Thursday, January 26, 2006
Dubaiite Frustrated!
Me and my big mouth. For decades, the people of this oil rich country have enjoyed low fuel prices, and the six and eight cylinder auto-mammoths that become but a logical option due to those prices. Then I had to go and spoil it for everyone. I had to declare fuel was cheap here, and someone was listening. Now the government has rectified that anomaly in the general scheme of things. The petrol just got dearer by 30% yesterday.
This can have grave implications in a country, where retailers and their suppliers increased the prices of goods across the board when the Government had announced a 15% increase in the salaries of public servants, so the poor sods could come to terms with rising cost of living; and not just any retailers, it was the Co-Operatives which are supposed to cater to the consumers’ shrinking wallets. What was even more amusing was the fact that this hike was effected right after the announcement of the salary-increase, not after the actual salary increase. Finally, the Government had to step in, and give the greedy rascals a rap on their knuckles. Cost-push inflation is but an economic phenomenon, it will be interesting to see how the retailers respond to this new development. It is generally, and rather less sarcastically than it should be, assumed that the landlords and real estate agents will find an excuse in this fuel-price hike to hike up the rents for the umpteenth time.
The only thing cheap in this country now is labor, which ironically is the one commodity that should not be cheap anyway, and especially not so in Dubai which is ranked higher than Washington D.C and Toronto on the list of the most-expensive, and hence the least desirable to live in, cities of the world. Increasingly, it is becoming a less desirable place to live in for the middle class. It costs an average of USD 1800 per month to rent out a two bedroom apartment in Dubai, which is (un)reasonably higher than the average cost of renting an apartment in more developed and high profile cities like Washington D.C and Toronto*. There are some who take this to be a sign of things to come, and a mark of how prestigious a city Dubai has become. Anyone who thinks Dubai is more prestigious and developed than the capital of the reigning super power is obviously living in a fool’s paradise. The only thing this twisted equation points to is flawed planning, and greedier real estate agents. The yardstick for the prestige and development of a city should be the satisfaction levels of its inhabitants, their lifestyles, and a growing middle class segment.
Just the other day, I was visiting a friend who lives on the 27th floor of a high rise tower in the upmarket Dubai Marina ‘enclave’. I stepped out into their balcony, and was mesmerized by the construction work underway at the site of one of the world famous Palm Projects. For those who have been blissfully spared the media frenzy surrounding these projects, the Palm Projects, and there were three of those until the last count, are huge palm shaped residential schemes for the welathiest of the world. The distinguishing thing about these palm shaped schemes is that the “palm” will be completely reclaimed land, protuding out into the sea. The “palms” will be visible from Neptune and Pluto, and aliens from other galaxies will also be able to see them on clear days. A fraction of the amount spent on these projects, if funnelled into constructing residential areas on the sprawling deserts of the country could have easily curbed the menace of rising rents. Ironically, one gets to see that sprawling desert in the other direction from the same point.
This brings me to another aspect of this developing- like- crazy-city that baffles me. Not a day goes by when we the residents of the twin cities of Dubai and Sharjah do not have to grapple with the tiring and frustrating traffic jams here. Part of the problem lies in the fact that when going to work all traffic is headed to the few pockets of high rises which house bulk of the commercial activity, and understandably the same traffic is headed out of these pockets at close of day.
I am no city planner, but tell me this, why do we have high rises? So that we can make optimum use of scarce space, right? Well, someone should get a bird’s eye view of this city, THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF SPACE HERE! There are miles and miles of desert just waiting to be converted into commercial or residential areas. But, skyscrapers we must have, so Dubai can rank amongst the cities of the world that have what the newspapers here refer to as “a skyline”. One of my ex-employers, a Japanese gentlman, used to wonder about the speed with which new towers, buildings and other structures are constructed here. He was quite sure that similar construction projects would take thrice the time to construct in Japan. Again there would be some who would find reason to celebrate the ‘efficiencies’ of Dubai in this statement. What they do not realize is that Japan survived an earthquake last month measuring to the north of 5.0 on the Richter Scale with zero casualties, while a similar seismic phenomenon would leave tens of thousands dead, and losses estimated at upwards of USD 50 billion in this efficient little place…
Coming back to the traffic jams, if you had offices sprawling over a large area, you would not have all these people headed the same way in the mornings, or headed out of the same places in the evenings. There would be lesser, if any, traffic jams. The only thing required to achieve this simplistic solution would be a braoder infrastructure, which is not a cost this rich country cannot bear. Understandably, spreading the commercial activity will require more commuting between offices for salespeople like me, but hey fuel is still cheaper in this part of the world than it is in the rest of the world. Granted with the passage of time, the country will have to resort to sky scrapers, since it is not bestowed with unlimited space, but hey, why experience the agony of a space cramped city decades before it becomes space cramped. Plus, a broader base of infrastructure will only prepare the country better for such growth when the real need for space optimization arises.
I have no pretensions of being a planner, but if I can think of these solutions, surely people trained and qualified to plan cities can think more creatively than they are doing presently.
The people of this blessed country deserve to feel blessed living in it. Practicality, not exhibitionism, will help ensure that feeling.
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22 Responses to 'Dubaiite frustrated!'
1FarihaSeptember 4th, 2005 at 6:26 am
Wow… how long have I been missing from the scene??? I seemed to have missed so much, it’s almost overwhelming! I have never been to Dubai and the last time I was in the Emirates was some 16 years ago. Hubby is in Dubai right now, though, for a Schlumberger dog-and-pony show…. a 2 day new technology forum at the Emirates towers. He says the place is bloody expensive, but for 400USD-a-night (company rate), the hotel is just awesome. Leave it to the arabs to define luxury. Leave it to the Arabs to define exhibitionism!
You complain of traffic jams.. hah! You don’t know Cairo. This has got to be one of the most congested cities in the world. There are probably more people per square foot in this city than dust… and this is the desert, you know. And we have the same roads the british built before the 2nd world war… okay so the tarmacs been refreshed, and they’ve added some overpasses here and there but honestly the roads aren’t enough to accomodate the number of cars here. they’re narrow and we’re limited on routes. And high-rises? If you took out all buildings with over 12 floors, there would be hardly anyhting left in Cairo nowadays. Any villas that remained have been turned into either commercial or residential buildings… and they don’t even bother to make them look good because the dust will make them brown anyway. And since there’s no real planning, the Cairo skyline doesn’t look anything like a skyline. A building can pop up anywhere, and traffic can flow in either direction on a narrow two lane road with rampant doubleparking on either side!
Hey thanks… you just gave me a good blog topic. I’ll get to it as soon as I finish my other unfinished blog topic that I have been pursuing for the past month and a half. Baby’s been keeping me busy!
Nice site by the way.
2knicqSeptember 4th, 2005 at 10:42 am
Hey Ol’ friend, great to have you back. You have been away for over eight months now, and sorely missed all the while.
Hubby is here, I have emailed you my cell number, please pass it on to him. My office is a few buildings from Emirates Towers on the same road, I would love to show him around…
Oh, and Salman Gulzar of 18th batch is also visiting Dubai, and is put up in Fairmont right across from Emirates Towers. He is here for a training, which co-incidently is also being held in Novotel. Given that he specializes in Oilfield Finance, they might just find topics of common interest.
How come you guys didn’t accompany him? TQ and AQ would have loved to meet Sheheryar.
More later…gotta run.
3FarihaSeptember 6th, 2005 at 6:37 pm
Hubby’s back. We didn’t accompany him because the trip was on short notice and the stupid thing about Egypt is you never can find seats when you want them. Humair got his seat and for the client accompanying him just a day before, after much crying, pleading and groveling. Not to mention that the price for a ticket to Dubai was the same as a ticket to New York!
Thanks for offering to show hubby around. I realize I have a horrible memory. I honestly can’t put a face to Salman Gulzar’s name. I think I do have a faint recollection of who is, but I can’t be sure. Oilfield finance, eh? What company is he working for?
Yes, i have been missing a very long time. Goodness, I’m usually so busy with baby I can’t even find time to download his photos from our camera and email them to both sets of grandparents. Hope to update my sites very soon.
4knicqSeptember 6th, 2005 at 7:11 pm
Oh, he’s back, is he? Guess I can stop calling out his name in the lobby of Emirates Towers now…
Given the sizeable Egyptian contingent in the UAE expat community, it is easy to see how all flights to UAE would have been booked…people returning from vacations at the start of schools…
The Gulzar brothers, Salman and Osman, were both in Fash’s batch. Do you remember that “Crossfire” thingy where Sohail and I had gone head to head on whether women should work or not, and where I had made you stand up from the audience and share youer point of view from Sultana’s class? (I do remember giving you a great introduction, almost mentioned each of your scholarships separately I did)…Crossfire was a forum Salman Gulzar had started, and he used to moderate it along with Rana Rizwan.
He was also one of the comperes at the Avari function, when I had paired off Madi with you know who…
Even if that does not ring a bell, there’s the small matter of him being the topper in the 18th batch.
Given that he is also a chance visitor to knicqland, perhaps he can introduce himself a little here…
He is with Standard Chartered Qatar.
Our love to the baby…has he started attempting sucking his toes already? Or do they do that at six months? I forget…
Looking forward to those long, and I mean looong over due updates.
5knicqSeptember 6th, 2005 at 7:50 pm
…and hey you must find us all at Orkut…I got out group together….
6AbezSeptember 7th, 2005 at 5:42 pm
I hear you Bhai, the rent is ridiculous, and it’s all artificial inflation. No lack of space at all here, just lack of sense. I wonder how much greater a percentage of their lives UAE residents spend in traffic as compared to the people in those other US and Canadian cities (where it’s cheaper to rent apparently). I wonder if we can sue for damages, do you think they would pay us back in lost time?
7FarihaSeptember 12th, 2005 at 1:19 am
I believe i need an invitation from a member to join… unless I’m missing something. Send me a link.
8knicqSeptember 12th, 2005 at 2:54 pm
Li’ Baji: No lack of space…is a euphemism. To see what I mean just take a look at the aerial shot of the city that came as the property developer’s ad this morning with EVERY newspaper!
Fariha: Invitation sent your way madame…ssfara account.
9BaptizedLuciferSeptember 14th, 2005 at 6:31 pm
sigh. u speak my mind. and that of almost everyday person who’s live din the uae long enuf to know how illogical some things are here. all the signs point towards a failing economy. the govt doesnt want to step in. everyoen knows about the cheap material being used for contruction. the new residential areas… dont have hospitals, police stations or fire stations! oh wait, thats coz we have a sepearet block of the health park! yeay! will we have a separate fire and security park too? idiots.
anyone who’s visited shj would know what crappy town planning is.
and then come in the inter emirate rivalries.. especially dubai/shj,closing down of routes… the entire mamzar park… all done on purpose… uffffffffffffffh.. bunda in sab cheezon kay baaray main sochay to pagal ho jaey! magar… bunda jaey to jaey bhi kahan! :S
10NJSeptember 17th, 2005 at 1:31 pm
NJ’s blog died on 11th september 2005…
11knicqSeptember 18th, 2005 at 3:37 pm
Bunda jaana chahey bhi to traffic main phans jayey ga…behtar yahee hai keh ghar baith ka chain ke bansee bajae, aur Bold and the Beautiful daikhey, ‘cuz that is one program as crappy as the traffic, as confused as traffic, and takes longer finishing a sequence than it takes one getting home….hence one would soon start feeling blessed getting stuck in traffic than getting struck by B&B.
NJ…sis., what is this sad news? Will CPR help? Is there anything we can do to help save such a lovely place?
12SaadatSeptember 19th, 2005 at 12:57 pm
You’ve been tagged, Bhaijan!(Caution: it’s a silly tag! )
13AbezSeptember 20th, 2005 at 10:21 am
Oh Bhai, read in the paper today that there won’t be another price hike in petrol, is it true? *cheers excitedly*
14knicqSeptember 20th, 2005 at 11:00 am
Chotey Bhai: Three failed attempts to comment on your blog, and finally gave up. I have told you before your commenting system does not like me. . Thanks for tagging me. One more reason to blog now…lets see if I can do the decent blogger thing to do, and respond in good time.:)
Salamz Sis. That statement was by ADNOC if I am not wrong, and they had made this statement the last time also when Eppco/ENOC had declared they were bleeding to death because of the very low retail fuel prices. ENOC is still going on record sayig they are losing millions if not billions at the current rate.One just wonders, how is it that ENOC’s counterparts in the other 5 GCC countries survive? Why is it that they are not heard crying…yet anyway, since a precedent has been set and its only a matter of time before they too get their Governments to budge.
One hopes ADNOC’s will be heard this time.
15BaptizedLuciferSeptember 20th, 2005 at 3:16 pm
u watch BnB? LOL! I used to watch that when i was a kid, on 33. the last i remm is when brooke logan took over the company. i saw a glimpse of it a while back, and i stopped to watch.. funny how characters can grow on to u, felt as if i knew that “family”…. wanted ot know whats going on with em… hahaha too many new faces… khair i changed the channel in less than a minute.
ADNOC.. yeah it was them.. besides. abu dhabi’s rates have been lower. are they really losing in billions when they are exporting so much? what with all the tension in the middle east its the oil walay who are benifitting the most.. of course there are also the contruction walay eating away money
16SaadieSeptember 26th, 2005 at 5:47 pm
:) good to find a fellow blogger from UAE and thats thanks to moiz or ziom as u may call him. and yea so true about this frustration, though I am in Al-Ain and traffic has no issues here, but I wasnt planing to stay here for a longer period and yea good to c we got some mutual blogging friends.
17knicqSeptember 29th, 2005 at 8:51 am
Apologies to Baptized Lucifer and Saadie both for the delay in responding…and in the latter case accepting the comment.
Just not been around in blogistan (read connected world) for sometime.
Of course I do NOT watch BnB. I stopped right after I got e-vision. Prior to that I had no option…what with having just the one channel, and nothing else to do while waiting for the sitcom that followed BnB everyday…p.s. you can miss out on a year or two of episodes, and completely understand what’s going on as soon as you tune in….actually in a year or two, there’s actually an outisde chance that at leats one of the conversation that started when you stopped is over!
They are losing billions in unearned income…opportunity cost of selling it lower than they can.
Saadie: Another Al-Aini blogger eh? Wonderful. Thanks for stopping by..do keep visiting.
Whatever happened to our friend Moiz?
18SaadieSeptember 29th, 2005 at 4:23 pm
Its ok dude and will keep visiting , moiz well he is not any more on blogy world but do visits connected world at times. anyhow “another al-aini” blogger ok who else is there, glad to know that .
19knicqOctober 1st, 2005 at 8:15 pm
Oh, did you never hear of www.karrvakarela.blogspot.com?
NJ, and now Moiz, why are people leaving blogistan? …and why aren’t certain others not updating as often as they would like to…?
20ayanOctober 3rd, 2005 at 7:23 pm
mm - personally I feel it is better to keep the land as is than to develop it to an unrecognizable extent. Plus im not sure how much the cost of developing sand is or anything, but I feel it would be a nightmare. Is there a rail system in UAE? I am assuming there is some type of subway - is there a legislature? Maybe they can reduce traffic by reducing parking availability. Just my two rupees
21knicqOctober 3rd, 2005 at 8:47 pm
Ayan, I see completely where you are coming from…unfortunately the developed land in this country, and it is but a small fraction of the total land, is not enough to house the population of this country…
Accomodating these people is however not a priority, and that is what my complaint is. Fleecing those that can be fleeced is quickly becoming the only priority.
The cost of developing sand would be high but would hardly compare with the cost of reclaiming land miles into the ocean…not to mention the fact that it would be a much less ecological disaster than those “palms” and “pearls” are.
There will be a metro/rail service in the UAE in the next couple of years, and your other assumption is false. There is however a legislature that suits the country just fine.
Oh, parking space is a luxury only a blessed few enjoy…the rest have mastered the art of converting saloon cars into 4WDs so they can park in empty plots, and sandy patches where available. Others pay by the hour.
Reducing parking space would help where people once discouraged by lack of parking space would choose other forms of commuting over driving themselves…but there are no other forms of commuting, save walking/cycling, and commute all must.
If anything now we the UAE wallahs have more than one topic for ice breaking purposes - after the traditional soaring ‘heat”, now we have soaring rents, traffic jams, parking scams, and last but not the least schooling expenses of the kids.
The writing is on the wall…and it is a misra by Iqbal:
Hai jurm-e-zaeefi kee saza marg-e-mafajaat.
The punishment for the crime that weakness is, is death.
22AOctober 4th, 2005 at 4:23 pm
Ramadhan Mubarak!Love to me darlings. ¶ 1/26/2006 02:05:00 AM
This can have grave implications in a country, where retailers and their suppliers increased the prices of goods across the board when the Government had announced a 15% increase in the salaries of public servants, so the poor sods could come to terms with rising cost of living; and not just any retailers, it was the Co-Operatives which are supposed to cater to the consumers’ shrinking wallets. What was even more amusing was the fact that this hike was effected right after the announcement of the salary-increase, not after the actual salary increase. Finally, the Government had to step in, and give the greedy rascals a rap on their knuckles. Cost-push inflation is but an economic phenomenon, it will be interesting to see how the retailers respond to this new development. It is generally, and rather less sarcastically than it should be, assumed that the landlords and real estate agents will find an excuse in this fuel-price hike to hike up the rents for the umpteenth time.
The only thing cheap in this country now is labor, which ironically is the one commodity that should not be cheap anyway, and especially not so in Dubai which is ranked higher than Washington D.C and Toronto on the list of the most-expensive, and hence the least desirable to live in, cities of the world. Increasingly, it is becoming a less desirable place to live in for the middle class. It costs an average of USD 1800 per month to rent out a two bedroom apartment in Dubai, which is (un)reasonably higher than the average cost of renting an apartment in more developed and high profile cities like Washington D.C and Toronto*. There are some who take this to be a sign of things to come, and a mark of how prestigious a city Dubai has become. Anyone who thinks Dubai is more prestigious and developed than the capital of the reigning super power is obviously living in a fool’s paradise. The only thing this twisted equation points to is flawed planning, and greedier real estate agents. The yardstick for the prestige and development of a city should be the satisfaction levels of its inhabitants, their lifestyles, and a growing middle class segment.
Just the other day, I was visiting a friend who lives on the 27th floor of a high rise tower in the upmarket Dubai Marina ‘enclave’. I stepped out into their balcony, and was mesmerized by the construction work underway at the site of one of the world famous Palm Projects. For those who have been blissfully spared the media frenzy surrounding these projects, the Palm Projects, and there were three of those until the last count, are huge palm shaped residential schemes for the welathiest of the world. The distinguishing thing about these palm shaped schemes is that the “palm” will be completely reclaimed land, protuding out into the sea. The “palms” will be visible from Neptune and Pluto, and aliens from other galaxies will also be able to see them on clear days. A fraction of the amount spent on these projects, if funnelled into constructing residential areas on the sprawling deserts of the country could have easily curbed the menace of rising rents. Ironically, one gets to see that sprawling desert in the other direction from the same point.
This brings me to another aspect of this developing- like- crazy-city that baffles me. Not a day goes by when we the residents of the twin cities of Dubai and Sharjah do not have to grapple with the tiring and frustrating traffic jams here. Part of the problem lies in the fact that when going to work all traffic is headed to the few pockets of high rises which house bulk of the commercial activity, and understandably the same traffic is headed out of these pockets at close of day.
I am no city planner, but tell me this, why do we have high rises? So that we can make optimum use of scarce space, right? Well, someone should get a bird’s eye view of this city, THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF SPACE HERE! There are miles and miles of desert just waiting to be converted into commercial or residential areas. But, skyscrapers we must have, so Dubai can rank amongst the cities of the world that have what the newspapers here refer to as “a skyline”. One of my ex-employers, a Japanese gentlman, used to wonder about the speed with which new towers, buildings and other structures are constructed here. He was quite sure that similar construction projects would take thrice the time to construct in Japan. Again there would be some who would find reason to celebrate the ‘efficiencies’ of Dubai in this statement. What they do not realize is that Japan survived an earthquake last month measuring to the north of 5.0 on the Richter Scale with zero casualties, while a similar seismic phenomenon would leave tens of thousands dead, and losses estimated at upwards of USD 50 billion in this efficient little place…
Coming back to the traffic jams, if you had offices sprawling over a large area, you would not have all these people headed the same way in the mornings, or headed out of the same places in the evenings. There would be lesser, if any, traffic jams. The only thing required to achieve this simplistic solution would be a braoder infrastructure, which is not a cost this rich country cannot bear. Understandably, spreading the commercial activity will require more commuting between offices for salespeople like me, but hey fuel is still cheaper in this part of the world than it is in the rest of the world. Granted with the passage of time, the country will have to resort to sky scrapers, since it is not bestowed with unlimited space, but hey, why experience the agony of a space cramped city decades before it becomes space cramped. Plus, a broader base of infrastructure will only prepare the country better for such growth when the real need for space optimization arises.
I have no pretensions of being a planner, but if I can think of these solutions, surely people trained and qualified to plan cities can think more creatively than they are doing presently.
The people of this blessed country deserve to feel blessed living in it. Practicality, not exhibitionism, will help ensure that feeling.
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22 Responses to 'Dubaiite frustrated!'
1FarihaSeptember 4th, 2005 at 6:26 am
Wow… how long have I been missing from the scene??? I seemed to have missed so much, it’s almost overwhelming! I have never been to Dubai and the last time I was in the Emirates was some 16 years ago. Hubby is in Dubai right now, though, for a Schlumberger dog-and-pony show…. a 2 day new technology forum at the Emirates towers. He says the place is bloody expensive, but for 400USD-a-night (company rate), the hotel is just awesome. Leave it to the arabs to define luxury. Leave it to the Arabs to define exhibitionism!
You complain of traffic jams.. hah! You don’t know Cairo. This has got to be one of the most congested cities in the world. There are probably more people per square foot in this city than dust… and this is the desert, you know. And we have the same roads the british built before the 2nd world war… okay so the tarmacs been refreshed, and they’ve added some overpasses here and there but honestly the roads aren’t enough to accomodate the number of cars here. they’re narrow and we’re limited on routes. And high-rises? If you took out all buildings with over 12 floors, there would be hardly anyhting left in Cairo nowadays. Any villas that remained have been turned into either commercial or residential buildings… and they don’t even bother to make them look good because the dust will make them brown anyway. And since there’s no real planning, the Cairo skyline doesn’t look anything like a skyline. A building can pop up anywhere, and traffic can flow in either direction on a narrow two lane road with rampant doubleparking on either side!
Hey thanks… you just gave me a good blog topic. I’ll get to it as soon as I finish my other unfinished blog topic that I have been pursuing for the past month and a half. Baby’s been keeping me busy!
Nice site by the way.
2knicqSeptember 4th, 2005 at 10:42 am
Hey Ol’ friend, great to have you back. You have been away for over eight months now, and sorely missed all the while.
Hubby is here, I have emailed you my cell number, please pass it on to him. My office is a few buildings from Emirates Towers on the same road, I would love to show him around…
Oh, and Salman Gulzar of 18th batch is also visiting Dubai, and is put up in Fairmont right across from Emirates Towers. He is here for a training, which co-incidently is also being held in Novotel. Given that he specializes in Oilfield Finance, they might just find topics of common interest.
How come you guys didn’t accompany him? TQ and AQ would have loved to meet Sheheryar.
More later…gotta run.
3FarihaSeptember 6th, 2005 at 6:37 pm
Hubby’s back. We didn’t accompany him because the trip was on short notice and the stupid thing about Egypt is you never can find seats when you want them. Humair got his seat and for the client accompanying him just a day before, after much crying, pleading and groveling. Not to mention that the price for a ticket to Dubai was the same as a ticket to New York!
Thanks for offering to show hubby around. I realize I have a horrible memory. I honestly can’t put a face to Salman Gulzar’s name. I think I do have a faint recollection of who is, but I can’t be sure. Oilfield finance, eh? What company is he working for?
Yes, i have been missing a very long time. Goodness, I’m usually so busy with baby I can’t even find time to download his photos from our camera and email them to both sets of grandparents. Hope to update my sites very soon.
4knicqSeptember 6th, 2005 at 7:11 pm
Oh, he’s back, is he? Guess I can stop calling out his name in the lobby of Emirates Towers now…
Given the sizeable Egyptian contingent in the UAE expat community, it is easy to see how all flights to UAE would have been booked…people returning from vacations at the start of schools…
The Gulzar brothers, Salman and Osman, were both in Fash’s batch. Do you remember that “Crossfire” thingy where Sohail and I had gone head to head on whether women should work or not, and where I had made you stand up from the audience and share youer point of view from Sultana’s class? (I do remember giving you a great introduction, almost mentioned each of your scholarships separately I did)…Crossfire was a forum Salman Gulzar had started, and he used to moderate it along with Rana Rizwan.
He was also one of the comperes at the Avari function, when I had paired off Madi with you know who…
Even if that does not ring a bell, there’s the small matter of him being the topper in the 18th batch.
Given that he is also a chance visitor to knicqland, perhaps he can introduce himself a little here…
He is with Standard Chartered Qatar.
Our love to the baby…has he started attempting sucking his toes already? Or do they do that at six months? I forget…
Looking forward to those long, and I mean looong over due updates.
5knicqSeptember 6th, 2005 at 7:50 pm
…and hey you must find us all at Orkut…I got out group together….
6AbezSeptember 7th, 2005 at 5:42 pm
I hear you Bhai, the rent is ridiculous, and it’s all artificial inflation. No lack of space at all here, just lack of sense. I wonder how much greater a percentage of their lives UAE residents spend in traffic as compared to the people in those other US and Canadian cities (where it’s cheaper to rent apparently). I wonder if we can sue for damages, do you think they would pay us back in lost time?
7FarihaSeptember 12th, 2005 at 1:19 am
I believe i need an invitation from a member to join… unless I’m missing something. Send me a link.
8knicqSeptember 12th, 2005 at 2:54 pm
Li’ Baji: No lack of space…is a euphemism. To see what I mean just take a look at the aerial shot of the city that came as the property developer’s ad this morning with EVERY newspaper!
Fariha: Invitation sent your way madame…ssfara account.
9BaptizedLuciferSeptember 14th, 2005 at 6:31 pm
sigh. u speak my mind. and that of almost everyday person who’s live din the uae long enuf to know how illogical some things are here. all the signs point towards a failing economy. the govt doesnt want to step in. everyoen knows about the cheap material being used for contruction. the new residential areas… dont have hospitals, police stations or fire stations! oh wait, thats coz we have a sepearet block of the health park! yeay! will we have a separate fire and security park too? idiots.
anyone who’s visited shj would know what crappy town planning is.
and then come in the inter emirate rivalries.. especially dubai/shj,closing down of routes… the entire mamzar park… all done on purpose… uffffffffffffffh.. bunda in sab cheezon kay baaray main sochay to pagal ho jaey! magar… bunda jaey to jaey bhi kahan! :S
10NJSeptember 17th, 2005 at 1:31 pm
NJ’s blog died on 11th september 2005…
11knicqSeptember 18th, 2005 at 3:37 pm
Bunda jaana chahey bhi to traffic main phans jayey ga…behtar yahee hai keh ghar baith ka chain ke bansee bajae, aur Bold and the Beautiful daikhey, ‘cuz that is one program as crappy as the traffic, as confused as traffic, and takes longer finishing a sequence than it takes one getting home….hence one would soon start feeling blessed getting stuck in traffic than getting struck by B&B.
NJ…sis., what is this sad news? Will CPR help? Is there anything we can do to help save such a lovely place?
12SaadatSeptember 19th, 2005 at 12:57 pm
You’ve been tagged, Bhaijan!(Caution: it’s a silly tag! )
13AbezSeptember 20th, 2005 at 10:21 am
Oh Bhai, read in the paper today that there won’t be another price hike in petrol, is it true? *cheers excitedly*
14knicqSeptember 20th, 2005 at 11:00 am
Chotey Bhai: Three failed attempts to comment on your blog, and finally gave up. I have told you before your commenting system does not like me. . Thanks for tagging me. One more reason to blog now…lets see if I can do the decent blogger thing to do, and respond in good time.:)
Salamz Sis. That statement was by ADNOC if I am not wrong, and they had made this statement the last time also when Eppco/ENOC had declared they were bleeding to death because of the very low retail fuel prices. ENOC is still going on record sayig they are losing millions if not billions at the current rate.One just wonders, how is it that ENOC’s counterparts in the other 5 GCC countries survive? Why is it that they are not heard crying…yet anyway, since a precedent has been set and its only a matter of time before they too get their Governments to budge.
One hopes ADNOC’s will be heard this time.
15BaptizedLuciferSeptember 20th, 2005 at 3:16 pm
u watch BnB? LOL! I used to watch that when i was a kid, on 33. the last i remm is when brooke logan took over the company. i saw a glimpse of it a while back, and i stopped to watch.. funny how characters can grow on to u, felt as if i knew that “family”…. wanted ot know whats going on with em… hahaha too many new faces… khair i changed the channel in less than a minute.
ADNOC.. yeah it was them.. besides. abu dhabi’s rates have been lower. are they really losing in billions when they are exporting so much? what with all the tension in the middle east its the oil walay who are benifitting the most.. of course there are also the contruction walay eating away money
16SaadieSeptember 26th, 2005 at 5:47 pm
:) good to find a fellow blogger from UAE and thats thanks to moiz or ziom as u may call him. and yea so true about this frustration, though I am in Al-Ain and traffic has no issues here, but I wasnt planing to stay here for a longer period and yea good to c we got some mutual blogging friends.
17knicqSeptember 29th, 2005 at 8:51 am
Apologies to Baptized Lucifer and Saadie both for the delay in responding…and in the latter case accepting the comment.
Just not been around in blogistan (read connected world) for sometime.
Of course I do NOT watch BnB. I stopped right after I got e-vision. Prior to that I had no option…what with having just the one channel, and nothing else to do while waiting for the sitcom that followed BnB everyday…p.s. you can miss out on a year or two of episodes, and completely understand what’s going on as soon as you tune in….actually in a year or two, there’s actually an outisde chance that at leats one of the conversation that started when you stopped is over!
They are losing billions in unearned income…opportunity cost of selling it lower than they can.
Saadie: Another Al-Aini blogger eh? Wonderful. Thanks for stopping by..do keep visiting.
Whatever happened to our friend Moiz?
18SaadieSeptember 29th, 2005 at 4:23 pm
Its ok dude and will keep visiting , moiz well he is not any more on blogy world but do visits connected world at times. anyhow “another al-aini” blogger ok who else is there, glad to know that .
19knicqOctober 1st, 2005 at 8:15 pm
Oh, did you never hear of www.karrvakarela.blogspot.com?
NJ, and now Moiz, why are people leaving blogistan? …and why aren’t certain others not updating as often as they would like to…?
20ayanOctober 3rd, 2005 at 7:23 pm
mm - personally I feel it is better to keep the land as is than to develop it to an unrecognizable extent. Plus im not sure how much the cost of developing sand is or anything, but I feel it would be a nightmare. Is there a rail system in UAE? I am assuming there is some type of subway - is there a legislature? Maybe they can reduce traffic by reducing parking availability. Just my two rupees
21knicqOctober 3rd, 2005 at 8:47 pm
Ayan, I see completely where you are coming from…unfortunately the developed land in this country, and it is but a small fraction of the total land, is not enough to house the population of this country…
Accomodating these people is however not a priority, and that is what my complaint is. Fleecing those that can be fleeced is quickly becoming the only priority.
The cost of developing sand would be high but would hardly compare with the cost of reclaiming land miles into the ocean…not to mention the fact that it would be a much less ecological disaster than those “palms” and “pearls” are.
There will be a metro/rail service in the UAE in the next couple of years, and your other assumption is false. There is however a legislature that suits the country just fine.
Oh, parking space is a luxury only a blessed few enjoy…the rest have mastered the art of converting saloon cars into 4WDs so they can park in empty plots, and sandy patches where available. Others pay by the hour.
Reducing parking space would help where people once discouraged by lack of parking space would choose other forms of commuting over driving themselves…but there are no other forms of commuting, save walking/cycling, and commute all must.
If anything now we the UAE wallahs have more than one topic for ice breaking purposes - after the traditional soaring ‘heat”, now we have soaring rents, traffic jams, parking scams, and last but not the least schooling expenses of the kids.
The writing is on the wall…and it is a misra by Iqbal:
Hai jurm-e-zaeefi kee saza marg-e-mafajaat.
The punishment for the crime that weakness is, is death.
22AOctober 4th, 2005 at 4:23 pm
Ramadhan Mubarak!Love to me darlings. ¶ 1/26/2006 02:05:00 AM
