Don't call us...

"Gulf News was unable to get a response..."

Absolutely typical of all-too many companies here.

This time it's from Sharjah, where according to the Gulf News report, expat residents have found notices from SEWA (Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority) on their doorsteps demanding payment of additional deposits of at least Dh3,000...to be paid within seven days or the services will be disconnected.

"We tried to contact Sewa to inquire through their phone number attached with the notice but in vain as no one ever responds," said one resident.

High-handed or incompetent? Both, probably. And just so typical. Make a statement, say something controversial, change the rules overnight, go into hiding.

You can read the full story here.

And on that note I'm getting away from it for a few weeks, back to Oz. I'll be back towards the end of June, although I'll probably post the odd piece on Life in Dubai while I'm away.

The suitcase is packed with sweaters; Sydney will be sunny but with a max of 20C and a minimum of only 8C tomorrow when I arrive according to the forecast. But cool as it is at least I'll be able to breathe the air, it won't be full of dust as it is today in Dubai.

"Take away only"

Not being a morning person I try to ease myself gently into each day by making the first port of call a coffee shop, reading the papers and having my caffeine hit.

Not today though.

Ramadan eating/drinking rules are being enforced much more strictly than they were last year.

Last Ramadan the coffee shops in Souk Madinat Jumeirah were all open for business. Like prohibition-era speakeasies they were shuttered off, doors only a tiny bit ajar, customers inside hidden from public view, but they were operating normally.

In Madinat Jumeirah I usually have my coffee in Dome and a couple of days ago they told me that they would operate as last year during Ramadan.

But when we got there this morning they told us 'take away only'.

Dubai Municipality has apparently issued a new directive and are enforcing the no public eating/drinking rule.

Are you having the same problem this year?

Storm in a B cup

You'll have read by now about the classy British female tourist who stripped off down to her bikini and paraded around Dubai Mall.

It was in response to being told she was originally dressed too revealingly, breaking the mall rules.

The woman's clothes "were so short and revealing, close to a bikini. Such outfits are not permitted in shopping malls or family-oriented public areas," said Colonel Al Razouqi (Dubai CID)

"She was wearing very revealing clothes as it is, and decided to dress down further after she was approached" said a Dubai Mall official.

As usual there are different versions of events.

According to the UK Daily Mail which broke the story:

"Briton held for wearing a bikini in Dubai shopping mall after fight with Arabic woman.

...she was accosted by an Arabic woman...

The mall's security team then intervened and called the police, who arrested the British holidaymaker."

According to a mall spokesman and Dubai Police, reported in Gulf News:

"A group of Gulf national women recently tried to enforce a dress code morally acceptable to them by distributing leaflets to women they found to be dressed inappropriately, a Dubai Mall official said.

Colonel Dr Mohammad Nasser Al Razouqi, Deputy Director of the Criminal Investigations Department for Police Station Affairs, told Gulf News the incident was a "minor" argument in Dubai Mall.

"We called in both women to the police station to resolve the matter amicably. We didn't charge the Briton or open a case against her," he said."

So there we have it. A fight/accosted or a minor argument. Arrested or no charge/no case opened.

As always I love the revealing reader comments section of the Daily Mail story. You might well roll around with laughter at many of them, as I did. Like these:

"They can wear what they like in our country - why shouldn't the same courtesy be extended to us in their country?"

"Good for that British woman for making a stand."

"if we cant wear bikinis in their country why can they wear burkas in ours?"

She was, you'll remember, strutting around a city centre mall in a bikini.

I'll refrain (for once) from offering my opinion on the comments because I think I might devote a new post to the subject in the next day or two.

But I will say I have to agree with George, who said that on his trips to Dubai he'd noticed it had become Chav City.


Here's the version of events from the Daily Mail.

And here's the version from Gulf News.

What are the standards?

One more post on the general subject of the way the indecency laws can be abused. And on what visitors can learn about the standards expected of them.

First, a post on the forum of ExpatWoman (thanks to Trailing Spouse for sending it to me).

It says:

"today my 2 sons and my middle sons girlfriend went to MOE for the UFC signing at Virgin. After they went to the food court for pizza. My middle son went to fetch the order and as he sat down the security guard stormed over and agressively confronted him about kissing his girlfriend. He produced a leaflet and waved it in his face all the while shouting "not allowed, not allowed". Of course he had done no such thing with many witnesses to back him up. When they asked the security guard who had accused them he said " a lady over there".!!!!! Of course my son was very angry, but luckily he didnt swear!! Needless to say many other expats were around and were completely gobsmacked by the whole thing, The security guard was very agressive in his manner, but luckily another gaurd came over to defuse the situation, and he was also approached by another European to back my sons story. What a bad taste its left in our mouths. 17 years we have lived here, we know the law of the land!! What makes me so very cross is that a person can accuse you of something that you havent done, just because they can. What is this place coming to?"

It's another confirmation of what I've been ranting about for some time -any malicious person, someone in bad mood, someone in a temper, a rival, can have you arrested by simply claiming you committed an offence.

It happens, as several high-profile cases have confirmed.

And my bet is that we're going to see much more of it. Copycat stuff. People who're reading the recent high-profile cases deciding they'll do it too. As the poster said, simply because they can.

Then the second point, what tourists can learn about how they must behave.

Yesterday the Dubai Today programme on Dubai Eye radio had an extended segment on the British kissing couple case and its ramifications.

One thing that came up, as it has whenever the laws are discussed, is that visitors need to inform themselves about the way they must behave in countries they're visiting.

Very true, but visitors to Dubai get conflicting and confusing information all at the same time.

I did a quick bit of research on it, as someone coming here might.

I looked at it from a Brit's point of view, because they seem to be the ones falling foul of the law more than others.

The UK Foreign Office website says that proportionally, Britons are most likely to be arrested in the UAE than any other country in the world.

So what do they learn about Dubai before they come here?

From their media they get conflicting messages.

They see stories like these running at the same time:

"Kissing Dubai Brits to be jailed

TWO Britons convicted of kissing in public had their one-month prison sentence upheld by a Dubai court today."

"Danielle Lloyd shows off six-month bump as she embraces Jamie O'Hara on Dubai beach break

With just three months to go until the arrival of her first child, Danielle Lloyd's happiness is obvious. The glamour model wrapped her arms around her fiancé Jamie O'Hara as they embraced while preparing a barbecue in Dubai."

That's clear then.

Kissing is banned/is allowed. Unmarried couples are banned/allowed.

So they check the official Dubai Dept of Tourism & Commerce Marketing site.

Under 'Tips for Tourists' they find a caution - but only about prohibited medicines.

I couldn't find anything about unmarried couples or what is deemed indecent behaviour. I looked under 'Clothing' and found:

"Compared with certain parts of the Middle East, Dubai has a very relaxed dress code. However, care should be taken not to give offence by wearing clothing which may be considered revealing. At the pool or on the beaches, trunks, swim-suits and bikinis are quite acceptable."

Hmmm...

What about alcohol?

"Alcohol is available in hotel and club restaurants and bars. However, restaurants outside the hotels are not permitted to serve alcoholic beverages.

Nothing there to say that people have been charged with 'consuming alcohol'.

So I moved to another site Google had given me, Dubai-Tourism.net:

"Dubai Culture

Dubai is a cosmopolitan city and visitors can dress however they like. Still, a good amount of respect for local customs is appreciated. In deference to local customs and norms it is a good idea for visitors not to wear very short, tight clothing, at least until such time as they are comfortable with the city.

I went to another site, GoDubai:

"Dubai has managed to achieve what other Arab cities have failed to do, create the right balance western influence and eastern tradition. Its culture is rooted in Islamic traditions that penetrate the Arabian peninsula and beyond, but the city’s visionary development is evident proof of an open-minded and liberal outlook."

I've also seen on travel forums similar answers to the questions. One recently had answers from Dubai residents to a young single woman who asked what she should wear. They ranged from 'cover your arms & knees' to 'shorts & T-shirt can be worn anywhere'.

What I didn't find in this search were warnings about what is deemed to be indecent public behaviour.

What does the British Foreign office say?

"Women should dress modestly when in public areas, such as shopping malls. Clothes should cover the tops of the arms and legs, and underwear should not be visible.

Public displays of affection are frowned upon, and there have been several arrests for kissing in public. Sex outside of marriage is illegal and if any unmarried couples are brought to the attention of the UAE authorities they run the risk of prosecution, imprisonment and/or a fine and deportation.

Britons can find themselves facing charges relating to cultural differences, such as using bad language, rude gestures or public displays of affection. British nationals should also be aware of the UAE’s strict laws banning sex outside of marriage."

Well that's the most accurate but it conflicts with almost all the previous information I've been reading.

It's the only one I found that talks about unmarried couples - but compare that with the evidence of the Danielle Lloyd story.

The key phrase is hidden in there though. "...if any unmarried couples are brought to the attention of the UAE authorities..."

That's the reality of course. You can get away with just about anything as long as no-one calls the cops.

But then you don't need to be breaking any law to be arrested. You can just be unlucky enough to cross the path of someone in a bad mood or someone who's bored and needs to brighten up their day. That'll do it.

It needs sorting out.

For all of us living here, regardless of nationality, and for the millions of visitors.


I've quoted from these:

Kissing Dubai Brits.
Danielle Lloyd.
Expat Woman.
DTCM Tips for Tourists.
Dubai-Tourism.
GoDubai.
UK Travel Advisory.

People power stops Barasti gig

Talking, as I was in my earlier post, about heads rolling, that should be happening at Le Meridien Mina Seyahi.

We have a three day official mourning period for Sheikh Ahmed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, killed in a glider accident in Morocco.

Non-Arabic radio stations are playing classical music and Arabic stations are broadcasting readings from the Quran in place of regular programmes. Venues have been asked to ease off with their entertainment, generally meaning no alcohol and no loud music.

But giving at least one finger, and probably two, Barasti Bar at Le Meridien sent an early morning text message to its regular customers about the gig featuring rapper Vanilla Ice:

"NORMAL OPERATION. WE ARE NOT DRY! NICE, NICE BABY! 5PM-3AM C U ON THE SAND"

If you want to provoke a response, a backlash against expats' disrespectful behaviour, I can't think of a better way to do it.

But it misfired because, in spite of the lurid stories in the UK tabloids, in reality only a tiny minority of expats behave that way.

This afternoon Arabian Business is reporting:

"Barasti bar scraps concert after Twitter outrage

...social networking site Twitter was inundated with comments criticising the remarks for being insensitive, given Tuesday’s announcement of the tragic death of Sheikh Ahmed...

...When approached by Arabian Business over the (community) outrage, the hotel released a statement saying the concert had been shelved."

I have no doubt that most expats, all but a very few, will applaud the decision to cancel - and be appalled at the original one.

The vast majority of us, as the campaign demonstratess, are not the badly behaved, disrespectful drunks depicted by people like Johann Hari. (BTW, I responded to his article here.)

Whoever was responsible for deciding the concert would go ahead and for sending out the original text needs to be fired. And to try to salvage their reputation, the hotel needs to tell us that's what's happened.


The Arabian Business story is here.

Stuffed

I've posted a couple of times about Sam the koala, injured in last summer's Black Saturday bushfires, Australia's worst ever fires.

The first time was when this photo appeared...


Photo: Russell Vickery. Herald Sun

...and later when it was reported that the koala had died, not from the fires but from an unrelated disease.

I guess we're now at the final chapter in the story because it's reported that the animal will be stuffed and put on display.

I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with that.

Anyway, the story says that:

The female koala survived the fires but later died from the disease Chlamydia.

Sam's body has been preserved, and will become part of a bushfire memorial display at the Melbourne Museum.

The Museum's chief executive, Dr Patrick Greene, says Sam now has a special place in Victoria's history.


The ABC story is here.

Dumped cars

You'll remember the silly story, long-discredited, about 3,000 cars abandoned at Dubai airport by fleeing expats.

It conjoured, as it was meant to, pictures of streams of refugees fleeing in panic. Dubai was doomed, being reclaimed by the desert. It was all part of the Dubai-bashing rumours that followed the earlier breathless and equally unbalanced 'miracle of Dubai' reports.

The rumour spreaders could be having another field day now because there seem to be even more abandoned cars around the streets, parked in the same place gathering dust. There seems to be hardly a street without at least one.

But the reality is that many of the owners are simply away on holiday and after a few weeks you'll see most of them cleaned up and moved.

But not all.

Like this one, which has been in the same place for months.



There were 3,000 vehicles abandoned, but all across the city not at the airport. And the figure has to be put into context. In a normal year there are about 1,500 vehicles abandoned.

It's a high number but it's all part of the unique society we have with eighty or higher percent of the population being expatriate, here as temporary guest workers.

It also reflects the legal structure regarding bankruptcies and debts and the antiquated payments system.

The mix means that the old-fashioned post-dated cheque system is the norm. People might pay for their year's rent by a number of post-dated cheques - but if they have insufficient funds later in the year, because they lost their job for example, it's off to Al Slammer. Non-payment of car loans gets the same result.

In their home countries the owners who can't meet the payments have their cars repossessed.

Here if they lose their jobs their best option is to take off back home, leaving their belongings and debts behind. If they stay and try to sort it out the problem is that they will almost certainly end up in Al Slammer.

That's the real story. That the law and the way of doing business with post-dated cheques really needs to be changed.


An interesting story earlier in the year on abandoned vehicles was in The National.

Last word on inappropriate clothing.

Last Monday I posted about being irritated by the ridiculous complaints that shops shouldn't be selling clothing if it can't be worn.

As I said in that post, there are two facts which the complaints ignore.

One, the clothes are going to be worn overseas by tourists visiting here briefly and by expats when they go home.

Two the clothes can be worn here.

On the second point you only have to look at the photos in the gossip pages of the local tabloids and the magazines.

You could also look at Katie's latest post over at Hello Dubai.

The inappropriate clothing issue

The appropriate clothing issue that's being discussed in many places keeps bringing up a response that's really irritating me. It's not only irritating but it's ignorant too, showing a complete lack of understanding, a lack of awareness, tunnel vision.

It's been pointed out in a couple of blogs I've just been reading. Geoff Pound has a post titled 'Malls should not sell clothes inappropriate to the UAE', which is a quote from a reader of Gulf News' article on the subject.

Samurai Sam includes in his post on the subject 'Of course about 345 people have already pointed out that the malls themselves are selling the clothes'.

Firstly, the clothes themselves - and I assume they're talking about women's revealing clothing - are not inappropriate to the UAE nor are they contrary to the culture.

What goes against the culture is for revealing clothing to be worn in public or in mixed company.

In private, and in particular at women-only gatherings, revealing clothing is not at all unusual. (Mrs Seabee was at an Emirati friend's pre-wedding party recently so I have a first-hand report).

For shops to sell the clothing for women to wear here in private or in female-only company, or for residents and tourists to buy here to wear overseas, is not inappropriate. Nor does it encourage buyers to wear it inappropriately.

Secondly, there are very many products on sale which are not for use in the malls, including, for example, cigarettes, skate boards, lingerie, bikinis, sheesha pipes.

There's not a problem with the products themselves, nor with selling them. There's only a problem if they're used in the wrong place.

Indecent or inappropriate?

News that Dubai malls are becoming active in the issue of what visitors wear has created a bit of a stir.

The Gulf News feature calls it an 'anti-indecency' campaign, which in my opinion is misleading and that's what's caused a lot of the comment.

There's also the use of 'respectful', also not the right word in my opinion, and it's all exclusively about the way women dress.

But that's only half the story.

Surely it's really about what's appropriate dress in the country and what's appropriate dress in the specific location.

Go to, for example, Thailand and visit temples as most tourists do, and conservative clothing is required. I don't see any debate about whether that's right or wrong, or people insisting that 'nobody can tell me what to wear'.

In this area it's inappropriate for women to wander around the city or malls in hotpants, mini skirts, low tops.

But as far as I'm concerned it's equally inappropriate for men to wear beach clothing in cities, malls and restaurants. Not just here, by the way, but anywhere.

For example, we were having dinner in a restaurant the other evening. Nice restaurant, tablecloths, waiters in formal uniforms etc. At the next table were two young men in thongs, football shorts and singlets. Totally inappropriate - and the restaurant was at fault for allowing them to dine in their beachwear.

It's hot outside? That has nothing to do with it. You're in an air-conditioned restaurant or shopping mall, usually at an uncomfortably low temperature.

What's appropriate clothing in Dubai is not a new issue by the way. People who've been here a while have always known what was appropriate. There was no need for guidance to be issued by the authorities, no need for coverage in the media.

That all changed with the big boom which started six or seven years ago.

Hundreds of thousands of new people arrived together, they didn't mix with the old hands, they simply brought their own standards with them and ignored the local culture.

Added to that is the influx of millions of tourists, again with little thought for the local culture.

Dubai's authorities and tourism industry must share a large part of the responsibility. They thought only of the commercial benefits and didn't anticipate what else the huge influx would mean.

They've allowed standards to be ignored for the last several years and now there's a predictable backlash from Emiratis, concerned that they're being swamped by the influx of foreigners, that their culture and standards are being lost.

So now, several years too late, there's action being taken to try to re-establish standards.

The backlash is not unique by the way, the same complaint is made by people all over the world about newcomers to their country. Think of the UK, Germany, France, Australia for example, where there are complaints that immigrants don't fit in, don't assimilate, and there are campaigns to stop immigration.

People arriving here say that they weren't aware of the dress code, and that argument has some validity.

But there's also an arrogance about people, with examples given in the Gulf News feature.

Tania N. a 29-year-old Russian businesswoman, said she got confused when a security guard at the Mall of the Emirates handed her a brochure on how to dress appropriately.

"I respect Dubai, its religion, culture and people, I come here frequently for business and pleasure...I used to wear a sleeveless short gown or miniskirt and according to my background it is a decent outfit and doesn't cause any kind of embarrassment.

Asked whether she will adhere to the mall's dress code, she said: "I really don't find it necessary, besides I don't have long or covered outfits, and the most importantly I didn't do something bad to Dubai or its people."

Katayoon Tahmoress M, an Iranian writer based in Dubai agrees with Tania.

"I love Dubai and I like its style. But the way I dress is completely a personal matter and I don't allow anybody to educate me on what to wear and what not to wear."

So we have a combination of arrogance, lack of awareness, lack of knowledge, lack of information and standards allowed to be ignored in the pursuit of dollars.




The Gulf News feature is here.

Culture and the law

There's a lesson to be learnt from the experience of Darren O’Mullane, an Aussie deported from Dubai for insulting someone.

It's about understanding the culture of the place you move to. Or at least being very aware of the differences.

When posting about various laws and sentences in the past I've talked about what to westerners seems the very strange seriousness with which insults and rude gestures are taken by the law.

Darren, a nurse, was driving home from a very bad day at work so he was was tired and stressed. Driving along Sheikh Zayed Road he was irritated by another driver who, he said, was weaving in and out and nearly crashed into him.

He did what he'd have done back in Sydney, raised his middle finger to the other driver. In Sydney the other driver would simply have returned the salute with two fingers and that would have been the end of it.

But this is a different culture and the other driver was Emirati. Insulting a person by word or gesture is taken very seriously indeed.

Reports say the police were ready to let the matter drop but the other driver insisted on pressing charges. After spending twenty-four days in Al Slammer Darren was deported.

He admitted the charges and to his credit he isn't whingeing that Dubai isn't the same as back home, as too many do.

Instead he said: "I want people to be aware of the law because I don’t want anyone to go through what my wife and I have been through. I’d like other people to be very careful. You’re in a different country and the laws are not always the same."

Spot on Darren. That's the lesson others need to learn from your unfortunate experience.

There are laws which I and many others think need to be changed, and I raise them here every so often. But when a law is so entwined with the culture that's a different thing. Expecting it to be changed to fit a foreign culture is ridiculous.

There are many other examples of the different culture, some but certainly not all resulting in the law being involved.

For example, insulting the royal family is a no-no. We're not the only country which forbids such insults by the way - remember the author jailed in Thailand for insulting the king?

The effusive way the leadership is talked about draws much criticism, and mirth, from westerners and others. But again it's part of the culture.

Listen to Arabs greeting each other and you'll hear the same kind of, to us, flowery language. We say 'hello' and sometimes add 'how are you?' while the Arabic greetings and enquiries about health, family etc go on for ages.

Criticising these things is to believe everyone should be 'like us'. Rather, we should understand and acknowledge that there are differences in culture.

As Darren discovered to his cost, the culture is often entwined with the law.

And while I'm rambling on about the law, reports in the papers today raise something which I think needs to be looked at with some urgency.

The Deyaar corruption case has come before the Dubai Misdemeanours Court. I have no comment to make on the charges, I don't have any information about the case.

The problem is that the CEO and others have been detained for over a year.

Two things need urgent attention by the lawmakers in my opinion.

One, a limit should be put on the length of time a person can be detained without charge.

Two, after the charge is laid a limit should be put on the length of time then allowed for the case to be heard.



Darren's tale in 7Days.

Deyaar case in Gulf News.

Wedding lights

Yes I know I complain about things a lot, things like bad planning, traffic, driving standards, bureaucrats...

To be fair, most of those irritations I'd be complaining about wherever I lived. I complained about much the same in Australia before we moved back here.

Overall of course I think the positives outweigh the negatives, otherwise I wouldn't stay.

The positives include nice little irrelevant things that you come across, such as this on Beach Road in Jumeirah last evening.

We were off to China Times for the always excellent food and passed a house celebrating a wedding:

I know it's not environmentally friendly, but I think it looks fantastic.

Incongruous...

Being such an international city we do get some strange meldings of cultures.

This one struck me as incongruous - the traditional regional architectural style housing a chippie...





Not only incongruous but helpful by the way. If you have an urgent need to write 'fish & chips' in Arabic, it's like this:

Light at the end of the tunnel

There are encouraging signs that little by little we may be getting to more public honesty about things.

We're used to the relentless 'everything is good, nothing bad ever happens' style of reporting, but there are the odd signs that it's beginning to be a bit more realistic, a bit more honest.

Not only are officials, and The Big Boss, saying things publicly that once would have been kept private, but they are being reported.

There's another little item along these lines today with the announcement that Dubai Police are launching an anti-narcotics campaign. Part of it is to help rehabilitate 5,000 drug addicts in the Arab world.

Announcing it, Police Chief Lt.General Dahi Khalfan Tamim said that according to international statistics there are 10 million addicts in the Arab world.

Not so long ago that kind of thing would not have been spoken about publicly.

Unless problems are identified and acknowledged they can never be fixed. And it's always dangerous if the general public is kept in the dark and believes that nothing bad is happening around them.

A shortened version of the newspaper report is here.

Shops at mosques

I'm intrigued by one of the things that I see increasingly around town - mosques with a commercial establishment as part of the complex.

Most often it seems to be a food outlet of some sort - cafe, restaurant, grocery store.

Here's one on Al Wasl Road:



And attached to a very small mosque on Beach Road, the Chalet restaurant - a favourite of ours, we go there quite often.



I assume the rent collected goes towards the mosque and I don't remember seeing it in the old days. Does anyone know how it all works? Is it something new?

Dubai a cultural desert? Get real!

An article in 7(-1)Days, here, raised a regularly-heard complaint. And to its credit went on to basically debunk the complaints.

We’ve all heard the whinges many times haven’t we. As is so often the case, the whingers don’t think before they spout off.

Of course, first you have to define ‘culture’ – most people think it means importing shows from their own country – and you need to compare apples with apples.

In my opinion, for the size of the population we’re well-served.

A follow-up letter in 7(-1)Days identified the problem without realising it.

Alexander Kent from Dubai wrote that: “I’m one of those people who lament that ‘culture is lacking’ in Dubai but I would never go so far as to say it’s ‘soulless’. I feel I am ‘looking hard enough’ and that’s precisely the problem – it’s the looking hard that’s so tiresome here!”

He goes on to say:

“There’s no opportunity to pick and choose cultural events, merely that you have to be grateful for all cultural goings on in Dubai because events are so few and far between. Yes, ‘Chicago’ was recently a huge hit in Dubai but sorry to say, I may like musicals but I don’t like that particular one and I wasn’t going to see Chicago just for the sake of seeing a musical! Dubai needs variety, we need to be able to choose how we enjoy our culture and we should be able to enjoy more of this culture for free!”

Think about the population for a moment. I would have thought it’s stating the obvious to say that by-and-large people from different parts of the world will be attracted to different types of events. How many westerners would go to an Indian concert, for example? So first take away from our total 1.3-ish million population all the people who don’t find the type of event attractive. You actually have a very small number, like a small provincial western town. And how much choice of cultural activities do those towns have? That’s the apples to apples comparison.

But it goes further. Remember that a huge percentage of us can’t afford to go to shows - and not only the labourers, maids, waiters and all the other badly-paid people we rely on, many people struggle to find several hundred spare dirhams.

So take a show such as Chicago – how many people do we have who would find this type of entertainment attractive? And then as Alexander says “I may like musicals but I don’t like that particular one.” That would be true of many others, so they have to be deducted from the total available audience too. Then how many of those left can afford to pay for the night out? Now how many of the few who are left have time on the particular evenings it’s showing?

You end up with just about enough to pay for the show to be staged.

Echoing what so many others say, Alexander says:

“…you have to be grateful for all cultural goings on in Dubai because events are so few and far between. Dubai needs variety, we need to be able to choose how we enjoy our culture and we should be able to enjoy more of this culture for free!”

Would they expect variety & choice all the time in a small provincial town in Europe or America? Would they expect artists & promoters to stage events for nothing?

No?

Then why expect it of Dubai?

By the way, a thumbs-up to Alexander for actually signing his letter with a full name - most unusual on the letters pages.