Just under a month ago, I announced the 1000 hit mark on my blog. And now, sometime in the past couple of days, I reached the 2000 hit mark! My objective was 1000 hits this month, so I am happy to have achieved this a few days early.
Here's something I wanted to write about yesterday but I was too tired by the time I came across the article, so here it is, a day late: it seems the Municipality and Agriculture Department of Abu Dhabi is trying to come up with ways to alleviate traffic during peak hours.
The department suggested levying fees on the use of busy streets and roads at peak hours will help solve the problem of traffic jams in the city. It also suggested moving certain commercial and entertainment centres outside the city.
I couldn't help but smile when reading this. I commend the A-D Municipality for taking this initiative, it's great that they're thinking of ways to make things better for its citizens, but shouldn't Dubai be the city that's taking these steps? In Abu Dhabi, when a traffic light goes red more than once, it's considered "traffic"! It's Dubai that has the serious traffic issues! Not Abu Dhabi!
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Women at work
Apparently, only 7 out of every 100 women in Dubai occupy senior managerial positions in both non-governmental and governmental organisations. Something is finally being done about it, with the UAE Ministry of Education involved in developing programs designed to boost this number. This is wonderful news, but I think more needs to be done to help encourage women in management (or women in the workforce in general).
I have noticed, ever since I moved here, that there are much fewer women in many of the offices I have been to, including mine. A few of my colleagues have told me that some employers are reticent to employ women, because they are more unstable than men...meaning, they are more likely to leave if they get pregnant, or more likely to move if their husband gets relocated to another country. Which is utter crap if you ask me!
Why do employers only see women in a negative light? How about the positive attributes women bring to the workplace? I do not want to stereotype in any way, but I really think that women are generally more attentive to details, they are more patient, and they also allow for a more professional atmosphere at work (men behave better when women are around!). They also definitely bring a different perspective to things.
And why is it that instead of not hiring women because they might get pregnant, these companies do not give women more benefits. For example, longer maternity leave. I was shocked when I found out maternity leave is only about a month here. It's a whole year in Canada! And why can't companies give women the flexibility of working one day from home (whenever possible of course). Again, in Canada, many companies allow women to work from home on Fridays (the last day of the work week).
How about opening daycare centers that are next to work, or within the same building as where the office is? This may not be possible for smaller companies, but large multinationals can definitely afford to do this. It would allow women to rest assured that their children are being taken care of by professionals, and they can even pop by to visit their kids during their lunch break for example. I'm not saying companies should bear the cost of this daycare, but it could be partially subsidised by the company.
All this to say, if companies really want to encourage women in the workplace, whether for a managerial position or not, there needs to be a drastic change in their policies.
It's difficult, in a city where everyone seems to be a workaholic, where leaving at 6PM sharp is unheard of, and where it's normal to work on weekends...but it's not impossible!
I have noticed, ever since I moved here, that there are much fewer women in many of the offices I have been to, including mine. A few of my colleagues have told me that some employers are reticent to employ women, because they are more unstable than men...meaning, they are more likely to leave if they get pregnant, or more likely to move if their husband gets relocated to another country. Which is utter crap if you ask me!
Why do employers only see women in a negative light? How about the positive attributes women bring to the workplace? I do not want to stereotype in any way, but I really think that women are generally more attentive to details, they are more patient, and they also allow for a more professional atmosphere at work (men behave better when women are around!). They also definitely bring a different perspective to things.
And why is it that instead of not hiring women because they might get pregnant, these companies do not give women more benefits. For example, longer maternity leave. I was shocked when I found out maternity leave is only about a month here. It's a whole year in Canada! And why can't companies give women the flexibility of working one day from home (whenever possible of course). Again, in Canada, many companies allow women to work from home on Fridays (the last day of the work week).
How about opening daycare centers that are next to work, or within the same building as where the office is? This may not be possible for smaller companies, but large multinationals can definitely afford to do this. It would allow women to rest assured that their children are being taken care of by professionals, and they can even pop by to visit their kids during their lunch break for example. I'm not saying companies should bear the cost of this daycare, but it could be partially subsidised by the company.
All this to say, if companies really want to encourage women in the workplace, whether for a managerial position or not, there needs to be a drastic change in their policies.
It's difficult, in a city where everyone seems to be a workaholic, where leaving at 6PM sharp is unheard of, and where it's normal to work on weekends...but it's not impossible!
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Sorry and stupid drivers
I was driving home yesterday and a song came on Radio 1. I was listening to it absent-mindedly, when suddenly one word caught my attention: at one point in the song, the singer says the word "sleikha", which is the Hebrew word for "sorry". It really surprised me. I thought it was odd that this song, with a Hebrew word in the middle of it, is being played on national radio...Maybe no one realises what this word means, which is why it hasn't been edited out...or maybe no one cares...Not that I care either, but usually, in the UAE, any reference to Israel (except for the news) is edited out.
Anyway, I got home and mentioned this in front of my sister, who told me that it was Madonna's new song (called "Sorry"). I was initially very surprised to learn it was one of her songs, as it did not sound too "madonna-esque". The song is a bit too "dancey" and cheesy to be a Madonna song. But then the word "sleikha" made sense, given Madonna's trend-setting adoption of Kabbalah as her religion of choice.
Change of subject: can I just take a brief moment to rant about one particular bad driver I encountered this morning?
It was my usual Sunday morning drive from A-D to my work in Media City (I spend most weekends in A-D with la familia). The A-D/Dubai drive took just 45 minutes, but then I hit the Media City exit, which was particularly busy this morning. But I waited in line, just like everyone else. I was on the one-way road (before the Emirates Hills roundabout), and all of sudden, I see this car trying to pass from my right! On a narrow one-way road!
That put me in such a bad mood! Who the hell does this person think she is? After honking at her and giving her a dirty look, I did not let her pass, and decided to stick as closely as possible to the car in front of me. She finally squeezed in behind me.
I drive on, only to see her try to overtake me again from my right. I was fuming! At this point, I had been trying to get to work for the past 35 minutes, and I did not understand why I had to spend almost as much time getting through the last kilometer or so, when it took me just 45 minutes to drive 120 kilometers from A-D! Anyway, the woman in the car ended up passing me and went ahead of me (despite my best efforts to stop her from getting through. But in the end I gave up as I did not want to get into an accident because of someone so stupid)... But I did honk at her for a good 7 seconds.
All this for what? So she could get to work a minute earlier than the rest of us? Was she really in that much of a rush? Was she more in a rush than I was to get to work? Why could she not wait patiently in line like everyone else was? Does she not realise it's idiotic drivers like her that are the cause of delays, traffic and accidents?
So: to the driver of the white Nissan, with a 4-90176 license plate, remember this: what goes around comes around.
Phew...I feel much better now :)
Anyway, I got home and mentioned this in front of my sister, who told me that it was Madonna's new song (called "Sorry"). I was initially very surprised to learn it was one of her songs, as it did not sound too "madonna-esque". The song is a bit too "dancey" and cheesy to be a Madonna song. But then the word "sleikha" made sense, given Madonna's trend-setting adoption of Kabbalah as her religion of choice.
Change of subject: can I just take a brief moment to rant about one particular bad driver I encountered this morning?
It was my usual Sunday morning drive from A-D to my work in Media City (I spend most weekends in A-D with la familia). The A-D/Dubai drive took just 45 minutes, but then I hit the Media City exit, which was particularly busy this morning. But I waited in line, just like everyone else. I was on the one-way road (before the Emirates Hills roundabout), and all of sudden, I see this car trying to pass from my right! On a narrow one-way road!
That put me in such a bad mood! Who the hell does this person think she is? After honking at her and giving her a dirty look, I did not let her pass, and decided to stick as closely as possible to the car in front of me. She finally squeezed in behind me.
I drive on, only to see her try to overtake me again from my right. I was fuming! At this point, I had been trying to get to work for the past 35 minutes, and I did not understand why I had to spend almost as much time getting through the last kilometer or so, when it took me just 45 minutes to drive 120 kilometers from A-D! Anyway, the woman in the car ended up passing me and went ahead of me (despite my best efforts to stop her from getting through. But in the end I gave up as I did not want to get into an accident because of someone so stupid)... But I did honk at her for a good 7 seconds.
All this for what? So she could get to work a minute earlier than the rest of us? Was she really in that much of a rush? Was she more in a rush than I was to get to work? Why could she not wait patiently in line like everyone else was? Does she not realise it's idiotic drivers like her that are the cause of delays, traffic and accidents?
So: to the driver of the white Nissan, with a 4-90176 license plate, remember this: what goes around comes around.
Phew...I feel much better now :)
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Kudos
Kudos to Emirates Today for printing part of my post about their "Cachet" vs. "Caché" mistake in yesterday's "Blog Bites". I am impressed that they agreed to show a post where I am criticizing their spell-checking and proofreading skills. It shows that they are willing to take constructive criticism into consideration.
Of course, I think it helps that I also mention, in the same post, that I like their newspaper and their articles :)
Of course, I think it helps that I also mention, in the same post, that I like their newspaper and their articles :)
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Journalistic freedom
Newspapers today cover the story of a British woman accusing four UAE nationals of gang-raping her, the story of an expatriate that was stabbed to death in a Dubai club, and the story of a young couple having sex in a car on Sheikh Zayed Road.
In any other country in the world, this would not be surprising. But in the UAE it is. See, I remember a time just a few years ago, when we would not even dream of reading about such stories in newspapers. Tackling subjects such as murder, sex and rape (especially when UAE nationals are involved) was simply taboo.
This just goes to show you that there is some progress when it comes to journalistic freedom in this country. Although censorship still exists, we are now made aware of some of the crimes that are commited. The UAE is no longer depicted as this perfect place where nothing bad ever happens, which is a good thing.
Although Abu Dhabi and Dubai are generally safe cities (save the dangerous driving), we, as residents, need to be made aware of these issues.
In any other country in the world, this would not be surprising. But in the UAE it is. See, I remember a time just a few years ago, when we would not even dream of reading about such stories in newspapers. Tackling subjects such as murder, sex and rape (especially when UAE nationals are involved) was simply taboo.
This just goes to show you that there is some progress when it comes to journalistic freedom in this country. Although censorship still exists, we are now made aware of some of the crimes that are commited. The UAE is no longer depicted as this perfect place where nothing bad ever happens, which is a good thing.
Although Abu Dhabi and Dubai are generally safe cities (save the dangerous driving), we, as residents, need to be made aware of these issues.
Paradise and the world's largest carpet
Paradise Now, a Palestinian movie about two childhood friends who meet again when they are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, won the Golden Globe for best Foreign Movie.
Although I have not seen the movie (I am upset I did not get the chance to see it when it aired during the Dubai International Film Festival, but I will make it a point to watch it soon), I am very happy to see that for once, Palestine is in the news for something good, something happy, something positive, rather than the usual stories of war and death and bombings and misery the newspapers cover. And I am happy that a Palestinian movie managed to beat one French and two Chinese movies. And I am extremely happy that Palestine will now be represented at the Oscars, where the film is also nominated in the Best Foreign Film category.
In other, completely unrelated news, it seems that Abu Dhabi will be getting the world’s largest carpet. In fact, work on the carpet that will be installed in the prayer hall of the Grand Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi will begin shortly in Iran.
Yet another addition to the series of useless world records the UAE seems to be collecting (tallest flagpole, tallest building, longest cake, tallest hotel, highest amount won in a one-horse race, largest magazine, longest painting, largest paper clip…and the list goes on).
Although I have not seen the movie (I am upset I did not get the chance to see it when it aired during the Dubai International Film Festival, but I will make it a point to watch it soon), I am very happy to see that for once, Palestine is in the news for something good, something happy, something positive, rather than the usual stories of war and death and bombings and misery the newspapers cover. And I am happy that a Palestinian movie managed to beat one French and two Chinese movies. And I am extremely happy that Palestine will now be represented at the Oscars, where the film is also nominated in the Best Foreign Film category.
In other, completely unrelated news, it seems that Abu Dhabi will be getting the world’s largest carpet. In fact, work on the carpet that will be installed in the prayer hall of the Grand Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi will begin shortly in Iran.
Yet another addition to the series of useless world records the UAE seems to be collecting (tallest flagpole, tallest building, longest cake, tallest hotel, highest amount won in a one-horse race, largest magazine, longest painting, largest paper clip…and the list goes on).
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Black dollar scam
Emirates Today reports that a Dubai-based businessman was duped out of Dhs 150,000 by a gang of Liberian fraudsters.
The gang, from Liberia, conned the UAE national into believing a large stack of paper covered in black paint was a pile of genuine $100 bills disguised for “security purposes” to keep them from being traced in the impoverished West African country. He was promised that a chemical solution, when applied to the notes, would reveal them as high denomination US Treasury dollar notes that would be recognised as legal tender.
The businessman, who spoke to Emirates Today on condition of anonymity, said he applied the solution to one of the paintcoated notes and it turned back into a genuine $100 bill.
The scam artists said they had a safe full of dollars sitting in a vault in Liberia which had been coated with the black paint.
They claimed the paint had been applied to the notes for security reasons to stop them being discovered and traced because of the instability in the country.
They offered to bring the entire contents of the safe to the UAE for a fee of $6,000 (Dh22,000).
After a meeting between the two parties, the gang informed their victim that he needed to buy the correct solution to help transform the notes back into their original form as they had insufficient amounts of the solution to transform all the notes.
He handed over a further $34,000 (Dh124,780) in cash to complete the transaction, which would have still earned him a large profit had the notes been genuine.
Of course, once he applied the solution, the notes turned out to be fake, and all calls to the Liberians went unanswered.
Even though the poor businessman was conned, and he lost a lot of money, and one should never wish bad things for others, I think the guy deserved what he got!
First of all, he is a bleeping idiot for falling for such a stupid scam! The whole thing sounded fishy to me from the very beginning. Black paint? A special solution to remove the black paint off the bills? Please! It's just plain stupidity on his part to fall for something like this.
Secondly, he was obviously involved in some illegal operation. Money laundering maybe? He did not want his name to be disclosed, and the article never mentioned why he was accepting this money from the Liberians to begin with. He also did not want to contact the police about this because "he feared his reputation in the business community would be severely damaged".
Yeah right! You ain't foolin' no one buddy!
The gang, from Liberia, conned the UAE national into believing a large stack of paper covered in black paint was a pile of genuine $100 bills disguised for “security purposes” to keep them from being traced in the impoverished West African country. He was promised that a chemical solution, when applied to the notes, would reveal them as high denomination US Treasury dollar notes that would be recognised as legal tender.
The businessman, who spoke to Emirates Today on condition of anonymity, said he applied the solution to one of the paintcoated notes and it turned back into a genuine $100 bill.
The scam artists said they had a safe full of dollars sitting in a vault in Liberia which had been coated with the black paint.
They claimed the paint had been applied to the notes for security reasons to stop them being discovered and traced because of the instability in the country.
They offered to bring the entire contents of the safe to the UAE for a fee of $6,000 (Dh22,000).
After a meeting between the two parties, the gang informed their victim that he needed to buy the correct solution to help transform the notes back into their original form as they had insufficient amounts of the solution to transform all the notes.
He handed over a further $34,000 (Dh124,780) in cash to complete the transaction, which would have still earned him a large profit had the notes been genuine.
Of course, once he applied the solution, the notes turned out to be fake, and all calls to the Liberians went unanswered.
Even though the poor businessman was conned, and he lost a lot of money, and one should never wish bad things for others, I think the guy deserved what he got!
First of all, he is a bleeping idiot for falling for such a stupid scam! The whole thing sounded fishy to me from the very beginning. Black paint? A special solution to remove the black paint off the bills? Please! It's just plain stupidity on his part to fall for something like this.
Secondly, he was obviously involved in some illegal operation. Money laundering maybe? He did not want his name to be disclosed, and the article never mentioned why he was accepting this money from the Liberians to begin with. He also did not want to contact the police about this because "he feared his reputation in the business community would be severely damaged".
Yeah right! You ain't foolin' no one buddy!
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Cachet
A few weeks ago, I had written about how 6Days had used the expression "Tu pableo Espanol" erroneously. Well, now it seems it's Emirates Today's turn to prove to us why they don't need proofreaders.
Here's the headline from one of today's articles:
Soaring rents reflect new caché of Umm Al Quwain
Umm...Helloooooo.....It's cachet...not caché!!!!! C A C H E T!
Journalists, editors and proofreaders out there, take note! If you come across a word that's not used often, if you come across an expression in a different language, if you come across a word you're not so sure about, then how 'bout you run it by a little thing called spell-check? Or even a nice little website called dictionary.com? And again, if you're really not sure about the word, then don't use it!
I have nothing against Emirates Today....on the contrary, I think they are doing a rather good job, I enjoy their articles, I enjoy the topics they cover and I like the way most of the articles are written. But this is not just your basic spelling mistake that slipped through the cracks....This is a serious mistake, the kind of mistake that a young publication that is trying to establish itself should never make!
Here's the headline from one of today's articles:
Soaring rents reflect new caché of Umm Al Quwain
Umm...Helloooooo.....It's cachet...not caché!!!!! C A C H E T!
Journalists, editors and proofreaders out there, take note! If you come across a word that's not used often, if you come across an expression in a different language, if you come across a word you're not so sure about, then how 'bout you run it by a little thing called spell-check? Or even a nice little website called dictionary.com? And again, if you're really not sure about the word, then don't use it!
I have nothing against Emirates Today....on the contrary, I think they are doing a rather good job, I enjoy their articles, I enjoy the topics they cover and I like the way most of the articles are written. But this is not just your basic spelling mistake that slipped through the cracks....This is a serious mistake, the kind of mistake that a young publication that is trying to establish itself should never make!
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Editorial choices
I sometimes question the editorial choices of newspapers in this country. In today's Emirates Today, on page 8, the top article is about the recent Hajj stampede tragedy. It shows a particularly poignant picture of a man in tears, calling his relatives to confirm the death of a loved one, after identifying his/her picture amongst the hundreds of pictures of those who were killed.
Then, another article about how Iran treatens to bar UN inspectors from its nuclear facilities.
Fine.
But it's the third article on that same page that made me look twice....it was an article about how "Pop star Ms Dynamite pleads guilty to hitting police officer".
My questions are:
Who is Ms Dynamite?
Why is this piece of news not included in the entertainment section of the newspaper just a few pages away?
Do we really care about Ms Dynamite, whoever she is?
Does it really make journalistic sense to add this particular piece of "news" next to the more important and serious news of tragedy and death?
How can the newspaper include both and article about a human tragedy, about sorrow, about death, about grief....and an article about some silly British popstar I've never heard of pleading guilty to doing something utterly stupid and childish on the same page????
Doesn't make sense to me.
Then, another article about how Iran treatens to bar UN inspectors from its nuclear facilities.
Fine.
But it's the third article on that same page that made me look twice....it was an article about how "Pop star Ms Dynamite pleads guilty to hitting police officer".
My questions are:
Who is Ms Dynamite?
Why is this piece of news not included in the entertainment section of the newspaper just a few pages away?
Do we really care about Ms Dynamite, whoever she is?
Does it really make journalistic sense to add this particular piece of "news" next to the more important and serious news of tragedy and death?
How can the newspaper include both and article about a human tragedy, about sorrow, about death, about grief....and an article about some silly British popstar I've never heard of pleading guilty to doing something utterly stupid and childish on the same page????
Doesn't make sense to me.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Reflecting on 2005
With the recent flurry of holidays, mourning and celebrations, I haven't had much of a chance to reflect on the year that has passed. It was quite an eventful year for me, yet at the same time, it feels like I have been here for much longer than the 8 months I have been back in the UAE.
The beginning of 2005 started with a few interviews in Dubai, while I was here on holiday visiting my family. I headed back to Montreal knowing that I already had an offer from one of the companies. All I needed was the contract...which took a couple of months to finally be sent to me. When I finally got it, 2 months later, there was a mistake, so I asked them to revise it. That took another 10 days or so.
I strongly believe that everything happens for a reason, and during those 10 days that I was waiting for my contract to be rectified, I got contacted by another company I had interviewed with when I was here in January. They told me that they had a new position available and that they would like to continue the interview process. A week and two phone interviews later, I had another offer, a much better one, in a better company that seemed much more professional. So, after much debating and hesitating, I said bye bye to Company 1, and hello to Company 2.
I had a month to settle everything in Montreal and move back here. I gave in my notice at work (which was one of many hard things I had to do there, because I genuinely loved my work and my colleagues), sold everything I could possibily sell, shipped 9 boxes and 2 suitcases of clothes, books, CD's, and things I simply couldn't part with, threw away more than 2 dozen garbage bags of useless stuff, gave away around a dozen garbage bags of clothes to the Salvation Army (not just my clothes...my sister's and brother's stuff was there too!), dealt with taxes and utilities and boring paperwork, and finally said goodbye to the many friends I had accumulated over the past 10 years.
The first few weeks in Dubai were hectic to say the least. I still had doubts about my decision to live in Dubai all by myself, rather than in Abu Dhabi with my family. Dubai seemed like such a foreign, scary place. I stayed in a hotel in Bur Dubai for a month, until I found my own place. The commute took an hour on average each day (each way). I might as well have stayed in Abu Dhabi! Work turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I enjoy what I do and the people I work with, and I am learning a lot. But I am still in awe at the long working hours and crazy days.
Within a month of arriving here, I found an apartment, bought furniture, bought a car, and finally settled into my new life in Dubai. The 7 or so months since then have gone by in a blur, interrupted only by a 2-week holiday in September when I went to Mexico for one week and to Montreal for another week.
I have also finally managed to kick the habit of biting my nails (after 27 long years!) and got rid of my eyeglasses and lenses after successful (knock on wood) Lasik surgery.
All in all I think my move back here was a good one on 2 levels: my career and being closer to my family. I do miss my life and my friends in Montreal a lot, but I sure don't miss the cold!
The beginning of 2005 started with a few interviews in Dubai, while I was here on holiday visiting my family. I headed back to Montreal knowing that I already had an offer from one of the companies. All I needed was the contract...which took a couple of months to finally be sent to me. When I finally got it, 2 months later, there was a mistake, so I asked them to revise it. That took another 10 days or so.
I strongly believe that everything happens for a reason, and during those 10 days that I was waiting for my contract to be rectified, I got contacted by another company I had interviewed with when I was here in January. They told me that they had a new position available and that they would like to continue the interview process. A week and two phone interviews later, I had another offer, a much better one, in a better company that seemed much more professional. So, after much debating and hesitating, I said bye bye to Company 1, and hello to Company 2.
I had a month to settle everything in Montreal and move back here. I gave in my notice at work (which was one of many hard things I had to do there, because I genuinely loved my work and my colleagues), sold everything I could possibily sell, shipped 9 boxes and 2 suitcases of clothes, books, CD's, and things I simply couldn't part with, threw away more than 2 dozen garbage bags of useless stuff, gave away around a dozen garbage bags of clothes to the Salvation Army (not just my clothes...my sister's and brother's stuff was there too!), dealt with taxes and utilities and boring paperwork, and finally said goodbye to the many friends I had accumulated over the past 10 years.
The first few weeks in Dubai were hectic to say the least. I still had doubts about my decision to live in Dubai all by myself, rather than in Abu Dhabi with my family. Dubai seemed like such a foreign, scary place. I stayed in a hotel in Bur Dubai for a month, until I found my own place. The commute took an hour on average each day (each way). I might as well have stayed in Abu Dhabi! Work turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I enjoy what I do and the people I work with, and I am learning a lot. But I am still in awe at the long working hours and crazy days.
Within a month of arriving here, I found an apartment, bought furniture, bought a car, and finally settled into my new life in Dubai. The 7 or so months since then have gone by in a blur, interrupted only by a 2-week holiday in September when I went to Mexico for one week and to Montreal for another week.
I have also finally managed to kick the habit of biting my nails (after 27 long years!) and got rid of my eyeglasses and lenses after successful (knock on wood) Lasik surgery.
All in all I think my move back here was a good one on 2 levels: my career and being closer to my family. I do miss my life and my friends in Montreal a lot, but I sure don't miss the cold!
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