Telling it (not) like it is

Boredom Warning: This post is me having a whinge.


Tracing back a few 'Came From' arrivals at 'Life in Dubai' I went to a blog I haven't seen before, which had linked to one of my posts.

The post is by Isaac K, who lived in Dubai for nineteen years, became disenchanted and has moved on.

That's not unusual, it's a transient society with people coming in and moving out every day.

After nineteen years of enjoying a good life in Dubai, I say that because the post begins: "I get this feeling every time the plane touches down at Dubai Intl. Airport. A sort of “I’m home” thought that just involuntarily runs through my mind", it's actually an example of the current fad of jumping on the Bash Dubai bandwagon.

Stop right there.

That isn't the point of this post. I'm not complaining because someone is doing a hatchet job on Dubai. I'm not leaping to Dubai's defence, the subject matter is irrelevant, it could be any one of countless topics.

What I'm complaining about is something right at the top of my 'Things I Hate' list.

I hate it when people state untruths as facts. When something is misrepresented. When the facts are twisted to fit an agenda.

That's what I found when I followed the link back to this post on the SubMedia blog.

It's full of emotive phrases, with untrue statements presented as facts, misleading captions to photographs.

The post is headlined 'The real cost of slave labour', which gives an indication of what's to follow.

That old emotive 'slave labour' once again. We all came voluntarily and we're paid for our work, so where does 'slave labour' come into it?

It's not a reasoned criticism it's a blatant hatchet job and it does a disservice to those who are highlighting things which need changing, whose constructive criticism is based on facts.

It says for example:

My parents, nearing retirement age, are planning to move to India where they have rights and a far more relaxed life free of the constant threat of deportation.

Constant threat of deportation?

Why would that be?

I'm sure they're perfectly normal, peaceful, hard-working, law-abiding people. So why does their son say they live in constant fear of deportation?

It surely can't be true, it's certainly not true of the vast majority of residents. We're all constantly looking nervously over our shoulders, it says, living in perpetual fear of deportation.

Not true, but the phrase is deliberately used to create the wrong impression.

The post goes on:

UAE bloggers have been debating the issue hotly (here it links to me) that the expatriate population in the country is deflating.

They, along with the government-monitored-if-not-owned newspapers are the only ones defending the city as the whole world cackles at a dirty dream that has been exposed for what it really was.

'The whole world', another of my top hates, like statements beginning 'we all' and 'everybody'. A personal opinion given some fake authority by adding the untrue claim that it's the universal view.

It goes on with the old myth of thousands of cars: abandoned at the airport as the immigrant middle class fled the sinking ship, a story long since proven to be untrue.

The facts are that there are annually about 1400 cars abandoned across the city. Last year it's said the figure rose to 3000, of which a few were left at the airport.

But that original untrue story conjoured up, as it was intended to, pictures of thousands of expats fleeing in desperation, jumping from their cars at the airport and stampeding refugee-like to freedom.

Then there are photos with deliberately misleading captions.

For example: There are more visual cues as well. You can walk along the promenade and see workers sleeping on the ground in the open.

Good heavens! Workers on their break taking a nap! How is that more evidence of a sinking ship I wonder?

I see the same in Australia, council workers, in particular it seems, at midday sleeping in their trucks parked at the roadside or on park benches. Strangely, no-one there relates it to an exposed dirty dream.

Then there's a photo of an open road through a desert section, with the mystifying caption: You can also note the miles and miles of highway left unadvertised.

A clear open road through a desert landscape, now there's proof that the ship's sinking! There are clear open roads through unbuilt areas all over the world, exactly like the one shown in the photo.

There's the blatantly untrue stuff:

Since we have nothing to fear (despite the number of construction projects that have been canceled, such as the $5 billion Jebel Ali Airport)

The airport has not been cancelled. Work is proceeding on schedule.

It accuses the business community and government of being being in denial that there's a slowdown, when what they're actually doing is talking it up to try to restore confidence, just as they do all over the world.

I won't go on, you can read it for yourself if you care to, the link's at the bottom.

Reminder, I'm not talking about this because it's a criticism of Dubai but because it's a classic example of all those things I detest.

It has misinformation.

I has untrue statements presented as fact.

It has innocent, normal photographs misrepresented.

It makes no difference to me whether it's a well-known columnist in a major newspaper or an anonymous blogger, or someone I talk to over a coffee come to that.

Criticism is justified, necessary even, if something needs be improved. It won't be if we don't highlight it, if we don't make constructive criticism.

But the criticism must be based on the truth. Comments which misrepresent, which distort, which lie, do a disservice to genuine criticism.

This deplorable level of comment has so much dubious, incorrect, disproveable content that any accurate criticism is swamped by it.

It invites the comment 'it's all lies' and dismissal of the criticism.



If you're interested, here's the link: SubMedia.