws, drinking in designated spaces etc, because it’s the one that needed to construct itself as a western tourist destination. Sharjah was much more conservative — we were living unmarried in Dubai but there were door to door searches in Sharjah checking marriage certs when we lived there. Some emirates are entirely dry.

If you think that was why he was arrested I have a bridge to sell you. 😂😂😂😂

Well yes. They are different. I am more north/east fan.
Sharjah is still dry. RAK is getting casino. Weird times

I was asking specifically whether it would be a good idea for a seemingly unmarried couple to swim in the sea after a night out (in what attire or lack of?) in Dubai.

That is what this advert portrays and to me it feels an odd message.

I have not said people can't walk through markets and hold hands, just that this is the section of the advert where their hands are clearly visible and there are not any rings.

It is deeply wrong for the Dubai tourist board to market their country in a western way. It’s misleading and could get more young people into life changing trouble.

The guy below was sentenced to 1 month for drinking beer and 3 months for brushing past a local who complained to the police. You can never upset a local. Why would you pay good money to visit a country where you must walk on eggshells?

Even being accused of spreading gossip can land you in jail.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-41713718.amp

Have you even been or have you just learnt about the Emirates on Mumsnet? You do not go to jail for holding hands! I’m actually laughing.

Dubai is the only country I’ve ever lived in where I’ve felt completely safe. I could go for a jog at 2am alone and know I’d be okay.

I would move back in a heartbeat if I wasn’t so happy where I am living now.

And for everyone else who commented saying “you only felt safe because you’re a white rich woman”… I’m black. I am bamboozled why race was even brought into the conversation. Very strange.

I mean you specifically said you paused to see if those holding hands had no rings on. So yes, people will of course comment on it.

No, swimming naked is not ok (like in most places). Swimming with people you are not married to is ok..

Dubai has decriminalised unmarried sex for over-18s so nothing is misrepresented by the advert.

Not safe for the gay people or the enslaved people.

And yet plenty of gay Westerners happily live there. "Flatmates"....

I agree with this, unless a country is safe for everyone, it's not safe at all!

The truth is that even though there is a lot of questionable human rights and some corruption it’s actually safe for everyone. People don’t mess with the law there.

edit to add. Obviously there will be exceptions but in our liberal society more people feel unsafe.

No I said I paused the section where they are walking through the market. They have their hands in front of them so easier to see here.

I'm not suggesting every non married couple would be arrested in Dubai. But that engaging in the type of behaviour implied could easily land you in hot water.

Perhaps the makers were not implying skinny dipping but it certainly comes across that way and personally it's not a risk I'd be taking in Dubai.