Job Discussion Forums

[Sheikh N Bake]

Goodness, is it that bad? Thousands of abandoned cars at Dubai airport? To avoid debtor's prison? The French lady was awfully foolish to buy a $300,000 condo on mortgage after getting a job there. A year later she's laid off and worried about debtor's prison. I keep telling the world (and so have you all), never buy property in the UAE!

And furthermore, there is no such thing as job security overseas, no matter where it is. In our respective home countries, at least, teaching high school offers good pay and benefits. Where I am, since the population of youths never stops increasing, there is indeed some security...depression notwithstanding...for now...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/12/africa/12dubai.php

[007]

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[007]

Guten Tag.

Well, Amerika or America, I know that Uncle Sam find it hard to resist the letter "k"!

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Don't try to muddy the waters, Secret Agent Man! YOU had a senior moment!!

NCTBA

[Sheikh N Bake]

The one who exhibits his IQ in his silly middle-school nickname believes, I think, it is clever and witty to put the "k" in America to denote fascism. I would respond that my original post is a legitimate question and, since I am here in the US, I don't need a lecture on the US economy. The topic is the DUBAI economy. I worked there for five years and mostly enjoyed it. I posed the question because I am interested to learn from adults in Dubai whether they agree with the article. Children should go play in the traffic if they have nothing to contribute but the usual thread-hijacking.

[007]

Well, if you want to learn about DUBAI economy, you should ask economists not reading from street newspapers!

DUBAI economy will be healthy and sustainable for the long term. And if you do not believe me, ask the economists.

[Sheikh N Bake]

I like to hear from people working there (if they still are), not just eggheads.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

SNB, if you were referring to me...I may have my purile moments, but I certainly am not a child. I just thought it was a golden moment to point out to the Secret Agent Man that he is indeed, NOT infallible.

Now, back to your post:

I wasn't impressed by the article. I found many errors in the opinions stated and to say that parts of Dubai resemble a "ghost town" unless they're talking about the desert areas of Dubai (Yes, they still exist!), but then again, there are no buildings in the desert, is outright exaggeration! The closest thing to that "ghost town" feeling, I would say, is Salam Street in Abu Dhabi which they have now completely sealed off from traffic so they can continue into making it a highway and complete the roadway tunnels that they have been working on for years. They say THAT specific driving headache will continue for the next couple of years! You DO NOT want to drive around the TCA for the next coupla years!

As for Dubai, on my daily commuting to work, I hear how things are backed up for hours on the Dubai/Sharjah scene...how it takes an hour on SZR to get from the Hard Rock Cafe area to the World Trade Centre, so I find the article to be exaggerating the situation. It's good that Dubai gets taken down a notch now and again as it's always refered to as some kind of magical, mystical place (nobody seems to mention the horrid heat and humidity during the majority of the year), but it's not on it's last legs as the article would seem to suggest.

The whole 3000 cars left behind at DXB has certainly created a buzz where I work, but there are sooo many doomsday-predicters here that one, like myself, soon begins to tune them out. The UAE is still a good place to live for the degreed, competent professional who knows how to manage the locals and remembers where not to step over the line.

And, to obtain a 15-year $300,000 mortgage in a foreign country with rampant inflation and the possibility of terrorist attack (slight, but possible) without having the savings to cover it in a pinch is criminally stupid! She's probably one of those "get rich quick" buffoons who mis-timed the market...in which case, she deserved to be thrown into a debtor's prison for contributing to making things worse for those of us who have to put up with such silliness in the market.

I hope that this addresses your concerns, Sheikh. Sorry for the diversion...

NCTBA

[Tom Le Seelleur]

The Sharjah Dubai road is congested all the way from Ajman and throughout Sharjah downtown. The cost of accommodation in Sharjah and Ajman is considerably less than that in Dubai and with the added laws that bachelors are not allowed in certain communities or are not allowed to share villas etc.. This is one of the main reasons why the workers spend up to 6 hours a day travelling to and from work to Dubai.

There are many areas/buildings in Dubai which are ghost areas. Up to 80% of sales of properties in some parts were bought by speculators with no intention of living in these buildings with the consequence that the occupation rate can be very low. With this you have the shopkeepers who were promised by the builders that the arcades would be thriving with residents. Many shop owners have already lost their investment, closed down or are near bankruptcy. The financial downturn has yet to turn nasty by all the leading world economists who predict that the financial crisis has another two years before it bottoms out (the worst in 100 years). The situation for education is, at least, in the UAE been affected less though certain cuts at the MOE, cancellation of projects as well as cuts in managerial jobs shows that the government is beginning to tighten its belt. Hopefully, the recession may not hit the UAE nearly as badly as the West, East, South and North. Fingers crossed.
Tom

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

As usual, confusion reigns. From the bent of the article, connecting the 3000 abandoned vehicles at DXB and "ghost town" leads one to believe that the "ghost towns" are a direct result of the fleeing foreigners and not the fact, like that of the "smart" French woman of contracting for a $300,000 apartment with the 15-year mortgage, probably for speculative purposes.

I don't think that many people outside this area realize the amout of speculation that has taken place (i.e. buying flats with the intention of NEVER living in them, but rather flipping them when finished for a tidy profit) here.

But, as English is my L1 and the article was written in English...connecting the 3000 abandoned vehicles at the airport and "ghost towns"...I guess I could be wrong!

NCTBA

[wannago]

I did hear on a Dubai radio station the other day that 86% (I believe that was the figure) more residence visas were canceled in January '09 than in the same period last year. I've also been hearing rumors of 1,500 visas canceled every day in the country. True? I have no idea. Traffic is still bad in places, but I have had several friends laid off and sent home.

[Stephen Jones]

'flipping' seems to be the operative word.

[Sheikh N Bake]

NCTBA, no, I wasn't referring to you. There is only one on these boards whose IQ is reflected in his user name. Just see his silly posts up above. Thanks to all others except 007, there are some good relevant replies now!

[adorabilly]

The author of the IHT post seems to be living or visiting a part of dubai I haven't seen. (unless he was out on a friday morning and didn't know the local customs)

On thursday I took a friend into dubai to go to a money exchange. We left at 9 am from RAK. so figure an hour to get to Sharjah an hour to go 10 KM from sharjah to dubai, and then 30 minutes to the money exchange. That was what I had planned. I figured if it was as empty as stated, we'd get there by 1030 to 11am. We didn't get there until 130pm due to all the ghosttown traffic and horrendous construction detours.

Of course, we went into dubai today (friday) and like normal it was a ghosttown. It took us 80 total minutes from RAK to downtown Dubai and I think I had to slow down 1x from 120 kph until we got off the freeway.

We have also heard the 4000 cars left at the airport (I have a friend who works there that is HIS number), and the cancelling of work visas.

I was greatly surprised the IHT article actually got through the UAE censors.